How we enjoy listening to the radio is changing. Broadcast radio in the form of listening to AM or FM radio is still popular because it is everywhere and easily accessible. That does not mean that this will always be, radio technology is changing. Listeners will choose where they listen based on program choice, availability, and convenience. Radio accessed via the internet is increasingly challenging the existing modes of radio, AM, FM and digital broadcast services. While there is often resistance to accept changes, as seen in the change from analogue to digital in the use of mobile phones and in more recent times in broadcast television, there comes a point where the benefits of the new overwhelm what used to be valued.
In Australia, the demise of the analogue mobile system was fiercely resisted in the belief that rural and remote areas would find their access of the digital system would be limited because of the behaviour of the technology and lack of necessary infrastructure. Valid reasons at the time in the relative infancy of the mobile network. Over time these challenges have largely been overcome. The closure of the analogue system freed up bandwidth and the change in technology enabled a terrific increase in the capacity of calls and data to be carried by the infrastructure. The increase in supply allowed extra services to become available such as mobile internet. Would mobile phone users today swap their services for what used to be?
For nearly all parts of Australia analogue TV is no longer available. The introduction of digital TV initially meant that reception in fringe areas was not available or severely pixelated. To enable the eventual switch off of the analogue TV transmission system new infrastructure needed to be implemented to fill in the poorly serviced areas. When this became available, viewers could take advantage of a superior viewing service with improved picture and sound quality and access to multiple channels. Analogue TV broadcast was no longer needed,
The television digital signal utilises the same bandwidth as an analogue signal but allows for a significant increase in the volume of material able to be broadcast. One channel can now be utilised to provide an HD service, several SD services and additional services. This is why a channel such as the ABC is able to offer 3 SD, 1 HD and multiple radio services.
The question does remain however, what has the viewer lost? A service that is unable to finance programs of value, televising repetitive programming, with little aspiration for raising standards, loss of unique regional television reflecting the culture and skill development in regional markets has led to the devaluation of what was an excellent service in Australia.
Digital radio broadcasting is in an interesting situation. In Australia, DAB is in a moribund state. Current broadcast signals cover 60-80% of the Melbourne metro area. Existing broadcasters are desperately holding onto their established markets via AM and FM and are unwilling to embrace the challenge of multicasting and dilution of their markets.
DAB is unavailable in regional areas and AM/ FM radio remains an important service AM radio wherever it is, is facing an existential challenge. As a listener, AM is increasingly unbearable to listen to due to our expectation of better audio quality. It is a service that has to desperately cut through electrical noise to compete and slowly is destroyed for lack of an audience and the financial strangulation of the owners.
Internet radio is a new kid on the block. Its role till now has been more as a complement to the existing broadcasters, but it is about to become dangerous.
It can provide more nuanced programming to niche markets. It enables listeners to connect easily to what interests them whether that interest is cultural, geographic or style.
Internet radio has the potential to become the predominant form of radio as internet bandwidth increases and data costs decrease. Don’t be surprised if soon it is the first form of radio for listeners.
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There is one more brick to fall before this becomes the reality. The last piece in the equation is access to a device that is an internet-connected radio, that has the ease of use and simplicity of existing radios.
Their uptake will spell the death knell for accepted broadcast radio. Their only saving grace will be that they too broadcast to the internet, that they have built a brand reputation and they have a cash kitty and existing soft and hard assets to finance their change. They also have a liability, which is their penchant to cling to the value of their existing asset and expect, in the vain hope for it to sustain them like it did in the past. If they are smart, they will observe what Gumtree has done to classifieds, and Youtube etc, has done to broadcast TV.
Radio Southern Skies 
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