Radio vs Podcasts
A billion years ago, when I would drive to school or work I would listen to the radio. Usually this was early enough in the day that whatever local station would forgo the usual classic rock or mix playlist for a morning show.
These would consist of the local DJ's doing a 2-3 hour talk show where they would play games with callers for concert tickets and t-shirts. The ads that played were always for laser hair removal or car stereo systems. In fact, the sound system (even the stock one) in my car was the best one I had to listen to basically anything.
I'm sure bigger stations still do this, but I don't listen to the live radio these days. When I get into the car my phone connects to Apple Carplay and it pulls up spotify or podcasts. In Austin I had the radio set to NPR because it was the only local news option. We can't reach any NPR stations here so the default to Carplay stays on.
With the car playing stuff off the phone I now listen to the podcast versions of the radio shows I used to listen to live. It just doesn't have the same feeling as the live radio broadcast does. I'm not sure if it's a fidelity issue from being streamed vs live FM or what but everything that goes though Bluetooth is muted in some way to me.
The fact that all the shows I listened to live on the radio exist now as Podcasts a few hours later just tells me that eventually most FM stations will shut down. Everything will be a podcast show instead of live on the air because there is no profit in a localized program.
I bring this up because just this morning I was getting groceries and the podcast version of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me had a little snippet promoting a paid sub version of NPR+ where you don't get the ads. It felt like I was listening to a Youtube channel tell me to like and subscribe or a Patreon spiel where if I give them more money I get more access to content.
The point of public radio at least is that you donate twice a year or pay a monthly membership fee and you get a pair of grackle socks or a tote bag to show your support (and advertise). I take it because shows are now no longer local-focused that they are moving to a more national business model the way all other podcasts work.
I think it's kind of sad to lose the live aspect of radio. Making everything a podcast means you don't miss stuff and can go back and listen to old episodes whenever you want which is nice. Especially for things like Car Talk or Splendid Table where the original hosts are no longer there.
I also wonder what will happen to licensing and podcast creation. Right now I can start a podcast with just my phone and the voice memo app. But national radio programs have to abide by FCC laws. This makes me wonder if the future of podcasts will be susceptible to them eventually as well. I mean, it's a bit late to start that now lol.