On-Air Logs?

MSN recently published an article titled “Put Me On the Air,” discussing the trend of celebrities launching their own satellite radio shows. (Read the article at http://www.slate.com/id/2151032/?GT1=8702). A few days ago, Oprah acquired her own channel on XM, while Bob Dylan, Richard Simmons, and others already have their own shows.

With the popularity of celebrities becoming radio show hosts and the opportunity for many shows on satellite radio (as opposed to terrestrial radio), regular people like us are trying, and some successfully, to get in on the hosting bit. The MSN article reports that both Sirius and XM accept pitches from anyone for new shows and channels.

Although it may be more difficult for the average Joe to secure his own satellite radio show in comparison with a celebrity right now, is this just the beginning to another communication revolution?

To me, this seems frightening familiar to the explosion in the popularity of blogs—people who may, or may not, have something important, or not, to say publish it for the world to see. Instead of in electronic form on the Internet, soon there may be a greater opportunity to voice you opinions on air. Scary.

Fortunately, there are stricter regulations on radio than on the Internet, which may limit this new phenomenon’s potential.

-Christina