NPISAIPD: National Public Internet Streaming Audio with I-Pod Downloads. Lets face it, when the National Public Radio CEO, Vivian Schiller, basically talks about doing away with radio in the next 5 to 10 years, what are they going to call the network? I suppose they could just say “National Public Media” or something like that. With radio’s current trajectory, she might not be wrong.
Of course all of the NPR affiliates that kick large sums of money up the chain to the network may have something to say about all this. After all, they are the one heavily invested in transmitters, towers, STL’s and all the other equipment, buildings and real estate required to transmit radio signals. Not that I particularly dislike NPR, I think they have some fine programs, but much of it is syndicated and this is where radio is falling apart. Non-local radio stations will perish. Only stations that offer something different and not available through other sources will survive and thrive, voice tracking and syndication will become the kiss of death.
This also leaves a bit of a problem for NPR itself. Much of its revenue (more than 50%) comes from network affiliation fees with member stations. If they intend on short circuiting those stations cutting them out of the programming loop (Schiller says no but we’ll see), they are going to have to figure out how to make up that lost revenue. If I were an NPR member station, I’d surely be looking at my network affiliation agreement and looking for ways to replace some of that content with something local. That would be planning ahead.
Local Radio.
Local news, local music, local arts, local sports, local weather, local content. I can find out what is going on in China, Israel, India or almost any place around the globe with a few key strokes on the computer. I can’t find out what happened at the local town board meeting, what the county legislature is up to, or whether the school budget passed. All of those things have immediate affects on my taxes and therefore my family finances.
Local radio. Fill in the void left by dead newspapers. That is what radio stations need to do, go local or perish.
NPR feeds all of the Wisconsin state owned radio stations as affiliates with its left leaning liberal vocal diarrhea. It bothers me that the U.S. taxpayer finances it through CPB, states and universities (greater than 20%), and an unnamed 7.6%. When the Communications Act of 1934 came about, 100% of the domestic broadcasting business was private, Big unlimited government just had to get its goozy fingers into the pie in the name of “diversity”. If CPB and NPR are so diverse, then why can’t they stand completely on their own without any of my tax dollars?
The only verbal diarreah I can see is the comment from J. Aegerter. The 1934 act came about because it was clear that the radio industry needed to be regulated. And they set aside 88-92 for non-commercial use. The cost to each US taxpayer for public radio is one postage stamp. So, Mr. Aegerter, it’s your tax pennies, not dollars. It has also become one of the most successful private/public partnership examples in our history. And for the majority of public radio stations it is a revenue stream of less than 10%.
The 1934 Act came about because of electromagnetic spectrum interference between stations. FM was not patented until 1933 and “88-92” wasn’t even allocated then and neither was FM! The FM band (88-108) wasn’t allocated until the early 1950’s and FM wasn’t even popular until about 1970! PBS came about in the early 1960’s. The founding fathers proclaimed “Limited Government”, and wow, how that has been violated. So, regardless, if its pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters or dollars, PBS in my mind should be self-sufficient, rather than be another goozy government finger in my pocket. I remember Senator Everett Dirksen from Illinois who said, “a billion here, a billion there; pretty soon we’re talking some real money”. And the way the world is going bankrupt, his quote should be repeated a little more today.
Aegerter, they can’t because the FCC intentionally “hobbles” them by not allowing non-commercial radio stations to air commercial content, not allowing them to lease out airtime at a profit, nor allowing them to fundraise on behalf of third parties.
If you want to get rid of all those restrictions, I imagine NPR could do just fine without your tax dollars. After all, commercial radio stations do. Oh wait, COMMERCIAL RADIO GETS YOUR TAX DOLLARS, TOO! Yes it’s true! Did you know that every business who buys ad time on a radio station can deduct that expense under the marketing exemption with the IRS? That’s right, so really your beef isn’t with public radio…it’s with COMMERCIAL RADIO that’s fleecing the taxpayer right and left, aren’t they?