«Radio stations - and radio companies - that move their websites from just being flashy, one-dimensional billboards to truly interactive meeting places can benefit greatly in the next few years.  Boomers may have learned all about computers in the workplace, but many now regard the Internet as being integral parts of their lives.  As they share photos, concert stories, and life experiences with friends and family, radio can and should be a facilitator in making it happen.»

fonte:Fred Jacobs,  «Old Man, Take A Look At My Website», Jacoblog

«Two major aspects of this initiative include the goal of having a radio receiver included in every personal electronic consumer device, and an effort to improve radio programming in the future.»

fonte: «RAB Announces Radio 2020 Initiative», RadioMagazine online, 27/07/07

Mais:

«Listeners don't care how accessible radio is. Listeners don't care that it's ubiquitous. Listeners don't care that radio has towers, spectrum, transmitters, contours, satellites, repeaters, buffers or anything for that matter. Telling the listener about distribution means nothing. Because they don't care. What listeners care about is content. They want to turn on a device - be it a radio, a satellite radio, an iPod, their cellphone, whatever - and listen to something on their drive to work. Or hear something in the background while working on the job site. Or rev them up while they're cranking away behind a computer at work. Or laugh during the drive home after a crazy day at work. Rehr concluded by saying that Radio 2020 will, "give ammunition to radio's loyalists" as they respond to industry critics. He told NAB Radio Show attendees, "We need you to be evangelical about Radio 2020 and talk to as many people as possible. Repeat it to yourself, to your colleagues, and to your family." How about this? How about instead of drinking the NAB Kool-aid, and repeating "2020 2020 2020" to everyone in some cult-mania mantra... why not just do it instead? If "Radio 2020" is going to be some revolution in radio - which, let's face it, is a direct response to the fragmenting of media from satellite radio, internet radio, iPods, mobile audio, etc - then start acting on it, and stop talking about it.  If broadcast TV stations can survive cable (and even thrive amid 600 other channels), then radio can too... they just need to give a reason to do so» (fonte: «Radio 2020, and the future of "radio" Orbicast, September 28, 2007

«Three-quarters of online video viewers watch more video than they did a year ago, and more than one-half expect to watch even more next year, according to a study conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres and sponsored by AOL and Google»

fonte: «Web Video Viewers Logging More Hours», OCTOBER 1, 2007 eMarketeer

«Radio is dead, right? Not according to a little company called Phoenix. These guys brought their A game to the Digital Life convention today, showcasing a line of Wi-Fi radios and wireless speakers that look and sound good enough to compete with the big boys….almost. The Com one Wi-Fi radio sports an integrated W-LAN chip that automatically detects and connects to existing wireless access points. Once connected, it allows you to search for and listen to any number of currently available Internet radio stations. The on board LCD displays relevant track information, and there are 8 programmable favorites buttons that allow you to key in your 8 favorite stations. Very convenient. It’s a solidly built unit, and the built-in speakers sounded okay, but we wish they had either scrapped them entirely, or settled on a more sophisticated pair. Oh well. That said, there is a line out jack allowing you to connect and interface with external speakers of your choice. At the end of the day, this is a cool little unit, but Phoenix has a bit of work to do before they can step to the likes of Tivoli and others. Another shot after the break!»?

fonte: «Phoenix Com one Wi-Fi radio», BoyGeniusReport, Joshua Karp on Sep 29, 2007

«Last week in Chicago, Sprint hosted a river boat tour for a group of technology journalists and industry insiders designed to show off its newest project: WiMax wireless technology. The product, dubbed "Xohm: WiMax from Sprint", showcased the potential of the new wireless technology, which uses high-power antennas to transmit wireless signals over much larger distances than a traditional Wi-Fi system. Guests were encouraged to use the variety of devices on board, from laptops to cell phones, over the wireless network set up by Sprint around Chicago's downtown area. (...) According to Ars Technica, the Xohm network is slated for a full launch in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington D.C. by March or April 2008. Sprint plans to follow the launch with a nationwide rollout, and should reach all major markets in the U.S. by the end of 2008»

