Non-Comm Broadcasters Thriving Worldwide Even As Commercial Broadcasters Struggle
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE VIA R.A.I.N. – "For Jonathan Marks, the state of 
traditional radio is summed up in a despairing T-shirt slogan colored in neon pink and black: "Something’s wrong with my radio It plays the same five songs over and over…No wonder people are looking for alternatives to machine-playing radio," said Marks, a former Radio Netherlands producer who is now a media consultant there. "No passion. Just repeats."
"…Strangely enough, though, it is the public broadcasters, like the British Broadcasting Corp., Radio France Internationale, Deutsche Welle or National Public Radio in the United States, that are flourishing by embracing new technology and strategies, while commercial radio operators are losing out to iPods, MP3 players 
and digital and satellite alternatives."
"In Britain, the BBC has increased its market share to 55.1 percent, according to surveys, taking its lead over commercial radio to its widest point in three years. The same trends are taking hold in the Netherlands and in Germany."
"Youth-oriented commercial rock stations – once a standard teenage emblem of identity and rebellion – are facing a revolt themselves. In France, where three rock stations lost a total of about one million listeners in surveys in the last quarter of 2005…"
"…Youthful disaffection has had an effect in the United States, too. In New York in January, Infinity Broadcasting transformed K-Rock from an alternative rock format to talk radio, saying the station had been losing too many listeners to music downloads and Internet radio…If you’ve got a tired old format, people run away from you in droves."
"…Most commercial stations are already offering their programming on the Web in the form of audio "streaming," and some, like Clear Channel, the top U.S. radio station operator, have reduced advertising…"
"But public broadcasters are moving more boldly to increase their engagement with listeners..(the BBC is undergoing) "…a transformation of a "short wave radio broadcaster into a leading international multimedia network…by creating) a distinctive style, with live concerts and broadcasting of new music and unsigned bands."
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