Reports of Radio's Death Greatly Exaggerated

[bobbybeth]

Roddy Freeman has a great blog on this topic. The link is below.

http://atlairwaves.blogspot.com/

I always look forward to reading Roddy's blog and I hope others enjoy it as well. Roddy, thanks for your insight and keep up the good work. I'm definitely a fan.

 

[DToTheJ]

Not a single word in that blog post about HD Radio.

Now that is a five-star read.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Roddy Freeman has a great blog on this topic. The link is below.

http://atlairwaves.blogspot.com/

I always look forward to reading Roddy's blog and I hope others enjoy it as well. Roddy, thanks for your insight and keep up the good work. I'm definitely a fan.

Thank you! I appreciate that.

 

[Bengalsfan]

That was good Roddy. Gotta share it with my Facebook broadcast friends.

 

[Talk_Dude]

The thing is, all of those things mentioned in that blog post do spell the end of terrestrial radio as we know it. Terrestrial broadcast radio might not come to an end, but those new technologies could mean as big a change in how broadcast radio works as the change that happened during the 1950's. Anyone who fell asleep in 1950 accustomed to radio as the carrier of scripted comedies, dramas, and variety shows and who woke up in 1960 to almost nothing but DJ's playing records would be amazed.

Radio as a medium will die and rise again, like a new Phoenix from the ashes of an old Phoenix. The AM band might disappear, just as the analog TV frequency band did. Don't expect the current paradigm of DJ's talking between records to remain the primary content of radio forever, nor of a few loquacious hosts dominating the spoken word formats. There will be something on terrestrial broadcast radio, but by 2020, there's an excellent chance that it will be as different from what's on the air in 2010 as 1960 was from 1950.

I don't know exactly what that change will be. If I did, I'd be making the big bucks. But though I don't know what the changes will be, it should be obvious that the things mentioned in that blog post all point to very big changes coming.

 

[CompleteGame]

Bravo Roddy. That was a great pick-me-up.

Up in the foothills, we're billing record months every month and grabbing audience left and right. Especially in the unrated areas - where only God can quantify listenership-, there is a respect that people have for radio that continues to grow.

I do worry about music radio, but I'm betting terrestrial talk will survive longer than I'm around.

 

[TheBigA]

Anyone who fell asleep in 1950 accustomed to radio as the carrier of scripted comedies, dramas, and variety shows and who woke up in 1960 to almost nothing but DJ's playing records would be amazed.

Exactly. I had a chance to interview a lot of "old time radio" veterans at various conventions many years ago. You could easily compare what they said about radio in the 70s and 80s with what veterans today say about radio now. To them, radio was a lot cheaper, involved a lot fewer people, was far less creative, and was simply less entertaining when DJs playing records replaced original comedy and drama.

But I believe radio went through several changes itself during the last 50-60 years. I'd place the rise of the Top 40 AM DJ in the 50s and 60s as its own category. Then the explosion of FM in the 70s and 80s as another. Then the further dispersion of personality to the talk format, with the expansion and diversity of music formats during the last 20 years. I see it all part of an ongoing process of growth and change. Radio is still changing and evolving now.

The main thing I tell broadcasting students today is that today's radio is at a crossroads just like 1955 or 1975. Tough luck if you wanted a career in radio drama in 1947. If you had an opportunity to go into TV then, you needed courage and vision. But people did it. If in 1975 you couldn't see any further than being a DJ for a clear-channel AM powerhouse, then your days were numbered. You needed to have the foresight to realize things were going to change. So if you only see radio now as giving time & temp between songs, or running a live shift, you might as well write some radio dramas. You need to see where things are going, and be among the first to be there. If you had the chance to be Alan Freed in 1952, would you do it?

 

[trhodes96]

Technology is/won't kill radio.... consultants and corporations will. Radio used to be fun, ground breaking, a place to hear new music, different genres, cool personalities, and now it's the same ol songs with no creativity and no edge.

