LO2: Distribution of Radio in the UK

In the 1920's, AM radio was the most common form of radio when it became widely available to everyday people. In the 1950's, FM radio became available to the public. This change was made as AM radio is more prone to interference, although FM radio can still be interrupted by physical factors (e.g. when a car radio stops working as it goes through a tunnel). FM radio also offered a higher definition sound. 

In modern times there are a number of ways people can access the radio, not just the previousley mentioned traditional analogue ways. The most common would be digital radio, which allows people to listen to the radio using the internet. This has lead to a reduction in people owning physical radios as the overwhelming majority of homes in the UK have access to the internet. Methods of accessing the radio digitally are very accessible thanks to technological convergence. Many companies, like the BBC for example, have smartphone applications that can be used to access the radio digitally; this has added a portability element to radio usage. Mobile applications like BBC Iplayer allow people to catch-up on things they have missed. This could be particularly useful for people who listen to radio soap operas like "The Archers" as it means people don't have to have a set time for when they listen to it, they can watch it at their convenience. 

As well as digital radio, some of the UK's most popular radio stations like BBC 1 and Capital FM have made their radio broadcasts avaliable over television. Technological convergence has also allowed for the size of many radio components to become smaller and easier to make cheaply. This means that many devices now can access radio stations such as cars, phones and headphones.  

In conclusion, the distribution has changed drastically over the last century. This has gone some way to stop the platform from becoming entirely obsolete; however, with the increasing popularity of streaming services like Spotify, it is only a matter of time until radio stops existing in its current form at least.