«U.S. auto buyers, however, won't have to wait until next year to get wireless Internet access on-the-go. The Ford Sync system, developed in tandem with Microsoft, is landing in an increasing number of 2008 models, and as this video shows off, delivers a simple Internet radio solution to consumers via the Sync system.
For a technology like broadcast radio that has enjoyed "ubiquity" for decades in cars, homes, and every other place radio waves reach, the advent of universal wireless Internet access should be seen as a healthy chance to expand their businesses to a new medium. These two developments reflect the booming consumer demand for Internet in the everywhere and all-the-time varieties. Like panelists and experts repeatedly pointed out at the NAB Radio Show, broadcasters would be smart to give the people what they want.»

fonte: «WiMax, new autotech reflect growing options for broadcasters». RAIN, 01/10/07

«Listeners don't care how accessible radio is. Listeners don't care that it's ubiquitous. Listeners don't care that radio has towers, spectrum, transmitters, contours, satellites, repeaters, buffers or anything for that matter. Telling the listener about distribution means nothing. Because they don't care. What listeners care about is content. They want to turn on a device - be it a radio, a satellite radio, an iPod, their cellphone, whatever - and listen to something on their drive to work. Or hear something in the background while working on the job site. Or rev them up while they're cranking away behind a computer at work. Or laugh during the drive home after a crazy day at work. Rehr concluded by saying that Radio 2020 will, "give ammunition to radio's loyalists" as they respond to industry critics. He told NAB Radio Show attendees, "We need you to be evangelical about Radio 2020 and talk to as many people as possible. Repeat it to yourself, to your colleagues, and to your family." How about this? How about instead of drinking the NAB Kool-aid, and repeating "2020 2020 2020" to everyone in some cult-mania mantra... why not just do it instead? If "Radio 2020" is going to be some revolution in radio - which, let's face it, is a direct response to the fragmenting of media from satellite radio, internet radio, iPods, mobile audio, etc - then start acting on it, and stop talking about it.  If broadcast TV stations can survive cable (and even thrive amid 600 other channels), then radio can too... they just need to give a reason to do so» (fonte: «Radio 2020, and the future of "radio" Orbicast, September 28, 2007

fonte: «Groups Implement iTunes Tagging», Radio World, 05/10/07

No futuro será bem mais fácil, quando os auto-rádios derem lugar a consolas multimédia.

Mas esta solução da Ford já é prática e barata (via bluetooth e telemóvel):

(clicar duas vezes se necessário)

(via Mark Ramsey, que avisa: This process will get dramatically easier and more widespread within the next 24 months, regardless of the development of WiMax (and that's another post, coming soon).

«Na rádio informativa, a etapa da individualização só serâ alcançada com a viabilização a nível comercial das tecnologias interativas atualmente em desenvolvimento, que poderão permitir que o ouvinte escolha não apenas os programas, mas até as notícias que lhe interessa ouvir. Uma etapa intermediária de fragmentação, mais avançada do que a atual, será possibilitada nos próximos anos, com a tecnologia da rádio digital (digital audio broadcasting), que permitirá a existência de um maior número de emissoras no espectro de rãdiofrequência» (Meditsch, 1999: 85) 

«Spring 2007 data shows less than 1% of diaries contain listening to Internet radio. But when listeners do tune-in online, they seem to favor local stations. In Fall 2006 66% of diary-keepers went to a webcast from a station they could also hear over the air. But they’re not replacing FM or AM with online —78% say they listened to the station via both mediums. According to Arbitron, 45% of stations are now streaming»

fonte: «Internet radio: Potential is great, listeners are few» Inside Radio 9/10/07
 

Ramsey: «(...)are you as alarmed as I am that so few radio stations actually have an online stake in their future? Granted, streaming the audio is not the only way to plant a flag online. But if distributing your content online isn't a main reason to BE online, then you need to go back to square one.»

