Comment to Lex Alexander
Lex Alexander had a post about the death of commercial radio.
I wrote a reply to him in his comments section, but it would't let me post more than 1000 characters, so I had to truncate it. My entire comment is posted here below.
The reports of commercial radio's death is still a bit premature I think Lex.
Obviously I'm speaking from within the belly of the beast, but at least from inside I can see what needs to be done to remain competitive and the industry see's the threat from Satellite Radio and is taking it seriously.
Broadcast Radios death has been forecast many times before. When TV came around, it was announced that radio would die. When music videos and MTV came along, again radio was pronounced on it's deathbed. You remember what the first video shown by MTV was? "Video Killed the Radio Star." It didn't happen.
Now the same predictions are being made with satellite radio. But the industry will make the necessary changes to remain viable. Radio may be different, but it will still be around.
Digital radio is coming soon and we will also have broadband Internet access in our autos before long. This could make internet streaming of broadcast radio even more important because it would make broadcast stations as available as satellite stations.
HBO and its counterparts have prospered just as satellite radio will. But just as HBO has not killed broadcast TV, satellite radio will not kill broadcast radio. But I don't deny that everything will be radically different in the near future.
The broadcasting company I work for is cutting back on commercials by 19% beginning in January. This is a move to remain competitive in a changing environment. Our four stations in Greensboro are also going to be streaming once again via the Internet beginning in November.
Radio may indeed die and slow and painful death, but if history is any guide, it will make the changes necessary to remain a viable medium.
I could go on for much longer on this subject, but I will just leave it here. I enjoy your blog. You do some good writing.
1 Comments:
Actually, Dennis, my post was intentionally hyperbolic. I've written in the past about how the commercial radio bidness went to hell during my stint there, roughly the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. And I've also written in the past about how no new medium has ever truly replaced existing media, only made them, in some cases, change their content. But I'll elaborate on this at my own blog.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for commenting.
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