There are many articles in print and on the internet about radio technology and the many and constantly changing ways to describe its evolution. Much of the updating process is understandably of great interest to the engineers and people involved in or behind the changes in technology and written in technological jargon or scientific language.
Ways to Listen to Radio.
What does this mean for the radio listener and how can they keep up with the changes? Is there a better way to find their favourite station, and indeed could they be missing out on a potential new favourite broadcaster? There are a number of familiar, not so familiar and some newer ‘ways to listen to radio’. At this time these are:
- Analogue Radio
- DAB Digital Radio
- Digital Television
- The Internet
- Podcasting and Downloads
- Mobile Phones.
Most will be familiar with at least some of these methods of receiving radio transmissions and the newly available technology is rapidly becoming essential to those employing it. For those not familiar with all this technology here’s a quick non-technical rundown of the various mediums currently broadcasting radio transmissions.
1. Analogue Radio.
Without becoming too technical AM, or Amplitude Modulation uses radio waves to transmit sound information. In radio this has become synonymous with the Medium Wave transmissions of some radio stations. LW long wave and SW short wave radio transmissions are also transmissions in this range of frequencies. They cover varying distances and the resultant broadcasts are of varying quality.
Some would argue the longer the wave, the inferior the listening experience. Analogue radio also includes FM radio, which uses higher frequencies than AM transmissions. FM radio therefore is generally not affected by interference from static in quite the same way as AM and is of a higher perceived listening quality.
2. DAB Digital Radio.
DAB or digital radio is Digital Audio Broadcasting. This uses computerised ‘Bits’ to broadcast or carry sound. Because this method uses far less width in terms of broadcasting it’s possible to carry much more information and increase the number of stations in the bandwidth. Because the transmission uses computer language or digits the broadcast quality is also greatly increased. Digital radio in some countries is perceived by many as the future of radio broadcasting as it mirrors the replacement of analogue television services by digital television.
3. Digital Television.
In an increasing number of countries worldwide, the analogue television service is being replaced completely by digital broadcasting. The availability of bandwidth and the amount of information that can be carried has been made available and utilised by an increasing number of radio stations. Several terrestrial broadcasters also broadcast a signal through the digital television services, satellite and cable, and there are also a significant number of stand-alone digital only radio broadcasters.
4. The Internet.
Similar to the development of digital radio and television broadcasting, increasing numbers of terrestrial radio stations also simultaneously broadcast via the internet. The development of the internet also opened up a whole new wave of radio stations broadcasting solely on the internet, and logically called Internet Radio Stations. Much of this broadcasting is niche music marketing and talk radio, but the number of radio stations available to a single internet user in any one country accessing the web can run into thousands.
5. Podcasting and Downloads.
Podcasting and Downloads utilises similar audio technology to the Internet stations (as above) but instead of ‘as live’ streaming, this audio is available usually from a central source and available ‘on demand’ in the form of an audio download, usually in the form of an MP3 file to be stored and/or played at the end users convenience.
6. Mobile Phone Radio.
Many mobile phone suppliers throughout the world, as part of the additional services they offer their subscribers including phone calls and text services is a radio broadcasting service. Some argue that today few listeners would buy a stand-alone mobile radio but expect the one device to perform a number of functions and radio is one of those functions.
Future Technology.
Much of the development in technology it can be argued is consumer driven, (consumers who are obviously listeners also,) so the radio industry is increasingly seeking new ways to provide a platform for the service and the type of programming demanded by their audience. Easier access and a greater number of platforms seem to be the continuing future for radio to date.
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