Mark Melchior
Eleanor Henderson
Academic Writing
April 17, 2011
Adjusting the Antenna:
Why Radio is Still a Relevant Medium
My first thought when I saw the phrase ‘Rush Night’ was pretty blurry. I didn’t exactly know what to expect when I got there. Coming through my first week of freshman year the Park auditorium was still as daunting as day one. It has this odd, dark, eerie glow to it at first. You get used to it eventually. However, the misshapen, back-straining seats will always be the same. Twenty-some people were on the stage bullshitting about this and that. What they, “are all about here at WICB.” I was sold.
This was the first experience I had encountered with working on a radio station, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been ignorant to it while growing up. I love radio. Everywhere I have ever been, radio was never to far behind. It was radio that introduced me to some of my favorite bands like Green Day and Sublime. It was radio that delivered me the news of the Iraq invasion a few years ago. Today, it’s radio that I dedicate my life to.
“You will shadow veteran DJ’s. You will board operate a 2 hour shift. You will take a written exam and then, finally, must produce an exceptional demo tape.” These words from the station manager were enough to drive almost half the crowd away. I guess not everyone was as excited as I was, and so I put my name on the e-mail list. I didn’t know at the time it would eventually submerse me into one of the country’s most valuable media outlets ever invented. I shadowed, I operated the board, and wooed the executive staff with my charm. I even asked questions! I seem to never ask questions. Yet still there I was, practicing talk-sets in my room while my roommate was gone. Further on, in my still infantile, radio career I was finally awarded a DJ shift from two until four in the morning.
At this point I had surrounded myself with so many “radio-junkies” that I didn’t realize how much danger FM radio was actually in. Apparently, people haven’t got the same taste for radio any more. The data even shows it. I looked into listenership ratings and was stunned by the information. In 2000 the peak hour of radio was 7 AM with 26 percent of potential listeners tuning into stations (Arbitron). Years later in 2009, radio listeners drifted and sent the percentage plummeting to around 18 percent (Arbitron). This has been made possible by contributions from alternative music sources. Before, most records were promoted via radio and hearsay. You had to listen if you wanted to know what the recording industry was working on. Now, with the Internet, people are able to search for new music themselves, download it illegally, and share it with their friends. Inventions like the iPod and Internet radio have also added to the problem. In addition, radio stations are losing listenership because they are “too commercial” and play a ton of advertisements. The issue there is that radio stations are losing money, because the recording industry is losing money. This loss can be attributed mostly to the fall of record sales because of downloads. To make up for this, radio stations sell advertising space more so than normal. It’s an unfortunate trap that stations and DJs face.
Shortly after I started ‘DJ-ing’ I decided to work with the promotions team as well. It usually consists of a weekly meeting for about an hour or so. It was through working with the promotions department that I discovered what the Ithaca community has to offer. The promotions team and I have gone out into Ithaca countless times. We play music, have contests, and listeners get to win prizes. That’s always fun right? I always thought that it was cool to get out and be a part of the community, and explore the interest of my listeners and see what they enjoy. Apparently this has been one of WICB’s most respected qualities. In one of my classes a girl proposed that radio, “is mostly irrelevant now,” and that, “it’s not as modern or as good as something like Pandora.” According to her radio just couldn’t keep up any more. That night I read a few advertisements on the air for our iPhone app, Facebook, and Twitter pages. All while seated in a brand new studio with shiny microphones, a new iMac computer, and the sophisticated AudioVault music software.
Weekly meetings generally consist of preaching about how to stay current. I was told that just like television we still have an obligation to stay up to date on news and information. Every week I find myself talking about a new story. It could be an event or concert coming up in town. After DJ-ing for a while I started to notice that listeners rely on me. There are plenty of people who have given thanks to our crew for one reason or another. Not that long ago a woman came up to me and recognized me by my voice. She said she loved my show and appreciated that I exposed her to some new music. This reliance proved to me that there are still people dependent on radio whether it’s for news, traffic, weather, music, or events. We happily answer this dependence by constantly trying to improve.
Author and media expert Douglas Rushkoff said that good radio stations get “back in the box.” What he means is that instead of rebranding your station, or coming up with fancy ways to promote yourself will never suffice for content improvement (Ramsey, par. 1). Basically, instead of thinking about how to advertise better, think about ways to improve the actual product. We strive to serve the listener by treating them more like equals than our consumer. After all they are the ones who keep us in business. Rushkoff said of audiences, “I think what we’re starting to realize is that consumers are not just targets but they are really members of your company’s culture,” (Ramsey, par. 2). Still despite all of these great factors of radio, some still say that caring for the audience and staying current isn’t enough for them.
One week, in class, we discussed how the proliferation of services like Pandora and other sources of music entertainment would affect FM radio. One student said that they liked Pandora better because it was more convenient and accessible. Another said that they prefer their iPod to radio because their music is “better”. I brought this kind of statement to some fellow DJ’s and staff members and they all had a similar answer. Things like Pandora can’t do what we can. We have the benefit of personality. We have an actual person behind the microphone. Working hard to select music and envelope you into the music world. DJ’s are not just people who put music on the air for your drive home. They are actors, performers, intellectuals and fanatics of music. Like it or not, there is a reason why certain people get behind the mic and others don’t. There will always be an attachment to FM radio because listening to a robot doesn’t achieve that same effect.
Coming to the end of my freshman year I realized that radio influenced my behavior more than I could have expected. Becoming a DJ, in reality, was only a tiny step in learning what radio has to offer. It’s apparent that not only am I a DJ, but also a community leader and a performer. People look up to individuals like us because we have responsibility and care about our listeners. By this time I have developed an unparalleled sense of duty to provide entertainment for those who are loyal to the station. To me, the story of my DJ career has taught me some valuable lessons. I may not be able to say that I’m a YouTube sensation, or a television star. However, I know that as a radio personality I can say that radio certainly offers more than just the next song.
Works Cited
Arbitron. “Radio Today: How America Listens to Radio 2000 Edition.” Arbitron (2000): 4-7. PDF file.
Arbitron. “Radio Today: How America Listens to Radio 2009 Edition.” Arbitron (2009): 94. PDF file.
Rushkoff, Douglas. “How to Make Radio Relevant Again-An Interview with Media Futurist Douglas Rushkoff.” MarkRamseyMedia.com. MarkRamseyMedia.com, 2005. Web. 17 April, 2011.
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