I was a career broadcaster, 42 years in the business. Though a lot of
what Ted said is correct, there are some small pieces of misinformation
in his post I'd like to correct, and also give my view.
First, I think this actually is on topic. Why, because we are confusing
terms a little bit here. It is the portability of an audio local
information source that you would mostly miss if conventional radio
died out. This is in fact being replace by your GTE wireless devices.
The iPhone and Android phone already have the hardware ability to get
conventional radio signals, but the manufacturers have purposely left
it turned off because the evolving GTE cell network make it obsolescent
and not really necessary. Being tied to the web does not mean being
hard wired. Nearly all local radio stations already have web based
streaming services through Tune-In, Pandora, I-Heart radio, or directly
through Amazon's Alexa app. I have a hunch that Google and Apple also
have these services. Nearly everyone under the age of 60 already has a
smart phone of some kind, and many older folks do too, though not all.
Most folks keep that phone with them 24-7. Web services are easily
compatible with other functions of that phone, so even while listening
you can take or make calls, surf the web, check email or whatever.
It is actually not true that conventional radio does not pay artists
for using their music. They do not pay directly, that is true. But
every radio station has to have ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC licenses. Based
on what is played, these organizations collect fees for those songs,
and it is then paid to the artists who are a part of those
organizations as artists. If the artist is totally independent, then he
has to take care of his music rights himself, and that doesn't work so well.
FM and AM both are already available through digital. Not every area
has it, but most major cities do. FM HD, which is just a branded term
for digital, features a simulcast of there standard FM signal, and then
also often adds one or two additional HD channels to the signal. You
must have an HD radio to hear it. There are portables and table top HD
radios out there, and all car radios now have this ability. It has been
slow to catch on, but it is still out there.
AM also has HD. It makes AM sound prety darn good, but it has very
limited range. AM frankly is very expensive to operate, and by todays
standards, it is just to limited technically. It will die eventually.
ShortWave is already dead. The only conventional short wave stations
still around are religious. Everyone else has gone to digital web based
systems. The only other thing still using SW are some digital text and
video services which you cannot decode anyway.
So, conventional analog broadcast radio will slowly die out, but the
stations will still exist, and you will still be able to reach them
using some form of over the air digital. I predict that it will all
eventually migrate to your personal device, sometimes called a smart
phone. I honestly think satellite based radio will die too, Serius XM
already offers a robust streaming service and they are having trouble
making money with the satellite audio service. Satellite will mostly be
used to relay services and signals to local hubs for distribution
through the cell network. Guess what, we'll all still call it radio.
Technically, it is still radio. Signals being transmitted through the
air but digitally encoded.
The problem with local verses national information is really not
related to radio in itself. It is related to ownership of content
producers. Local ownership is almost gone. Conglomerates own most of
the distribution capability of content. So, my friend, as usual, it
comes down to a question of money.
Hope this was helpful. Sorry for the length, but it is a complicated subject.
Bill
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