Just as Predicted.......

[taylorengineer]

CBS has joined with AOL and Apple to provide a great selection of music channels and some of the most popular radio stations in the USA.....and it's all available on the wireless I-Phone.
Radio, at least "over the airwaves" radio, has finally met it's Waterloo.

 

[taylorengineer]

Part Two:

Give Dan Mason, under the guidance of Sumner Redstone, credit for understanding the changes taking place and reacting to them. CBS is well positioned to lead in the next phase of program/content delivery because it's management has broadened it's business model to include ALL the new technologies people use to be entertained and get information.
The Mays boys are too busy picking out the new Lear jet, the Dickie boys are too busy getting tailored for $400 shirts, and boy-genius Boy Bob and his teddies are too busy having lunch with Elton John. They are ALL asleep at the switch......and the trains 'a comin'........
The new I-Phone, and similar technology which uses Ma Bell's 3G wireless broadband technology, is going to put unlimited content at your fingertips......anywhere the network is available.
20 years at the most.....goodbye Mel and XM/Sirius. Goodbye terrestial over the air radio.
Hello....21st century.
It can't get here soon enough!

 

[beachguy3b]

The new I-Phone, and similar technology which uses Ma Bell's 3G wireless broadband technology, is going to put unlimited content at your fingertips......anywhere the network is available.

I've had the same thing for years on other PDA phones. The iPhone is very late to the party, actually. And I haven't had touse AT&T's lousy service.

 

[Uriah]

The CBS initiative is called “Rethink: The Next Generation of Radio.” Stations are now making presentations to clients and agencies.

The presentation includes:

1. CBS support of PPM
2. New system for posting radio buys –(A HUGE move!)
3. Emphasis on reach versus share and cpp
4. Ability to offer advertisers multiple channels – terrestrial, web, digital, video, etc.
5. Stats reinforcing their position as the #1 Digital Radio group
6. Details on new programming software (like last.fm and Pandora) where the listener can custom build playlists.

Dan Mason and company are building the next generation of entertainment platforms. This initiative creates new inventory and lessens their dependence on terrestrial signals for content delivery and revenue without insinuating that AM/FM signals are no longer relevant; they become one element of a multi-dimensional advertising plan.

CBS’s consultant/educational approach is appealing and informative. Advertisers are searching for ways to impact sales in an environment of consumer control. CBS is stepping up – and delivering results.

 

[grmf]

The 3G is nice. I have sampled the TV selections and they quality is impressive. I'm not going to watch TV on my phone but, I would agree that could very well be the future.

 

[jabba17]

I think that AM radio will be the canary in the coalmine. IP streams (once devices and SERVICE become cheaper, more portable, and more reliable) will serve the current niche formats on AM (non-English, religious) much better than any broadcast medium. HD subchannels on FM will also eat into niche AM. AM will eventually become the realm of low-fi formats such as sports and talk.

We may also see a lot of sorting out among stations. My prediction is that the clear channel AMs will maintain a presence, due to their wide reach (which will increase as a lot of co-channel stations go dark), and a lot of tiny local stations on local channels will continue to serve geographically local markets and micromarkets (full service, local talk, high school sports, community affairs). Regional stations and those having to power down on clear channels at night will be the hardest hit (although the latter group might be able to serve as a daytime "repeater" for the clear channel). Some of the current regional channels may be converted to clears or locals.

If the bugs get worked out for HD on AM, that may give AM a new lease on life.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

AM will eventually become the realm of low-fi formats such as sports and talk.

We may also see a lot of sorting out among stations. My prediction is that the clear channel AMs will maintain a presence, due to their wide reach (which will increase as a lot of co-channel stations go dark), and a lot of tiny local stations on local channels will continue to serve geographically local markets and micromarkets (full service, local talk, high school sports, community affairs). // snip //

If the bugs get worked out for HD on AM, that may give AM a new lease on life.

This is not to turn this conversation into one more food-fight over AM HD.

My heart is focused on the micromarket concept.

