Not everybody owns an iPod or has access to Satellite radio. Done well, you can't tell if a station is VT'd or not. By the way, satellite radio is VT'd, as well. Anybody really think Mark Goodman is live on 3 channels at once?
True about satellite, but as for iPods, well the world has changed and I'm not sure if radio has realized it yet. Off brand mp3 players are only $30 now. For the age group under 25, everyone has an iPod or mp3 player of some sort. For that demo, not having an iPod is like not having a cell phone. The point is, when they grow up, they will see voicetracked radio as an inconvenience and being forced to listen to pre-recorded music they can't control.
Now radio could keep these kids by offering benefits that mp3 players don't have: being part of the local community by covering local bands, local events, and the song selections tailored to the local audience.
It's very easy to tell voicetracked radio, even when it's done well, because there is no local personality, and there is an abscence of a dj playing a song "because the legendary performer so and so was in town and they did a great show last night". You don't feel tuned into the community with voicetracked radio, so you tune out.
Y'all don't have to believe me, but the declining numbers should be all the proof you need.
I understand about younger demos and iPods or other mp3 players, but I disagree with you on it always being easy to tell if a station is VT'd. Again, my qualifier is "if done well." That means there has to be local flavor and content in the tracks. It can be done, if the PD and the talent are motivated enough. What usually happens, though, particularly on small market stations, is the VT'er gets little or no coaching on local stuff from the PD (who is probably programming multiple stations), and the pay isn't reflective of the time and talent needed to do it right.
Paying someone a few hundred bucks a month for a six-day-a-week VT'd show will almost guarantee a sense of "knock this baby out as quick as possible," on the part of the VT'er. Particularly if said VT'er is doing two or three other stations that day, too.
You get what you pay for.