«Segundo os dados do estudo Netpanel da Marktest relativos aos primeiros nove meses do ano, a expressão youtube continua a ser a mais pesquisada pelos portugueses na internet. A expressão sexo já não está entre as 10 mais procuradas. Entre Janeiro e Setembro de 2007, a expressão youtube foi a mais pesquisada na internet, por 683 mil portugueses de 4 e mais anos quando navegaram na internet em suas casas, um valor que representa 22.6% dos internautas nacionais. Este valor significa que mais do que um em cada cinco internautas faz pesuisas na internet usando esta expressão. Hi5 foi a segunda expressão com mais pesquisas, realizadas por 529 mil internautas, 17.5% do universo e gmail foi a terceira expressão mais procurada, por 417 mil utilizadores únicos, 13.8% dos internautas.» fonte: «Youtube lidera pesquisas na internet», Marktest.com, 9 de Outubro de 2007

As radio loses its grip on portability to these devices and iPods, wouldn't it be wonderful if AM/FM stations could easily and conveniently be accessed by cell phones?»

fonte: «The Swiss Army Phone», 9/01/07, Jacoblog

Se se pensar - hoje - numa ideia (tecnologia?) como o Pandora.com, poder-se-á pensar que, mais do que o software em concreto, essa ideia poderá ser a rádio do futuro - a dos conteúdos personalizados. É óbvio que a tecnologia (o software) não só não vai desaparecer como até evoluirá. Mas - a esta distância - que relevância terá no futuro? será apenas um dos muitos programas disponíveis para descarregarv e usar (ou seja, terá uma utilização minoritária) ou irá marcar o futuro daquilo que hoje ainda se chama rádio (o pós-rádio)?

As previsões sobre o peso e influencia da tecnologia num futuro tão incerto como o futuro são sempre incertas

«Over the last several months firms have either reassigned or fired their analysts covering radio. A year ago 24 analysts were assigned to radio. Now, only a dozen cover the industry. Just as stocks have sunk to multi-year lows and their worth has been reduced, some of radio’s biggest companies are going private. Deutsche Bank’s Drew Marcus says radio’s trading value “has dried up” and “that’s decreased the need for analysts.”»

fonte: «Radio is falling off Wall Street’s radar. Inside Radio, 15/10/07

«Basic terrestrial radio might be the last of the truly “free” media available, requiring no costly equipment, content subscriptions or on-demand fees. But local ad revenues have been eroding and the industry is fighting to respond to satellite radio, Internet radio and downloads, MP3, a music industry in chaos, new radio HD technology, and competition from multiple new sources. Therefore terrestrial radio is struggling to define its core mission and place in the information/entertainment landscape. What to do?

Dan Mason, president of CBS Radio division has said: “For years we tried to figure out how to make the product compatible for the audience, but the issue was the platform, not the content. In the near future, every radio station will have the ability to become a TV station. We will see webcast and webisodes. There’s no reason we can’t have our own webcast shows with talent. Radios will evolve and occupy more share of the digital space.”» 

(fonte: «Every radio station can become a TV station» IBL News 9/10/07 

«Tim Westergren, chief strategy officer and founder of Pandora, stopped by Portfolio yesterday and talked to our staff about the future of his online radio company. He's working to eventually take Pandora public and describes its growth as linear, with half a million new users each month, capturing a total of .2% of radio listeners in the U.S. Pandora sets itself apart from other internet radio sites by allowing users to personalize their own radio stations through a 'music genome' that analyzes songs for rhythm, lyrics, genre, etc. and then feeds similar songs into the user's play list. Though this is a great way to discover new artists and appreciate ones you never thought you would, as one Portfolio staffer pointed out, play lists can tend to sound homogeneous sometimes. But Westergren assures that there are ways of mixing up one's radio selection. "The secret sauce is that people interact a lot with Pandora."

