Who will take over if there are no one on the bench ready to go?
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Where are the new radio talk show hosts coming from?
- Thread starter Richard Stefan
- Start date
I doubt it matters. Not many humans in the future wllll have the time or patience to listen to talk radio.
The format willl be on less stations in the future. It has already happened in some cities.
Time's almost up for AM. There is no solution in sight.
Taking an anecdotal muse here and running with it for a whiile .....
I've driven to Florida many times, starting from Philadelphia and Long Island. That's a lot of states and a lot of stations. Around 1970 the first hint of 'sundication' or 'streamlining', for lack of better words, was the number of fake-Drake Top 40 stations on the AM dial. It was not even two years after that when the AoR format caught on big time -- on FM. Some will argue, but the opnion here is that the migration was not coincidental.
It used to be possible to hear just about any form of music on the long trip that suited your needs at the time. Washington DC had some real good radio (and I'm not speaking just Top 40). Richmond VA was a terrific market.
The smaller cities/exits on U.S. 301 (largely to become I-95) provided a Farmer's Almanac of local radio, music and voices.
I can't recall the call letters or the town, but there was one station I visited, a bit off the beaten path, in coastal North Carlina. They were R & B. I might have been the only honky in the area code, and as such my visit was treated with a bit of standoff-ishness and skepticism. Then I happened to mention 'WWRL', which at the time was the big Soul station in NYC. From there on in I was welcomed.
I visited WPGC in Washington, and WGIG in Brunswick Georgia. The AM dial sounded fantastic. I was alll local ; all friendly ; all interesting ; all unique.
And once you GOT to Florida, there was the same grand display ; the same broadcast magic that inspired so many to enter the industry. Each station seemed to have a reason for being there, and they earned their local and regional revenue and acclaim. (Florida AM radio in that era, arguably, was some of the best entertainment ever programmed).
* * * * * * *
Those times were over forty years ago. The progess along the impatient I-95's of the country helped wreck the hamlets along the U.S. 301's and U.S. 17's of the country.
And now you arrive in Florida and find nothing but syndicated sports, Hannity and religion on the AM dial -- same as everywhere else.
In this section of the country, as a glaring example, there is no more farm system for modern pop music on AM or FM. As singer Joni Mitchell wrote -- she just turned 70 yesterday -- 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot'.
She wrote that in 1970. She must've seen some over-corporate problems starting to emerge at that same time.
Youth is where all generations who now enjoy nostalgia originated -- for decades and decades. But why should a youth in Spring Lake NC or Hopewell Virginia or Quakake Pennsylvania even listen to the radio nowadays, never mind the AM dial?
There are no reasons to listen. The 60-year old talkers are out of touch. There is no music. The jingles are over-processed dreck. The signals are lousy. The commercials are non-stop and all sound the same.
The next generation of talkers are not going to emerge among such neglect.
Taking an anecdotal muse here and running with it for a whiile .....
I've driven to Florida many times, starting from Philadelphia and Long Island. That's a lot of states and a lot of stations. Around 1970 the first hint of 'sundication' or 'streamlining', for lack of better words, was the number of fake-Drake Top 40 stations on the AM dial. It was not even two years after that when the AoR format caught on big time -- on FM. Some will argue, but the opnion here is that the migration was not coincidental.
It used to be possible to hear just about any form of music on the long trip that suited your needs at the time. Washington DC had some real good radio (and I'm not speaking just Top 40). Richmond VA was a terrific market.
The smaller cities/exits on U.S. 301 (largely to become I-95) provided a Farmer's Almanac of local radio, music and voices.
I can't recall the call letters or the town, but there was one station I visited, a bit off the beaten path, in coastal North Carlina. They were R & B. I might have been the only honky in the area code, and as such my visit was treated with a bit of standoff-ishness and skepticism. Then I happened to mention 'WWRL', which at the time was the big Soul station in NYC. From there on in I was welcomed.
I visited WPGC in Washington, and WGIG in Brunswick Georgia. The AM dial sounded fantastic. I was alll local ; all friendly ; all interesting ; all unique.
And once you GOT to Florida, there was the same grand display ; the same broadcast magic that inspired so many to enter the industry. Each station seemed to have a reason for being there, and they earned their local and regional revenue and acclaim. (Florida AM radio in that era, arguably, was some of the best entertainment ever programmed).
* * * * * * *
Those times were over forty years ago. The progess along the impatient I-95's of the country helped wreck the hamlets along the U.S. 301's and U.S. 17's of the country.
And now you arrive in Florida and find nothing but syndicated sports, Hannity and religion on the AM dial -- same as everywhere else.
In this section of the country, as a glaring example, there is no more farm system for modern pop music on AM or FM. As singer Joni Mitchell wrote -- she just turned 70 yesterday -- 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot'.
