There’s a compromise: a government subsidized entity competing with free market providers can, through competition, keep levels of service from dipping below a

There’s a compromise: a government subsidized entity competing with free market providers can, through competition, keep levels of service from dipping below a bar. Two examples in Australia: Qantas (airline) and the “Triple J” FM radio station. Qantas has nice things on your 13-15 hour flight to LA or SF. Wine, meals, movies, water, coffee.. all free. United and Virgin compete on this route so have to match Qantas. Theres more to this for sure - but Qantas’ existence as AU national carrier keeps the rest from enshittifying too much.. Triple J radio is government funded. They pay for actual human beings in an actual studio. They support up and coming artists. If your FM station wants to compete with Triple J you gotta also hire humans. End result: in Australia FM radio can be quite pleasant. By contrast, FM radio in many US cities is garbage robot-radio stations with more ads than music.