think of this?

~~

Certain brands are synonamous with news.

The New York Times. CNN. BBC One.

And, for many of the most upscale listeners in America, NPR.

Which is why this is such an interesting next step for America’s public radio: NPR ONE.

And it made me wonder why a company like Hubbard, with the most successful News station in America, WTOP, wasn’t making this kind of announcement.

IHEARTRADIO, for all the attention it receives, offers me nothing like this.

No customization of the features on the stations I most love. No way to seamlessly hear this Morning Show and that at-work show on my phone or streamed inside my car.

Listened to when I choose to listen, on the device I choose to listen on.

NPR has some wonderful brands: Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, Car Talk, Story Corps and more.

They’ve always invested in their content. They still are.

Maybe it’s time for the NAB and the RAB to spend some of the dues they make, reallocate some of the lobbying money they spend to promote consolidated radio, and start working on ideas that will move broadcast radio onto the devices those under 30 use to access their music and information.

This is a matter of will, of allocating and focusing resources on a common goal in order to insure broadcast radio’s future.

Of course, radio’s owners will also still need to reverse their habits of the past 25 years and reinvest in actual between-the-songs content, reasons to listen to the radio, as opposed to Pandora or Spotify, which will always offer more uninterrupted music and fewer commercials.

Even if they start now, we’re already behind.

But…

better late than never.