But this article is correct. The only ones we have to blame are in the mirror in front of our faces. The greatest pride I’ve taken in my 30 years in this industry is it’s ability to reinvent itself. The Drawing Board needs to be returned to before it’s too late.

RL Adams, I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say. I can tell you that CEA doesn’t have “main” members. We simply have members, and we love them all.

Brent Walker and Dennis Switzer, radio’s a commodity? Like toilet paper? I actually agree with you that AM/FM radios are a commodity. Where I disagree with you is that you seem to think this is a good thing. Furthermore, you also seem to imply that because AM/FM radios are a commodity they will always be everywhere, like milk and oranges. I’m afraid I disagree with you on this point, too. People have to eat. People don’t have to listen to AM/FM radio. There are plenty of examples of commodities for which consumer demand dried up. Remember the cassette player? It won’t be long before people are asking, “remember the CD player,” too. How about dial-up computer modems? You get my point. Declining consumer interest can indicate that a product is heading for extinction, even if that product is a ubiquitous commodity.

I agree with you both that radio programming is a very significant part of the puzzle, and that the changes that occurred in this area post-1996 have generally resulted in many listeners having a lower opinion of AM/FM radio. I think this is because of a mix of factors. Yes, local content is important to many, but in reality with today’s technology it’s very hard for a radio station in a metropolitan area to be local enough to satisfy most people. I only want to hear local content for my specific community, not any of the other communities in the rest of the metropolitan area. If I had a digital delivery system that allowed me to store and filter the content sent to me I could achieve this.

Far more damaging than less local content, in my view, was the increase in the number of spots broadcasters had to run to pay off the loans they took out to buy up other stations. Radio listeners are sick of commercials because radio broadcasters loaded up their schedules with so many spots over the past decade that listeners began to perceive that the ratio of spots to desired content was out of balance. Radio’s collective behavior in this regard was typical of a monopoly. While no individual radio company had a monopoly, the AM/FM service as a whole had a monopoly on live audio from the dashboard. And because it had a monopoly it got away with abusing the consumer in terms of jamming more and more commercials into the mix.

AM/FM’s monopoly on live programming in the car is now being challenged by satellite radio, and will be further challenged when local TV stations become receivable in the car in a few years. For years AM/FM radio stations only had to compete with each other for in-car listeners who wanted live programming. Now they’ve got competitors that are forcing them to raise their level of play. And we need the right tools to compete.

Thanks again for the comments.

A star-crossed future, an audience who finds further distractions every day, and an ownership with little focus on anything beyond the next quarter’s financials.

Radio broadcasting, one of the great loves of my life, is slowly becoming a stranger to me.

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com

By 2000 I had purchased an expensive rooftop FM antenna so that I could receive Baltimore stations (especially WBJC) as Washington radio had deteriorated to the point that I was no longer listened.

By 2005 I had purchased a satellite radio. I have totally given up on terrestrial radio. I now have 4 satellite subscriptions & am happy but what a shame.

Mr. Wilson: Thanks for your comments.

So why are broadcasters not flocking to HD/digital technology? First, it’s prohibitively expensive for those of us in micro markets. Expensive to buy into, and the licensing fees make it expensive on an ongoing basis. Most stations who’ve made the jump to HD run a jukebox on their new channels… there’s no big investment in programming that won’t show a return to the bottom line for many years… nobody’s listening because there’s no compelling programming to make them go out and buy a new receiver… stations makea no money off advertising, because nobody’s listening to the new channels… chicken and egg, but it’s creating a stillborn technology.

I will tell you that my little AM/FM combo are respected in my little town because we do what no one else in the market does… local news, local sports, local play-by-play, with a professional presentation. Local isn’t the be-all, end-all for every station, but every station had better be serving their share of the market with something more than 10-in-a-row.

Sorry, CES, the technology is secondary. If we as broadcasters are providing local service to our local market, the market will respond. If we’re not providing something of unique value to our listeners, they’re gone, and so are we, regardless of the form of delivery.