Many years ago I worked Southern Cross Austereo after completing a Masters in tech commercialisation (how new technology disrupts existing tech).

A key learning: every new media format was initially ‘constrained’ by the existing paradigm. Only when that paradigm was exploded did true change begin.

- Radio was initially stage plays with a microphone.

- TV was initially radio shows in front of a single camera.

- Cinema added multiple cameras, but all fixed angles.

Each media platform struggled to escape the previous paradigm. Usually it took an industry outsider to work out...you could do prerecorded radio, or add sound effects, or add a second camera, or use moving cameras.

Outsiders ‘broke’ the paradigm, to explore ‘the art of the possible’.

(Don’t get me started on podcasts!)

Cue to today.

I was starting a drive. It was almost 10am. I tried 7-8 radio channels. All running ads. Why?

In radio, you run headlines on the hour, every hour. The ad slots before and after (incl. weather) were premium.

A revenue model born of the days when news access was scarce, and audience behaviours were fixed.

I simply plugged in my smartphone and played my own music.

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