I love NPR (National Public Radio, for our international friends). I love the quirky game shows with perfectly fitting quirky hosts, I love the crisp sound quality of "RadioLab" and "This American Life", not to mention that NPR seemingly bridges the gap between being a fun online publication and reputable news source with its surprisingly entertaining website, with cute bits like "Sandwich Mondays." But what I can't stand, is that the general public won't ever appreciate any of it because the only NPR they know is that of the old white guy variety, or if you're lucky the NPR that the Prius driving, Ivy League hipster listens to.
I am unfortunately stuck with the first option. In retirement paradise, otherwise known as South Florida, the land of which I call home, the NPR station is by the Old, of the Old, for the Old. The regular programming revolves around topics of gardening, antique restoration, local art fairs, and play by plays of charity galas, topped off with "A Prairie Home Companion" and 1940s jazz on "Night Train." Only Friday through Sunday afternoon is NPR enticing to a wide audience as national programs such as "Wait, Wait! Don't Tell Me" and "Ask Me Another" does the station receive a dip in the age of the average listener.
While working in Los Angeles over the summer, I occasionally logged onto NPR's online broadcasts to update myself on what was happening back east at home, when I noticed the station I was listening to was too young, too fresh to be NPR. It was only playing indie rock and world music from urban underground artists, yet it was owned by NPR, supported by the People, for the People, of the People. I couldn't believe my ears, yet I wasn't surprised. NPR does take the local flavor of its listeners, and this was the local flavor of L.A.
If all NPR stations were this way, we wouldn't be hunting for decent free radio on the internet, or even paying a premium to SiriusXM to listen to NPR's New York studio. Unfortunately the taste of our local area dictates the whole station. In South Florida, that will all change as the audience is dying out, a new era will be ushered in.
Click here to check out NPR across the country.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Modern tastes shift from "On Air" to "Online"
Radio: the transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves of radio frequency, especially those carrying sound messages. The concept, the idea of what radio programming should be is now a romanticized memory of the past. Disc jockeys in small booths at local stations, oozing with personality while being broadcasted live to millions of personal radios is quickly becoming a dying breed. Local stations are being bought out by media giants such as iHeartMedia and and Clear Channel Media, "internet radio" is just a mask for music genome projects of the Pandora cohort. Radio is undergoing a fast change, fearing that it is on its way of becoming the print journalism of the digital broadcasting family, a platform that will cease to exist when its audience does.
In The State of the Media's annual "Audio: By the Numbers" private subscription user only and online radio platforms were the only forms of radio broadcasting networks showing steady increases in their numbers of listeners. SiriusXM continually grows in numbers as the American consumer becomes more narrow in his or her selection of station, not to mention that the modern consumer is also less inclined to listen to advertisements and that SiriusXM is also available standard in most cars at the time of purchase. Mobile radio also experienced an increase in listeners as radio stations are now available in app form at for both iPhone users and consumers of the Android Marketplace, allowing listeners to catch real-time broadcasts on the go from major networks and cities that normally broadcast thousands of miles away.
Differing from the satellite radio variety, Internet radio giant, Pandora, crushed both its online competitors and real-time radio competitors during 2014. Pandora mastered the art of catering to specific tastes by matching 400 musical characteristics to one's musical tastes to create custom channels, but it is questionable if that is considered radio or a robotized playlist. Similar to SiriusXM, Pandora or Spotify, its #1 competitor, are also becoming available standard in most cars, where most people recorded listening to the radio while driving.
The decline in AM/FM listenership is projected to decline further for the next five years. The convergence of ownership with radio stations such as those owned by the aforementioned iHeartMedia group are not helping the AF/FM market, even thought they offer premium HD quality. They fail to sell radio stations chock full of ads or quote on quote repetitive music cycles, but listeners ironically ditched them for glorified playlists that are beyond repetitive. The only logical reason could be that consumers have no control over the air time of what they are listening to, by operating radio distribution the old fashion way.
To check out this year's "Audio: By the Numbers" click here
In The State of the Media's annual "Audio: By the Numbers" private subscription user only and online radio platforms were the only forms of radio broadcasting networks showing steady increases in their numbers of listeners. SiriusXM continually grows in numbers as the American consumer becomes more narrow in his or her selection of station, not to mention that the modern consumer is also less inclined to listen to advertisements and that SiriusXM is also available standard in most cars at the time of purchase. Mobile radio also experienced an increase in listeners as radio stations are now available in app form at for both iPhone users and consumers of the Android Marketplace, allowing listeners to catch real-time broadcasts on the go from major networks and cities that normally broadcast thousands of miles away.
Differing from the satellite radio variety, Internet radio giant, Pandora, crushed both its online competitors and real-time radio competitors during 2014. Pandora mastered the art of catering to specific tastes by matching 400 musical characteristics to one's musical tastes to create custom channels, but it is questionable if that is considered radio or a robotized playlist. Similar to SiriusXM, Pandora or Spotify, its #1 competitor, are also becoming available standard in most cars, where most people recorded listening to the radio while driving.
The decline in AM/FM listenership is projected to decline further for the next five years. The convergence of ownership with radio stations such as those owned by the aforementioned iHeartMedia group are not helping the AF/FM market, even thought they offer premium HD quality. They fail to sell radio stations chock full of ads or quote on quote repetitive music cycles, but listeners ironically ditched them for glorified playlists that are beyond repetitive. The only logical reason could be that consumers have no control over the air time of what they are listening to, by operating radio distribution the old fashion way.
To check out this year's "Audio: By the Numbers" click here
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