In a study released earlier this year, Arbitron/Edison Media Research dubbed people who listen to radio over the Internet "streamies." Bored with local programming, streamies tune in to radio stations streaming over the World Wide Web.
For an overview, see Real.com and Yahoo's Broadcast.com, where lists of stations are categorized by location and genre to help streamies track down their favorite listening material. At Broadcast.com, visitors can search for stations in 77 countries broadcasting in 40 languages, while Real.com's Web site offers 20 genres, including police scanners.
Though the process of downloading and listening is straightforward, the Arbitron/Edison study, titled "The Buying Power of 'Streamies,"' found that 20 percent of people surveyed were unable to access radio or TV streams. Nearly one in three said trying to listen to or watch Webcasts was difficult.