Users can give a recommended tune a thumb up or a thumb down, and they can also learn how their play list was selected for them. To expand on the user interaction the company right now is considering ways to incorporate into the site elements of online social-networking.
(...) By using Pandora, bands can find out where people live who listen to their music and send out alerts notifying them of tour dates and performances. Westergren even noted how hobbyists who mailed CDs into Pandora got their music included in the site's massive library of songs. It's one big free for all for artists and fans alike and the number of songs and genres available on Pandora keeps on growing; classical music will soon be available in the coming weeks.

Profits for the site come from visual advertising. "Music is not a subscription business," says Westergren. He emphasized the shift of advertising money to the internet and how it's changing the music industry. He even predicts that soon Clear Channel, with its monopoly on traditional radio stations, will soon get a rude awakening with the advance of internet radio. Pandora doesn't do any of its own advertising, and Westergren credits the half a million new users a month to word of mouth and the blogosphere. "Catch a wave of the bloggers and it explodes from there."

To grow Pandora right now the company has a partnership with Sprint to provide its service on Sprint cell phones for .99 a month and more deals with major cell phone companies are in the works. With its growing success, Pandora continues to stand by its original intent: support the music industry by giving air time to all kinds of artists. But it suffered a major hiccup with the Copyright Royalty Board ruling on content licensing and now can only provide service to users in the U.S., enforcing this by checking zipcodes against a user's IP address. Westergren's solution to fight illegal downloading? "If you give someone a service that satisfies and gives them what they want, they won't steal." » (fonte: «Pandora Will Rock Radio As We Know It», Portfolio.com, Maney e Lenzo, 11/10/07

«The BBC's iPlayer web catch-up service will include video streaming for PCs and Macs when it is launched at the end of the year. The broadcaster is to use Adobe Systems' Flash Player software to deliver on-demand streaming, which will be accessible to users of Macintosh, Linux and Windows. The relationship with Adobe will also allow the BBC to standardise most of its streamed video and audio content on bbc.co.uk. The BBC is to launch the iPlayer as a downloading and streaming service to consumers in time for Christmas. The platform will also include radio. It currently enables registered users to download and view around 400 hours of programmes up to seven days after their TV broadcast, and to store them for up to 30 days. The BBC has also become the first UK broadcaster to make all of its online content available for free via wi-fi at 7,500 hotspots operated by The Cloud. Users will be able to access bbc.co.uk via an interactive video, highlighting a range of content available or via a BBC logo. A further deal with Telegraph Media Group will see telegraph.co.uk offering visitors the chance to click through from its TV listings to iPlayer to watch BBC programmes.»

fonte: «BBC iPlayer to include video streaming»,Robin Parker, Broadcastnow, 16/10/07 

«As múltiplas perspectivas para o futuro do suporte áudio revestem de incertezas as reflexões a respeito de como o som se constituirá enquanto ferramenta e meio, enquanto emissão preponderante no que poderá vir a ser o rádio e articulado com letterings (texto), imagens fixas e imagens em movimento em possíveis novas configurações para o que habitou-se a chamar, até então, de linguagem áudio-visual»

«A defesa de um novo estatuto para a audição nada tem de saudosismo ou nostalgia. Ao contrário, quer antes problematizar as os limites e possibilidades da presença do som em novas mídias, podendo assim escapar a antigos vícios e mitos que passaram a envolver a produção de sentido pelo som. Um novo estatuto para o ouvir diz respeito à revalorização da força sígnica do som. Trata-se da recuperação do sonoro enquanto elemento constituinte ativo da significação dentro do processo enunciativo. Um novo estatuto para a audição significaria, assim, a recuperação da emissora sonora enquanto efetivo momento de vivimento de experiência estética. De ativação, pelos sentido da escuta, de memórias, imaginários e representações. Estimular o receptor a ser, sempre, um co-autor na construção do sentido na enunciação, na privilegiada condição de sujeito ativador desses protocolos»

fonte: SALOMÃO, Mozahir, «O suporte sonoro e as novas mediações», 2006,

http://www.bocc.ubi.pt/pag/bianco-nelia-radio-digital.pdf

Mark Ramsey: «My belief is this: It's not radio's fault that we lost this audience. But it will most definitely be our fault if we fail to get them back.»

