In your assessment, how much of the decline in radio is because radio is largely "push media" and its competitors are now "pull media"?
I think radio competed favorably with TV because they're each essentially playing the same game: push media. It's similar to how neither radio nor TV killed print; they're all push media, offering different ways of accessing it.
The modern pull-media competitors, however, seem to be playing a drastically different game. All push media categories are declining, no?
In the Big Picture - altho glacially slow until technology hit passing gear. The flat-out lies and prevarications prior and thru this election cycle pulled the mask and scab off the MSM, print, broadcast and cable alike.
That being said, I have always (1965) maintained Radio and TV were their own worst enemies from the most basic starting point: Content. If listeners/viewers love what they're hearing/seeing, they'll give up a vital body part to stay tuned. With varying - but fleeting "success", Bill Drake and other self-proclaimed 'consultants' imposed their talent-limiting, redundant playlists on an audience that repeatedly proved it want to be Entertained. If Drake and his acolytes were correct, the sale of personal juke boxes would have skyrocketed and 10-in-a-row, Less Talk-More Music! stations would have gone dark. Instead, as ratings cratered in favor of 'personality' formats, they changed accordingly. But that created another problem: where's the Talent big enough to get the numbers? Radio PDs are mostly DJs who couldn't cut it on the air. So they brown-nosed their way into Mgt and tried to live vicariously thru the Air Talent while that was the position expected to hire/train/coach the new Talent to greatness. You can see the problem. The lack of compelling Personalities created a programming vacuum. After AM and PM drive, most stations became the juke boxes. Success varied widely -but trended badly-from market to market.
The Push/Pull labels simplify the 'debate' but unarguably, Talent/Content remain the poorly kept 'secrets' to success. One big reason "liberal' talk radio (Air America) and MSNBC never made it in the big leagues - it lacked both. Pull Media has greater potential due to the choices created by the imploding MSM.
Like Virginity, once you've lost Integrity it never grows back.
Push media is, essentially, broadcasting. The news outlet decides what everybody sees and in what order. The content is "pushed" to the consumer in a rather centralized system.
Pull media is when individual consumers can decide what to seek on a much more granular level, because it's easier to bypass the things you're not interested in and to curate your own set of sources; sources that might not have any affiliation with each other nor are purposed by a common "pusher."
The internet allows for pull media to be easily available to the common folks. That doesn't mean that everyone takes advantage of this opportunity, but it's at least a very feasible possibility.
I've almost entirely abandoned push media (and I used to work in it!), both from its legacy broadcasters and from using the internet to mimic what the legacy broadcasters did. I've moved on to an almost entirely different game, rather than merely new players in the same game. Pull media is awesome!
DCS, Thank you for the detailed explanation. I'm with you. I can't stand push media. It also irritates me no end when sites on the Internet quote push media. Drives me nuts. Like, I give a damn what the NY Times says or MSNBC or the Washington Post.
Having been a radio station chief engineer from the mid 70s to the mid 80s, all broadcasting will almost inevitably become virtual, with computers in the rack next to the transmitter with Internet and LTE connections replacing control rooms with DJs in them. All of the talent will work from their laptops with headsets, wherever they want. AI will negate the need for most "talent" with relate lines delivered along with playlists from the cloud. Television will become a highly refined Max Headroom operation with expert localization provided by advertising sales staffs.
Right on! Clear Channel/IHeart and its ilk have subjected radio to its lowest common denominator. Only local ownership can save the medium. Shall we witness the return of obits, school lunch menus, and 'Tradio?' Really miss Stan Freburg and his creativity. The World's Largest Sunday was one of my faves, "Now, drop the maraschino cherry!"
Absolutely! We owned a MD daytimer for a few years. The engineer who 'came with the sale' was a good and capable guy -BUT...we 'shared him with 3 other stations. He was the only qualified Eng in100 miles so we took VERY good care of him at Contract Renewal time. Before we got the generator, we often had to wait in line when weather 'events' knocked us off. At least it provided a measure of listenership with the number of callers telling us we were Off The Air!.
THAT one was rated "Most Respected" - back whenwe were keeping track of Pone-In Requests! The creativity of the man was indescribable. Only Dick Orkin rivaled his commercial and comedy work.
Great article. Radio was very important to my wife and me during the Kincade Fire emergency and the mandatory evacuation of Healdsburg. We stayed in our home and relied on our battery-powered radio for up-to-date information on the fire's progress. It was a local FM station in Santa Rosa that kept us informed. I don't know who owns the station.
Radio is very important when the power and internet go down. And they do and will go down.
When the Internet goes down, it is usually a very localized failure, seldom making it across the street, especially when it is Starlink. Digital transmitters are quickly replacing those with tubes, drastically reducing the amount of power required. Some class A (low power) FM stations are already opting for solar power with UPSs and propane fueled generators picking up the slack.
Good to have a non-electric radio for sure. Preppers usually keep a good multi-band "weather" radio that runs off of a hand-crank, I've got a couple of them.
Of the two I have, the Eton American Red Cross NOAA Weather Radio has the best sound and reception, the Midland ER310 is close and is more compact/better for a bug out bag. If I was only going to buy one, probably the ER310
In your assessment, how much of the decline in radio is because radio is largely "push media" and its competitors are now "pull media"?
I think radio competed favorably with TV because they're each essentially playing the same game: push media. It's similar to how neither radio nor TV killed print; they're all push media, offering different ways of accessing it.
