internet radio online news
APS Radio News — Even as there are radio station owners and companies who rely on a model that has worked for decades, changes in technology have forced many to make changes or to shutter their operations.
As more and more people have migrated to the internet, they are finding their entertainment and information through that medium.
While people still listen to over-the-air radio stations, the demographics show that younger people are more likely to skirt AM/FM radio stations in favor of things like Youtube and Spotify.
And then there is the aspect of the platforms broadcast entities use.
Should terrestrial radio stations simulcast, and if those do, on what platforms should stations host their content?
James Cridland, who is described as a radio futurologist, is a conference speaker, writer and consultant.
He also publishes podnews.net, a daily briefing on podcasting, which has become ever more popular during the past decade.
In a recent article, Mr. Cridland reported how a number of people reacted when Catherine Tait, the president and CEO of the CBC (the Canadian Broadcast Corporation) recently announced that it is likely that the CBC is planning to cease broadcasting over traditional media.
In particular, she was quoted as saying that the CBC is “preparing to end traditional TV and radio broadcasts and move completely digital.”
Indeed, during the past 15 years, in Canada, the AM band has become rather quiet, as more and more radio stations have ceased on operating on that band.
This fact represents a reflection of how people are accessing media.
Just as years ago ago, during the 1970’s, more and more people shifted from AM to FM, in order to hear music whose audio quality surpassed that of the audio experienced over AM, more and more people have transferred their listening habits from terrestrial radio to internet-based entities and mp3 files streamed over the internet.
In his essay, Mr. Cridland mentions another example of how things have been changing.
For example, he mentioned a recent announcement that was made by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) such that in about ten years it will shutter its over the air broadcast facilities in favor of online-only broadcasts.
However, Mr. Cridland views this policy as a “mistake”.
Whether it will prove to be a mistake will depend, in part, on the extent to which broadband continues to expand.
As more and more all fiber optic networks and direct connections to homes and businesses increase in number and extent, such a policy might not seem quixotic.
For example, a all fiber-optic connection to a home or a business provides an upstream speed of at least 1 gigabits per second and a downstream speed of at least that or better than that speed.
While more and more people will use the internet and will be using smart phones and the like, there is the chance that too much traffic will congest even the best networks.
But there is always the chance that even more networks will be constructed and improved.
Still, over-the=air radio still has many years of use, but the trends have been going in the direction of the internet and smart mobile devices.
That is one of the reasons why car makers are reluctant to add AM radio devices in new electric cars.
In his article, Mr. Cridland spoke about his personal experience, in terms of his wanting to hear one of his favorite programs by asking his Google smart speakers to play the program.
It seems that, according to him, he was unable to access that program.
This situation pertains to how and where broadcasters will try and succeed in locating their content, with respect to the internet.
There are many platforms, but not all platforms are accessible.
For example, if a radio station wants to add its content to Tunein, likely it would be unable to to do so, as in 2018, Tunein stopped accepting applications for the addition of radio stations and the like.
As more people have switched from terrestrial radio, commercial radio stations have lost revenue, even as those entities still feature a decent number of commercials.
Another aspect of these changes is this fundamental change and one that applies to online radio as it does to over-the-air radio stations:
Younger people are much less likely to wait until a given radio station, even one with few or no commercial interruptions, whether an online radio station or a terrestrial radio station, plays songs they like or love.
It is much easier and rather more convenient to find the music they like simply by asking Alexa to play such and such or find a particular song at Youtube or Pandora.
One of the essential questions, perhaps left unanswered, is how does any radio station resolve that conundrum.
Perhaps one possible answer or approach is to integrate the listeners experiences with some degree of notoriety of the listener via intereactive and online radio entities.
internet radio online news
