It’s been at least a year, possibly two, since I last published a list of the most tuned Internet radio stations by Como Audio owners around the world. As many of you know, I worked for Como for over 7 years as Vice President of Product Development, and more recently, General Manager. I found it fascinating to learn what stations our customers were listening to and enjoyed bringing these lists to you on a semi-regular basis. With the company shutting its doors literally just a couple of days ago, I thought I’d author one final article on the most popular stations amongst Como Audio users and also amongst the millions of people using the Frontier Silicone platform.
Accordingly, here are the top 50 Internet radio stations ranked from the most to least listened to by Como Audio listeners:
| Radio Swiss Jazz |
| France Inter |
| WCRB Classical |
| Rás 1 |
| WQXR 105.9 FM |
| BBC World Service |
| mvyradio |
| NPO Radio 1 |
| BBC Radio 4 |
| Rás 2 |
| BBC Radio 6 Music |
| VRT Radio 1 |
| WNYC 93.9 FM |
| Bylgjan 989 |
| WDNA 88.9 FM |
| Classic FM |
| NPO Klassiek |
| France Culture |
| VRT Klara |
| FIP |
| RTL |
| Radio Swiss Classic |
| Deutschlandfunk |
| BBC Radio 3 |
| France Musique |
| Radio Italia |
| franceinfo |
| Ö1 |
| NPO Radio 5 |
| SomaFM – Left Coast 70s |
| WFMU |
| NPO Radio 2 |
| WBGO Jazz 88.3FM |
| WGBH Boston Public Radio |
| KQED |
| KEXP 90.3 FM |
| WBUR 90.9 FM |
| La Première RTBF |
| VRT Klara Continuo |
| 98.7 WFMT |
| Classical California KUSC |
| BBC Radio 2 |
| Jazz24 |
| Classical California KDFC |
| VRT Studio Brussel |
| Hitradio Ö3 |
| Radio Paradise |
| Radio 10 – 60s & 70s Hits |
| VRT Radio 2 Oost-Vlaanderen |
In scanning through the above list, it’s not surprising to find Radio Swiss Jazz in the top spot. Anytime I’ve published this list it’s always been number one, and for good reason. Radio Swiss Jazz was stored in preset #1 in every radio we made and it was our go-to station whenever we performed product demonstrations. Streaming in the superior AAC audio codec at 100 kbps and playing a great selection of mainstream jazz, the station always sounded fantastic.
Now, here’s the list of the 50 most tuned stations by everyone using a Frontier Silicon platform-based radio of which there are millions around the world.
| SWR3 |
| Deutschlandfunk |
| BBC Radio 4 |
| WDR 4 |
| Radio Nowy Świat |
| RadioMv – Slavic |
| France Inter |
| NDR 1 Niedersachsen Hannover |
| ANTENNE BAYERN |
| NDR 2 Niedersachsen |
| SWR1 Baden-Württemberg |
| BBC Radio 2 |
| BAYERN 3 |
| Hitradio Ö3 |
| Radio Paloma |
| BAYERN 1 Oberbayern |
| 1LIVE |
| RTL |
| NPO Radio 1 |
| Radio 357 |
| ROCK ANTENNE |
| RTÉ Radio 1 |
| radioeins |
| WDR 5 |
| SWR4 Baden-Württemberg |
| Absolut relax |
| WDR 2 Rheinland |
| RMF FM |
| Klassik Radio |
| franceinfo |
| NPO Radio 2 |
| NPO Radio 5 |
| SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz |
| OLDIE ANTENNE – Oldies but Goldies |
| Classic FM |
| MDR JUMP |
| hr4 |
| HIT RADIO FFH |
| hr1 |
| BBC Radio 3 |
| BR-KLASSIK |
| N-JOY |
| France Culture |
| Radio U1 Tirol |
| MDR THÜRINGEN Erfurt |
| Sky Radio |
| Bremen Eins |
| Radio Swiss Jazz |
| FIP |
| BR Heimat |
The thing that stands out immediately to me with this list is there’s only 1 or 2 stations from the USA. That’s because the majority of these listeners reside outside the USA. Surprisingly, unlike the Como Audio list, Radio Swiss Jazz ranks almost at the very bottom.
It never fails to surprise me how many people have no idea Internet radio exists or even understand what it is. So, I get very excited when people discover it and the wealth of free entertainment it offers, regardless of what brand radio they use. Unfortunately, many users are discouraged by the amount of effort it sometimes can take to search through almost 70,000 Internet stations. That’s why I launched Recommended Stations via Patreon. With Recommended Stations, I do the searching for you and recommend a different radio station every month in addition to uncovering a bizarre station you never thought would exist. This month’s Recommended Station is unique in that it mixes two different music genres. Most radio stations are dedicated to a single genre, but not this station. Last month’s Hitchhiker Station (the name I give strange stations) is dedicated to the oral orifice. If this sounds interesting, sign up for a free trial using the link at the bottom of this article. And if you’re a Como Audio customer, join at the Elite level and I’ll be available to address any Como Audio tech support questions you might have about your music system.
I get very excited when people discover it and the wealth of free entertainment it offers, regardless of what brand radio they use.
Farewell Como Audio
As we started to wind down Como Audio last month, I personally received emails from many people thanking me for their music system(s) and for my assistance over the years. It was a lot of work developing and voicing every model while keeping to a totally unrealistic schedule. We also provided over- the-top customer service, especially for a very small company with limited resources. There were many instances where we took care of customers who were very clearly in the wrong or were downright unreasonable, but CEO Tom DeVesto always placed a very high value on customer support. We made our share of mistakes as well, but we always did our best to admit to them and to try to make them right.
The lats 2 years were difficult ones. You have no idea how hard we worked to try to keep the company going and the sacrifices that were made. As part of the cost saving measures my hours were gradually reduced to the point where I was only working 1 day per week. In November of 2022, I was forced to sell my home because I could no longer afford it. As was my luck, the red hot housing market had cooled off by then and I didn’t get the price I should have. I’ll put my violin back in it’s case now.
We were all hoping things would turn around for Como Audio but they never did. In the end, we had to face the reality that the business just wasn’t sustainable. Our most popular model, Musica, proved to be our chief downfall because we couldn’t get them in a timely manner due to parts shortages, high required order quantities, and price increases.
I may not have been a doctor saving lives or a scientist curing diseases, but it was very gratifying to bring music into people’s lives, especially during the pandemic when we were all isolated. Sadly, Como Audio is now history, but Internet radio lives on. As we were fond of saying to our customers- enjoy the music.
Trivia: Como Audio was founded 7 years ago last month and was named after beautiful Lake Como in Italy. It’s the third largest lake in Italy. Actor George Clooney owns an 18th century, 25 room mansion on Lake Como which he bought after falling in love with the area while on holiday. He was made an honorary citizen and often spends the summer months there.
Trivia: That’s Como Audio General Manager Peter Skiera’s voice speaking the confirmations from the Como Blu Stereo system.
Trivia: The default preset Internet stations in presets #7 & 8 on Musica were hand picked by Peter Skiera.
Trivia: While brainstorming names for our first two models, Peter Skiera proposed naming them Musica 1 & Musica 2. This was rejected in favor of Solo and Duetto, but our top of the line model was named Musica. Skiera also introduced the hickory finish.
Trivia: Peter Skiera started with Como Audio before the company had an office. He would meet with Tom DeVesto at DeVesto’s home on Cape Cod or at a cafe in Hingham, MA.
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