The modern pull-media competitors, however, seem to be playing a drastically different game. All push media categories are declining, no?
In the Big Picture - altho glacially slow until technology hit passing gear. The flat-out lies and prevarications prior and thru this election cycle pulled the mask and scab off the MSM, print, broadcast and cable alike.
That being said, I have always (1965) maintained Radio and TV were their own worst enemies from the most basic starting point: Content. If listeners/viewers love what they're hearing/seeing, they'll give up a vital body part to stay tuned. With varying - but fleeting "success", Bill Drake and other self-proclaimed 'consultants' imposed their talent-limiting, redundant playlists on an audience that repeatedly proved it want to be Entertained. If Drake and his acolytes were correct, the sale of personal juke boxes would have skyrocketed and 10-in-a-row, Less Talk-More Music! stations would have gone dark. Instead, as ratings cratered in favor of 'personality' formats, they changed accordingly. But that created another problem: where's the Talent big enough to get the numbers? Radio PDs are mostly DJs who couldn't cut it on the air. So they brown-nosed their way into Mgt and tried to live vicariously thru the Air Talent while that was the position expected to hire/train/coach the new Talent to greatness. You can see the problem. The lack of compelling Personalities created a programming vacuum. After AM and PM drive, most stations became the juke boxes. Success varied widely -but trended badly-from market to market.
The Push/Pull labels simplify the 'debate' but unarguably, Talent/Content remain the poorly kept 'secrets' to success. One big reason "liberal' talk radio (Air America) and MSNBC never made it in the big leagues - it lacked both. Pull Media has greater potential due to the choices created by the imploding MSM.
Like Virginity, once you've lost Integrity it never grows back.
DCS, What is push and pull media? I'm not aware of the terms.
Push media is, essentially, broadcasting. The news outlet decides what everybody sees and in what order. The content is "pushed" to the consumer in a rather centralized system.
Pull media is when individual consumers can decide what to seek on a much more granular level, because it's easier to bypass the things you're not interested in and to curate your own set of sources; sources that might not have any affiliation with each other nor are purposed by a common "pusher."
The internet allows for pull media to be easily available to the common folks. That doesn't mean that everyone takes advantage of this opportunity, but it's at least a very feasible possibility.
I've almost entirely abandoned push media (and I used to work in it!), both from its legacy broadcasters and from using the internet to mimic what the legacy broadcasters did. I've moved on to an almost entirely different game, rather than merely new players in the same game. Pull media is awesome!
DCS, Thank you for the detailed explanation. I'm with you. I can't stand push media. It also irritates me no end when sites on the Internet quote push media. Drives me nuts. Like, I give a damn what the NY Times says or MSNBC or the Washington Post.
Having been a radio station chief engineer from the mid 70s to the mid 80s, all broadcasting will almost inevitably become virtual, with computers in the rack next to the transmitter with Internet and LTE connections replacing control rooms with DJs in them. All of the talent will work from their laptops with headsets, wherever they want. AI will negate the need for most "talent" with relate lines delivered along with playlists from the cloud. Television will become a highly refined Max Headroom operation with expert localization provided by advertising sales staffs.
We're just about there....sadly.
Social media is already taking up the slack in its usual half-assed way.
Right on! Clear Channel/IHeart and its ilk have subjected radio to its lowest common denominator. Only local ownership can save the medium. Shall we witness the return of obits, school lunch menus, and 'Tradio?' Really miss Stan Freburg and his creativity. The World's Largest Sunday was one of my faves, "Now, drop the maraschino cherry!"
If local ownership can't find local engineers, what then?
Absolutely! We owned a MD daytimer for a few years. The engineer who 'came with the sale' was a good and capable guy -BUT...we 'shared him with 3 other stations. He was the only qualified Eng in100 miles so we took VERY good care of him at Contract Renewal time. Before we got the generator, we often had to wait in line when weather 'events' knocked us off. At least it provided a measure of listenership with the number of callers telling us we were Off The Air!.
Was he the reason why you got the generator?
THAT one was rated "Most Respected" - back whenwe were keeping track of Pone-In Requests! The creativity of the man was indescribable. Only Dick Orkin rivaled his commercial and comedy work.
Great article. Radio was very important to my wife and me during the Kincade Fire emergency and the mandatory evacuation of Healdsburg. We stayed in our home and relied on our battery-powered radio for up-to-date information on the fire's progress. It was a local FM station in Santa Rosa that kept us informed. I don't know who owns the station.
Radio is very important when the power and internet go down. And they do and will go down.
When the Internet goes down, it is usually a very localized failure, seldom making it across the street, especially when it is Starlink. Digital transmitters are quickly replacing those with tubes, drastically reducing the amount of power required. Some class A (low power) FM stations are already opting for solar power with UPSs and propane fueled generators picking up the slack.
Antenna and topography aside, what is the average Class A coverage?
It is dependent on AHAAT and topography.
Good to have a non-electric radio for sure. Preppers usually keep a good multi-band "weather" radio that runs off of a hand-crank, I've got a couple of them.
In the market - any recommendations?
Of the two I have, the Eton American Red Cross NOAA Weather Radio has the best sound and reception, the Midland ER310 is close and is more compact/better for a bug out bag. If I was only going to buy one, probably the ER310
What does a non-electric radio run on?
Hairspray and toenail clipping.