O que é que Ramsey sugere?

«Why is your stream limited to your station's audio? Why not stream your station's video as well? And why not include chat capability in the streaming window so that listeners can talk to each other and to your talent? We're making the mistake of envisioning a station's stream as "our over-the-air station online," but this is wrong. The medium, as the saying goes, is the message. And a book is different from the movie based on that book in large part because the medium requires them to be different and the medium enables them to be different» e «Very few stations provide more than one stream on their website. That is, if you can brand one version of your station, why can't you brand several? And why can't they be tailored to different genres or moods or content elements (e.g., the All-Morning Show stream)? This is a tremendous lost opportunity, and I'm surprised more stations don't get this. As I recently reported, less than half of commercial stations stream their programming at all, let alone go "beyond the call" in the ways I'm suggesting. Yes, I know there are fears about licensing costs and bandwidth costs and the costs of losing rated on-air listeners to unrated off-air streams. But until you build these streams, the listeners can't come. And until they come you can't monetize them. And until you monetize them you will stand by and wait while your audience gets what they want and need from elsewhere online»

«From Inside Radio:

TiVo ... is teaming with digital music service Rhapsody to deliver thousands of Internet radio stations and four million songs through any broadband-connected TiVo box. The feature will allow users to search for music directly from their TV where they’ll be able to browse charts of Rhapsody’s most popular artists, find weekly lists of new releases, or listen to thousands of radio stations. Current TiVo subscribers will get a free 30-day trial of Rhapsody. They then can opt to pay .99 a month to keep the service.

Mark Ramsey não acredita na ideia: «where's the need? If I have a fancy audio system hooked up to my TV I can ALREADY listen to a slew of digital audio channels on a cable system (as well as radio stations on my Time Warner one). So that "convenience" - in case it is convenient - already exists. What this process adds is complication, not simplicity.»

Mas há quem não concorde: «You could use the same argument you're making here against iPods: "Where's the need for an iPod? I can already listen to a slew of audio channels on my radio!"As to simple, how hard is it:
1) You don't need to buy any hardware
2) You don't need to fiddle with wires or new desktop boxes
3) You don't need to use a docking station, USB cable, or any other method to get the music on your stereo
4) You sign up, press a few buttons on your remote, and you're listening to your music through your own stereo in the order you want.»

fonte: «The beginning of the end of "one-to-many"», Ramsey, Hear2.0, 11/10/07

Os Radiohead decidiram «leiloar» as músicas do seu novo disco e obtiveram enorme impacto mediático com essa novidade. Provavelmente muito mais do que aconteceria se fosse um lançamento clássico, através da rádio...

«O novo álbum dos Radiohead, disponível para compra apenas no site oficial da banda por preços determinados pelos próprios fãs, foi descarregado 1,2 milhões de vezes em apenas dois dias» OU seja, a rádio está a passar para trás, há cada vez mais alternativas para os músicos se afirmarem, junto dos fãs, sem que tenham de passar pela intermediação. E apesar de muitos não terem pago ou da pirataria, «Os Radiohead arrecadaram 4,8 milhões de libras com a operação «In Rainbows». Em média, cada pessoa pagou 4 libras para receber o disco por via digital. Grande parte dos lucros vai para a banda já que não há nenhuma editora envolvida. Se tivessem recorrido a um serviço online para distribuir o álbum, calcula-se que não teriam recebido sequer um quarto do valor acima referido».

Jim Kerr destaca um outro aspecto, típico da nova ideia de web social: «The press has focused on different aspects of the process, from the economics of its pricing model to its role as a incredibly effective marketing vehicle. Both of those are relevant—the band will make money on the downloads, and the band and the album are all over the press—but the biggest benefit of Radiohead’s strategy hasn’t been mentioned by anyone, and it may be the most powerful benefit indeed: The database of users who downloaded their music.
In essence, Radiohead is potentially giving away their album to create a database of fans that they can leverage for future income, whether it is from merchandise, concert tickets, fan club memberships etc. This is lead generation in its most basic form: Pay a fee to gain access to a consumer who is interested in your product.
The standard value of reaching a new subscriber in the mobile and Internet space is often valued at 10-15$, which is, perhaps not surprisingly, the price of an album. For Radiohead, even their worst case scenario risk—that everyone downloading their album would pay nothing—is still worth it for the future income from the leads they will have generated.»