If AM is going to work well for clear channels and for local-and-micromarkets, would HD be of any use to these people if their programming is going to be along the lines you are predicting? Wouldn't these players be praying for HD as we know it to go away to minimize their capital and operating costs as niche players?

If I have a 1kw full-timer in a micromarket somewhere down in Appalachia or the Ozarks, would I be better off investing in adding HD and maintaining it, or investing in a productive presence on the web and maybe a "shopper" to augment my AM?

If cell-phone based streaming takes off, would that be a better place to put my energy than HD?

 

[upstate29651]

AM will eventually become the realm of low-fi formats such as sports and talk.

Wow, imagine is that happened! Oh.....

G

 

[jabba17]

AM will eventually become the realm of low-fi formats such as sports and talk.

We may also see a lot of sorting out among stations. My prediction is that the clear channel AMs will maintain a presence, due to their wide reach (which will increase as a lot of co-channel stations go dark), and a lot of tiny local stations on local channels will continue to serve geographically local markets and micromarkets (full service, local talk, high school sports, community affairs). // snip //

If the bugs get worked out for HD on AM, that may give AM a new lease on life.

This is not to turn this conversation into one more food-fight over AM HD.

My heart is focused on the micromarket concept.

If AM is going to work well for clear channels and for local-and-micromarkets, would HD be of any use to these people if their programming is going to be along the lines you are predicting? Wouldn't these players be praying for HD as we know it to go away to minimize their capital and operating costs as niche players?

If I have a 1kw full-timer in a micromarket somewhere down in Appalachia or the Ozarks, would I be better off investing in adding HD and maintaining it, or investing in a productive presence on the web and maybe a "shopper" to augment my AM?

If cell-phone based streaming takes off, would that be a better place to put my energy than HD?

My point was, if AM HD can be made to work, it would enable the status quo to continue longer. I don't think it can be made to work, though--not effectively enough to make AM competitive with FM. Fidelity-wise, maybe (which opens up music format possibilities for the time being). The problem with coverage (especially at night) is not addressed by HD, which is AM's biggest issue. Unless you're a clear channel station, or are a local station with no expectation of FM-style coverage, your night coverage will be diminished by having to power down/go directional/deal with chop from other stations on your frequency.

Let me use WDWD (Radio Disney 590) as an example on a regional channel. As a music format, they could get more share if they were broadcasting in a hi-fi medium. They could get more share if they didn't have to deal with skywave chop at dusk from other 4-5k stations on 590. HD would help the former but not the latter.

To your point, I agree that HD is not much use to the clear channels and local markets, especially if they stick with low-fi formats like sports, talk, and full service. And I agree that cell-phone or other IP streaming is a better use of resources.

To Upstate's comment, ATL has more AM Latino OR religious sticks--each--than sports and talk sticks combined-count 'em. Of course, sports and talk are on the biggest sticks and have the most share. But that's still a lot of channels! If niche formats on these stations such as religion and the various flavors of Latino programming-sports, talk, music, religion--go to streams, a lot of sticks are going to go dark. What happens to those? Could someone cobble some un/under-used licenses together and hammer out a new clear channel that could get some share? Could someone get the FCC to switch a channel from regional to local (and dispense with some of the resulting nighttime signal contortions and just have everyone on that channel go to 1k non-directional) and open up the air to more community full service, high school sports, etc? Of course, there are already a lot of these stations on local channels that would be ready to go as is.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

My point was, if AM HD can be made to work, it would enable the status quo to continue longer. I don't think it can be made to work, though--not effectively enough to make AM competitive with FM.

You and I are in agreement.

With radio today, we are in a similar predicament to farming in 1962. There were too many farmers with too many farms that were too small. Somebody needed to get out of the business. Who gets to decide who exits and on what terms. The past 45 years have been very painful for a lot of people who loved the lifestyle of farming.... but were caught in a very unstructured force to depopulate the farms.

Today's radio picture is overcrowded and over producing and thus producing some questionable product. Who gets to decide which stations go dark. Who gets to decide who if anyone can inherit the newly vacant channels and cannibalize the left over spectrum parts to enhance their remaining station.

Where is that King Solomon when we need him?????? ???