> When I visit Miami, for example, there are many small, interesting radio stations with no internet portal. Isn't it a lot easier to start broadcasting over t

> When I visit Miami, for example, there are many small, interesting radio stations with no internet portal. Isn't it a lot easier to start broadcasting over the internet than over the air ? Operating an FM station is a huge investment. First you have to take part in the FM spectrum auction, which only occurs every couple of years, and then you'd have to bid and win a piece of the spectrum. That alone will cost you millions (last auction in my tiny country an FM frequency set you back 20 million euro for 6 years). Then you need the broadcast equipment, etc. etc. Broadcasting on the internet, you could do that on a €25 Raspberry Pi if you wanted. > Discovery. If you don't know what stations are available in your area, there is no simpler way to find out than simply spinning a dial along one axis. Sure, but you have a handful of stations and they are only available in a small area. With streaming radio you have a choice of thousands of channels available worldwide. It's much easier to discover a station you like and you are not limited to the few stations in range. > Relevance of local culture. I like to hear banter, jokes, news, weather and concert listings from around my area. That's personal. Most people I know can't stand the DJ's on the radio who only love to hear themselves talk. It's the #1 complaint you hear about radio. One of the most popular FM stations here is the one that just broadcasts music 24/7. > In my car I can scan for local stations while the GPS is running on my phone. In my car I can listen to streaming music on my phone while the GPS is running on my dedicated SatNav. > Quality of experience. On FM, the transition between stations is nearly instantaneous. On digital wireless networks, there's always buffering, making it longer to find something good. You don't need to 'tune in' to find something, with streaming you can easily browse through a huge list of different stations and click the one you like. My phone certainly switches streams faster than my car stereo changes stations. With 100+Mbit 4G networks being common, buffering a few kB is pretty much instantaneous.