Has Radio Lost Its Magic?

[HowdeeDoodee]

Growing up in Shelby County next to corn and soy bean fields in the 1950's radio, still had a magic about it. I had a one tube RCA Radio Junior Experimenter's Kit that had a cardboard box as a cabinet. I never used the cabinet because I was to in awe of the parts on the pegboard breadboard.

Television was supplanting a quiet evening with Fibber McGee and Molly, the Lone Ranger (we ate supper with him on the air), and all those radio stars and voices of yesterday. Later on the the 1950's Bouncin' Bill, Jim Shelton, Jack Morrow, Easy Qwinn, and Dick Summer captivated the young and the young wannabe's.

We had a guy in Waldron who had a real radio shack (actually is was sort of a converted garage). The big Philco's had a lighted dial and you could go anywhere in the world to hear languages you did not understand. Radio had a magic. Radio had a grip on the mind. Radio folk on the radio talked to you like you were actually listening and like they actually knew you were listening. Today, here in Tucson, most of the radio dial is made up of a "team" of people who talk to each other and you get to be a voyeur. No magic. Just people talking to each other with weather, two day old consumer news from the web, and a smattering of sports. Has radio lost its magic?

 

[kb9wsl]

Yes......yes.....and yes !

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Yep...the magic has been phased out over time. As recently as 15 years ago, you could be playing pool in Columbus at the local pool hall where WKKG was playing. You could call the DJ & ask him to say hi to the gang & minutes later, he would. That concept alone qualifies as magic relative to the radio options we have today. And it is very sad...

 

[cold_coffee]

We now live in the Digital Age. Broadcasters have missed the boat. We should have established
digital broadcasting as the internet was taking off 15 years ago. The future of broadcasting is now
looking dim.

 

[A#1]

When I was a kid in the late 50's, I had some sort of device that would pick up AM radio that was merely an earplug and an alligator clip you attached to a lamp light switch or anything grounded, I guess? The siganls were faint, but it was one of my earliest remembrances of radio. Anyone, particularly those blessed with technical background know what I'm talking about? I wouldn't mind finding one of those little gadgets again and showing my grandkids how it works. Maybe I could get the younguns interested in AM radio again?

 

[tmfkah]

When I was a kid in the late 50's, I had some sort of device that would pick up AM radio that was merely an earplug and an alligator clip you attached to a lamp light switch or anything grounded, I guess? The siganls were faint, but it was one of my earliest remembrances of radio. Anyone, particularly those blessed with technical background know what I'm talking about? I wouldn't mind finding one of those little gadgets again and showing my grandkids how it works. Maybe I could get the younguns interested in AM radio again?

Wow...I had almost 4gotten that. The one I had, u had 2 clip it 2 the dial stop on a rotary phone in order 4 it 2 work. Cool memories.

 

[badstevie]

Yup, it's gone. I notice people here have mentioned how radio was when they were young. That's when the "magic" aspect of radio hooked all of us and hooked listeners into a lifetime of listening. I grew up in a completely different era from the 50's or 60's, but there was still that magic happening for those of us growing up in the 70's and 80's. My friends and I kept track of what was on American Top 40 with Casey Casem, and we all had our favorite live, local night jocks.

What's radio doing for a young generation now? Not much. You don't see high school kids texting each other about the crazy thing that happened on i94 last night. Most of our radio "superstars" like Rush and Howard and even Bob & Tom are close to 60 years old. What are we giving the younger generation? The bland, boring Ryan Seacrest? Yup, I think we missed the boat with this digital generation. We were set to become the entertainment providers for a new generation, both national and local and we blew it.

 

[Timewarp]

Now many radio stations sre turning their back on our generation as well. They say over 50 is to old.
They are blowing it with us too.

 

[landtuna]

Has radio lost its magic?

Are you confusing the 'magic' of radio with the 'magic' of being a young kid who is exploring the outside world for the first time?