«A pergunta torna-se inevitável para quem assiste ao processo de crescente adaptação da rádio ao espaço aberto pela internet: a partir do momento em que o texto e a imagem se imiscuem noseu universo, terminando com a exclusividade da expressão sonora que historicamente a caracteriza, e em que ocorre toda uma série de outras mudanças significativas, haverá motivos para encarar esta transformação como o fim da rádio e o nascimento de algo ainda inominável, mas que configura um eventual novo meio?

If anyone has an edge here, what do you want to bet it's the streaming stations already indexed on iTunes? May the best radio brands win».

fonte: Hear2.0, «Radio on the iPod in 2008», 

«O vídeo vai chegar em breve ao site do Público, com conteúdos audiovisuais produzidos internamente e provenientes de agências noticiosas, revelou ao M&P António Granado, editor do Publico.pt.O lançamento do serviço intitulado Público Vídeo será acompanhado de um "refrescamento" gráfico e de navegação da homepage do Publico.pt, que fará a adaptação aos novos conteúdos multimédia. (...) "Hoje em dia um jornal veicula informação, independentemente do suporte", explica o editor do Publico.pt. E o online abre possibilidades "infinitas" de exploração de novas vertentes jornalísticas. O mais difícil, segundo António Granado, é a adaptação das próprias redacções, sendo importante "sensibilizar as pessoas para o mundo multimédia". Embora o objectivo seja colocar online vários vídeos por dia, Granado adianta que o Público Vídeo, "não vai competir com as televisões" em termos noticiosos, uma vez que "não vai apostar em breaking news", mas antes na reportagem ou na entrevista»

fonte: «Site do Público com canal de vídeos», Meios & Publicidade, 26 de Outubro de 2007, por Maria João Morais

«Canais temáticos online e uma aposta mais forte no vídeo são algumas linhas de força da estratégia do grupo Renascença para o meio internet a serem implementadas no próximo ano. "No primeiro trimestre de 2008 queremos arrancar com canais temáticos musicais e que são montados a partir de marcas muito conhecidas e emblemáticas do grupo Renascença", avança ao M&P José Ramos Pinheiro, administrador do grupo que agrega a Renascença, RFM e Mega FM. Nas intenções do grupo está, então, a criação de canais musicais online, a funcionar 24horas por dia, com base em rubricas ou programas conhecidos das emissoras. "A RFM será a primeira estação a avançar canais temáticos", precisa o responsável. Nas intenções do grupo está ainda a expansão deste conceito à área informativa. "Poderemos ter outros canais que podem ir do desporto à religião, onde iremos apostar em áreas informativas específicas", refere José Ramos Pinheiro, iniciativas que estão apontadas para o primeiro semestre de 2008. (...)A aposta no vídeo está igualmente na estratégia do grupo Renascença para o próximo ano. "Em 2008 iremos cimentar essa aposta", assegura José Ramos Pinheiro. O responsável relembra que o vídeo já marca presença, por exemplo no site da Renascença, mas o objectivo é "estruturar uma oferta com um conteúdo que vive especificamente na web e que vai basear-se na imagem ou vídeo, uma Web TV ou uma Web Vídeo." Uma estratégia extensível a todos os produtos do grupo e que se tem reflectido na redacção. "Temos contratado novas pessoas para os novos projectos, temos ido buscar competências que não tínhamos. Temos vindo a recrutar pessoas para os projectos à medida que forem lançados", diz. Um investimento total que o responsável preferiu não revelar.»

