Getting Re-energized About Radio

When I was a kid, my love affair with radio had everything to do with great-sounding radio stations and great personalities who engaged and entertained me. I used to lie in bed at night, listening to the radio with my head under the blankets when I was supposed to be sleeping.

I would listen to stations from distant cities on my little AM radio, and I was fortunate to be in the signal pattern of Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, and even New York. I could hear Imus on NBC out of NYC, or Cousin Brucie on WABC, Landecker and Winston at WLS from Chicago, and of course the BIG 8, CKLW, which was one of my favorites. I even loved the personalities on my local Fort Wayne station, like Bob Dell on WOWO and the "Live Guys" at WLYV. I wanted to be like them when I grew up.

I have to admit that I go through moments of disgust with our industry and lose faith. We all lose faith from time to time and have moments when radio doesn't seem as exciting as it once was. It's easy to place blame on the state of the industry or on the people running the stations, but we all need to find ways to get ourselves re-energized, and to remember the business we fell in love with.

We have to do it, because most of the people who run or own radio companies didn't have the same passion growing up as we did. They used to get under the covers with a flashlight to look at balance sheets.

From time to time I need to remember the magic and find ways to get myself excited again. Here's what's gotten me energized lately:

1. Travel. I spent the better part of the last month on the road and in rental cars, listening to the radio. Though there seems to be a lot of sameness from city to city (how many more times can I hear "the best hits"?), I would occasionally stumble upon a station with a great personality or morning show, great excitement in presentation or great localism.

2. One of my favorite iPhone-iPad apps is called WunderRadio. I can listen to stations around the world, and there are some great radio stations well worth spending time with. I find some fun and interesting things on the air I would never have thought of. And it gives me hope that someone, somewhere is doing great radio. I also bought a wonderful little WiFi Internet radio from C. Crane Company, so I can listen to the world without my iPhone.

3. I still love "DXing," listening to distant signals. I bought a little shortwave radio, and I'll still listen under the covers at night with the headphones. It's fun to listen to signals around the world, and also to distant U.S. stations. Again, there are some people doing very good radio. It's just not as common as it used to be.

4. Though this will sound odd, I was testing my new iPad application, PastBlast,(based on my book Blast from the Past; Radio's First 75 Years) the other day, before we launched it. We've uploaded over a thousand rare photos from every era of radio, and hours and hours of airchecks and audio clips. I never stop to listen to old airchecks anymore, but I did as we were beta testing the app. A warm feeling came over me as I listened to all the great radio and jocks from the past. I felt all the love and passion for the industry that I used to feel every day.

The interactive retro radio studio on my PastBlast iPad application.

Though we can all hope that some of the industry leaders who never knew the value of great radio entertainment will eventually figure it out, we all have to be willing to find ways to do what we can in the areas we can impact. It starts with falling in love with radio all over again. You may want to try some of these ideas. And for those of you who missed the era of great personality radio, these are great ways to learn what it was all about.

Eric Rhoads
Publisher of Radio Ink

PS: Did you see Arianna Huffington on the cover of Forbes this month? She is listed as one of the WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL WOMEN, and she is one of our keynotes at the coming Forecast conference this December. This conference is designed to help owners, operators, and investors in radio understand what to expect for the coming year and how to prepare for it. Only 200 seats every year, and each year is a sellout. I hope you'll join us.

 

Comments

[SAUNDERSRENEE22]

If you want to buy real estate, you would have to get the business loans. Moreover, my sister commonly utilizes a collateral loan, which seems to be really rapid.

[Eric Rhoads]

Charlie:

In all due respect, this is exactly what I felt as well. However in this negotiation as stated by NAB the Music First is giving up 7% in acknowledgment for the airplay radio is giving and thus radio is only paying 1%. So indeed this is being acknowledged.

Though the NAB may not represent your interests the issue is that if this is passed by Congress you will have an obligation to pay by law. Therefore its critical for all broadcasters to make sure they fully understand this situation (I encourage one on one discussion) and also to make sure the NAB knows your exact feelings.

