Hastings Responds To WSJ Article On Radio And Change
August 26, 2009: Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout said in an August 22 feature that once-dominant network radio declined sharply after the arrival of television in the late 1940s because it failed to come to terms with the challenges posed by the new medium. He wrote, "Americans of all ages embraced TV unhesitatingly. They felt no loyalty to network radio, the medium that had entertained and informed them for a quarter-century. When something came along that they deemed superior, they switched off their radios without a second thought. That's the biggest lesson taught by the new-media crisis of 1949."
ghhManagement chief and Broadcasters Foundation founder Gordon Hastings responds by saying that "for those on the scene, television did not evolve, it exploded into the American home. However, it did not result in radio's demise. In fact, once radio adjusted, all through the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties it enjoyed the most prosperous years in the medium's history."
Here's his letter to Teachout:
I enjoyed reading your August 22 article. I was part of the generation that transitioned radio during the onslaught of television in the 1950's and 1960's
Having entered the radio business in 1955, I remember all too well the great audience transition from audio to visual. In fact, for those on the scene, television did not evolve, it exploded into the American home. However, it did not result in radio's demise. In fact, once radio adjusted, all through the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s, it enjoyed the most prosperous years in the medium's history.
This happened in great part because a whole new generation of radio broadcasters (the establishment had already abandoned the ship for TV) got hold of programming, married the evolution of rock music and its superstars, and the medium soared in both listeners and revenues. The fact is, the old guard, with little forethought, left radio in the hands of a very young and extraordinarily creative group of broadcasters willing to take huge risks. They, in fact, had little to lose. This generation of radio broadcasters turned the industry around in relatively short order by rapidly adjusting to change as they went along. They also had a huge demographic advantage because they related to how the audience wanted to use the radio medium. This same dynamic, the marriage of music and young innovative programmers made the migration of radio listening from the AM band to the FM band in the 1970s, expanding radio audience levels to the highest in history.
Today, another generation of the radio establishment is faced with an even greater threat, the Internet. If this causes a generational leadership change in the radio industry, it will again be good news. There is without a doubt a new generation that understands that the future of radio, like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and the Internet as a whole, is about including the audience in the design and creation of the content.
Crowdsourcing will become the method by which stations are in fact programmed by the audience, and the software is already available to accomplish that goal. Many of today's cutting-edge companies are taking giant creative steps to make their product most relatable to the customer through crowdsourcing. Radio will do the same with stations programmed a day, hours, or even minutes in advance by the audience. The distribution system will be over multiple simultaneous platforms, with AM-FM broadcasting signals eventually only supplementing total audience participation. Home-grown video will be part of the content mix.
By understanding that the Internet is radio's future, the next radio renaissance will come from a generation that is already in that space.
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(8/27/2009 3:56:44 PM) Mr Hager, you are absolutely correct. What makes our stations, our brands, into Virtual Neighborhoods that listeners return to day after day are the personalities on the station who create the tenor of the 'hood. It is what differentiates us from Pandora or XM/Sirius. It is what makes our content unique and timeless. Without personalities who can relate to the local culture and one-on-one with the listener, radio stations would be parity products with internet radio and ipods. We'd have no future. |
| - Mary Beth Garber |
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(8/27/2009 9:27:18 AM) Crowdsourcing may indeed be the way for Radio back to Relevance. But the information age has made an old 1950's term "Planned Obsolesce" have a whole new meaning. Back in the day some items, especially big ticket items, were expected to last no more than a couple of years. This Planned Obsolesce was just considered a way of life. Today most big ticket items (cars, appliances, etc.) take so long to pay off on credit/financing you want them to last at least until their paid for. In the information age, Planned Obsolesce now moves at light speed. My Space is all the rage until Facebook transplants it then, here comes Twitter. All in the span of a few months, at best. The attention deficit disorder of "App" acceptance is truly daunting. Crowdsourcing and Radio Driven by listener could lead to the ultimate Owner dream. Stations without employees at all. Listeners will Tweet in their request and the HAL 9000 will sort, collate and eventually turn off the oxygen to the listeners room. If Crowdsourcing led to more employees hired at stations that could be a good thing. But, It will only lead to Ten thousand more things fewer Radio Employers will have to do in their workday. |
| - T Medcalf |
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(8/26/2009 7:06:00 PM) Read your article with great interest. However, I feel that in your prognostication of radio's future you are neglecting the power of personality. With the advent of internet, ipods, satellite, and all the other seemingly broadcast-suffocating innovations, my experience has been that radio's future lies in a return to community. The only factor that distinguishes broadcast radio from other media is its ability to relate to people where they live. I'm biased - I'm a morning show host - but I fervently believe that there will always be an audience that wants to connect locally in a way that cannot be replicated by any network, satellite, or internet. |
| - Ty Hager |
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