The New "Broadcasting"

I took my Advanced Communication students on a field trip to local television and radio stations today. It was a great trip topped off by lunch at Old Chicago.

Two interesting and related concepts introduced today were brought to our attention at the public television station, WTVP, and the Regent Broadcasting corporation radio group. First, the tech director at WTVP was discussing the future of television. He sees a future where the viewer decides which shows, or he preferred to call them stories, to watch and when to watch them. True, we have the capability with DVR and even back to the VCR to do this. But he is talking about technology where programs are just offered, like in a Netflix library or something like that, and we simply put shows into a collection and we view when and where we choose. In other words, the concept of "turn on the tv and flip through channels" will be over. In the same vein, the radio station discussed with us that they are purchasing LDR software for the Peoria market. LDR stands for Listener Driven Radio where the listener using a digital radio (ever see those for sale?) can collect songs and listen, using the station's radio frequency, to their favorite songs. Kind of like a Pandora radio concept, but with local advertisements, local news and weather, and emergency reports. Neat concept, but they better start marketing it along with digital radios. That's called parlaying your advertising.

This really is becoming a "me" society. While I find these offerings and ideas appealing, because I live and am immersed in this society, I struggle with this because part of the fun of media and "broadcast" is that we share shows or stories with other human beings. Today, I run into this disconnect with others when they say, "Did you see that new YouTube video..." No, I didn't. End of conversation...awkward smiling...then "see ya!" When we individualize our media entertainment from five to ten options to thousands of "popular" options, the concept of broadcasting disappears and we lose connections with others. I don't know. Any thoughts???