This may be one of the things that radio should do to re-energize itself and re-connect with (potential) listeners. One of the radio stations in Erie has a (nearly) storefront studio. You can walk by or stand outside it for hours on end and you won't see a live body, only the lights of a computer screen connected to a 500 gig computer spewing out the hits and voicetracks. Better to have a live body working in that studio (although, a body in a coffin, an apt commentary on the state of the business these days, might get attention.) Some will argue that radio is boring, "Aside from the morning show, what's there to see but a not-so-attractive DJ wearing jeans and a station hoody re-arranging audio files and surfing the net?" And yes, it can be argued that Main street studios only bring out the freaks 'n creeps, stalkers and nut-jobs. Still, NBC-TV and Fox-TV have storefront studios and they make them work quite well. Sure, these days most radio stations are in commercial malls or industrial parks and Main street (Buffalo) is a boarded up ghost town with a train running down the center of the street. But perhaps radio needs to return to storefront studios, rather than doing tiresome remotes that few listeners care about, much less listen to. Performing in a fishbowl would take some getting used to, but in this You Tube, WebCam, MySace, FaceBook, blogosphere "hey everybody, look at me, look at me" world, radio might benefit by stepping away from the Wall Street jungle and spending more time in Main street store front studios. In a serious note, it would be wise to make sure the glass is bullet-proof. Nothing to joke about there.
