The eminently quotable Yogi Berra is often cited for his seemingly useless advisory, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
Like many things Yogi said, however, the quote actually made sense in its original context. He explains that it came from the directions he would give people driving to his home. At the time, Yogi lived on a road that terminated in a loop, and his house was about halfway around the loop. So as you approached the loop section of the road, you could indeed go either way at the fork and get to Yogi's house just as quickly.
Unfortunately, most of us aren't so lucky. Our binary choices usually have discrete and highly differentiated results. Such is the question we consider here regarding radio's digital future: Is an "all of the above" approach regarding new platforms really the wisest strategy? Or should broadcasters pick one and devote maximum resources to developing it to its fullest potential ASAP?
For radio, this choice primarily revolves around HD Radio vs. Internet radio. To date, most stations have chosen to offer their audio services online; many have launched HD Radio transmissions, as well. Although these are both "digital" services, they differ in many ways, and maintaining both (along with legacy analog service) over the long term may not be sustainable, or at least not the wisest use of resources at every station.
We wondered if this issue had crossed the minds of industry leaders and other informed observers, and were not too surprised to find that it had. The range of responses we received was intriguing, however. What follows is a guided tour through some highlights of our discussions with 10 experts in the field (not counting Yogi).
Being there
About the closest thing to consensus (although it was far from unanimous) was that radio needed to be wherever consumers would use it.
Jeff Littlejohn, executive vp for distribution development at Clear Channel Radio, commented, "I feel strongly that we must create the highest quality content and then follow the listener. If the listener wants to hear our content on analog radio, then we should provide it that way. If the listener wants to be able to stream our content onto their desktop, then we need to provide streaming. If the listener wants to hear our content with HD quality and variety, then we need to be there to supply it."
"The listener
is in the driver's seat."
Jeff Littlejohn
To date, Clear Channel seems to be practicing what Littlejohn preaches, making significant investments in both HD Radio and Internet streaming deployments — with the latter already producing strong results. Littlejohn stresses the need for broadcasters to continually be responsive to audience behavior. "The listener is in the driver's seat," Littlejohn concludes.
Milford Smith, vice president, radio engineering at Greater Media, largely agrees, citing the growing contention that radio broadcasters essentially are content providers. He concurs with Littlejohn's view, adding, "Our job is to be available on any platform on which our listeners, current and potential, may find convenient to listen to us."
Greater Media's actions prove that it is another strong proponent of the "dual" approach. Smitty confirms this with his report that, "Greater Media has been streaming its stations (and HD2 channels) for quite some time, and simply sees this as another virtual 'transmitter.' With the availability of wireless broadband growing daily, along with the proliferation of hand-held and now emerging in-car devices for accessing same, each of these devices can be the modern equivalent of a 1960s transistor or Delco car radio in terms of delivering our content accessible to listeners. It's not so much how they get it — it's just making sure they can get it."
On the non-com side, Mike Starling, VP/CTO of NPR and executive director of NPR Labs, concurs: "Of course we should continue down both paths," Starling said. This comes at least in part from his contention that neither is a perfect answer. "Each distribution path, whether IP-based, or digital broadcast, has distinguishing strengths and notable drawbacks."
He also warns against hasty action, reminding us, "History is replete with examples of lengthy timelines for successful introduction of new broadcast technologies — witness a quarter of a century for both FM and DTV to achieve 'mainstream' status. Likewise, the promise of a ubiquitous Internet radio service looks equally bright, and so far, still in the wings."
Starling concurs that the dual path makes sense now and in the future. "I'll go out on a limb and predict the next decade has similar surprises in store for digital and IP-based radio broadcasters — and that both forms will survive."
Toll road
It's no surprise that broadcast engineers are most concerned with proactively building the infrastructure to get to listeners. But others in the industry are less interested in just being there than they are in monetizing that presence. Radio is a business, after all, not an entitlement program or utility — not in the U.S., at least.
This is the perspective of Dave Wilson, who has a unique vantage point that includes two perspectives, by virtue of his day job as senior director of technology and standards at the Consumer Electronics Association, and his ownership of FM stations WHDX and WHDZ on Hatteras Island, N.C. On one hand, Wilson agrees that "the two-pronged approach is absolutely necessary," adding, "There's no way anyone in the media industry can ignore the Internet."
Yet he feels that broadcasters' point-to-multipoint, one-way wireless link is what sets them apart from Internet-only services, so it's a critical part of broadcasters' service offerings going forward. But he questions whether the legacy business model should continue.
"The big question is should broadcasters be taking their existing business model to the Internet, or should they bring the most successful business model on the Internet to their wireless links? I think the answer is clearly the latter."
