Can The Internet Save Radio In 2009 ???

Friday, January, 23, 2009 by Mel Phillips.

(Weekend Edition) 

Radio is collapsing all around us.  That’s terrestrial radio.  Internet radio is another story and there are those among us who believe that Internet radio will lead to a boom that “may just be the savior the radio medium needs in 2009.”  Consulting company Deloitte is one of those believers.  John Ruffalo, senior techie at Deloitte believes WiFi devices will be the solution consumers - unwilling to pay for satellite radio but tired of a limited selection on terrestrial radio - will turn to in 2009.  WiFi radios allow users to access the internet and play internet radio stations and podcasts.  Smart phones, which can also access internet radio using WiFi, will also contribute to the rising popularity of internet radio…

The average price of internet radios ($200) should be coming down this year.  They must in order for internet radio to boom.  Advertisers must buy into the internet radio movement but the thinking is they will as this new medium gains popularity.  So exactly how new is new?  Not very.  Internet radio has been around for 15 years but has been developing at a snail’s pace, until now.  There are about 10,000 internet radio stations compared to over 40,000 terrestrial signals worldwide.  They may be outnumbered but not in stature.  Not anymore…

With all the gloom and doom surrounding terrestrial radio, internet radio could very well provide the shot in the arm the medium needs.  Savior? - maybe not.  Promising? - you bet…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1848] Solid Gold: James W. Marshall discovers a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in Northern California (1/24). This discovery leads to the gold rush of ‘49…
2. 1915] Can you hear me now?: In New York, Alexander Graham Bell speaks to an assistant in San Francisco inaugurating the first transcontinental phone service. Long distance is born (1/25)…
3. 1929] Pick a number, any number: Jacob Ruppert, co-owner of the Yankees announces that in the upcoming season the team will have uniform numbers to help identify the players (1/23). The team will use numbers corresponding to the batting order. Strangely enough, to this day, the Yankees are the only team that has never put the players’ names on their uniforms…
4. 1947] “Happy Trails”: Public enemy number one, Al Capone, dies at 48 of cardiac arrest possibly associated with third-stage syphilis (1/25)…1989] Salvador Dali dies from a heart attack in his native Spain at 84 (1/23)…1997] Astrologer Jeane Dixon passes away from cardiopulmonary arrest at 93 (1/25)…2004] Bob Keeshan aka “Captain Kangaroo” dies at 76 after a long illness (1/23)…2005] Former “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson passes away from respiratory arrest at 79 (1/23)…2007] Watergate spy figure, E. Howard Hunt, dies from pneumonia at 88 (1/23)…
5. 1968] Suffering a seizure: North Korea seizes the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, holding the crew for 11 months on suspicion of spying (1/23)…
6. 1970] Gunned down: James “Shep” Sheppard (Heartbeats, Shep and the Limelites) is found murdered in his car on the Long Island Expressway (1/24)…
7. 1971] Boogity, boogity: In basketball, UCLA loses to Notre Dame (1/23) and then wins 88 games in a row. The streak ends with a loss to ??? Correct - Notre Dame…
8. 1977] Rootin’ tootin’: “Roots” debuts as a mini-series and almost half of the country watches the final 2-hour episode when 100 million viewers are on hand. 85% of all TV homes saw all or part of the previous 7-episodes (1/23)…
9. 1989] Electric avenue: Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy is put to death in Florida’s electric chair for the 1978 kidnapping and killing of Kimberly Leach (1/24)…
10. 1994] Krafty buy: New England businessman Robert Kraft buys the Patriots for $172 million. During his tenure as owner the Pats have won 3 Super Bowls. When he bought the Patriots they had a losing record (1/24)…

Music Memories:

• 1962] The Beatles’ boss: Brian Epstein becomes the manager of The Beatles. Epstein cleans up their image by putting them in suits (1/24)…
• 1962] Released on this date: “Twistin’ The Night Away” - Sam Cooke (1/25)…
• 1968] Number One on this date: “Judy in Disguise (with glasses)” - John Fred & Playboy Band (1/23)…1973] “Superstition” - Stevie Wonder (1/25)…1981] “I Can’t Go For That” - Hall & Oates (1/25)…
• 1986] A Hall of a time: The first annual induction ceremony for the ‘Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’ is held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and I was fortunate enough to attend with Norm N. Nite who inducted legendary disc jockey Alan Freed. Also inducted: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis. In addition to Alan Freed, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley go in posthumously.  Here’s a clip of Ray Charles and Fats Domino at the press conference (1/23)…
• 2002] Mariah kiss-off: EMI gives Mariah Carey a $28 million pay-out to end their association with the singer, who recovers handsomely with multiple hits, none bigger than the 6-time platinum LP “The Emancipation of Mimi“ (1/23)…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“:

(1/23) Mariska Hargitay (45), Monaco’s Princess Caroline (52), Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander (56), Anita Pointer (61), Millie Jackson (66), Jerry Kramer (73), Chita Rivera (76) and N.J. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (85)…(1/24) Mary Lou Retton (41), Nastassja Kinski (48), Yakov Smirnoff (58), Aaron Neville (68), Neil Diamond (68), Ray Stevens (70)…(1/25) Alicia Keys (28), Norm N. Nite (68), Etta James (71 At Last), Corazon “Shoes” Aquino (76), Dean Jones (78), Edwin Newman (90) and Ernie Harwell (91)…

Timeline Countdown: 9 days until the Super Bowl, 22 days until Valentine’s Day and pitchers & catchers voluntarily report to Spring Training and 24 days until Presidents Day…

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