The End of Radio, TV, and Print

After watching the CBC three part series on the end of radio, the end of TV and the end of print starring culture specialist Jian Ghomeshi it is evident that we are slowly moving into a world where radio, TV, and print are coming to an end and recreating themselves online. There have been many trends and fads that come and go but this one (the internet) is here to stay and everything is slowly making its way onto it. With online radio stations, online TV and electronic books, radio, TV, and print are slowly on their way out.

Radio:
There are now so many new ways to listen to music and a large number of them are not from the radio. People are listening to music on the internet or as many like to call it, radio on demand. Sites like Pandora are allowing individuals to create their own radio station based on the music that they like. There are many different types of radio on demand such as podcasting/ audio blogging which is a radio show that can be downloaded onto ones computer or to a portable player.

With the availability and accessibility of these new forms of radio, radio shows can automatically be sent to your iPod or any other listening device. All one needs to do is subscribe to them through a RSS feed. Podcasting/ audio blogging isn’t the only thing taking over radio. There is also XM and Sirius Satellite Radio that are a crucial part of the evolution of radio. With these satellite radios, individuals have access to more and specialized stations.

TV:
The future of TV will be very different than how it was in the past. Today, individuals can easily access all of their shows online with no hassle and of course no commercials (who wouldn’t want this!). Many individuals can watch their shows on YouTube, television network sites, and on other torrent sites whenever and wherever they want. It is just as easy to watch TV online as it is to watch it on TV. In fact, I would argue that it is easier to watch TV online and it is pretty much the main way I go about my television viewing.

If you don’t want to watch shows online there are digital recorders such as PVR and TiVo that allow individuals to watch shows at a more convenient time. These devices also go against the normal habits of television viewing as people have control over what they choose to watch and when they want to watch it.

There are some things I will never get like why someone would ever want to watch their favorite show on their phone or iPod. I personally have a video iPod and it is just annoying to watch any form of television like that. However, the future of TV will in fact mainly be on portable devices. It is unfortunate for the advertisers because they will have to think of other creative ways to promote their products.

Print:
Because of things like e-books and blogging, print is slowly but quickly dying out. More and more information has gone digital and this makes perfect sense as it is easy to store, it can be found easily and it does not accumulate dust over time. Print online in such mediums like blogs and wikis open up the opportunity for more voices and people who otherwise would not be published.

Print has become a challenge to media. The New York Times has more readers on the web then they do in print. In addition, news organizations are finding new audiences. As time goes on people are becoming more and more comfortable reading off of screens and many kids today grow up learning from these screens and not books.

I personally still enjoy reading a magazine in print and not online and I do not think that that will ever change for me. However, the availability of information and print that has been put online has definitely made my life a lot easier.

These videos only reinforce the ideas that radio, TV and print are doomed because they are all ending up online. I personally believe that the future of the radio, TV and print is online. Are these real substitutes? What do you think?

XOX Jessica

P.S. If you are wondering where this came from, it is an assignment for my blogging class!