I’ve witnessed, and somehow survived, decades of changes in broadcasting. The industry expands and contracts. A wave of managerial retirements (if they’re lucky) comes along and the next generation does things differently. Like I said, I’ve seen it before.
This is probably the third time in my career that I’ve heard radio is almost dead. The first time was in the wake of FM stations siphoning listeners from AM stations. The second time came after the launch of satellite radio. And now it’s because of, well, everything. Listeners are their own programmers. Radio as an industry has failed to react quickly enough to become a hub for people who want to find content: news, pop culture info or whatever it is they desire. The cutbacks and obliteration of staff positions started in the tiny markets and the trend is now working its way up. It will take a long time to hit Toronto but if it’s the dire phenomenon everybody thinks it is, the big cities will experience a lesser form of it eventually.
Last weekend as we approached the Niagara Arts and Culture Center in New York state, we noticed a little sign out front claiming the former high school was also the home of the legendary WJJL radio. Playing the best of the 50s at 1440 on your dial. I couldn’t wait to peer into the station and see what it was all about. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good photo but the “station” consists of a wooden desk, an old chair, some equipment that wouldn’t look out of place in your basement in the 70s except that it obviously plays CDs because there’s a giant stack of them too. And that’s about it. There’s nothing fancy, nothing showbiz about the set-up. And no one was live on air at the time.
Maybe that’s where radio is going. Maybe because it wasn’t nurtured and younger generations weren’t convinced they needed it, it will become some small hobby that broadcasts to a loyal few. Quaint and adorable, like an uneven scarf knitted by old Aunt Mabel. You’ll never wear it but you appreciate that she can still move the needles. Radio might become like that one day. But I don’t think they’ll be turning off transmitters anytime soon and just maybe the naysayers will be proven wrong again.
What makes radio matter – always has and always will – is the connection. The heart to heart. The knowing that someone is there for you to tell you you’re not alone, to lighten your day with a laugh, to give you information you need to feel better informed about the world around you. Radio will always be that voice that keeps you company when your boyfriend leaves, that conscience to gently remind you to give to the food bank or whoever else in your neighbourhood is in need, that fills you in on the latest cultural phenomenon, that warns you of a wind chill. Ryan Seacrest on a million stations can’t do that, your satellite won’t help you find a better way to work when the roads are closed or warn you when there are snow squalls coming. Radio matters – local radio REALLY matters – and the greedy bastards who are paring down the industry to its bare bones and starving the few survivors (in so many markets) will have to bear the guilt of killing this century-old golden goose and then blaming the hosts or the music or the economy. Many seem to be striving to still this communal voice that constantly reminds us we are not alone. And that no matter what – we can get through this. So can those of us who call this business our passion, our calling, our life. Long Live Radio.
Well said Erin. How ironic that my brother-in-law was caught up in the 80 let go by Bell on the day this post ran. Sigh.