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April 19, 2006
Internet radio station is the cat's meow: cat radio!
(catgalaxymedia.com)
To say that Nohl Rosen is a cat lover is a bit of an understatement.
This guy loves his three cats so much that he has made them his bosses. Well, they are more like consultants, but they hold considerable sway over the music he plays on his Internet radio station, Cat Galaxy.
"Everything is run by my cats first," said Rosen, who on Friday celebrates the fifth anniversary of his radio station for cats.
Yes, you read that right. Rosen's station is aimed at feline listeners. The idea for the station came to him in late 2000 when his cat, Isis, was meowing constantly. She didn't want food, water or attention, so Rosen popped some funk music into the CD player.
Isis immediately calmed down, and Rosen realized that cats enjoy music.
"She relaxed, and Cat Galaxy was born," he said. "And it has grown like wildfire."...
He made Isis station manager, while Jade is her assistant and Icarus is program manager. Since he started streaming the music over the Internet on April 21, 2001, Rosen's Web site, www.catgalaxymedia.com, has gotten more than 1 million hits. He figures that at peak times, as many as 60 cats, and presumably some humans, are listening.
Rosen does live broadcasts in the mornings and weekday evenings from his Scottsdale apartment, while the rest of the time the station just plays swing, funk, pop, alternative rock and smooth jazz. There also are commercials, but mostly for his computer business, Panther TEK.
His goals for the next five years include growing his audience, broadcasting from cat shows and boosting advertising.
"I have heard some broadcasters say that you can't really make money from Internet radio, but we like to think we can beat those odds because our station is unique," Rosen said. "We are a station for cats, by cats, and that will not change."
Posted by sue at April 19, 2006 09:12 AM