idobi Radio
 | |
| The idobi homepage as of January 2010. idobi Radio Home Page. | |
Type of site | Internet Radio, Music, news and media |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Tom Cheney |
| Created by | Tom Cheney |
| URL | idobi.com |
| Registration | Optional |
idobi Radio (idobi.com) is a modern rock Internet radio station focusing on new pop punk, Alternative music and Power pop music. The station broadcasts over the Internet via its Web site, iTunes and SHOUTcast. Established in 1999, idobi connects listeners with artists through interviews and up-to-date music industry news. The stream has an excellent track record of playing tracks from top unsigned artists, many times before they make it onto terrestrial radio stations or MTV rotation, most notably having featured artists like Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, and All Time Low prior to the bands' mainstream successes.
With roughly eight million listeners per month, idobi Radio is the #1 alternative radio station on SHOUTcast.com, and #1 overall.[2]
History
idobi Radio was established in February, 1999 in Washington, DC by young music fan, Tom Cheney (then a producer for MTV Networks), where he started off running the station off his home computer in Washington, DC. The station started on the Live365 radio platform broadcasting two formats, Alternative Rock and Top 40. As Internet radio usage grew, idobi's listenership increased as well. The station grew more popular when it started promoting itself via its artists concert tours and the Vans Warped Tour. The introduction of the iTunes Internet radio directory boosted numbers as well. The station dropped the Top 40 stream in early 2003 in order to focus on the Alternative Rock stream and to launch a new website covering music news, album reviews, concert photos, and artist info similar to AbsolutePunk and Buzznet. In 2003, the Live365 platform was also dropped. In 2005, Entertainment Weekly Magazine named idobi one of the "fastest growing Internet radio stations in the world" and a "threat to terrestrial radio outlets".[3] In August 2006, Simple Plan guitarist Sébastien Lefebvre and merchandise manager Patrick Langlois agreed to do a weekly show on idobi named The Man of the Hour. The show was a mainstream success, increasing the station's listenership significantly around the world. Today, the station has over eight million listeners a month and its Web site is based on a multimedia platform consisting of music news, album reviews, concert videos, concert photos, artists' biographies, and concert dates.
idobi music
idobi and its shows have played a role in breaking out bands like Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Boys Like Girls, The Academy Is..., Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, Paramore, We the Kings, Cobra Starship and many others. Artists' exposure on the station has led to many record deals for unsigned artists and increased sales of digital tracks.[4]
The station's playlist rotation is based on top alternative hits with an emphasis on new music and deep album cuts from top alternative artists.
Shows
idobi has a lineup of shows that run on a weekly basis:
ALTop 20 Countdown - The Top 20 Alternative songs of the week are counted down; Sundays at 5pm ET
Eddie, Jason & Chris Show - Comedy and hot talk hosted by Eddie Barella, Jason Newcomer, and Chris; Saturdays at 10pm EST
First Person with Josh Madden - Music radio hosted by Josh Madden; Thursdays at 8pm ET
The Gunz Show - "The realest, most diverse music show in the world"- Live from Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, music-intensive show featuring artist interviews, news, requests and listener interaction Sundays at 9pm EST and Wednesdays and Sundays at 9pm ET
Man of the Hour - Hot talk hosted by Simple Plan guitarist Sébastien Lefebvre and former merchandise manager and MusiquePlus host Patrick Langlois. The show was picked up by Virgin Radio Montreal 96 on March 21, 2010.[5][6] The show returned to idobi Radio December 1, 2010.[7]
Rock The Walls - Music radio and Hot talk hosted by Patrick Walford from Toronto, Canada; Saturdays at 8pm EST
All shows are uncensored.
Other than the listed shows, idobi has no other on-air personalities and when the listed shows are not on the air, the station streams music from its playlist.
Past shows
- Bitch Slap Radio - Comedy and hot talk hosted by Zac Rich from LoonaticTV.com; The show aired Mondays at 10:30pm ET
- Crash Test Radio - Hot talk hosted by Rocco Burro, Houston Calls bassist Jarrett Seltzer, and Jon Sekunda, with Houston Calls singer Tom "The Intern" Keiger. The show aired from 2006–2009
- DJ Rossstar's Punk Rock Show - DJ Rossstar's Punk Rock Show was picked up from American University's WVAU after host, Ross Senack, graduated in 2004. The show ran on idobi Radio from 2004 to 2008, logging 450 shows and 1000 bands, actors, and porn stars as guests. Fans were able to interact directly with band members in real time through both instant messenger and telephone. The slot is currently taken over by The Gunz Show.
- The Jonathan London Show - Hosted by music video and film director, Jonathan London. The show aired 2006-2007.
- Godsquad Radio - Syndicated by idobi Radio in 2006
- Gumshoe Radio - Music radio hosted by singer Anthony Raneri and bassist Nick Ghanbarian from Wind-up Records' punk band, Bayside; Friday at 7pm ET
- Rockin' That with Nick Scalise - Music radio and Hot talk hosted by Nick Scalise, Chicago-based music producer and drummer for Mathletes and October Fall; The show aired Tuesdays at 8pm ET
- S&M Radio - Hot talk hosted by actor Sam E. Goldberg and Michelle Nicole; The show aired Tuesdays at 10:30pm ET
- The XtremeBitz Radio Show - Idobi Radio's first weekly live show. Comedy and hot talk hosted by Eddie Barella and Jason Newcomer; The show aired Saturdays at 10pm ET
Other media
idobi also runs a concert photography site called Photos From the Show and an online music video stream called idobiTV.
On April 15, 2011, the site released the idobi App, an iOS app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and on August 30, released the idobi App for Android.
References
- ^ "Idobi.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
- ^ "SHOUTcast Stats". shoutcast.com. Retrieved 2012-30-08.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Endelman, M: Entertainment Weekly, 21 Oct 2005. http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=1503324&blogId=54237072.
- ^ http://idobi.com/media/interviews/?we-are-the-in-crowd-the-gunz-show-interview
- ^ "Man of The Hour on Virgin Radio 96 Montreal". montreal.virginradio.ca.
- ^ "So long and thanks for all the sushi". idobi.com.
- ^ "Man of the Hour returns to idobi Radio". idobi.com.; Wednesdays at 8pm ET