Love is On the Air

Anthony Wayne    Dating     online dating, radio stations

Philadelphia — We use the internet for a lot of things…paying bills, reading the news, watching videos, and keeping in touch with old friends from high school.  We are also increasingly using it for dating and finding our soul mates.

Love through the radio

In fact, 17% of all marriages that occurred last year were between people that first met at an online dating site.  Online dating is an industry that is worth $1.049 billion annually in the USA and 40 million Americans participate in it!

So, what does this have to do with radio stations?  Opportunity!

MatchLink is a singles dating network that served the radio industry for many years.  The Evanston, Illinois company Spark Network Services provided an IVR-based dating service to radio stations.  Radio listeners called a phone number and paid to interact with other singles through a sophisticated voice mail system.  Payment was made through credit card or a 900 number.  Some stations were earning a half million dollars per year with the service.

In 2005, Spark Network Services, a division of CBS Radio, was sold to Advanced Telecom Services which had been supplying dating services to newspapers, including the New York Times, for over a dozen years. 

“The IVR dating system was in decline for several years and it was clearly a legacy product,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services.  “So, we began moving the Spark customer base to an online dating solution.”

Today, the MatchLink.com online dating solution is used by over 250 radio station affiliates.  The company provides an online dating site that is customized to the look and feel of the radio station, but with the power of the largest singles database in the USA from Match.com.

“It’s a great way for a radio station to build community and it’s a valuable new source of NTR,” added Bentz.

Valuable indeed.  The average online dating site user invests $239 per year.  MatchLink pays its affiliates 40% of the gross sales made on the online dating service for the lifetime of the customer.  The bulk of the revenue goes to Match.com and Spark takes a small share for its providing the online dating site design and operation.  It also provides banner ads for the radio station web site, commercials for various radio station formats, and on-air liners for the jocks.

“As far as revenue goes, there is a real cumulative effect for the service for the radio station,” said Bentz.  “Users will start going steady and drop out of the online dating pool for a while, but then they breakup three months later and are back using the service again.”

The average age for an online dating user is a surprisingly older than expected 48-years-old.  Most online dating users are divorced or separated and online dating best suits their busy lifestyle.  At age 26, women have twice as many male users contacting them, but at age 48, men have twice as many women contacting them.

The service is compatible for all formats, although Bentz indicated that the company has had its best success with country formats.

“Country listeners want to date other country listeners, but a CHR listener could date a classic rock listener.”

I guess that’s what compatibility is all about.

Click here to see a sample radio station online dating site.  To get in touch with MatchLink, you can contact Bentz at sales@advancedtele.com or call him at 610-688-6000.

Online Dating for Internet Radio Listeners

Anthony Wayne    Dating, Internet Marketing     advertising, internet radio

Advanced Telecom Services offers its MatchLink online dating site to radio stations.  It can be promoted on over the air or on streaming radio on the internet.  One of the advantages to promoting this valuable source of NTR on streaming radio is that the consumer is right there on his computer and can access the internet dating web site while at his computer.

In fact, as this study shows, users of internet radio stations are actually far more likely to respond to an ad than those listening to traditional radio stations.

Listeners of 2+ Internet Radio Stations are
Far More Likely to Respond to Ads

Online Personals Revenue for Newspaper Web Sites

Anthony Wayne    Dating, media     classifieds, MatchLink, newspapers, online dating

Newspapers continue to struggle with revenues.  While newspapers have done a good job of getting visitors to their web sites, they have not done a good of monetizing their web sites to the same level as they have done with print.  The decrease is most evident in classified advertising where newspapers once dominated.

Classified advertising used to include voice personals and Advanced Telecom Services was one of the major suppliers of newspaper voice personals.  Today, however, like so many other products, personals have shifted to online personals and, for the most part, newspapers have missed out on the online personals phenomenon.

Today, however, MatchLink, from Advanced Telecom Services, offers newspapers an online dating solution that will help it re-capture some of the magic that it once had with newspaper voice personals.

MatchLink from Advanced Telecom Services is an online dating product that is customized to the look and feel of the daily newspaper.  It also makes the newspaper product more relevant to young singles.

For Love or Money

Anthony Wayne    Dating, Internet Marketing, media     MatchLink, NAA Show, newspapers, online dating

Philadelphia – Looking for love in all the wrong places?

17% of all marriages last year first met online.

Now your newspaper readers can find love online while your reap the benefits of being part of the $1.049 billion online dating industry in the USA!

Consider the following online dating statistics:

• Last year, 17% of all marriages were between couples that first met online.
• From 2009 to 2010, nationwide use of online dating increased by 15% while overall internet use increased by just 9%. 
• Over 40 million Americans used an online dating solution last year. 
• Match.com alone has 15 million members. 
• On average, the online dating customer spent $239 per year on internet dating services.
• Online dating was a $4 billion industry worldwide in 2010 with $1.049 billion coming from the USA.
• The average age of an online dating user is 48.

MatchLink provides a customized online dating affiliate site for your newspaper, but with the power of the largest singles database in the nation behind it. 

A custom online dating site promoted on your newspaper web site builds community among your readers and can make your site more relevant to younger consumers.  And, since the average online dating site user is active for 6.7 months, MatchLink becomes a great source of residual income.

