Surfer said:
Remember, it's about making money, NOT serving the public interest, entertaining people or informing the public.
This thread could end up in the dictionary as an example of
dysfunctional conversation. I look at the original post that kicked it off and I am not sure whether the writer is concerned because the FORUM is dead, or is concerned that RADIO is dead in Atlanta. And from there it goes downhill until the wheels fall off the wagon.
I do not buy a radio because I am concerned that the owners of radio stations need to make money. I buy a radio because I want "my ears to be happy". And I don't want to have to be sitting at the computer to have happy ears. The radio follows me into the yard when I go out and hand-pick the crab grass. The radio follows me into the garage when I do a bit of woodwork. The radio follows me when I trundle down to country road in search of a grocery store.
Long term, if broadcasters do not worry about happy ears... will there be "the making of money"?
Currently the money goes to the stations who having ratings to prove there are ears out there.... but the ratings
count ears, and do not
evaluate the happiness of ears. The industry began with a bargain: you do the information and the service and entertainment and we (the collective public) will give you a franchise to the conduit that reaches the ears.
If I take what I have quoted from your post... then I assume the industry has decided that it no longer wants to honor the terms of the franchise. What happens when "the collective public" decides the franchise is no longer working and should be revoked?