Function & Future: A Long Road

Radio, at it's core, has always been a conduit and venue for the disbursement and distribution of information to a wide populace. Be it recreational, public service, or for those more corporate, radio has always followed these tenants. However, the radio is not a simple device of a sedentary advance. Just as ground-based radio once superseded the telegraph, so did other technologies. The advance in needs for communications technologies is only ever expanding. From the advent of satellite-based radio systems, or even to the advance and popularity of the internet, ground-based radio's shadow over prior deprecated technology only begins to become engrossed in that of other technologies. In this light, what does radio truly to the public at large?

To find an understanding in this technology's deprecation, you need not look farther than what has come to supersede it. For many, radio has become a term not simply for a kind of technology, but instead for a non-user selected venue of semi-randomized music. On the main page for the music service Pandora, as an advertisement for the company no less, is the service described as  "personalized radio." Pandora is not alone in this use of the term, of course. The music streaming software Spotify describes their randomized music stations as radios. How could this be if radio communications isn't even involved within the software? At this point, it's what radio has become to mean to the modern day populace; not its technology, but its use and purpose of the end user.

(Fig. 1. Excerpt of Pandora's wording on radio.)

Music on the road broadcasted from a localized station is the new face of radio; though, more simply to the point of music. In what was historically the most popular and essential of listening venues is relegated to an automotive vehicle. As radio-plays were overcame by serialized television, so did become the broadcast by internet streaming.

However, all is not entirely lost for radio. Although no longer as popular as it once was, there's a high possibility of "radio becoming more and more of a niche medium" (Doug Irwin). As posed within his article "What Does the Future of Radio Look Like?", Vice President of Engineering at iHeartMedia (formerly iHeartRadio) Mr. Irwin poses that "As technology evolves the business that many of us know as broadcasting will continue so shrink, but it's not going away any time soon." With a high ranking member of one of the largest radio conglomerates admitting that radio is going the way of the buffalo, it's hard to not spell doom for the once titanic medium, but there's always a silver-lining. As Doug Irwin says, radio will never truly die. It may have been relegated to vehicles, but, in a way, that may simply be where it's best suited. In a 2017 interview with Ben Lawrence of Mixcloud by Stuart Dredge, Ben suggests that while it may seem like radio is dying, it's not. It's only in how we view it (9). Although both disagree on how optimistic the future of radio can be, they both agree that spelling doom is only premature. While internet and other mediums can be more involved, radio has always been a stand-by format. It's how people discover music and can be how people become engaged with music without much worry. Little do we need an all engaging media format when on an open road. Radio will never die, but it will never cast a shadow so as it once did.

Quality & Quantity: In the Air

When deciding if ground-based radio systems are still worth their maintenance work and fees, it's incredibly important to note the relevance and uses that still pertain to such technology. Although thought as being deprecated tech, the technology of such is often paired with other electronics and most commonly, motor vehicles. In such vehicles, the primary use of such technology is for music listening; in order to gauge the relevance of such listening numbers, one may find it quite troublesome.
 However, in order for such listeners to even participate in radio based music, FM and AM radio stations are required in order to listen. From the earliest recorded example of FCC radio station record keeping, it is seen that as of December, 1968, only 1944 FM stations were in recognized production. By January of 1970, that number jumped all the way up to 2083 FM stations and 4269 AM Stations. This trend continues up until the early 2000s with the amount slightly increasing only just above the 13000 mark, with that year having 4772 AM stations, 6089 FM stations, and 2259 FM educational stations. However, towards the eldest portions of the late aughts, radio station numbers began to rise suddenly. Within 2008 the number broke the 14000 mark with 14003 stations and would only continue to grow. Within the year of 2012, the numbers finally broke 15000 and, with the most recent recordings in late 2017, the numbers seem to have settled just above that at 15503.

As shown, although showing signs of slowing, radio and its accompanying stations are lucrative enough and beneficial enough for not only the continued maintenance of, but also continued construction of new stations. Although striking, this information isn't be-all in terms of evidence for the continuation of radio. Even from its inception, the litigious rights of such communications venues have been in great question, with the right in question being that of the first amendment.
On April 2nd, 1969, a case was brought to the Supreme Court on the rights of the Red Lion Broadcasting Company in their refusal of "free reply time" (Red Lion Broadcasting Co v. FCC US 2) by a Fred J. Cook against allegations posed by a Reverend Billy James Hargis on their station. Posed within the closing by the Supreme Court judges was that, while under the first amendment, Reverend Billy James Hargis was allowed to make such inflammatory remarks against Cook, but the format in which he did so juxtaposed him over Cook and created an unfair environment which jeopardized the Fairness Doctrine. In short, the Supreme Court says that:

Just as the Government may limit the use of sound-amplifying equipment potentially so noisy that it drowns out civilized private speech, so may the Government limit the use of broadcast equipment. The right of free speech of a broadcaster, the user of a sound truck, or any other individual does not embrace a right to snuff out the free speech of others. (Red Lion Broadcasting Co v. FCC US 28)

Although the insults were legal, the ground in which they were said was not. Radio may be a great source of information and venue for the disbursement of said information, but it is in its greatest form limited. With the majority of freely accessible and commonly used radio formats being one-way, it's difficult for more contemporary and highly contested issues to find great service and deliberation through that technology.

Perhaps confounded or constrained, for better or for worse, towards its optimum output, radio has a legacy and an active future that in all stances may change its most known visage. Not only the idea of radio and the common usage of radio, but the word itself; the word itself in a great wide web.

 An addendum on information regarding the fairness doctrine and how it may pertain to the above case.

Purpose & Meaning: Set in Stone

Since its conception, ground-based radio and is technologies have found vast use when available across the world. From its initial use as military communications equipment, to its more contemporary usage as a music receptacle for vehicles in transit, the ground-based radio has resided as an important and well used conduit for information communication. However, in recent years, more and more services have come and gone in a lofty pursuit of quelling and replacing the what is presumably a stand-by for most users.

With advent of mobile streaming services such as 4G based telecommunication technologies and satellite services, radio's place and validity in the world has come under more and more scrutiny. What was once the most relied upon in information transference technology is having the very foundations it has grown be shook and stirred by competition. Should the unassailable giant of mass-communication be toppled for more convenient and modern alternatives or kept steadfast in its reliability?

In this oncoming wake, a somewhat interesting convention has began to sprout out from this idea of change. While not entirely based on ground-based radio broadcasting, satellite-radio has become a relatively recent alternative to well known system and is seeing more and more use as a subscription based service à la Sirius XM Radio. Although significantly more expensive than (what is effectively free sans initial payment) traditional radio, the clarity of sound and significantly larger music choice from most localized stations offers a possibly more enjoyable and more appreciable listening experience.

In addition to the advent of satellite-broadcast based radio services, 4G cellular services through a mobile provider have gained great popularity. As the amount of people carrying a cellphone on their persons increases, the reliance on such a device for information also increases. In order to compensate for this, streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora, and Soundcloud now offer a radio-free alternative to the absence left by a lack of such equipment.

Given an increasing variety of avenues, does ground-based radio transceivers truly have as much clout and importance as they once did or have modern alternatives taken place and stature over the once crowned technology? Does the continued maintenance and regulation of the frequencies used by such technologies house the worth in its maintenance and regulation?