XM, iPod can't touch that dial
Good old 'terrestrial radio' still reaches more than 90 percent of Americans age 12 and older, year after year.
By Clayton Collins | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the February 23, 2007 edition
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Satellite-radio firms XM and Sirius announced this week their intention to merge in the interest of boosting program offerings that now reach a combined 14 million listeners.
Meanwhile, consumer interest grows around high-definition (HD) radio – which lets even "terrestrial" programmers deliver digital clarity and also piggyback multiple signals for simultaneous broadcast.
You might think traditional radio's golden age had long since passed. But despite the rise of deep, personal libraries of digital music, MP3-ready cars with 10-CD changers, and yes, subscription satellite-radio channels for every listener niche, broadcast radio still sizzles.
Although total listening time may have declined a bit, the medium still reaches more than 90 percent of Americans age 12 and older, year after year.
"It's free and it's readily available," says Thom Mocarsky, a senior vice president at industry-tracker Arbitron. "The average household has about a half-dozen radio receivers, in the home and in the car, and it's an established part of our lives."
It's a part facing some change of its own. All these digital developments have renewed debate about the evolution of programming. There's the rise of radio with a Web-based video component. And there's the continuing effect of an older trend toward a more "corporate" brand of radio.
At its best, many experts agree, radio has traditionally been "local" and personality- driven in its programming, even advancing local artists. At least some of the time, even choice-happy audio consumers like being surprised. Local focus, say Mr. Mocarsky and others, has helped make radio somewhat bulletproof in the face of all that clamoring for ear-share.
But even as HD promises new levels of clarity for many listeners – the worldwide market for digital radio receivers will grow from 5 million units in 2005 to nearly 25 million in 2010, says market-research firm In-Stat – consolidation of the broadcast industry has threatened that vital localness by imposing cookie-cutter playlists and formats, some experts say.
A recent draft FCC report showed a nearly 6 percent increase in the number of commercial radio stations in the US between 1996 (a year of major deregulation) and 2003. The same report indicates the number of radio-station owners declined by 35 percent.
Some big-chain stations call themselves by a male first name – "Mike" or "Doug" – and boast of being mostly DJ-free and open-format, inclined to play just about anything, like a broadly programmed iPod on shuffle.
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