The Importance of Open Content

The advent of Satellite Radio brought dawned for the audio-broadcasting world the exact same freedom of content that the advent of Cable Television brought to visual broadcasting. Censorship became drastically more lax than it had ever been on the public airwaves, and content eventually flourished.

In television, the content arguably over-flourished with time, a contention that's more or less impossible to dispute once you know about the existence of channels dedicated to say, Catholicism and the incredible world of Rosary Beads (Eternal World Television Network, look it up).

So the golden age of television has left us. We can do better without it, I think. As for satellite radio, it seems that the service itself has been hitting quite a swing over the past few years. All it took was the massive failure of one of the players and the acquisition of it by its main competitor. What began as a bit of an experiment in new media has become a proven source of content, and it has even adapted to the internet era quite effectively (something that still has the TV world reeling).

Their success has surely come from their partnering with car manufacturers. Many listeners get hooked on the clarity, and more so on the content, and they can't resist re-upping after their free span of listening is finished.

Now in terms of the content, it's indisputable that the HBO-style lax censorship has been favorable for satellite radio's resilience. It's hard to debate against the value of wholly uncensored music, and it's more than just music. Their comedy channels are second to none, and the same people drawn to the likes of drive time greats like Howard Stern and Opie and Anthony have flocked to satellite radio to listen to their favorite DJ's talk about whatever it is that they please. When the censors are gone, real conversations materialize, and some worthwhile things (and if not, hilarious things) can be said.

Whether or not we'll be seeing satellite radio in the decades to come is uncertain, but it seems that their service in the countries with larger landmasses (like Australia, the USA and Canada) is here to stay for the time being.