Like you, I grew up listening to radio (we didn't get TV on our block until '54 and then we had to go to a neighbor's house to watch it). The radio was my personal link to the outside world then and remained pretty much that way until I graduated from high school. I ended up being a radioman in the navy in the early 60's and once again radio was my ship's link to the outside world. In my off hours I would play with the receivers listening to far-away magical sounds.

But like Peter Pan we all grow up. What interested us at 8 years of age no longer applies. We become somewhat jaded by age, knowledge and experience and are no longer wowed by faint sounds over tinny earphones. The programs of our youth would bore us to death today (although they continue to amaze our grandkids just like they once did us).

Yes, radio has changed. With the advent of other electronic entertainment forms radio doesn't occupy the majority of the stage as it once did. But has it lost its magic? I guess that would depend upon what your definition of magic is. I still have two SW receivers in my bedroom and every once in awhile I'll turn on the flickering yellow dials and listen, once again, to those magical far away sounds from other worlds - after I finish watching my favorite TV shows and checking my email. ;D

 

[TheBigA]

Gee, I thought this thread was about the Magic Music format, developed by Greater Media's Julian Breen in the 70s. It was one of the first soft rock formats carried by hundreds of radio stations.

You want magic? My cell phone is magic. Radio is 1920s technology. Nothing magic about it anymore. And there's nothing anyone can do about that. Time marches on. Holding on to the past just qualifies you for a job in a museum.

Lots of radio stations are discovering that you can do a lot more with the internet and cell phones than with transmitters and towers. The last great technological advancement with regards to radio was well over a generation ago. Hard to be magic when everyone knows how it works. We need to keep moving forward and advancing with new technology, or we end up on the scrap heep with the telegraph. If you haven't begun learning how to use the internet, upload content, and design web pages, you'll be left behind with the folks who only know about tubes and never learned transistors.

 

[Flying-Dutchman]

You want magic? My cell phone is magic. Radio is 1920s technology. Nothing magic about it anymore. And there's nothing anyone can do about that. Time marches on. Holding on to the past just qualifies you for a job in a museum.

Lots of radio stations are discovering that you can do a lot more with the internet and cell phones than with transmitters and towers. The last great technological advancement with regards to radio was well over a generation ago. Hard to be magic when everyone knows how it works. We need to keep moving forward and advancing with new technology, or we end up on the scrap heep with the telegraph. If you haven't begun learning how to use the internet, upload content, and design web pages, you'll be left behind with the folks who only know about tubes and never learned transistors.

You are absolutely right. This new technology is exciting and it is the new magic. Keep up or be
left behind. Internet radio is now being installed in new cars. A station can now cover the planet
not just a small coverage area.

The technologies you mention are wireless and portable. This is why they are so useful.

Many have fought to stop progress in the past. They wound up on the wrong side of history.

 

[bigtime]

For years radio spent all it's time chasing adults. The young audience was easy to get so they were ignored to some degree. Now it's the opposite. Adults (upper end anyway) are easy to get & the young audience is hard to get.

 

[Flying-Dutchman]

For years radio spent all it's time chasing adults. The young audience was easy to get so they were ignored to some degree. Now it's the opposite. Adults (upper end anyway) are easy to get & the young audience is hard to get.

Maybe this means we should focus on those who will still use our antique technology (radio).
My step kids have never tuned to AM and they rarely use FM.

 

[TheBigA]

The technologies you mention are wireless and portable. This is why they are so useful.

Exactly...at one time, radio was seen as wireless and portable. Now people think radio is just something that comes with a car or a computer. People don't buy portable radios as they did in the past. The device they don't leave the house without is the phone. That was not the case just ten or so years ago.

Maybe this means we should focus on those who will still use our antique technology (radio).

I think we do. Most of the formats aim at adults over 35.
Some aim over 60.

 

[HowdeeDoodee]

Wow!!! Great responses!!! In terms of the "magic" I was referring to the grip radio had on the listeners. Radio was king when I was born and stayed big through the early 1970's (JMHO). In the 1960's I remember kids hunting for the big sound, like WLS, "The Big One." Back then, radio had a way of connecting. Kids listened to Bouncin' Bill Baker because he was unique and had some way of making that connection. Even adults listened.