Advanced Telecom Services has been a long-time provider of voice personals to newspapers. The company will be presenting its MatchLink internet dating solution for newspapers at NAA mediaXchange in Dallas from March 25-28, 2011.

Top Digital Newspaper Sites

Anthony Wayne    Dating, media     newspaper web sites, online dating, online dating affiliate products

USA Today is the most viewed digital newspaper in the USA.

Top Newspaper Web Sites by traffic.  The following lists most unique visitors from October 2009 through October 2010, as reported by Compete.com.

1. USA Today — 239 million
2. The New York Times — 217
3. The Wall Street Journal — 122
4. Los Angeles Times — 94
5. The Washington Post — 91
6. New York Daily News — 82
7. San Francisco Chronicle — 46
8. New York Post — 45
9. Chicago Tribune — 33
10. (Newark) Star-Ledger — 31

Advanced Telecom Services offers a revenue producing customized online dating service for newspapers through our MatchLink.com brand.  This service provides a newspaper with the look and feel of their web site, but with the power of the Match.com brand behind it.  Best of all, the newspaper is paid on residual income, unlike other affiliate deals where just the initial payment is made.

Online Advertising Now Bigger than Newspaper Ads

Anthony Wayne    Dating     newspaper advertising 2010, newspaper advertising 2011, online advertising 2010, online advertising 2011

In 2010, for the first time ever, advertising online has surpassed advertising in newspapers. In 2011, online advertising is anticipated to be $25.8 billion versus $22.8 billion for newspapers.

Total advertising in the USA is expected to rise 3% this year to a total of $168.5 billion. Spending on newspaper print ads will decline by 8.2% in 2010 and is anticipated to decline by another 6% in 2011. While it was a bad year for advertising, it was not nearly as bad as the advertising statistics for 2009.

Podcast Interview: Online Dating

Anthony Wayne    Dating     MatchLink, online dating

Click here. Listen to online dating podcast.

One of the great things about this job is that you are often responsible for people finding the love of their life.  Such is the case with our MatchLink and WebFriends online dating solutions for radio stations and newspapers.

eHealthRadio just posted a podcast interview with ATS president Bob Bentz about the company’s internet dating sites and the recent history of the dating business.

Listen to the online dating podcast interview with Bob Bentz here.

Radio Showing Growth

Anthony Wayne    Dating, media     online dating, radio

There are a lot of alternatives to radio today and there are numerous threats.  But, radio numbers keep on growing, according to the RADAR 106 National Radio Listening Report.

Radio is Hot Again

The weekly audience of 239 million listeners to radio represents an increase of four million listeners versus a year ago.  The report showed a growth of 4 million over last year.

Radio reached 93% of persons 12+ in the last week.  If you, think that radio is losing its young audience, think again.  Radio reached 92% of those age 12-17.  Of young adults, 18-34, 88% listened in a given week, up from 85% a year ago.

With ethnic groups, radio reached 93% of Blacks and 95% of Hispanics.  Among college grads, 96% tuned in to radio.

Advanced Telecom Services offers its MatchLink online dating solution to radio stations.  With MatchLink, radio stations can tap into the lucrative online dating market with a turnkey solution that encompasses the look and feel of the radio station, but with the power of the Match.com database behind it.

Radio Web Sites Increasing in Popularity

Anthony Wayne    Dating, media     radio web sites, stats

Radio stations are pushing its web sites more lately.  And, it seems to be paying off for them.

Online Dating for Radio Web Sites

According to The Media Audit, 17.7% of all US adults have visited a radio station web site in the past month.  That’s a 38% increase in the past three years, as in 2006, only 12.8% had visited a radio station web site.

The study indicates that the radio web site industry has 25 million monthly unique visitors in just the 80 markets that study measured.

As for the demographics, 3/4 of radio web site visitors are considered heavy or moderate listeners.  Such a listener spends almost three hours per day with radio on average.

Advertisers could do well by advertising on a radio station web site.  36.7% of radio web site visitors make 12 or more online purchases in a typical year.  Of heavy radio listeners, 61% made 12 or more online purchases per year.

Listeners to adult alternative radio stations are the heaviest users of the radio station web site.  Here are the amount of listeners that have visited a radio station web site by format:

• Adult Alternative – 33.8%
• Modern Rock – 31.6
• Sports – 29.4
• News Talk – 27.1
• Rock – 26.9
• Public Radio – 25.8
• Hot AC – 25.8
• Classic Rock – 25.7
• Contemporary Christian – 25.0
• Top 40 – 24.4

Top markets for radio station web site visitors include Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, San Jose, San Francisco, and Seattle-Tacoma.

One product that can greatly increase the visits to a radio station web site is an online dating site.  An online dating site that is linked from your radio station web site can bring new visitors and give repeat visitors a reason to come back.

(Source — THE MEDIA AUDIT National Radio Format Report)

New Logos for WebFriends

Anthony Wayne    Dating, media     newspapers, online dating

WebFriends is our online dating brand that we market to newspapers.  An online dating site for newspapers can generate significant additional revenue and be a great community builder for a media web site.

The current WebFriends logo had been used for many years and it was due for an upgrade.  “We believe the new WebFriends logo is indicative of a more modern look that better denotes the online dating industry for the 2010′s,” said Bob Bentz, president of Advanced Telecom Services.  “No doubt that our newspaper customers will be very pleased with the new look that shows how traditional newspapers are evolving into the digital era.”