fonte: «Grupo Renascença vai lançar canais temáticos online», Meios & Publicidade, 26 de Outubro de 2007, por Ana Marcela

Conclusões do Youth Radio Study, da Paragon Media Strategies («Paragon Media Strategies surveyed 474 Millennials age 14-24 via internet survey.  Many of the findings can be used for benchmarks as we chart how the young’s (14-24 year olds) new media usage impacts radio listening.  One caveat: because the survey was conducted on line, we’re more likely to be dealing with early adopters to New Media».  «The teens and young adults in the Youth Radio Study represent the next generation of 25-54 listeners.  There are some red flags in this study about respondent’s radio use and also some constructive information about how radio can generate more radio listening from them»):

Em continuação a este texto:

«(...)se tornaram responsáveis por aquilo que o «Times» de 7 de Outubro designava como «The day the music industry died»: (...)Tradução rápida e evidente: uma das mais notórias bandas mundiais assume publicamente que, para o bem e para o mal, a música gravada é já, tendencialmente, gratuita e que a única forma de minimiar os prejuízos é usar as armas do «inimigo», passando a encarar o CD (físico ou virtual) como mero material de promoção para o que realmente conta - os concertos. (...) Enquanto estratégia de «marketing», deverá ser considerada, desde agora mesmo, exemplo brigatório de «textbook». Até porque o «espírito los tempos» não sopra noutra direcção senão nesta: a vertiginosa queda nos números de vendas de CD, nesta década, não pára de acelerar (no último ano, menos 10% em Inglaterra, 25% em França, 35% no Canadá); a cadeia de lojas HMV anunciou que, nos seis primeiros meses de 2007, as vendas se reduziram em 50%, e Richard Branson, após prejuízos de 50 milhões de libras, declara o óbito das Virgin Megastores; a EMI (cujo número de funcionários, em dez anos, a nível mundial, encolheu de 10 mil para 4 mil), adquirida pelo grupo financeiro Terra Firma, vale actualmente um terço do que representava em 1997; paralelamente, a partilha de ficheiros ilegal pulveriza diariamente recordes (e toma risíveis todas as invesidas «repressivas» sobre milhares de milhões de corsários) enquanto os números de público presente em conccrtos (com bilhetes a preços que, no caso dos Police e Rolling Stones, variavam entre as 70 e I50£), no Reino Unido - até ao final leste ano, 450 festivais de música -, cresciam 11%». (LISBOA, João, «Hail to the thief», Actual/Expresso, 20/10/07, pág 50/51)

«Várias estimativas de diversos países (ver Pool et aI., 1984) indicam que a oferta está a crescer a uma taxa anual constante de 8-10 por cento. Cada vez um maior número de organizações e de indivíduos são capazes de enviar informação a grandes distâncias a custo mais baixo; [Já] o consumo de informação está a crescer, mas muito mais lentamente, de acordo com as medições da quantidade de informação recebida ou a que se presta atenção. Na realidade, isto significa que a procura de informação é inferior à oferta, por uma série de razões, entre elas a limitação de recursos e de capacidade de processamento;  (...) A situação caracteriza-se por um insustentável desequilíbrio entre oferta e procura. (...) Do ponto de vista do receptor ou utilizador da informação, a «saturação» refere-se à maior dificuldade em encontrar informação útil ou adequada por entre oferta vasta, confusão, inconsistência e crescente dificuldade e custo de processamento e armazenamento da informação. » (McQuail e Windahl, 173) 

[A situação de elevada oferta de informação também pode ser vista de forma positiva. Existe mais escolha, a custo mais baixo para os consumidores, e mais possibilidades de acesso a canais de comunicação. O crescente excesso da oferta sobre a procura não tem de ser prejudicial e pode ser gradualmente corrigido (por exemplo) por um fluxo de comunicação (necessariamente mais equilibrado) ponto a ponto mais interactivo e por progressos na gestão da informação (armazenamento, substituição, acesso)] (idem)

«No modelo da difusão das inovações de Everett Rogers²³, os inovadores e os «early adopters» representam a vanguarda no que respeita à adopção de novas ideias, tecnologias, produtos ou serviços»

