KING-FM streaming audio guru Bryan Lowe

Who he is: Bryan Lowe always knew he wanted to be a radio announcer. But even in his wildest youthful dreams, he couldn't have imagined that one day he also would be the man to lead KING-FM into cyberspace, as one of the first radio stations to broadcast live over the Internet.

What he does: As director of alternate distribution at KING, Lowe is responsible for Internet "streaming" (live broadcast), which he launched almost eight years ago when the station was chosen by Seattle-based RealNetworks for its first foray into this new medium. The streaming operation has greatly increased the listenership of KING, one of the world's top five classical stations (according to Arbitron ratings). Online, the station has just jumped from 10,000 to 20,000 "listening sessions" every day (a session can be five seconds or several hours; the average time was 110 minutes, a very long period by industry standards). Many of the Internet listeners listen at work.

How it works: The station pays a CDN (content delivery network) for the bandwidth used by the Internet listeners; the more listeners, the more KING pays.

"We stream to a lot of people, for a lot of time," says Lowe. "For many, bandwidth is measured in megabytes, but ours is measured in gigabytes and terabytes" (a terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes, and the station buys five terabytes). Some of the expense is covered by listener contributions; an on-air fund-raiser last summer netted $20,000, and four more fund-raisers are scheduled next year.

The broadcast station runs 11 commercials an hour, 24 hours a day. Since Internet listeners are already online, commercials that run in the Internet stream need to take advantage of that, and the worldwide nature of the audience. Online spots point to a Web address instead of a phone number or street address. And when there are no Internet sponsors, Lowe substitutes specially created promos, informative bits ("this day in music history") and musical snippets for the Internet listeners.

Here's how it happens: When the broadcast station runs a commercial, the online system detects a tone, throws a relay, and runs one of those informative bits Lowe has put together from a number of sources. You might find out that it's Mendelssohn's birthday, or that pianist Craig Sheppard will be heard live in the studio that evening in a Beethoven sonata.

Why we care: The sound quality wasn't great at first, but now the Internet sound is terrific. You can get it anywhere: in homes behind huge hills, where KING-FM reception is impossible; out of town or around the world; in the steel-clad innards of office buildings; out on your sailboat with a cell modem.

And you can find out instantly the answer to that persistent question, "What's the name of that tune? — and who wrote it?"

Lowe calls the online listening "sharing CDs with friends."

Where you'll find him: Lowe's office is in KING headquarters at the Century Building, just across the street from the KeyArena, surrounded by more than 25,000 CDs and an imposing amount of computer equipment. You can e-mail him at links on www.king.org or at bryanl@king.org.

How he got started: "I have always known what I wanted to do. When I was a child growing up on Mercer Island, I sent away to a novelty toy company for a toy broadcasting kit. I would record music from my favorite local radio station and play it back over my own 'broadcast station,' adding my own voice as announcer. The radio station I recorded music from? KING-FM."

Lowe also studied French horn and was a member of the Seattle Youth Symphony, playing a concert with the Seattle Symphony as a gold-medal winner.

In 1979, he came to KING, where until recently he was on the air Saturdays and Sundays. (Now he devotes his energies online.) After all these years, he still calls his work "a dream job."

Web site madness: Not surprisingly for such a techie, Lowe loves to create Web sites reflecting his unusual interests, from musical saws to Model T Speedsters. Check out his eclectic tastes at the following links: classics.nu/speedsters4home.html, classics.nu/surbahar.html, www.king.org/playlist/crow/crow.html.

Or go to his page at www.king.org/playlist/bryan.html, and check out the list of other links to Botticelli paintings, Hugo Alfven watercolors, open-boat ocean rowing, music used in the movies, and your personal music requests.

A bit of history: The station, established in 1948, was formerly among the holdings of two imaginative and far-sighted heiresses of the Bullitt media empire: Harriett Bullitt and Priscilla (Patsy) Bullitt Collins. In 1995, they gave the station to a new nonprofit corporation named Beethoven, whose purpose is twofold: to guarantee that there always will be a station devoted to classical music for all, and to support the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Opera and ArtsFund. So far, the station has poured more than $4.75 million into those three organizations.

The future: "There are also many other developing technologies where we know there is a place for classical music," Lowe explains. "For example, cellphones that are becoming mobile entertainment centers, or in the entertainment centers that Boeing could soon be building into the seats of every airplane. Our goal is to share this music with new generations, combining the new tools of technology with our years of experience presenting this great music."

To try streaming, go to www.king.org and click the "Listen On-Line" button.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com