Post date: Aug 28, 2010 4:40:19 AM
I guess quoting one of the heads of BMI says it all. I mean they don't have anything to lose except their credibility and most of all, they have NOTHING to gain if they make a wrong call. But let's take a deep breath and look at it objectively. This article http://www.mediauk.com/article/32730/what-radio-platform-is-best%3F does just that by comparing available radio technologies in a very systematic and objective manner. I will skip the details and present my observations.
The first two categories Benefits and Drawbacks highlights the pros and cons of each category. I am not going to opine on any of these because the pros and cons are different for each radio technology and one man's meat can be another man's poison. The third category, Potential Listeners is straight and to the point. Internet Radio has the largest number of potential listeners "Hundreds of millions world-wide" The fourth, Current Listeners bears going into detail.
For Current Listeners,
Digital Satellite Radio - Unrecorded (separately) by RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Researc)
Digital Terrestrial Television - Unrecorded (separately) by RAJAR.
DAB Digital Radio - 15.1% of all radio listening is to DAB.
Cable - Unrecorded (separately by RAJAR)
Internet Radio - 2.9% of all radio listening in the UK is via the internet.
AM and FM - 76% of all radio listening in the UK is to AM and FM.
Percentage wise this accounts for 94% of UK listenership.
Skipping to the sixth category, Transmission costs is questionable.
Digital Satellite Radio - about £20,000 per transponder
Digital Terrestrial Television - Rumoured to be upwards of £120,000 per year.
DAB Digital Radio - Around £30,000 for carriage on a local multiplex.
Cable - Rumoured to be around £15,000 per carriage per cable network.
Internet Radio - Dependent on listener base, but from £20 per month to hundreds of thousands.
AM and FM - Around £7,500 for a single local FM transmitter. National networks are far higher.
Now the problem with this comparison is because it fails to mention the number of people that can be covered by a transponder or a local multiplex or per cable network etc.. But it does give an indication that starting up on Internet Radio is cheapest at "from £20". So what do we have from categories, 4 and 6? The largest upside in audience and possibly the cheapest startup costs! Of course this will only work if Reception costs are competitive,
Digital Satellite Radio - from £105
Digital Terrestrial Television - from £119
DAB Digital Radio - less than £20
Cable - free with subscription (but you do NEED a subscription ....)
Internet Radio - Compatible computers can start from £180. Standalone internet radios start from £99. Broadband is £10 a month.
AM and FM - £2.50 upwards.
Now what this category fails to mention is that PCs are bought for many other purposes and listening to Radio is NOT one of them. I believe a more objective assessment in this category for Internet Radio is £0 and upwards!
You could bring in category 8 too but it doesn't change the picture. Internet Radio has the largest potential audience, the lowest startup and transmission costs and the lowest reception costs. PERIOD!