Radio ... and Me - 21

Back in the 1950s, radio appeared to be in peril, from the onslaught of television.

But radio fought back, with a fiendishly clever campaign, produced by the American satirist, Stan Freberg, entitled: “Nobody Listens to Radio.” Each radio spot message ended with the tagline (sung by the great Ella Fitzgerald, no less!), “Only one hundred and fifty million people … that's all!” (Photo by: www.textually.org/)
Radio may be in another kind of “peril” today, with the rise of radio on the Internet and the widespread use of iTunes.
However, all is not lost.
First, the good news:
Tuesday, February 13, was a big day in radio, because that day was designated as 'World Radio Day', by UNESCO.
Their website stated simply that, “The World Radio Day seeks raise awareness about the importance of radio, facilitate access to information through radio and enhance networking among broadcasters.”
That same day, here in Canada, the publicly-funded CBC launched its "CBC Music" site. They present "40 Web radio stations, a vast array of music and blog posts by CBC personalities through a website and via mobile apps.”
The CBC Music streams range from classical and jazz to rock, pop and blues, along with their “live radio” stations throughout the country.
Over on the French side, “Espace music" had already launched their comprehensive Internet music streams, "Espace.mu", a few months ago.
Some listeners and a few radio critics (such as Russell Smith, of the Globe and Mail in Toronto) openly wondered why we should care about radio, asking:
“Who needs CBC Radio, now that you can get classical music online?”
And, there … Dear Reader … lies one of the biggest factors of the demise of radio: most Internet streams are just that -- I call them: “Juke box Radio” -- and not the programs presented by regular radio stations.
During the earlier days of the Internet, radio stations from small towns to big cities streamed their programs. But now, because of the dreaded god “Copyright,” we are witnessing: “Radio That Disappears.”
Here are some recent examples, from my experience, of stations I used to listen to:
-- CBS Radio: (all their stations throughout the USA) marked, not available “from your location.” (I take that to mean that I cannot listen, because I do not live in the USA.) I enjoyed istening to news on: WCBS-880, and 10-10 WINS, New York, and WBZ-1030, Boston. NO MORE!
-- Classic FM in UK: requires a UK postal code if you want to listen.
-- BBC Radio: all their domestic streams seem to be still available; however, their TV News and TV domestic channels (and live camera feeds) are not! (Curious thing!)
-- BTW, tomorrow is the 80th birthday of 'BBC World Service.' Hooray! ... I say, Well done."
-- International sporting events, such as, FIFA 'World Cup' soccer radio streaming stops at national borders, for 'exclusive' / 'contractual' reasons.
(At the same time, though, American Public Radio stations are widely available, either on individual stations or on iTunes.)
This phenomenon is not new.
-- During the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, the widely-promoted NBC Television streams were not available outside the USA; ditto their recent 'Super Bowl XLVI' stream.
'Copyright' is back -- with a vengeance!
Even 'You Tube' is not immune.
When I click on many of my saved music URLs, they are often listed as 'removed for copyright reasons.'
Radio, then, seems to be giving us conflicting signals.