She wrote that in 1970. She must've seen some over-corporate problems starting to emerge at that same time.
Youth is where all generations who now enjoy nostalgia originated -- for decades and decades. But why should a youth in Spring Lake NC or Hopewell Virginia or Quakake Pennsylvania even listen to the radio nowadays, never mind the AM dial?
There are no reasons to listen. The 60-year old talkers are out of touch. There is no music. The jingles are over-processed dreck. The signals are lousy. The commercials are non-stop and all sound the same.
The next generation of talkers are not going to emerge among such neglect.
Excellent bit of writing, Steve. I have memories of that era also. I sampled some different geographies in that era but observe some of the same changes.
You are describing the final days of an era: An era where 'rural America' had a different kind of vitality. Unlike some of my peers, I did not leave the farmstead home in a headlong rush to get an education to prepare me for urban living. I was not observant enough to see what was coming.
40, 50, 60 years ago American agriculture was still driven by the family farm.... or so we thought and those rural coastal areas had vibrant towns, filled with vibrant families, raising vibrant children. By the time some of us were ready to return to the nest and seek our fortunes, the rural business infrastructure was rapidly changing. (well, let's face it... everybody's infrastructure of business was changing... worldwide. Few people were bright enough or daring enough to "go for the ride".)
In all those towns up and down the eastern coast of NYC/Philly down to Florida had lots of changes other than radio. The restaurant business has changed. Gone is the hometown Rexall drugstore with a soda fountain where the young lady was working when I met her and we decided on a life together. The car dealer business has changed in ALL SIZE markets. The grocery business has change in ALL SIZE markets. (The change in car dealer business practices and grocery retail practices in rural markets is enough to wreck the radio broadcasting business in small towns even if no other lines of business ever had any changes.)
I went to a Congressman's Town Hall Meeting last night in a "hybrid market". We are a rural, Appalachian small town market with some changes in common with those coastal towns you describe between NYC and Florida.... but we get sloshing wet here with the spray and overflow of the economy of that little thing called Atlanta. I'm a crusty old character who did Talk Radio back in the era you are describing, and as I observed the crowd last night, I must confess if someone said to me: "Here, I have this radio station. Can you come in a do a talk show aimed at these people?" My reply would have to be: "Are you kidding me? I may be crusty.... but this crowd would eat Mark Twain, Will Rogers and Ronald Reagan alive!!!! PASS!"
We seem to be at a cycle in our economy and our redefining of community that seems to leave rural area broadcasters looking like astronauts on the Space Station wondering if the next rocket ship from Earth is ever coming back to pick them up.
But... so far it always has. Maybe it's coming back again. Maybe. Sometime.
You are describing the final days of an era: An era where 'rural America' had a different kind of vitality. Unlike some of my peers, I did not leave the farmstead home in a headlong rush to get an education to prepare me for urban living. I was not observant enough to see what was coming.
40, 50, 60 years ago American agriculture was still driven by the family farm.... or so we thought and those rural coastal areas had vibrant towns, filled with vibrant families, raising vibrant children. By the time some of us were ready to return to the nest and seek our fortunes, the rural business infrastructure was rapidly changing. (well, let's face it... everybody's infrastructure of business was changing... worldwide. Few people were bright enough or daring enough to "go for the ride".)
In all those towns up and down the eastern coast of NYC/Philly down to Florida had lots of changes other than radio. The restaurant business has changed. Gone is the hometown Rexall drugstore with a soda fountain where the young lady was working when I met her and we decided on a life together. The car dealer business has changed in ALL SIZE markets. The grocery business has change in ALL SIZE markets. (The change in car dealer business practices and grocery retail practices in rural markets is enough to wreck the radio broadcasting business in small towns even if no other lines of business ever had any changes.)
I went to a Congressman's Town Hall Meeting last night in a "hybrid market". We are a rural, Appalachian small town market with some changes in common with those coastal towns you describe between NYC and Florida.... but we get sloshing wet here with the spray and overflow of the economy of that little thing called Atlanta. I'm a crusty old character who did Talk Radio back in the era you are describing, and as I observed the crowd last night, I must confess if someone said to me: "Here, I have this radio station. Can you come in a do a talk show aimed at these people?" My reply would have to be: "Are you kidding me? I may be crusty.... but this crowd would eat Mark Twain, Will Rogers and Ronald Reagan alive!!!! PASS!"
We seem to be at a cycle in our economy and our redefining of community that seems to leave rural area broadcasters looking like astronauts on the Space Station wondering if the next rocket ship from Earth is ever coming back to pick them up.
But... so far it always has. Maybe it's coming back again. Maybe. Sometime.
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