I'm sure it will come to no surprise to any of you that our little station that could is hurting right now.

As we approach 2 years of being listener owned we've lost enough owners that we are no longer financially self-sufficient.  Even more concerning (because now that I'm working full time I'd be willing to subsidize the station costs again) is the fact that listenership has plummeted.

Five years ago internet radio seemed like the future of radio.  But things have rapidly changed and now we're almost an internet relic.   During our two years of listener ownership we've continuously seen our daily numbers drop to the point where it's typical now for only six or seven people to tune in at the PEAK all week. 

Blip.fm, Pandora and other customizable listening options have taken away even some of our hard-core listeners.  Personally while I understand the draw of hearing only what you want, when you want, I do think in the long run it's just one more stone on the path to the demise of the record industry.  At some point you have to have an outlet for new and alternate music, and as people isolate themselves into their home-made playlists and iPods there becomes less and less opportunity for new music to be heard.  But that's for another thread and another day.

The bottom line is that after over six months of serious consideration (Web can attest to that as I've discussed this with him for some time) I believe the time has come to bring an end to Freeze-Frame Radio.

Because most of the owners have made annual donations that started in mid-October we'll continue to be listener owned until November 1'st.  After October 1'st no new donations will be accepted.

More than likely JD & I will keep the station running for a month or so after that, hopefully getting together a few times to give the old girl a proper send off.  During the final month or two the request system will be opened up to everyone just like it was in the past.

It's worth noting that during the last two years we've not gained a single new listener/owner.  Clearly closing the request system to the general public played a large part in ending any growth we were experiencing.

If by some miracle in the final few months when we open up the system again the listener numbers start improving and we start bringing in a few new listeners I would seriously consider keeping the station going and paying for it myself again.  But I think that window of opportunity has probably been shut.

One other possibility I'm considering is keeping the site open as a sort of podcast network where users could submit their own content to be offered up.  If the site were left open it would also give JD & I the opportunity to occassionally go live for a month here and there just for the pure joy of it.

I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for sticking with us as long as you have.  We've had some tremendous highs and a few big lows over the years, but overall the experience has been overwhelmingly positive.

We've all made some potentially life-long friends through Freeze-Frame Radio and it's forum, that alone makes it all worth it in my book.



-- Edited by Jeremy Riggs on Sunday 14th of June 2009 05:21:59 AM