(http://www.cecl.com.pt/investigadores/jrosa/reloaded.html#Ref07)

«One relatively simple model of interactivity as a continuum, which operates from only one dimension, can be found in the writing of Everett M. Rogers (1986). Rogers defines ‘interactivity’ as “the capability of new communication systems (usually containing a computer as one component) to ‘talk back’ to the user, almost like an individual participating in a conversation” (1986: 34). And – a bit farther down – “interactivity is a variable; some communication technologies are relatively low in their degree of interactivity (for example, network television), while others (such as computer bulletin boards) are more highly interactive” (: 211). Based on this definition, Rogers has created a scale, reprinted in Figure 2, in which he lists ‘degrees of interactivity’ for a number of selected communication technologies on a continuum from ‘low’ to ‘high’.As can be seen in Figure 2, Rogers primarily refers to the concept of ‘interactivity’ within the consultation pattern. The basic model is clearly ‘human- machine interaction’, understood in the context of interpersonal communication (‘talking back’). It is also because of this consultative aspect (selection available between channels and programs) that classical transmission mass media such as TV and radio can be considered ‘interactive’ – although to a lesser degree. As is presumably also apparent, this attempt to sort and define is relatively rough and lacking in information – a trait that is intensified by Rogers failure to deliver explicit criteria for the placement of each media.»  fonte:  JENS F. JENSEN, «Interactivity’Tracking a New Concept in Media and Communication Studies»

«With the clock ticking toward a new year, Bear Stearns analyst Victor Miller projects radio will have another “challenging” year as revenues hold flat with “many forces on either side of the scale.” Miller says “Incredibly, one of the biggest positives for local radio in 2008 is that there will likely be fewer negatives.” On the plus side are more political dollars and increasing web revenues.»

fonte: «2008 Forecast: “The scale could tip either way.”», Inside Radio, 29/10/07

Significa perda de receitas imediatas, mas mais probabilidade de escuta nos mercados com PPM (EUA):

«And it’s not just for an hour. More stations are airing longer blocks of ad-free programming. One Boston station has given back three hours a day. What does it mean for dollars and ratings? Obviously, they’re going to be giving up some revenue. But some programmers think it could have a positive effect on ratings in the long run. Especially in a PPM world»: fonte: «Commercial radio goes commercial-free», 29/10/07, Inside radio

«White Plains, NY - Oct 26, 2007 - RCS is working with Nokia to roll out the Visual Radio experience to radio listeners and cell phone users worldwide. Visual Radio enables mobile device users to receive FM radio broadcasts with fully synchronized interactive graphic content. Visual Radio users will be able to see real-time information on artists, upcoming concert dates and other music-related topics on the phone display while listening to FM broadcasts. The service allows interactivity with the broadcast, such as participation in listener competitions and promotions. The new enhanced version of the service also allows radio stations to transmit visual advertisements at the same time listeners hear the spots on radio. In addition, RCS has released a new version of its Radio Show software to work with Visual Radio, so that the same rich content being seen on the mobile device will also appear simultaneously on multiple digital platforms including HD Radio and the Internet. The new enhanced Visual Radio service is expected to be available in select cities in at least 10 countries by the end of the year.»

fonte: «RCS, Nokia Partner on Visual Radio », Radio Currents Online, 22/10/07

O futuro da rádio é o tema de uma audição promovida pelo senado dos Estados Unidos.

Chamo a atenção para o depoimento do fundador do Pandora:

«Anna maintained that young people "are listening to more radio than ever." And it took me a while to realize that by "radio" she meant all forms of radio - satellite, terrestrial, podcasting, and especially Internet. They are, in other words, interchangeable [intermutável, substituível, que alterna] to that audience. Thus they should be interchangeable to you, your station, and your strategic plan»

fonte: «A Glimpse into Radio's Future, courtesy of the Zandl Group», Hear2.0, Mark Ramsey, 30/10/07