NYC Radio: WABC To Steam Content, Ads On Website

WABC 770 AM in New York has begun testing streaming of some live broadcasts of three of its weekday shows.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the station is planning to stream these shows on a daily basis by the end of this month. It is also planning to start running, and in some cases even producing, video ads for local marketers, hoping to unlock a new revenue stream.

It’s not unheard of for big radio shows to be simulcast on TV--think ESPN Radio’s “Mike and Mike” or WFAN’s Mike Francesa, whose show in the past aired on sports cable networks Yes Network and FS1. And radio stations have long streamed audio on the web.

WABC’s tests involve three shows: “The Bernie and Sid Show,” which airs weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon, “Curtis and Kuby,” which airs each weekday from noon to 3:00 p.m., as well as “The Drive at Five,” which airs at 5 p.m. The live streams will feature most of these shows’ content, excluding the station’s live news breaks.

Curtis Sliwa

Sid & Bernie

“This is a good opportunity for us to rebrand the station a bit,” said Chris Rudzki, director of digital sales and operations at Cumulus Media, which owns WABC. “It lets us dip our toe in the waters and see what’s out there.”

Interestingly, WABC isn’t focusing on the much-hyped Facebook Live, but instead plans to stream the shows on its own site. Outside of potential product placement deals, or driving people to a station’s ad-supported website, Facebook Live is “tough to monetize,” Mr. Rudzki added. “And the algorithm changes every time you do something.”

Facebook is testing some “mid-roll” video ads during live video streams.

WABC has tapped the technology company Livestream to deliver the live content to the web and help the station insert video ads. Some of the new video ads will be produced by the station, while others will be sold by video ad networks, Mr. Rudzki said. The station hasn’t signed on any advertisers yet.

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