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Skip Pizzi / The Big Picture
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Technical developments in the digital arena, consumer electronics and new media bear directly on the success of traditional radio broadcast. Insightful commentary on these and other trends from Radio World Contributing Editor Skip Pizzi.
Until our new data system is fully integrated, please
click here
for articles prior to September 1, 2006.
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Trading Spaces, Shifting Gears
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The Move to New Platforms Is Important, But It Must Be Done Thoughtfully
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by Skip Pizzi, 5.07.2008
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Some observers have remarked that this spells trouble for radio as other competitive services become increasingly more convenient.
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Living La Vida Local — Or Not
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Terrestrial Radio May Be Squandering Its Most Valuable Attributes: Localism & National Aggregation
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by Skip Pizzi, 4.23.2008
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How should terrestrial radio react?
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Polarizing the Receiver Marketplace
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Horizontal and Vertical Have New Meaning in the Development and Deployment of Consumer Receivers
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by Skip Pizzi, 4.09.2008
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This dichotomy affects the landscape in which these types of services currently try to compete with each other.
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DAB on the Up and Down Track
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Eureka DAB Found Success in the U.K., But Now Even Those Prospects Are Dimming
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by Skip Pizzi, 3.26.2008
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Some 25 years since its development and nearly a decade since its first real service introductions, DAB is still experiencing a roller-coaster deployment.
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Avoiding the Audio LCD
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Radio Is Becoming the Lowest Common Denominator for Audio Service — Generally Not an Enviable Position
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by Skip Pizzi, 3.12.2008
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Last time we discussed how radio is assuming the “fast food” position among competitive services, and how that might hurt its status in the future. This time we’ll consider some other ways to keep this problem at bay.
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Would You Like Fries With That?
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As Media Menus Expand, Will Local Radio Become a Fast-Food Format?
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by Skip Pizzi, 3.01.2008
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Time was when radio stations were the only audio restaurants in town, and they served up all you could eat. Whether you liked country, classical or classic rock, you knew where to go to get an earful.
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Toward an Embarrassment of Niches
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In an Internet-Driven, Highly Personalized World, Is the Traditional Radio Format Doomed?
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by Skip Pizzi, 2.13.2008
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An example of this phenomenon is evidenced in the music world by the movement away from blockbuster hits and toward “catalog” material and emerging or lesser-known artists.
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Turning Some Tight Corners for IBOC
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A Number of Critical Obstacles Lie in Digital Radio’s Path Toward Ultimate Success
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by Skip Pizzi, 2.01.2008
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The recently concluded 2008 CES convention showed that IBOC continues to make small but steady gains in the consumer marketplace, at least in terms of receiver products offered. Nevertheless, a number of important issues will soon need to be addressed and resolved in a positive way if IBOC is to continue on an upward path.
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The Mystery of the Missing Days
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The Arrival of the New Year Provides a Good Opportunity to Ponder the Calendar
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by Skip Pizzi, 1.02.2008
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Perhaps the link may seem tenuous, but radio has always been a timekeeper of sorts for its listeners.
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2007, A Year to Remember
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It Was One for the Books in the U.S. Radio Environment; We Recount Some Highlights
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by Skip Pizzi, 12.19.2007
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The arbitrary boundary of the calendar year provides us with an almost obligatory opportunity to reminisce on the recent past, and look ahead to the near future, on an annual basis.
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Singing the Buggy-whip Blues
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The Music Industry Continues to Search for A Viable Business Model That Fits Today’s Technology
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by Skip Pizzi, 12.05.2007
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At a recent conference presentation on the future of the music industry, a fellow panelist asked the audience if they agreed with his contention that it had now “become voluntary to pay for music.”
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Will Radio’s Inertia Be Its Savior?
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Given the Volatility of New Media Today, Radio’s Relative Consistency Could Be an Asset
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by Skip Pizzi, 11.07.2007
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Although these are not the heady days of the dot.com boom, the number of media-oriented introductions per se is far higher today than it was in the late 1990s.
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The Elephant and the Oak Tree
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An Old Joke Reflects a Growing Realization About IBOC
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by Skip Pizzi, 10.24.2007
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Sometime in the fourth or fifth grade I first heard the elephant joke that asks, “How do you get an elephant into an oak tree?” Answer: “Have him sit on an acorn and wait.”
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Substitute Teaching for the Digital Age
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The Ratcheting Rhetoric of Royalties Has Created a New Buzzword, With Potentially Serious Impact
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by Skip Pizzi, 10.10.2007
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The battle over performance royalties for U.S. broadcasts of music recordings continues to rage, with no end in sight.
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Whose Device Is It, Anyway?
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Many Services Can Converge and Connect at the Personal Portable Media Device, But Who Decides Which?
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by Skip Pizzi, 9.26.2007
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You may recall in the last issue that we considered the technical complexity of wireless digital media devices.
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We Map the Mobile Multimedia Maze
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If the Camel Is a Horse Designed by a Committee, Their Next Project Must Have Been Wireless Multimedia
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by Skip Pizzi, 9.12.2007
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Time was, all it took to provide a broadcast service was a transmitter and a receiver. While technically that’s still true, there’s a lot more to it nowadays.
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Subscription Radio Gets Real
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Whether or Not the FCC Allows It, HD Radio Is Ready for Subscription Service
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by Skip Pizzi, 9.01.2007
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We conclude our examination of the remaining unknowns of IBOC with a look at RadioGuard, the conditional access system proposed by Ibiquity Digital for use on HD Radio subscription services, which if the FCC’s final IBOC rules permit, could be the primary mechanism for radio subscription service delivery.
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Anatomy of a Split Decision on IBOC
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Reaching FCC Consensus on ‘Final’ Digital Radio Rules Required Leaving Some Key Items Until Next Time
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by Skip Pizzi, 8.15.2007
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One point that came as a surprise to some was the question of whether radio broadcasters’ disclosure obligations will be “enhanced.” While this is probably a worthwhile discussion, it is somewhat oddly placed in the IBOC rulemaking process.
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Waiting for the Third Shoe to Drop
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The FCC's Recent Digital Radio Ruling Still Leaves a Few Important Points Unsettled
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by Skip Pizzi, 8.01.2007
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When the FCC issued its Second Report & Order on digital radio in May, we learned that these were not truly and completely "final" rules, but that there will very likely be a Third R&O to follow.
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New Entrants Target Radio’s Success
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Emerging Services Continue to Poke at Radio’s Model. Will They Eventually Find a Soft Spot?
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by Skip Pizzi, 7.18.2007
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Nearly from its origin, radio has coexisted with other media that competed with its service to audiences.
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