There is some of that old school radio still around. There is a woman syndicating out of the mid-South (TN, S. Carolina, GA, somewhere in there) who does a early evening or late night gig. She takes love lorn requests and personal trouble requests and matches up the request with an appropriate song. She does a great job of talking "to" the listener or "with" the listener, without making it sound like the listener in an afterthought. She reminds me of Dick Summer.

The technology is definitely changing. I am a web master with one of the largest web sites of its kind in the world. I get stations out of Indy, Columbus, Ft. Wayne, Elkhart, Shelbyville, and others in IN, and I'm in Tucson. The magic was more a matter of style and yes, also the temper of the times. The '40's, '50's, '60's, and part of the '70's were times when people were nicer to each other, there was no road rage, more politeness, more gentleness, even innocence. This is not to say those times were better because there were riots, assassinations, upheaval in society at every turn. But radio was there. Radio reflected in ways radio does not now reflect the real people.

I have always been a radio fan. Not a fan of radio personalities but of the medium. I still don't watch television except for a few Big Ten games.

Thank you again for the responses. This forum is a great forum.

 

[turkeydance]

the magic will be lost when the Gubmint auctions off the spectrum.

i will see that in my lifetime, just like the Morse Code demise.

 

[bigtime]

Radio was still very relevant throughout the 80s and into the 90s. When there was bad weather which might have caused schools to close, people turned to the radio. Then sometimes in the 90s local tv started providing the things morning radio used to have all to itself; closings, local news, traffic etc. TV stations began doing their own version of radio morning shows. By the 2000s the internet & other forms of new technology began to eat away at radio as well as those same tv stations. Radio stopped doing most closings (since few people cared anymore) and instead put them on their web sites. For years most stations have operated with no news departments to make room for more music. Music on the radio is no longer the great lure it once was. Here in 2010 those under 30 feel no strong attraction to radio. Radio's most loyal listeners are 50+, but they are no longer desired or well served by radio. And despite all the promos, almost no age group cares about HD radio.

 

[landtuna]

i will see that in my lifetime, just like the Morse Code demise.

-- --- .-. ... . .-- .. .-.. .-.. -. . ..- . .-. -.. .. . !!!

 

[landtuna]

My cell phone is magic. Radio is 1920s technology.

I agree. Dropped signals. Static-filled air. Fades in and out. Just like 1920's radio. ;D

Lots of radio stations are discovering that you can do a lot more with the internet and cell phones than with transmitters and towers. The last great technological advancement with regards to radio was well over a generation ago. Hard to be magic when everyone knows how it works. We need to keep moving forward and advancing with new technology, or we end up on the scrap heep with the telegraph. If you haven't begun learning how to use the internet, upload content, and design web pages, you'll be left behind with the folks who only know about tubes and never learned transistors.

Hmmmmm, I was sure you were the guy who posted something about content driving the success or failure of radio's future and not the technology. I may be wrong about the person but I totally agree with his summation. Radio is just a button on a dashboard or mobile player. Although I was in the business most people aren't and could care less about all the technology that brings those magical sounds to our ears. Same with the Internet. To most it is simply a tool and the real value is in the content. I don't know of a single person who listens to radio on the Internet because it is the new technology. They listen because that's where their desired content is located.

 

[TheBigA]

I was sure you were the guy who posted something about content driving the success or failure of radio's future and not the technology.

That doesn't sound like me. You can put great content on a device no one owns (like HD radio) and it'll be a tree falling in an empty forest. So content won't drive success for radio. The success is all about getting where the people are. If that's a cell phone, then that's where radio needs to be. The government needs to take more direct action in determining the future of the people's airwaves. Otherwise, they will simply fall into disuse.

I don't know of a single person who listens to radio on the Internet because it is the new technology. They listen because that's where their desired content is located.

I'm sure the fact that it's interactive also has a lot to do with it. They click and get what they want immediately, rather than wait for their favorite song to come along. Radio is one-way. That's what makes it less responsive than the internet or cell phone.