WBZ begins online streaming

These headlines grabbed my attention. The time for radio stations to begin to see the Web as a powerful delivery medium was three to five years ago. Now, they are forced to play catch up to both satellite radio as well as the more powerful Podcasting opportunity.

As traditional radio begins to slip away into a more portable and personalized experience, and increasing number of top on-air celebrities will be lost to the competition. They will experiment with their own Podcasts, especially once “super enablers” come into the market that offer them direct distribution to empowered consumers who can time-shift their programs and listen to them on ay device at any time. These “super enablers” will offer ad models and subscriptions models.

Local radio will be reduced to traffic, news and weather services. And, honestly, those opportunities will be ephemeral. Add simple transmitting capabilities from host/content producer  to device and these grandfathered services disappear. As some who grew up loving traditional radio, I feel sad over its pending demise.