A segunda vida da rádio na net

Neste artigo da PC Mag ("Everything Kills the Radio Star", 14/9/05, de Lance Ulanoff) fala-se em duas fases da rádio na net; a primeira, logo após a explosão da net ("In the early days of the Internet, radio stations were among the first media outlets to try putting their content on the Web. Station after station around the country added a little link to its rather amateurish Web sites, offering live, streaming audio of their broadcasts. The quality was, as I recall"), e a que se vive agora:

"The fad fell victim to rising expenses: No one wanted to pay for the bandwidth costs, and radio execs were hard-pressed to prove to advertisers that their message was reaching more people online. What's more, the Internet was allowing local stations to encroach on each other's territory, making a mess of the FCC's rules for where local radio stations could broadcast (in place mostly to avoid actual interference between two stations on adjacent bands).

Within a year or two, I found it virtually impossible to find any decent commercial radio stations online. I could always find small-market ones but not my favorites.

Today companies like Clear Channel, Infinity Broadcasting, and NPR have all rethought their strategy. Of course, it's no longer about trying new things. This new interest in broadcasting online is all about survival. (...) The number of online radio stations has jumped into the thousands, and the list is full of commercial stations you know and love. It's also easier to find stations and manage your choices, since we no longer have to choose from a number of proprietary players. Quality is also much improved, thanks to better compression technologies and broadband."