Public radio is the last oasis of free and independent music. For satellite radio channels, you have to subscribe; commercial stations are as corporate as basic cable.

When it comes to the video channels and the programs, the radio stations, the music is geared towards kids, and it's made by kids.

With digital compression, and the growing number of channels available, the cable companies are evaluating the number of stations they carry, and I cannot imagine the basis for this decision was anything other than technical efficiencies.

Too many radio stations, all they do is syndicated programming, it's just piped in from some satellite someplace, and they don't have much of a connection to the community.

TV, in particular cable channels, has assumed the role of independent film.

Cable would not translate into the public radio universe.