There’s been much discussion in recent days about the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) announcing that more money is being spent on the internet than is on radio.
I must admit to being a little untrusting of this information and I’m not sure that like is being compared with like. And I don’t just say that because I work in radio. We also sell internet advertising and have a highly trafficed site. But I’d want to examine those numbers closely.
Anyway, there’s a reasonably relevant article in New Media Age highlighting what radio is doing to confront this challenge. In the first place, radio remains the most natural bedfellow of the internet with a “listen while you surf” approach which works. You can consume radio equally as well or even better via the internet than you can using a traditional set. And witness the success of the BBC’s radio player; if only all radio stations were able to strike the sort of deal the BBC have done to allow their content to be listen-again-able (it’s not technology that holds other stations back – it’s lack of the legal right to play the music again).
I do get a bit upset when supposed new developments such as The Bug are hailed because they allow radio to be timeshifted Sky+/Tivo-style.
This isn’t new. I’ll say again what I’ve been saying for a while. Ever since Psion launched the Wavefinder, PC owners have been able to do this. It’s just a pity that there aren’t similar products on the market now. A quick look around reveals only this model from Aria which isn’t being shipped at the moment due to XP SP2 driver issues.