[Charlie Ferguson]

Eric, you're in good company with Edgar Bronfman Jr., and you've both misunderstood what’s happened between the NAB and RIAA. U.S. Radio broadcasters have NOT finally acknowledged an obligation to pay the recording artists who are the foundation of their business. We have been paying them since KDKA in Pittsburgh started playing records over the Radio they received FREE from the Hamilton Music Store. The records were given, with the agreement that Dr. Frank Conrad would mention where he had gotten the records when he played them. The owner of Hamilton Music knew it would help him sell more records. In doing so, BOTH the Hamilton Music Store and the recording artists received benefit. Radio has ALWAYS paid the artists with in-kind promotion. Radio broadcasters have not acknowledged any obligation. The NAB, which does not represent the majority of U.S. Radio broadcasters, has offered an unauthorized settlement to Musicfirst. We pay royalties to Irving Berlin for writing White Christmas, but we’re NOT going to pay Bing Crosby and Porky Pig for singing it. The RIAA is trying to pull a classic “mob shakedown” on the Radio Industry and the NAB has become complicit in the scheme.

Charlie Ferguson
Northern Broadcast, Inc.
General Manager

[Rob de Santos]

Thanks for a great post on radio. As someone who writes about communications it's nice to hear that there are still people who listen to distant stations, and think shortwave is alive. I, too, am a fan of the CC-WiFi internet radio and use apps like WunderRadio on my Blackberry. I look forward to meeting you one day at a radio conference.

Rob de Santos
Pop Comm columnist

[Ann D'Angelo]

Eric,

Reading this reminded me of how I too would listen with my little radio under my pillow in tiny Port Henry N.Y. to all the big names from "the City". I've been in the radio business for 30 years and sometimes feel sad when I think of where our industry is today.

Thank you for reminding me of why I love this business and for offering some hope for the future!

Ann D'Angelo
Morning show co-host/News Director
KXXO FM
Olympia, WA

[Tony Hayes]

Eric,
Your piece on getting re-energized is spot on. I like you did the radio listening at night and fell in love with radio. That has stayed with me through 30 something years in the business. I still have a passion for it even two plus years after being downsized. I, like you, hear some of the sameness from market to market, but get excited when I hear someone doing something new and different. Despite all the negative talk about radio, it's not dead! In some aspects it's on life support, but I feel a change is coming for the better.

[Bill Bragg]

Hello Eric Rhoads:

I so enjoyed your "Getting Re-energized About Radio" article this morning; especially the part about the world of Internet Radio!

27 years ago I founded The Yesterday USA Radio Network, and our first studio was a TV Tray in my living room in Richardson, Texas. I begged for, and received, free use of the audio sub carrier on the Nostalgia Channel during the early days of C-Band Satellite. I later "begged" onto the sub carriers of Shop At Home, The Outdoor Channel, The Jewelry Channel, The Law Enforcement Television Network and The Long Term Care Network. At one time in our past, we were broadcasting public domain Old Time Radio Shows to over 3,500 Hospitals & Nursing Homes and into 2,500 Police & Fire Departments; plus untold numbers of C-Band backyard satellite dishes throughout the north American Hemisphere! During a portion of that time, I was on 3 different satellites (24/7) at the same time and I got everything I needed donated.

Today we are heard world-wide, after becoming the first Station to broadcast Old Time Radio Shows on the Internet, Out of more than 5,000 Stations on Live365.com, we are in the top 50, after having streamed over 13 million hours on our two 24/7 Feeds. We have studios in Richardson, TX., Ft. Worth, TX., Costa Mesa, CA. and in Hollywood, CA; and we interrupt the stream to go "LIVE" every night at 10:30 PM for our nightly "Live Show"! Next week we will be broadcasting LIVE from the Friends Of Old Time Radio convention in Newark, NJ.

I have a staff of over 50 volunteers, that include Country Music Superstar Ronnie Milsap, Milt Larsen, founder of The Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA. and songwriter Richard Sherman; who wrote "It's A Small World" (plus almost every other Disney song). The remainder of my staff consist of a medical doctor, a trial lawyer, a college professor, an airplane pilot, a truck driver, and a motor oil salesman; just to name a few!

Tomorrow, I will close out the 2010 Season at The State Fair Of Texas as the voice of BIG TEX, the 52 foot tall Cowboy Mascot of the Fair. I am told that we will break every known attendance and revenue record since the beginning of of the Fair in 1886! I have attached one of the many news stories that have aired over the past 24 days. http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-the-voice-of-big-tex-story,0,3094201.story I perform the voice "LIVE", from 10 AM to 7 PM each day; for the entire run of the Fair. I am also the voice of "The Cattle Show" and "AG Lifestyles" on Dish Network and DirectTV.

Thanks for listening to my story and keep up your great work. I always look forward to receiving your fine publication!

Bill Bragg, Founder
The Yesterday USA Radio Network
The National Museum Of Communications, Inc.
The Voice Of BIG TEX at the State Fair Of Texas

[email protected]
214/616-6562

www.yesterdayusa.com
www.billbragg.com