The Future of radio is the internet, not on the internet

Abstract

The internet, we were told, was the future of radio. The internet was going to remove the need for broadcast platforms and at a single stroke allow listeners to consume content on an open platform, free of national boundaries and complicated licences. The development of 3G, and now 4G, mobile broadband seemed to add fuel to the argument, with promises of audiences consuming radio via smartphones on the move. There is no doubt that listening online is a growing element of radio's future but it is not the future, at least not in isolation. More listeners are consuming radio online, via computers and mobile devices and this raises an added dilemma, because in the online world the more listeners you have the more it costs to provide the service, and when you add in the problems of data capping policies the argument forecasting the end of broadcast begins to unravel. This chapter argues that whilst the internet is an important platform for content distribution it is not solely where our future lies; it will be an integral part of the ecosystem but it will not replace FM or digital broadcast technologies, or at least not within our lifetimes. We should, therefore see the internet not as a platform through which to push content but as a place to engage listeners in conversations and with added content, meta-data, visuals and branded experiences. Keywords: radio, online, internet, multiplatform, social media, interaction

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