The broadcast model is essentially a centralised distribution model. It is one that dominated media distribution throughout the 20th century. Radio was, and still is, the original broadcast medium. At its heart, the broadcast model produces content from a central location to a large number of receivers (listeners in the case of radio, viewers in the case of television).
Radio content by its nature has a strictly linear structure, which offers little or no control to listeners. This was all well and good during the analogue age, where users were subject to the authority of content producers. However, the Internet, and its decentralised model has caused a shift in media consumption. The nature of this decentralised model means that users are becoming accustomed to choosing how and when content is consumed, as well as becoming producers of content themselves (for example blogs). Is there a knock-on effect for radio listeners?
There are two key elements of radio which are being subjected to this shift in mentality, which I identified in my dissertation. The first of these is podcasts. Listeners can now consume content on demand by downloading and listening to podcasts at their own leisure. As it currently stands in the UK there is not a negative impact on live radio listening due to podcasts. RAJAR currently estimates that around 13% of Listen Again (podcast) listeners claim to listen to more live radio due to listening to non-live content.
The second is the spread of customised music listening. Although not entirely unique to digital culture (walkmans and cd players have been around for long while), it is something which has been accelerated by the arrival of digital mp3 players with large storage capacity. People can now take their entire music collection with them on the move. Radio once played a vital role in music discovery. Since the 60’s radio has reflected popular trends in music with chart shows and playing the latest releases. The problem is that it is now in direct contention with customised music listening. There’s a chance that people may not want to be subjected to a structured linear playlist. By its nature radio has to appeal to as many listeners as possible, so it cannot cater for more specialised music tastes. Online music radio such as last.fm and pandora are powerful tools for listeners to discover music based on their personal tastes.
Tags: broadcast model, last.fm, prid303, project, radio