‘Wired’ Pronounces Radio Dead – Or Maybe Not

Radio is dead, according to this month’s Wired Magazine, although you might not know it from the amount of space the publication devotes to it.
The cover of the March issue shows a radio being smashed. Inside are articles on Howard Stern going to Sirius, indie radio, podcasting and HD Radio.
An indie radio source tells Wired, “For corporate radio, the equivalents of Honda and Toyota are the iPod and satellite broadcasting. ‘If all the stations are playing the same thing, why not make your own station with your own tastes? The popularity of the iPod is directly related to the crappiness of radio.'”
But then the tone brightens as it mentions the possibilities of HD Radio.
“Noting radio’s declining audiences, recurring low-level payola scandals, horrendous public image and competition for drive-time ears from iPods, satellite broadcasting and cell phones, pundits have been gleefully pronouncing the medium’s last rites. But they may well be wrong. Rather than being on life support, radio in fact is on the verge of its boldest technological change since the introduction of FM stereo in the 1960s.”