Internet radio will replace terrestrial radio in the next five to 10
years, according to NPR CEO Vivian Schiller. Radio towers "are going
away…”
She spoke Weds. to the D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.
The change-over will happen faster because Internet will be soon available, in one form or another… in cars. She says 40% of weekday listening is now in the car.
New platforms add new listeners, she claims, not cannibalize old ones. “[The] lifeblood of NPR is the local station."
Despite, she says, Internet trends to charge consumers for content, NPR will remain free. Only 10% of listeners give, she said, “We will be free, if you choose not to support us through membership, then we will still be there for you.”
NPR has 34 million listeners who listen an average of 6 hours a week.The company is ahead of the digital curve.
Frinstance, their iPad app has enjoyed some 3000,000 downloads.
Schiller comes to radio from the digital world: before being installed as chief executiove at NPR in 2007, she headed up NYTimes.com.
It depends on how much it costs. There are only so many good reasons to have internet in your car. A lot of people have cell phones, but there are lots and lots of good reasons to have a cell phone. Unless internet in your car is near free, or provides some great utility beyond old style radio, adoption rates will be very very slow. You would need new hardware and have to go through all that annoying and complicated subscription bullshit. How many people are going to tolerate these changes what we have now, terestrial radio, is built in to your car, free and very reliable? I'm sure all these executives have iPhones and XM subscriptions. I don't think they appreciate the novelty of streaming data in your car.
Posted by: Andrew | June 03, 2010 at 12:35 PM
Listening to
talk radioWI-FI so you don' t have to.Posted by: Duffman | June 03, 2010 at 01:20 PM
On the positive side, with so many stations from which to choose, maybe it will force local stations to provide actual services, such as timely news, to keep its listeners.
Maybe.
Posted by: sparky | June 03, 2010 at 04:10 PM
funny, i always chuckle a bit when i read about the upcoming demise of an industry.
sometimes it comes true...sometimes it doesn't.
back in the late 90's all you heard was how physical banks would be replaced by internet based banks. goodbye bank branches. no more brick and mortar location. 'clicks--not bricks' was the buzzword in the financial industry.
few of those internet only banks ever made it.
i also recall those webgrocery store outfits. you would order your groceries over the net and they would arrive that in that big truck the next day. no more need to have a supermarket.
they also folded.
most people are indifferent to traditional over the air or via the internet. it will be about the content, value, and availability.
Posted by: Puget Sound | June 03, 2010 at 05:58 PM
Another conspiracy theory - in short. I don't see radio disappearing until after newspapers do.
If there was much intelligence coupled with will out there, there would be some pushback against this happening. Given the mood of our culture, I am not sure that there really is. We are slowly becoming "eloys" - like mind-numbed robots. Too much technology is not a good thing - it seems to be fragmenting human relationships. In the end, money talks and bulls**t walks - seems like the two have become fused together over the last decade.
Posted by: KS | June 03, 2010 at 06:50 PM
I think she's right on. I never thought I'd be podcasting so much of what I listen to. I podcast Ross, Maddow and sometimes Olbermann. I podcast Peter B., On the Media and Bill Maher. I even pay for one - ring of fire. And several more I never have time to listen! That's the problem with podcasts. We need them available to us in the car.
Got this on my email today:
Subject: 74 Democrats sold us out to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast
Dear Friend,
74 Democratic members of Congress just sold you out to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.
No Oregon representative signed it. Rick Larsen from Washington State did.
They signed industry-backed letters telling the FCC to abandon efforts to protect Internet users by prohibiting big companies from blocking Internet traffic.
Not only is this letter an attack on net neutrality, but by signing the industry letter, they are attempting to drastically undercut the FCC's ability to make a fast, affordable and open Internet available to everyone in America. They are actually taking a position against the interests of rural and low-income communities.
How long are we going to be fighting to protect net neutrality? Is there anybody on this blog that thinks the net should be under private control?
Posted by: joanie | June 03, 2010 at 07:27 PM
Don't forget to check out having fowl for dinner tonight?
Posted by: joanie | June 03, 2010 at 07:29 PM
not in five years... I am still driving two ten plus year old cars that radio's DON'T receive the internet. I haven't seen any new cars that even are close to being wi-fi capable...
And until computers are as easy as radio and Tv's for that matter to operate, it is not going to be that widespread. Now, we'll be right back...
Posted by: peter | June 03, 2010 at 09:51 PM
Streaming internet is growing. Check Car Toys - they may have internet reception on some of their radios.
To get more variety than this market has to offer, I like the option of streaming internet.
However, there are more important things to consider in the next 5 years (often wish there wasn't), like our deficit, spending, economy and if the fleecing of this country will decrease. Simple pleasures like streaming internet from stations throughout the planet and on-line movies can enhance our lives - maybe even our productivity.
Posted by: KS | June 03, 2010 at 10:03 PM
The other thing that might slow it down is the unreasonable rates internet carriers charge. We should be paying $20-$25 a month max. Pure profit for these guys.
Posted by: joanie | June 03, 2010 at 10:13 PM
not to worry joanie, the gov't will simply mandate it in cars at $20 a month.
the real costs will be passed on to the next generation to pay the tab.
judging by history, baby boomers seem to be very comfortable with generational theft when the younger generation figures THAT out you'll see a real movement to reform.
Posted by: Puget Sound | June 04, 2010 at 06:31 AM
Another stupid answer. Still stuck in a low-intellectual morass. Keep counting beans.
Posted by: joanie | June 04, 2010 at 07:59 AM
Your obvious disrespect for the CPA field portends clearly your stupidity. You make it so easy to see.
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 08:12 AM
neener neener, duffman Best you cando?
Posted by: joanie | June 04, 2010 at 08:20 AM
And look what bean counters have done to our Gulf? So much for the bottom line.
Posted by: joanie | June 04, 2010 at 08:26 AM
Another stupid answer. Still stuck in a low-intellectual morass. Keep counting beans.
Posted by: joanie | June 04, 2010 at 07:59 AM
I would like to know (in your opinion only) what makes that answer stupid, while you made no attempt to come up with a different alternative. Another cheap shot by Ph(J)oanie - is that all you've got ?
Bean counters at the Gulf - now that's a stupid generalization if I ever heard one.
Posted by: KS | June 04, 2010 at 09:47 AM
duff and ks
the fact that she quotes malloy and randi as sources of good information tells you where she gets the idea that jimmy carter was a great president.
note that the usual suspects let her swing by herself on that one.
Posted by: Puget Sound | June 04, 2010 at 10:58 AM
I use radiotime.com a lot at home, and have found problems with it. If you click on, say, 'glenn beck weekend' there is a maybe 33% chance that you will actually hear the show. You might get an infomercial, a ballgame, or nothing at all.
It can take a lot of clicks and a slow, frustrating process before you get to listen to what you wanted. In my car I might have arrived at my destination before I get the show I want. With a radio, by contrast, you can punch your way through 10 stations in less time than it takes me to write this sentence.
I think her outside number of 10 years is much more realistic than 5 years.
Posted by: woody held | June 05, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Now that I can podcast Maddow (without commercials), I've been catching up. Her Wed and Thurs shows were excellent. Especially the field trip through the Louisiana wetlands. And her visit with Ed was also good.
Get that technology into the car! There are car tvs and car radios. No reason Itunes and internet access shouldn't be there as well. I wonder if Clearchannel will offer a way?
Posted by: joanie | June 05, 2010 at 11:59 AM