Essay Example on Radio: Evolution of the World's Most Popular Media

Introduction

Radio is the world’s most popular and one of the oldest media. The radio network has developed progressively since the 19th century. The traditional AM and FM analogue transmission means have survived for over a century. However, more effective ways of broadcasting have emerged within the past three decades. The use of digital and internet radio transmission have made the transfer of audio and other media formats easier. The development has brought several benefits to both the radio networks and radio listeners.

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History of Web Revolution in Traditional Radio

The wireless transmission of the audio message has significantly developed through a significant period. The technique originated from 1964 when a mathematician by the name James Clerk Maxwell explained that electromagnetic waves could transmit signals through space. Following the theoretical explanation, David Edward Hughes experimented in 1880, and it worked. Later in 1888, Heinrich Hertz proved Hughes' electromagnetic experiment by sending electromagnetic waves. Several scientists kept working on the electromagnetic wave transmission experiment until 1894. it was in the year when an Italian by the name Guglielmo Marconi made the first device that could transmit messages using electromagnetic waves that Hughes had proposed.

In 1895 Alexander Povop built the first radio receiver using the ideas that other scientists had explained. The radio transmitter and receivers kept improving throughout the 20th century. In 1912 the Italian Marconi opened the first radio manufacturing factory in the world in Chelmsford, England. On 31st August 1920.

On 31st August 1920, station 8MK, which was located in Michigan, became the first to broadcast news. The first radio station to broadcast sports events did so in 1921 by airing a football match between West Virginia and Pittsburgh. In the 20th-century, radio broadcasting was through commercial amplitude modulation (AM) until the 1960s when stations adopted the VOR system. By the 1970s, radio technology developed, which used metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) and large scale integration (LSI) (Bennett, 1984). The LSI and MOS technologies made it easy to manufacture radio receivers, which were portable and practical.

In 1995 a new radio transmission model called Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) began in Europe, which formed the basis for the development of the digital radio. In 1996, japan launched another digital radio transmission mode called ISDB-S and later started another one named ISDB-T. The digital audio broadcasting system proved to be more effective than the traditional AM and FM. The DAB system can offer different stations within the same bandwidth and provide higher quality audio than the conventional AM and FM. At the time of its launch, the DAB allowed radio stations to transmit and codec audio formats (Devlin, 2018). However, in 2007, the system upgraded and started broadcasting in the HA-AAC v2 (AAC+) format when DAB changed to DAB+.

Internet radio dates back to 1993 when a man named Carl Malamud started the first internet one-on-one communication, which he called 'internet talk radio.' The internet talk media used to hold at least one talk in a week to interview a computer expert. In 1994, an Irish media called the first radio to air news online, which continued broadcasting until 1998, when the station became outdated. In 1994, a US-based station named WXYC, which used to operate in FM through frequency 89.3, became the first one to air all its programs via the web.

In the same year, a radio station called WREK, which used to broadcast on frequency 91.1 via FM media streamed online using their software by the name cyberradio1. Radio stations that used FM and AM systems started steaming their programs online in 1994. Scott Bourne formed the first internet-only radio station in the year 1995 and called it NetRadio.com (Devlin, 2018). Most people consider Scott's radio station to create the base for the development of internet radios since most internet radio stations followed his example. Virgin radio became the first European radio to broadcast all programs via the internet in 1996.

In 1997, Canada launched an internet-only radio station called Radio306.com, which later changed the name to purerockradio.net. The station celebrated 20 years of existence in 2017 and is the longest-serving online radio station. In 1999, a group of professional broadcasters raised capital through crowdfunding and started a radio station called Zero24-7. The station was the first internet radio media to start through crowdsourcing of finance. Internet radio grew very significantly in the 1990s. In 1998 broadcast.com offered the most significant amount of IPO for a radio station in the US.

Broadcasting through the internet made it easy for radio stations to air various programs through the net. By the year 2000, the quality of the audio that radio stations broadcast had greatly improved. Radio stations were able to transmit quality audio as high as 64kbits/s and 128kbits/s. By 2017 the number of radio stations that broadcast online had increased to over 8,000. The internet audio had also increased significantly by the same year. Most radio stations have also developed applications from where listeners can stream programs that the radio stations transmit. Other stations operate online through their websites.

