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The radio has completely changed the ways of the world. Once the radio was invented humankind was able to transmit sounds from one place to another allowing people a more effective means of communication. From being priceless during the times of war, the radio also evolved as the singular most important means of entertainment as well. This could be for game shows, music, news and anything else you can think of.

The history of the radio is a quite colorful one and it has gone through several technology-based improvements over the years. Today in fact, it is quite a portable device, being made available in our iPods and our cellular phones as well. Radios are relatively easy to own. All you need is a means of receiving a transmission and you are good to go.

Radios today have developed to such an extent that they are even available in digital form. There are several radio stations that are broadcast by major broadcasting organizations. There are several advantages to having these. You have a great variety in terms of entertainment, there is something for every member of the family, the services are free and you have complete freedom in controlling the way you listen to the music.

Digital radio stations are plenty and the fact they are popular shows that the interest in radio is not something that will wane over a period of time. Tuning in is simple and once you have done so with your receiver, you do not have worry about it anymore. In fact, even if you move, your receiver will tune itself to the stations of your choice.

Conventional broadcast radio continues to reign supreme despite the ever-changing technology making in-roads into what American choose to listen to. As of late 2009, about 236 million people listened to terrestrial radio for a quarter of an hour during typical week, little changed from the year before, according to estimates from Arbitron.

Of teens and adults, that means more than 92 percent of the population listens to the radio; however, that includes passive radio listening, like background radio in a store or another public location. Even with iPods, Internet radio and other technologies, 80 percent of teen and adult consumers reported listening to the same amount of broadcast radio as the year before.

Most consumers continue to listen to the radio away from home, such as in the car. More than 62 percent of listeners hear the radio away from home versus 38 percent of listeners at home. However, of the listening done at home, including recorded music and books and streaming audio. Traditional radio still garners 46 percent of a consumers listening time.

AM/FM radio is expected to continue to experience growth as more people tune into a radio stations’ website for their audio streams. In 2008, 69 million people reported listening to online radio in the previous month, up from 54 million for the same period the year before, according to Arbitron. These figures do not include people who listen to stations that broadcast only on the Internet and do not include any talk, such as Pandora.

Although almost a third of those surveyed said they would listen to online radio in their cars, broadcast radio has nothing to fear at this time. The technology that would allow streaming radio in cars, or online radio, has only been adopted by smartphones and not by car makers.