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I have a pet theory. Feel free to confirm or poke holes in it.
My contention is that with satellite radio and iPods, local radio is quickly on the way out. After all, if you can hear a broad variety of music without some sixth-rate, drive-time 'personality' babbling at you and putting on six commercials in a row for Toyota dealers and Ray's Mattress Barn, why would you listen to it?
I work in advertising, and I find that radio stations in this market are grasping at straws, trying to arrest the decline in their under 40 markets.
the only local radio i listen to anymore is a small town morning talk show about local issues. its pretty interesting to have a talk show about whats going on in a rural county
In the under 40 market, I'd agree that those listeners are tuning away from local radio. They're more computer savy and can make their own IPOD playlists and mix cds to have their favorite songs ready to go. But in the over 40 crowd, I'd say it'll be another 5-10 years before the local radio stations lose their appeal.
I don't have a home computer and I am blocked from downloading anything at work. So I don't have a portable mp3 player. I'd love one if I could find a way to put songs on it and maintain it. I have XM in my car and for the most part, think it's worth the 3 month free trial period. I won't be paying the $13 - $15 month fee after the three months is up. I don't spend enough time in the car to make it worthwhile. My commute is only about 10-15 minutes each way. I like listening to a particular local station. If the DJ talks, or a commercial is played, I just change the station. The stereo controls are on the steering wheel of my car so it's convenient and safe to channel surf until I find a song I like. Also, I have a 6 disc changer that I can shuffle through. My car does have a jack that you can plug an MP3 player into in case I ever get one.
Last edited by eggalegga; 05-29-2008 at 11:24 AM..
I have a pet theory. Feel free to confirm or poke holes in it.
My contention is that with satellite radio and iPods, local radio is quickly on the way out. After all, if you can hear a broad variety of music without some sixth-rate, drive-time 'personality' babbling at you and putting on six commercials in a row for Toyota dealers and Ray's Mattress Barn, why would you listen to it?
I work in advertising, and I find that radio stations in this market are grasping at straws, trying to arrest the decline in their under 40 markets.
Anybody have a thought?
I agree completely. I have long since cut out all local radio except for NPR and my local classical station (both of these are for in the car only - otherwise I have online radio). Have always hated irritating radio-DJs and commercials and won't miss them at all.
I bought the 1st gen iPod on a whim and have only listened to local radio a handful of times since. Radio here (Raleigh area) is absolutely terrible. The college stations are about the only decent options.
Wife had XM for awhile when she bought a new Honda. We both really enjoyed it, but once she started working from home it just didn't make sense to keep it.
Internet streaming stations are another good option.
Most radio stations are starting to live-stream or go HD for expanded programing. The demise of terrestrial radio is inevitable a some point, probably right after newspapers. Problem is for both of them is advertising dollars. That's what they are all about.
Personally, I have Sirius sat radio. My vehicle is not factory equipped, so I can remove the unit and bring it into the house dock. I purchased the lifetime subscription for $400 and I'm good to go for a long time. I still listen to "radio" at work, but if I'm in the office I listen to Pandora or stuff I ripped to my system. My kids have ipods, but I really don't need one. I'll bring CD's in the car to listen to since my commute isn't that long. I haven't installed a Sirius "car kit" in my company car yet, but I just might. I hardly listen to radio anymore in any of my vehicles. I'm also older than the under 40 crowd. So it's starting to proliferate into the "older" group as well.
My contention is that with satellite radio and iPods, local radio is quickly on the way out. After all, if you can hear a broad variety of music without some sixth-rate, drive-time 'personality' babbling at you and putting on six commercials in a row for Toyota dealers and Ray's Mattress Barn, why would you listen to it?
I work in advertising, and I find that radio stations in this market are grasping at straws, trying to arrest the decline in their under 40 markets.
As far as all the commercials,it's not just radio. It seems that there's alot more commercials on TV also!
I like the radio. I don't own an MP3/iPod...don't have satellite radio. I walk. Once I have the radio, all I have to pay for are the batteries...and the radio drains less power than either a CD player or tape player.
Unless, of course, I'm listening AT HOME, and not while I'm walking back and forth. Then I can just plug it in. No changing CD's or cassettes, can just leave it on, and listen to music.
EDIT: What I DON'T like is "morning shows" where you have "hosts" yakking away instead of playing MUSIC. I put the radio on because I wanted MUSIC...not a gabfest.
The satellite radio (we got three months free with our new car) has been the biggest dissapointment in a long time - the stations are subpar with the local stations.
We don't have an Ipod (we use the napster to go service ~ $15/month) and for my wife, she loves it, d/l everything she wants. For me- I find it to be too much work to download everything, put it on a play list, transfer to the player and plug it into the car.
I listen to either cd's (mostly local musicians) or local stations in the car and the internet radio at work. I hope they don't get rid of the free stuff.
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Don't get rid of radio!