However, most radio operates through both wave transmission and streaming. The improved technology has allowed people to stream their favourite radio stations even using their smartphones. Improvement of the internet radio has also resulted in the possibility of a station sending very high quality sound Ferencak, 2018). Other stations operate only via the internet and have never used the FM and AM media to transmit the programs. Some of the most famous stream only stations are Spotify, Tunein, and others. Streaming has now made it easy for radio stations to economize on data as it is possible to compress the files into smaller but quality formats.

Internet Radio

Internet radio first appeared in the year 1993. Carl Malamud is the person who introduced the first internet talk radio by starting a computer radio show where he used to interview one computer expert every week. The first radio show that appeared online was the Severe Tire Damage, which appeared in June 1993. in the year 1994, an Irish radio started a repost of the radio news through the internet (Ferencak, 2018). However, the internet program ran up to 1998 when the internet show became out-of-date. In the US, the first traditional radio media broadcast online was WXYC, which used to transmit via the FM system.

In 1995 a man named Scott bourne started the first internet-only radio, which he gave the name Netradio.com (Priestman, 2001). We can say that net radio was the pioneer of online communication. In 1996, an english radio called virgin radio emerged and became the first radio in Europe to run its programs online. Internet radio continued growing broadly throughout the 1990s (Ferencak, 2018). Since the year 2000, most of the radio stations broadcast either purely online or both online and through FM and AM. The quality of audio that the radio stations broadcast has kept on improving throughout the last three decades.

Radio mass communication used to be the only means of broadcasting before the 21st century. However, now many radio stations can broadcast through live streaming on the internet. The most significant advantage of programming via the internet is that radio stations reach a wider audience. The method of transmitting radio messages also allows the public to interact freely with the broadcasters.

Listeners can use a stand-alone device that uses the internet to receive the transmission of the message from the station that sends the message using the internet. Alternatively, one can use a computer with an internet radio software that allows them to access the internet radio service (Heuberger, 2019). Internet radio uses streaming media to send messages to people who have access to a continuous presentation of audio signals from the radio media. The streaming process works almost like the traditional amplitude modulation (AM) and the Frequency Modulation (FM) in terms of the consistency of receiving the radio messages.

The content that internet radios broadcast is just similar to the traditional broadcast. Web radios mostly present music, sports events, and news. Most of the communications which offer internet radio also provide the conventional terrestrial radio service (Heuberger, 2019). There are only a few start-up radios broadcast over the internet, although it requires only a small amount of money to start and run. Some radio station prefers to operate through the internet because the radio service allows the station to present anything that they will with little limitations (Ferencak, 2018).

The popularity of online radio services is increasing daily. By 2003, the online radio service had resulted in total revenue of around US$49 million. By the year 2006, the income had already increased to US$500 million. A survey that researchers did in 2007 revealed that around 20% of the respondents had access to online radio media platforms. In 2008 a similar study revealed that one out of every seven US citizens listens to the internet radio stations. A significant number of US citizens now have online radio receivers or software that can allow them to listen to the radio online using their PC.

Over 47% of all Americans above the age of 12 have listened to the radio through the internet. Additionally, the time the American citizens spend listening to internet radio services increased from an average of around 12 hours in 2013 to about 14 hours per week in 2014 (Ferencak, 2018). the most significant number of listeners of the online radio is among the teenagers and younger ages.

The most significant advantage of the online radio is that it can reach the audience from almost all parts of the world. For example, one can listen to an American radio station while they are in Malawi, which has made the internet radio service to get more popular. The web radio service is also advantageous for people with special needs since they can select a channel form a large number available. The use of smartphones has also made internet radio services have a high number of listeners. Additionally, carmakers are now making vehicles that can also access radio services through the internet, making the internet radio have a wider audience.

To start an internet radio station, you will only need to have a computer, a microphone, and other accessories. Some internet broadcasters use a broadcasting desk, but it is not a must to have it for a station to stream. Airing radio programs' financial requirements are affordable since one only needs to pay a small fee to get permission to use the cloud radio broadcasting service. The cost of running the stations online is also low. The operation of online radio stations through the web does not need one to use a lot of personnel.

Another advantage of using online radio is that it has made running of radio stations to become comfortable. To broadcast online, you need only a little effort and time because the process uses automatic processes to transmit messages. Automation has even made it easy for a station to run for a long time without anyone running the station.

Through listening to online radios, it is easy for listeners to discover new radio stations. The fact that a listener can listen to radios that they have never heard before makes the new stations that broadcast online to get new listeners online.