Where's The Diversity In Radio?

from the who-needs-diversity? dept

Lots of people have opinions on the lack of diversity currently found on the radio. Some Senators are looking at introducing legislation to get rid of payola schemes and prevent single companies (read: Clear Channel) from owning so many stations in a single market. Others, however, claim that people are blowing this out of proportion. They say there's plenty of diversity on the radio (they, apparently, have not actually turned on their radios to check) and, most importantly, most people are happy with what they hear on the radio. There are also some who believe that we don't need a legal solution, saying things like satellite radio will come to the rescue. Of course, this quote is from someone at a satellite radio company. While I agree that there isn't much diversity on the radio, these days, I'm not convinced that any legal changes will have a huge impact. Radio companies will still play what's popular in order to get the advertising dollars. In the end, the guy from the satellite radio company may be right: technology will come to the rescue (though, I still don't think it will be in the form of satellite radio). Already, plenty of people I know (including myself) only listen to CDs in the car. As in-car MP3 players become more common, I can see that taking a chunk out of radio listeners as well. Add in the ability to download new music to your car, and people will start creating their own "customized" radio stations to meet their own needs. Traditional radio will have a tough time competing.