Mobile Radio Simplified. Accessible. Relevant.

The text from Andrew’s article that appeared in this month’s Talkers magazine is below. You can also see part of it online here on the Talkers Magazine website.

Enjoy, and please reply with your thoughts!
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A New Era for Radio over Telephone

The relationship between the telephone and broadcasting goes back over 100 years, pre-dating radio itself. In Europe, people from the middle class all the way to Queen Victoria consumed news, opinion, comedy, opera, and theatre via their subscriptions to the ‘Electrophone’ and other such services. All it took was a telephone and in some cases a little disposable income (yes, monthly subscriptions) to make it happen. Then radio emerged in the 1920’s as the ‘new media’ of its day and changed everything within a few short years. Here in the US, there wasn’t enough bandwidth (so to speak) to popularize the electrophone concept by the time the radio boom of 1922 came around. So while radio was a disruptive replacement broadcast media in Europe, even cited as the ‘wireless revolution’, it was simply accepted here in the States as the birth of broadcast. With a gap of over two generations and a pond we like to call the Atlantic separating us from the concept of phone-as-consumer-media-device, it is hard to imagine the telephone ever had any role in radio beyond its current use for remotes and call-in participation. But it did.

There is a reason why this distant memory of broadcasts’ beginnings matters to us today. It matters because history, as it always does, is repeating itself again. New tools that introduce improvements to quality, selection, cost, convenience and control are once again challenging established formats and delivery platforms. Now, for this audience, this is pretty much self-evident. You know we are in the new wireless revolution. What is needed are specifics as well as smart lessons from history we can apply to our industry. Even more specifically for the purposes of this article, we must answer this question: Is history repeating itself to where it makes sense for producers to also make their content available on demand via the telephone? I believe it is, and that now is the time to start moving things in that direction. I believe you will agree when you consider the changes we are seeing take place before our eyes.

We have to first agree on basic premises. If you don’t see that we are in the middle of a new wireless technology revolution, then read no further. Likewise, you should consider the future navigable rather than a matter of fate in order for this article to be of value to you. One unmistakable lesson from recent technology history is that those who insert themselves into the process win out over those who look to others to innovate and simply react. The radio industry is only in trouble in direct proportion to the extent its leaders believe viable innovations will be handed to them by outside parties.

So, if we are to navigate successfully through this inevitable techno-social revolution and thrive, we need to first mark the events we have seen from its beginning against the events we can fairly anticipate will mark its end. Then we can estimate how far into it we are to date. Let me first say I believe we are about 30% into the new wireless media revolution, as it relates specifically to spoken word content. It started in the mid-nineties when mobile phones became accessible and thus popular. In the beginning it was a luxury to be instantly accessible, now we expect it from everyone. Portable two-way communication is now the norm for people of all ages, with Disney Mobile marketing to the cradle, and Jitterbug marketing to those approaching the grave. We carry these devices with us wherever we go, and are less likely to misplace them than our keys or our sunglasses. Conversely, those old-school one-way wireless devices, also known as radios, only survive in our world if they are attached to something like a wall or dashboard, and they better be converged with other built-in media tools, or else they die in the junk drawer. Still, this is just the beginning.

What are the end markers on which my 30% progress estimate is based? I foresee the following mainstream consumer adoption events as signaling the end of the new wireless revolution, and the beginning of the new wireless media era:

1. The new commodity of our day will be unlimited wireless broadband connectivity for our mobile phones.
2. The adoption cycle of new unlimited airtime plan standards and data services (MID’s, WiMAX and VoIP) will be complete, changing people’s attitudes about airtime.
3. The on-demand psyche shift started by DVR’s will alter everyone’s expectations about all media.
4. A universally accessible and familiar interface for accessing and navigating through content will become a common standard.
5. The two-way interactivity we enjoy currently from the internet will be expected in how we consume audio media.
6. Convenient standards will be established that allow portable media devices to interface easily with a variety of playback devices. (home, car, headset)

So, when you see this list above, ask yourself how far you think we are from each being realized. Come up with your own timeline and start strategizing, as each of these events are either at, or just beyond the horizon. Even if you are still not inclined to believe that our phones will be the radios of the future, each of these 6 events will indeed happen, making cell phone radio not only viable for the mainstream, but practical for a number of reasons for an emerging portion of your potential audience.

The bottom line is that this revolution, like all others in media, will be driven by the consumer choosing a higher degree of personal empowerment. While satellite and the internet have brought a greater variety of content to people where they live, the telephone stands alone as the one intuitive tool people already use to navigate spoken audio and interact. All it needs is great content and new tools. It is coming.

The good news is that early adopters are already willing to try sensible portable radio on demand in one form or another and new services have emerged in the last few months that can deliver your show to any phone, anytime, anywhere. The technology barriers are gone, and recent studies indicate that 25 to 33% of radio consumers are interested in such services. As long as it is easier than podcasting, promotable, universally accessible and profitable in the short term, there are no good reasons not to put it to use now.