Heck, many years ago, I had to explain to some kids that Paul McCartney had been in a band before he was in Wings.
Some stations had dead-start turntables that eliminated the introductory wow of an insufficient backspin. Ever work with those?
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
"Radio" in the Year 2068
- Thread starter kfbkfb
- Start date
Heck, many years ago, I had to explain to some kids that Paul McCartney had been in a band before he was in Wings.
Some stations had dead-start turntables that eliminated the introductory wow of an insufficient backspin. Ever work with those?
Maybe they'll be a 100th anniversary of "Hey Jude" on the radio then
Yeah, I can hear K-Earth pumping out the oldies of 2030......yeah right......and not a chance.
Radio is on backup fumes........well, the radio as we once knew it.
If movies hadn't adapted to sound, I doubt if they would have made it past the depression!
Yet they still shoot on film. Very little else has changed.
Or in some cases, the device is nearly timeless.
I was given the example of cast-iron cookware. Absolutely ancient. But many of the better cooks prefer cast iron to newer materials because of the way cast iron heats and cools. While other products are lighter, cheaper and more "modern" many chefs fall back on cast iron because it's predictable, reliable and familiar.
That seems to be part of the role of OTA radio and streams of curated radio stations: predictable, familiar, likable and reliable. Maybe not always, and overburdened with commercials, but easy to use.
The question of radio's future decades down the line has nothing to do with programming.
It is all about the advertisers. Radio revenue growth has been below inflation as an industry for a long time. SNL Kagan forecasts radio revenue growth of 0.9% through 2022. Meanwhile, labor costs keep rising (especially health insurance). If that's the new normal, radio's business model won't work in 20 years, much less 50 years.
It is all about the advertisers. Radio revenue growth has been below inflation as an industry for a long time. SNL Kagan forecasts radio revenue growth of 0.9% through 2022. Meanwhile, labor costs keep rising (especially health insurance). If that's the new normal, radio's business model won't work in 20 years, much less 50 years.
Which is why the future of radio is finding ways to fund radio without depending on advertising.
Before you go accusing anyone of wearing "rose colored glasses," maybe YOU should take YOUR blinders off!
Well, WLS for one was great in the late '70s. And it was a common listening experience for nearly all of us!
The "easy money of paid religion"? Have you ever actually WORKED for such a station? Many of them are indeed "dollar a holler," but most of them do well to make just enough to make ends meet, make payroll, etc. Many of them are fairly low-rated, especially when compared to all the big towers in town. Some of them are even non-profit, non-commercial, listener supported, etc. Does that seem like "easy money" to you? If so, great, then start a religious station, and let us know how well it does.
Perhaps sometimes still, but a lot of movies are shot on digital cameras now.
Good, then maybe, just maybe, radio can finally cater to the 55+ crowd and open up the music library once again to these people who long for their oldies (and there millions upon millions of them). There's always hope!
If they don't depend on advertising that puts all the financial burden on listeners. Most listeners don't want to pay.
You continue to erroneously blame radio for not serving the senior demos. Radio would do that in a New York minute if there were ad revenues available to support such a move.
CBS television has had an ongoing project to present to agencies and their clients data about changing 50+ consumer patterns (remember, TV follows 18-49 not 25-54). The results have been minimal as the larger accounts, with extensive market research expertise, see that the cost per sale against 50+ is much higher and they don't want to lose money marketing to a consumer who requires more impressions before purchasing occurs.
In 2068, the FM band will still be here. Perhaps not in its analog goodness, but it'll still be there. I tend to think the rate of AM signoffs will increase (and a few FMs going dark as well).
I'd imagine radio continuing to see a slow decline in growth...by about 2030, the bottom of the barrel will finally be struck. AM band will be degraded by then to the point where it is a glorified "hobby band" like CB (with lack of any FCC enforcement to match). The nice thing will be a major market Class B AM license could be had for --shucks-- let's just say less than a decent used car.
Then somebody, somewhere, probably around 2030, will come up with the Next Big Thing for FM...probably all-digital broadcasts...but far more interactive, more visual content-rich...and FREE. Free meaning not just free for the listeners but free for broadcasters and radio manufacturers (no royalties).
As many in the broadcast industry tend to do, there will be some claiming this new technology will go nowhere, the sky is falling, radio is deader than dead, etc. And they will be right...at first. Eventually, as more cheap radios are pumped out there (I'm imagining these "radios" are more like a smartphone with an touchscreen.) and stations pick up the technology, this new digital tech will help radio gain back market share...to the point that by 2068, radio will be a primary source of music entertainment again as it is now.
...just without analog. The few stations running analog by then will either be a "nostalgia" format deliberately running analog or be like those running on shortwave now: Money to burn with an agenda to present...listeners be damned!
I'd imagine radio continuing to see a slow decline in growth...by about 2030, the bottom of the barrel will finally be struck. AM band will be degraded by then to the point where it is a glorified "hobby band" like CB (with lack of any FCC enforcement to match). The nice thing will be a major market Class B AM license could be had for --shucks-- let's just say less than a decent used car.
Then somebody, somewhere, probably around 2030, will come up with the Next Big Thing for FM...probably all-digital broadcasts...but far more interactive, more visual content-rich...and FREE. Free meaning not just free for the listeners but free for broadcasters and radio manufacturers (no royalties).
As many in the broadcast industry tend to do, there will be some claiming this new technology will go nowhere, the sky is falling, radio is deader than dead, etc. And they will be right...at first. Eventually, as more cheap radios are pumped out there (I'm imagining these "radios" are more like a smartphone with an touchscreen.) and stations pick up the technology, this new digital tech will help radio gain back market share...to the point that by 2068, radio will be a primary source of music entertainment again as it is now.
...just without analog. The few stations running analog by then will either be a "nostalgia" format deliberately running analog or be like those running on shortwave now: Money to burn with an agenda to present...listeners be damned!
- Status