Re: [Swprograms] OT: Digital radio market study

["Mike" <mwolfson@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I think its more than just concentration John.  Back then radio was run by 
Radio Guys.  Today radio is run by guys in suits and accountants.  Its 
difficult to document how much profit you can make by being creative.  It is 
easy to show how much it will cost though.

Just My Two cents...

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Richard Cuff" <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Shortwave programming discussion" <swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Swprograms] OT: Digital radio market study


> 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 <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Thursday, November 8, 2007 8:38 am
> Subject: Re: [Swprograms] OT: Digital radio market study
> To: rdesantos@xxxxxxxxx, Shortwave programming discussion
> <swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>> 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 <rdesantos@xxxxxxxxx> 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.
>> >
>>
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