Iceberg tackles older demographic with launch of Preservatory.com radio site

Iceberg Media.com Inc is taking a big step out of the proven 19-34 year old with a new site designed for a larger and older audience. President Ted Boyd says the new strategy may also be applied to its growing stable of web properties, as the Toronto-based developer makes a more aggressive foray into becoming a mass specialty broadcaster. Internet Access by Age of Household HeadIceberg Media may find encouragement in statistics compiled by Statistics Canada and released recently by the CRTC. According to the figures, Internet access continues to be dominated by younger Canadians. The under-35 group was marked by a penetration rate of over 55% in 1999. Seniors, though, are getting online quickly, and some research indicates they may be the fastest-growing group of all. According to the StatsCan numbers, penetration in the 65-plus group doubled from 5.5% to 10.23% from 1997 to 1999. Growth in the 55-64 year old group was also impressive. The numbers show an increase from 21% to over 32% in the same time frame. The numbers were released as part of a comprehensive look at the broadcasting and new media industries conducted by the commission. The full report can be found here. Launched last week, Preservatory.com represents a departure from the company’s successful strategy of targeting young adults with hip content. The new site is targeted at 45-70 year olds and features music, documentaries, drama, comedy and historical recordings. It holds around 150 hours of radio programming culled from CBC Radio archives, including such gems as a 1952 reading by Dylan Thomas of A Child’s Christmas in Wales, and Gracie Fields’ cross-country tour to support the war effort. The recordings were obtained through a licencing deal with the CBC for the digital broadcast rights. Iceberg will stream the material on a rotating, theme-based basis. Themes would include such things as Celtic Colours, a women’s month, concerts and others. All of the material has been digitized, a lengthy project notable for the cleaning of masters. "I don’t think we did anything particularly unique, although we did have to do some cleaning of the masters, cleaning of the copies," says Boyd. The new site will join Iceberg’s other properties, which include 1Groove, 2Kool4Radio, Deeper and Ill Noiz and PrimeTicket.net. Those sites, which feature popular music such as rock and rap, were launched through 2000 and rely on sponsorship for revenue. The new Preservatory site is also advertising-supported, with both Ford Motor Co and Fidelity Investments as feature sponsors in the first days of the launch. The site will be promoted through Excite Canada and The Globe and Mail. Since the content also has educational value, especially at the late primary and early high school levels, Boyd says the company is exploring partnerships with a crop of new learning portals. "That would be a natural progression," says Boyd. "I don’t think we would do it for December, but we have a year to do it, the content, so we look forward to those relationships as we move forward, absolutely." With this latest property, Iceberg hopes to capitalize on the growing streaming entertainment market. It recently commissioned research by Thompson Lightstone which indicates that streaming audio grew in popularity by 17 per cent from September through November in Canada – well ahead of U.S. penetration. Iceberg’s audience grew from an estimated 360,000 listeners in September to 626,000 by November – a 42.5 per cent increase in its share of listeners now estimated at 18 per cent of the total Canadian audience for streaming audio. In all, the market found, 15 per cent of all adult Canadians or 29 per cent of Canadian Internet users reported having listened to streaming audio in November, for an estimated total of 3.4 million listeners – 582,500 more than in September. Management is hoping to ride that wave as it builds a national audience for its offerings with targeted marketing opportunities. In the third quarter this year, the company lost $1.15 million net of revenue of $55,833 and a gain on sale of investment of $249,189. That translated into a loss of $0.06 per share for the company, recently listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. Setting the new Preservatory site up was the responsibility of producer Kevin O’Leary. O’Leary has a longtime relationship with the CBC, and Boyd says it was his suggestion well over a year ago to pursue the opportunity. O’Leary worked with Iceberg VP David Marsden on the concept, using the services of Aimee Coueslan, formerly with CBC, and now charged with licensing and programming for the new site. Gathering the material was an eight-month process.

Iceberg tackles older demographic with launch of Preservatory.com radio site

News | 12/14/2000 5:00 am EST

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