Woohoo!! KGMI is finally streaming on the Internet! I understand that nearly all the kinks have been worked out. You can check it out from our home page if you haven’t already. But I can’t help but ponder the potential consequences of this brave new medium.
Specifically how the Internet might affect syndicated radio programming. I wouldn’t doubt that Rush Limbaugh and the other traditionally syndicated talk show hosts are in a position to profit no matter where they are broadcast from, after all most of them have agreed to let KGMI and nearly every other technically-advanced radio station put their shows online. But nearly every technically-advanced radio listener knows that this means KGMI is no longer their only source for Rush. They can now choose from more than 400 different streaming radio stations (according to RadioTime.com) that carry Rush’s show, and they can even choose different times to listen to it.
On the other hand, I think online streaming could provide greater opportunities for local talk show programming. As online streaming gradually makes the big syndicated shows less exclusive to any regional radio station, I think that local programs, whether listeners hear them on the radio or the Internet, will be the only shows that local advertisers can guarantee are being heard in their region. Search the Internet over, and you will find nothing that targets Whatcom County better than shows like “The Morning Show with Joe & Patti,” “Radio Real Estate,” “The Whatcom Report,” or “P.M. Bellingham.” And now that anybody with a modem can tune in, could local shows like ours even become the next wave of “syndicated” programming?