James hits on a key point that I keep debating with others (but mainly with myself). Starting with the premise that radio will die (it might not but bear with me) you ask what killed it… What killed it was the device with 20,000 tunes on it in my pocket – and soon – my jukebox pf tunes and podcasts streaming to my phone. And the dozens and dozens of podcasts on that iPod that are as rich in diversity as they are shallow in content. But they are mine. I don’t have to listen to the same XM tracks over and over again. I don’t have to put up with lousy reception. I don’t have to listen to another predictable news story giving me the news I don’t want and that was generally printed yesterday. I simply subscribe to the Long Tail.

Here’s what James had to say…

The biggest problem for News Corporation may be Long Tail competition. The company’s approach is avowedly mainstream, which often means pandering to lowest common denominators, and certainly means building mass markets. In the TivoSkypoGoogleosphere sphere though, views tend to be fractured, diverse, legion. Perhaps i am mistaken but i feel the future will be about diversity. It will be about lots and lots and lots of niches. It will be about the nouveau niche (via Doc, his stuff rocks of course, even if i do have to drive over a bump in the road to get it).