Can I add one more thing? Recall the creative explosion that characterized FM radio in the late '60s and early '70s. New formats, new ideas, new approaches to "doing radio" came out of that time. The main difference I see between the willingness to push the envelope then and the rank timidity we experience now is something that I'll use an economic regulatory term to describe--"concentration of control". Simply put, we didn't have it then. So we had a great many more "laboratories" in which creative minds could experiment freely. With a handful of group owners tightly controlling what their O&Os and affiliates do (all in the name of preserving the bloody bottom line for just the next quarter), there's no freedom to play around... no freedom to learn from failure...or, to put it succinctly--the discover a new success.
It's happening elsewhere--satellite and the internet, as we've observed here. I think if we want it to happen on terrestrial radio, we're going to have to address the concentration of control there. But I don't think we're going to in a regulatory sense. The economic model built by the group owners will have to collapse first. It may be coming. jaf ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Cuff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thursday, November 8, 2007 8:38 am Subject: Re: [Swprograms] OT: Digital radio market study To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Shortwave programming discussion <[email protected]> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > I don't think online feeds (that link was from Clear Channel) will do > the trick by itself. A marginally acceptable version is what a local > AM station did here -- create an online and HD oldies feed, inserting > local advertising spots / news / traffic / weather that is repurposed > (don't you love that word) from their "angry white male" formatted AM > counterpart. > > That at least offers some localized value, but is still warmed-over > automated stuff. > > The public radio HD alternatives tend to showcase additional > programming that might not be available in a local market, but again > rarely represent anything truly "new". > > HD radio will find a narrow niche in cars, but even that will be > temporary in metropolitan areas. There, WiMAX networks -- in > about 5 > years' time, perhaps less -- will allow you to take your WiFi radio > and put it in your car. Admittedly that won't work for cross-country > drivers, but most of us do our driving in metro areas. > > My two cents... > > Rich Cuff > > On Nov 7, 2007 4:34 PM, Rob de Santos <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > You're pretty much on target John. The diversity has improved > somewhat in the > > past year but one wonders why, given the huge resources of the > large station > > owner groups, that they can't do better. I recall the link a > few weeks back to > > the online feeds of various music formats from one of the big > groups. Where are > > some of those formats on the local HD radio channels? Missing > in action. > > Without compelling content, the improved audio quality is wasted. > > > _______________________________________________ Swprograms mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the URL shown above.
