From Webster's Dictionary:
"the elimination of an intermediary in a transaction between two parties"
Will our radio stations hold their value with listeners? Or will we, "the middlemen of content delivery," be left out in the cold barren tundra? The answer to these questions has already begun to be answered.
Our content has always been the vehicle to deliver listeners to our commercials. Without valuable content our commercials will be without value.
I remember many a conversation that went something like this:
"Listeners understand that we are giving them free music or information and they also understand that they need to put up with the commercials because that's how we continue to give them what they want for free".
Our model of spots for songs, or spots for news/information can continue to work as long as our content continues to entice listeners to our space. [more on commercials-length, content, volume, and interactivity in a later post] If listeners give us the privilege of choosing what they will hear we better not let them down or they can very easily go back to listening to what they want when they want.
For more check out this video-it illustrates exactly what took place to get us where we are today.