Nothing On but the Radio

I read an article on Cord Cutters News this week that I found interesting.

According to the article by Kayla Wassell, more people are using TV as radio.

The article by Miss Wassell references a report from Hub Research entitled "Evolution of the TV Set" and refers to many users listening to music:

More people are using their smart TVs to stream music and audio services than any other non-TV feature. This year, 49% of people surveyed reported using their televisions for streaming music, up from 27% in 2020. Hub reports that 90% of people between 16 and 34 use at least one non-TV feature, compared to 55% of people in the 55 to 74 age range.

The report shows people strongly prefer listening to music through their televisions over smartphones or a speaker like Amazon’s Alexa. Usually, televisions have the best speakers or are connected to a home theater system, making them a popular choice. Even adding a soundbar can drastically improve the sound, giving the television a considerable boost above smaller smartphone speakers, which can sound tinny.

Apps for streaming services like Spotify, iTunes, and Amazon Music are easy to download on smart televisions like Roku or Fire TV. Users can listen to live radio by downloading apps like Radio by myTuner, which hosts more than 50,000 radio stations from 200+ countries.

I was doing that in 2010. Well, my wife at the time was. I helped set it up, so I'm claiming some of the credit.

She told me that year that she wanted a speaker bar for her laptop for Christmas. I researched and found some, but was curious about what she was really wanting. It seemed she wanted better sound out of her laptop, but why?

That's when I found out she was wanting to play her music from iTunes through the computer, and the speakers weren't delivering the sound she wanted. She wanted more sound, better sound, so she thought a sound bar for her laptop would be the way to go.

I looked over at the TV, a Sony, and the attached sound system, also a Sony, and thought that would be good sound. Better than sound from a laptop.

And she was playing her iTunes music? Apple TV would do that.

I found I could purchase a compatible sound bar that could be easily returned. Why would returning it be a good idea? Because that would be Plan B. My idea for Plan A would be an Apple TV device hooked up to the Sony television, playing sound through that really nice sound system we had. If she didn't like it, I could break out the sound bar. I had my bases covered.

On Christmas, she was intrigued by the Apple TV. When I showed her how to play her iTunes music through it, she was thrilled. The sound bar never came into play.

To this day, she still plays her music through the TV. My Streaming Life, and hers, have been ahead of the curve for a while.