Radio Alternatives

Radio Alternatives

The use of broadcast radio has been successful for many decades. From its early development of being a hobbyist’s toy to the accomplishment of entertaining homes, radio has came a long way to prove itself to be a profitable industry over the years. Radio also contributed with all the major programs we have in television today. Soap operas, talk shows, broadcast news and many more were derived from early radio programming. However the business of radio faced a major problem, not only with the invention of the television, but also with the convergence of media. After the World War II when television was invented, radio encounter with a decline due primarily to the change of programming (Radio Chap. of text). This industry had to adapt quickly not to disappear. Here is where I want to start to examine all the alternatives that this technological revolution brought to students and consumers, who are always searching for a superior and more practical way of being entertained.

The digitization of media brought this new paradigm in the communication world that revolutionized the way we as consumers choose to get information and entertainment. Not only did it make easier to find your preferences, but it also made it faster, cheaper and with a lot more to choose from. The convergence of the different medium formats has impacted the world, allowing people to listen to whatever they want, anywhere they like, at anytime. Personally I think that is the main reason people are not listening to radio as much as they used to. Instead of going through the hassle of searching radio station by radio station to find the music you like or even to flee from commercials, people listen to their mp3s, iPods, and other media players like cell phones. The New York Times says, “The amount of time people tune into radio over the course of a week has fallen by 14 percent over the last decade”.

Audience fragmentation has also supported the development of satellite radio, another alternative to broadcast radio. With innovative features and a superior sound quality, satellite radio had more than 2.6 million subscribers after a couple of years. XM Satellite Radio and Sirius are competing not only among themselves, but trying to wipe out broadcast radio off the map (Radio Chap.