Take the Radio Out of Radio

Noted radio consultant Mark Ramsey on his Hear 2.0 blog recently posed the question that if Amazon.com could “…disaggregate the “book” from a book and monetize it, how can you disaggregate the “radio” from your radio station and monetize that?” A fantastic observation on Mark’s part.

In fact I believe it is possible through the medium of podcasting. Which up until now has been the exclusive domain of the “weekend broadcaster” recorded live on their kitchen table. Radio can do a better job, after all it’s what we do. Imagine news-talk radio going more in depth on local stories they don’t usually give more than a 30 second set-up and sound bite to in a “60 Minutes” type of investigative show. Or music stations getting deeper into the music, again, something similar to VH1’s behind the music. The question remains, would listeners be willing to pay for it?

Take for example Scott Smith who launched his Motivation to Move website, blog and podcast in 2006 and has been enjoying significant success, boasting as many as 40-thousand paying subscribers.

Can radio take “the radio” out of radio? Oh yes they can! It’s a matter of getting out of the tiny box they’ve placed themselves into …pun intended.