Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)
In today's Wall Street Journal there is an article on page 1 about how
the small, but mighty iPod is changing the face of FM. To summarize,
with the consumer now being able to carry around a thousand songs in his
pocket, there is less and less interest in FM (and AM is now pretty much
news-talk). Broadcasters, who went through a spate of consolidations
are now wondering if this kind of corporate ownership of many stations
under one umbrella is going to be profitable, given their current need
to limit commercial time (in order to play more songs) to counter the
iPod, a device which has no commercials.
Some are considering accelerating plans for converting to digital
broadcasting in order to offer a superior product, but the cost and
current lack of ubiquitous consumer hardware is a big gamble for them.
In any case, the consumer market for traditional FM tuners may likely go
the way of the compact cassette--something no one really cares about,
anymore.
michael
In today's Wall Street Journal there is an article on page 1 about how
the small, but mighty iPod is changing the face of FM. To summarize,
with the consumer now being able to carry around a thousand songs in his
pocket, there is less and less interest in FM (and AM is now pretty much
news-talk). Broadcasters, who went through a spate of consolidations
are now wondering if this kind of corporate ownership of many stations
under one umbrella is going to be profitable, given their current need
to limit commercial time (in order to play more songs) to counter the
iPod, a device which has no commercials.
Some are considering accelerating plans for converting to digital
broadcasting in order to offer a superior product, but the cost and
current lack of ubiquitous consumer hardware is a big gamble for them.
In any case, the consumer market for traditional FM tuners may likely go
the way of the compact cassette--something no one really cares about,
anymore.
michael