Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Email Alert

Internet Daily 
for Wednesday, October 24, 2001
by Frank Barnako CBS MarketWatch.com


Streaming fee steams radio talkers

Two of the nation's highest-rated radio talk show hosts are not 
happy about their program syndicator's decision to begin 
charging for access to Webcasts of their programs.

Premiere Radio Networks, owned by Clear Channel Communications , 
is charging listeners $6.95 a month to hear the talkers' shows 
online. Overnight host Art Bell posted a note on his Web site 
(http://www.artbell.com/) saying, "It was NOT my decision to 
change the free Internet access." Dr. Laura Schlessinger, also 
reportedly unhappy, indicated on her site  that she was "puzzled 
that some want to blame her ... because of this corporate 
cost-saving measure."

Sports host Jim Rome's show is being offered by the service, 
StreamLink, as well. Premiere also syndicates Rush Limbaugh, who 
has his own pay-per-listen strategy of charging $39.95 a year.

Kraig Kitchin, president of Premiere, said in a New York Post 
report that it costs the company $1.5 million annually for 
streaming services. "Time will show we have found a solution to 
allow that listening connection to continue, versus no longer 
(providing) the service," Kitchin told the newspaper.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
EarthLink to plug cable over DSL

EarthLink  has adopted what some might call a Trojan horse 
strategy. While striking a deal with AOL Time Warner  to have 
its Internet access service distributed on Time Warner-owned 
cable systems, EarthLink will encourage new customers to get its 
service through the competitor's cable service. Garry Betty, 
chief executive of Atlanta-based EarthLink, told analysts that 
profit margins are better with cable access service than they 
are by providing access through DSL. He also said EarthLink 
expects to offer broadband service to half the homes that 
receive Time Warner Cable by the end of this year.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Music streamer plans personal jukebox

RadioMOI.com will launch a personalized music jukebox service on 
the Web next January. Subscribers will be charged a monthly fee, 
yet to be determined, to be able to select tracks and listen to 
them on demand, and to save them as customized "shows," 
according to the company's parent, Musicmusicmusic.com. On a 
related note, the firm announced a licensing agreement with 
Vivendi's Universal Music Group  for non-exclusive streaming 
rights to portions of the company's catalog, including 
recordings on the Chess, Verve and Motown labels.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
MP3.com founder takes on Microsoft

Michael Robertson plans to release an operating system to 
compete with Microsoft's Windows next year. Based on the 
open-source Linux software code, the product, dubbed Lindows, 
will run both Linux and "many popular Windows software titles," 
he said. Costing $100, the operating system is billed as 
enabling users to run it on as many PCs as they want. "Once 
installed, LindowsOS offers a full-powered graphical desktop 
experience familiar to any computer user, but with advanced 
underlying architecture to ensure greater reliability," 
Robertson said, noting that an initial version of the software 
will be offered through the Web. Robertson previously founded 
digital music site MP3.com, acquired several months ago by 
Vivendi Universal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

For late-breaking market news you can't afford to miss, go to
http://CBS.MarketWatch.com/

================================================================

LOGIN to access your account:

https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start

----------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe or modify your Email Alert customization options,
log in using the link below or copy and paste it into your 
browser's address window:

https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=EAMyAlerts

----------------------------------------------------------------

Notice: All email sent to or from the Charles Schwab corporate 
email system may be retained, monitored and/or reviewed 
by Schwab personnel. (0801-11478)

Copyright 2001 CBS MarketWatch. All rights reserved. 
Commercial use or redistribution in any form, printed or 
electronic, is prohibited.

Distribution by Quris, Inc.