Radio HAS never been this bad in it's content and it's ability to generate revenue. In my opinion, radio died a while ago.

 

[Talk_Dude]

If you had the chance to be Alan Freed in 1952, would you do it?

No, but if I had the chance to be Rush Limbaugh in 1987, I'd do it.

There is something else no one has mentioned. Terrestrial broadcast radio's biggest competition isn't other media for delivering recorded music, it's other media for delivering customers to advertisers. There is a finite amount of advertising dollars out there. Every dollar spent on advertising in newer media like the internet or cable television is a dollar not spent on radio advertising.

 

[TheBigA]

Technology is/won't kill radio.... consultants and corporations will. Radio used to be fun, ground breaking, a place to hear new music, different genres, cool personalities, and now it's the same ol songs with no creativity and no edge.

You're talking about mythology. Original Top 40 was was very tight playlists. That's what the legends did. All that "groundbreaking music" and "different genres" was never popular. There are still college stations that fool around with that kind of stuff, and no one listens.

The companies that owned radio in the 1920s were far bigger than Clear Channel or Citadel. Radio managed to survive them. Radio never was "fun." It was a lot of competition and hard work.

You want fun? Do it for free. Lots of LP community stations where you can volunteer and play radio.

 

[trhodes96]

Technology is/won't kill radio.... consultants and corporations will. Radio used to be fun, ground breaking, a place to hear new music, different genres, cool personalities, and now it's the same ol songs with no creativity and no edge.

You're talking about mythology. Original Top 40 was was very tight playlists. That's what the legends did. All that "groundbreaking music" and "different genres" was never popular. There are still college stations that fool around with that kind of stuff, and no one listens.

The companies that owned radio in the 1920s were far bigger than Clear Channel or Citadel. Radio managed to survive them. Radio never was "fun." It was a lot of competition and hard work.

You want fun? Do it for free. Lots of LP community stations where you can volunteer and play radio.

You sound like a program director.... and like most program directors, you're probably a failed talent. I worked at 96rock for 10 years... our playlist was much more wide open when I started than when I left. My friends working at other stations said the same thing... consultants and research tightened playlists way more than in years past.

And sorry... when I did radio, it WAS fun. Glad you weren't my boss...

 

[TheBigA]

You sound like a program director.

And you sound bitter. I'm glad you had fun, but I really hope you've grown up since then.

 

[Tibbs4]

Tough one here. BigA ~ radio still is hard work and competition, we all know that. I have to say, my toughest years of radio were my favorite. Yeah, we worked hard, played hard, I studied radio every day and had to re-create fresh and new every weekday morning. It wasn't "easy", but the energy flowed. I (well we, as a morning show) could do just about anything and get away with it within tasteful reason. I learned from Steve McCoy at the early age of 16 or 17 that true humor was hard work. To talk like Stern took no practice or hard work. As for the playlist, it was beyond
tight (well under 50 songs in the mid-80's) but it worked magically and the revenues and ratings were huge. Later on as things changed, management just didn't "get it." It lost it's charm and no one ever worked as hard or cared 24/7. I think that's the general attitude today, as well. Not totally. The days of the real radio wars seem over. No one wants to fight for it. They just want to fit in quietly and fill in spaces that are missing. I think that's whats wrong with radio today ---
The desire to fight fire with fire. That's what all us old guys miss. And I have been a GM, MD and PD, and I know for a fact that the right way to play good radio today is don't make waves. That's where radio could and should be different.

 

[TheBigA]

The days of the real radio wars seem over. No one wants to fight for it. They just want to fit in quietly and fill in spaces that are missing. I think that's whats wrong with radio today --- The desire to fight fire with fire. That's what all us old guys miss.

I think you don't see the fight became it's become way more subtle. It's not done with the artwork on the van or an exclusive concert presents. That's how the battle was fought in the old days. It's a lot harder because everything has been done, and other simple things like signal or sound have been equalized because of money. But if you think Citadel doesn't want to kick CC's butt, or that it's not important anymore, you're wrong. It's all about getting an edge, and there's nothing that gets a GM's blood flowing than telling him you've got an idea that will get your group a leg-up on the competition. Mmmm-boy.

