Thanks, Steve. I've never known a radio signal to respect a political
boundary. Each signal serves a region of a certain size. Satellite serves a
larger community, the contiguous states, and a smaller, as its receivers evolve
into automated control rooms and as the providers refine their feedback
mechanisms.
Under the scarcity model which terrestrial is fighting vainly to protect,
listeners yield their personal tastes and interests to those of the cohort
desirable to advertisers, wherever they live or travel. And they further yield
a major segment of their attention to ads, funding credits, fund drives and
thinly veiled
PR.
Those in the traditionalist camp who find the homogeneity of terrestrial
radio disappointing are accepting as a given a scarcity that has long been
shattered. They are right to consider localism preferable to "same thing
everywhere" formatted programming; but "everything anywhere" is the ideal, and
is more closely approached by satellite. And is in fact achieved by
satellite+internet.
Jerome
"Steve Sobol" wrote in message
...
Cooperstown.Net wrote:
[ a lot of good stuff... snipped... ]
What makes Satellite radio hometown? Well, when NAB does its annual
brag
about how many artists and songs terrestrial radio introduced, its tally
includes about 12,000 signals that any given listener cannot receive. It is
satellite that brings these niche formats to every community in the
contiguous
states.
Which, by definition, makes it NOT HOMETOWN. *EVERY COMMUNITY* in the lower
48,
right? My original point was that if I'm in Apple Valley, there are a bunch of
LOCAL radio stations; a half-dozen owned and operated by Clear Channel, and
another (about) ten or so owned by independents. Infinity is up here, but
their
only outlet simulcasts a country station down the hill, so they don't count,
nor does the smaller broadcaster using 92.7 to simulcast their signal on 92.7
out of Ventura County, a few hours away.
Someone programming for a nationwide audience is NOT programming specifically
for my neck of the woods and thus is NOT providing hometown programming.
XM is developing digital fountain technology and will be as locally
differentiated as regulators permit it to be.
Very cool. But they're NOT hometown. "hometown" generally means "originating
locally" as well as "serving the local market."
I love listening to Alice Cooper, but he's not local... he's syndicated out of
Phoenix (IIRC). Same can be said for Bob and Tom, who are on the station that
Cooper is on, in the mornings. I love Bob and Tom too. But they're not
providing hometown content.
I can tune to 92.7 and hear about traffic coming from Los Angeles up through
the Valley on Interstate 405 in the afternoon, if I want to, but I'd rather
tune to one of the CC stations and hear local traffic reports...
--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"