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Oh, thank God: Turns out everything's gonna be just fine

I know that some of this discussion has turned to the dark side a bit, however Sam's basis of looking at media in today's environment is correct, many respected people in the business really feel terrestrial radio is done and based on the capitalization of radio and tv stations, the market believes it also. It is also a generational discussion as many young people never or rarely listen to radio today, using internet, ipods and social networks as the way to find new music. Radio cannot succeed in the future without growth from the younger generation and radio's massive layoffs make almost every market & station sound the same. You are seeing a major switch to syndicated or voice tracked programming in all dayparts and no real local connection to the listener. Satellite radio will probably not survive because of the overhead and since the merger, satellite stations don't sound any different than FM offerings. If some of you have not read Jerry Del Colliano's blog on radio and media, I suggest you do, Jerry has quite the resume and especially was a major player in this market.

http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/
 
Just to be a little practical, once you get past the "radio sucks" crowd that is disproportionaltely represented on R-I, I'm not as convinced that everyone dislikes syndicated programming or can tell the difference between what is voice tracked or not. I'm well aware of the use of iPods and social newtworking, but once that teenager gets out of college and into the real world, how much time are they going to have building personal playlists and trolling the net for new music?

Right now I'm paying, taxes and everything, about $125 a month for 2 cellphones, as well as about $80 for cable and internet. If I was only paying for the ability to talk on the phone (I have unlimited messaging and internet on my cell plan as well) I'd pay about half that. I'd really have to think harfd about adding another $20 for unlimited bandwidth so I could listen to "radio" on the phone, and maybe an extra $10 or $20 I'd have to pay to my content provider of choice (no, I don't believe most people are going to listen to streams of kids playing radio in their basement).

It will more than likely be the larger companies, just like Cable TV, who will be providing most of the content on whatever new technology comes about. The stations that will win? Just like now, the ones playing the same songs over and over again. Sorry to rain on the parade of the 10000 song "all stiffs all the time" crowd around here.
 
gr8oldies said:
Just to be a little practical, once you get past the "radio sucks" crowd that is disproportionaltely represented on R-I, I'm not as convinced that everyone dislikes syndicated programming or can tell the difference between what is voice tracked or not. I'm well aware of the use of iPods and social newtworking, but once that teenager gets out of college and into the real world, how much time are they going to have building personal playlists and trolling the net for new music?

Right now I'm paying, taxes and everything, about $125 a month for 2 cellphones, as well as about $80 for cable and internet. If I was only paying for the ability to talk on the phone (I have unlimited messaging and internet on my cell plan as well) I'd pay about half that. I'd really have to think harfd about adding another $20 for unlimited bandwidth so I could listen to "radio" on the phone, and maybe an extra $10 or $20 I'd have to pay to my content provider of choice (no, I don't believe most people are going to listen to streams of kids playing radio in their basement).

It will more than likely be the larger companies, just like Cable TV, who will be providing most of the content on whatever new technology comes about. The stations that will win? Just like now, the ones playing the same songs over and over again. Sorry to rain on the parade of the 10000 song "all stiffs all the time" crowd around here.
Click to expand...

Hey, the death of radio has been reported (promised?) for some time. Methinks the only thing different now is that DOLLARS are flowing elsewhere as opposed to just listeners.

There are plenty of folks who still listen to radio, and probably will for as long as it stays around. The real challenge is keeping revenue coming in the door (that is directly a product of the broadcast product).

Had a similar discussion with some friends of mine regarding the continued viability of AM. For the efficiency-minded on this thread, AM pales in comparison to FM resource-wise. A byproduct of that is how many non-metro AMs can sell their transmitter land for more than the entire station is worth.

That's not simply technology passing you by, but economics as well.

Follow the money, folks. It doesn't matter how many people are listening. What matters is how many advertisers are willing to cut checks...if they have any money left in the budget after paying for their cable advertising, billboards, Internet and direct mail.

Increasingly, radio's place in the pecking order is dropping faster than the career prospects of certain professional swimmers.
 
90 percent of Americans listen to "terrestrial" radio, if one believes in the Arbitron "talking points."

Funny, but the very same Arbitron notes that 40-million people a month also listen ... and longer ... to Internet Radio in some form or another.

And funnier, I can barely hear my community's AM 1kw blowtorch which is only 6 miles away ... and with all the development here, can hardly hear it at night on a graveyard channel (1230). It's said it loses about 10 percent of its "pattern" a year. I can tell.

In fact, I was a guest on a talk show on a station some 25 miles away and couldn't hear the station at all, except on it's Internet stream. I mentioned that, and the excuse was, "Well, yeah, we have to <gulp> power down to 500 watts on our 920 frequency ater 5 p.m.

Funny, too, that the next four callers all said the same thing, "Yeah, we can't hear your station very well anymore." This, being, the biggest news/talk station in the market.

And this funny note, I listen to Wilmington, Philadelphia and Jersey Shore radio ... plus am a big fan of Hy Lit Radio ... and hear it all in near studio quality, on a Roku Labs Internet radio (complete with AM & FM which I never use ... no need for it, since I get better quality and no IBOC hash from the terrestrial "stream" anyway.)

I listen to my favorite "back home" stations without the frenzy of DXers-gone-wild because that's what they listen to radio for ... how far a station "gets out."

I live, incidentally, in California. Pretty damn big signals, it sounds to me.

I believe Sam's correct and that some comments from others are fear that it may be true ... AM is dying, FM isn't what the "younger demos" care about anymore and Internet Radio is rapidly becoming the "independent" voice of "new" radio ... and the merging of "terrestrial" signals that just don't "make the trip" like they used to.

Imagine, having to listen to a radio station via the Internet ... from a transmitter just five miles away.

Radio ... is sure a "funny" bisuness these days, especially at $.11 cents a share. Now, THAT's "Tru Value."

Gimme the Internet anytime.

You go, Sam! And keep up the good work.

If some of wisenheimers would stop stealing copper from under the towers, maybe the signals of these stations would get out like they should.

Sam, how you doing on that "salt water sprinkler" to mount at each tower's base to help aid in the irrigation of those signals on AM, anyway?


My best, my friend.
 
I also agree with Sam. (In the interest of full disclosure, we are a full-service commercial local radio station transmitting via the internet and Comcast Cable Channel 66 in the Coatesville market.)

When WCOJ flipped, the only local radio station left in the Brandywine Valley was daytimer WCHE. As the industry continues to consolidate and stations go automated, where else are you going to get local programming but the internet? We have local advertisers, local brokered programming, live local news each half hour during weekdays, live interviews with local politicians, etc.

KYW, WPHT, WNTP, etc. all broadcast Philadelphia area news but how often are they going to talk about township or school board news in Concord or East Brandywine Townships, for example? What they do, they do well. But their geographic area is too large to concentrate on local municipalities. That's the niche we fill.

www.brandywineradio.com
 
Brandywine: Way to go, live and local and committed to the community. Somewhere many years ago, station owners (I can't call them broadcasters, beacuse they don't deserve it) forgot the basic premise behind the old Communications Act, that it was the responsibility of a licensee to serve the public interest, convenience and necessity of the community of license. Talk about being swallowed up, just look at the diversity of ownership in New Jersey, and you'll see why the business has no one to blame but themselves for the current state of affairs.
Just my $.02
 
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