 

[Talk_Dude]

No one wants to fight for it. They just want to fit in quietly and fill in spaces that are missing. I think that's whats wrong with radio today ---
The desire to fight fire with fire. That's what all us old guys miss. And I have been a GM, MD and PD, and I know for a fact that the right way to play good radio today is don't make waves. That's where radio could and should be different.

What you are describing is not a radio thing, it's an American big business thing. It's the same in most other businesses.

What gets me is how anyone can fail to recognize that hard work and having fun are not mutually exclusive. More precisely, putting forth diligent effort and having fun aren't mutually exclusive. Ask most successful people in any field. They put forth a great deal of effort, they are diligent and dedicated, and to anyone observing them it might appear that they are working their butts off. But if the effort is for something you love doing, then the effort isn't work, it's fun.

 

[Tibbs4]

Exactly. And sitting around and bitching constantly about everything or everyone and not giving your job everything you have (slacking) is actually more (non productive) work and effort than just busting your butt, having fun and appreciating that you're still doing something millions of people wish they could have one shot at doing.

 

[trhodes96]

You sound like a program director.

And you sound bitter. I'm glad you had fun, but I really hope you've grown up since then.

I'm not bitter...I loved radio. Just didn't love guys like you. You're probably looking over music testing now... or calling your boss to see if you can add a song.. or telling one of your jocks to shut up and play the music... or working on the next lame station contest to increase TSL... and don't ever tell me radio is hard work... don't confuse hours of radio work with slinging concrete, working on ac units in an addict, roofing, or any other HARD job. Radio was never hard work... yeah, you always had to be thinking radio in your every day life... always observing and doing lots of prep hours but HARD work? Nah.... Radio is/was a freaking blast... as it should be... it's RADIO!!! It's supposed to be fun! And if being a boring ass is growing up then I'm glad I'm still a kid at heart.

 

[X-14]

... working on ac units in an addict, roofing, or any other HARD job.

Holy crap! I always thought working on a/c units in a hot, stuffy attic would be tough, but man, how on EARTH do they fit those things inside drug abusers??! I'll bet that IS hard work!!!

 

[JimmyJames]

Technology is/won't kill radio.... consultants and corporations will. Radio used to be fun, ground breaking, a place to hear new music, different genres, cool personalities, and now it's the same ol songs with no creativity and no edge.

You're talking about mythology. Original Top 40 was was very tight playlists. That's what the legends did. All that "groundbreaking music" and "different genres" was never popular. There are still college stations that fool around with that kind of stuff, and no one listens.

The companies that owned radio in the 1920s were far bigger than Clear Channel or Citadel. Radio managed to survive them. Radio never was "fun." It was a lot of competition and hard work.

You want fun? Do it for free. Lots of LP community stations where you can volunteer and play radio.

All that "groundbreaking music" that created Progressive & AOR, Alternative & Modern Rock, and created some of the success stories of public radio.

All of those "college stations" that actually have listeners, in fact, in Boston, the ones encoded for PPM do. Not top 5 but there's definitely people listening. And in public radio where people actually give money to hear all that stuff you don't think belongs on radio.

BigA, accept the fact that some niche tastes are sustainable regardless of what you like or dislike. We don't all live and die by the top 40.

 

[TheBigA]

BigA, accept the fact that some niche tastes are sustainable regardless of what you like or dislike. We don't all live and die by the top 40.

It's not a function of what I like or don't like. This isn't about my personal taste. The college stations you're talking about live off the dole of major educational institutions. Sure they get some membership dollars, but most of them don't get enough to cover operating costs. I spent some time in public radio. It's not as easy as you make it sound. And one should ask if a radio station that has fewer than 50,000 listeners should take money from a state that's consistently raising taxes and cutting needed services to its residents.