Spread of Radio Programs - Essay Example

Radio Nickie Corneil Different kinds of shows, ranging from educational, artistic, and news-oriented have existed almost from the beginning of radio to allow for a broad range of audience. The shows target audiences in relation to their age, sex and other factors such as politics and culture. However, radio stations take on a basic approach; as such radio programs can fall three general categories, education, and news oriented and artistic. Since the 1920’s, education shows became rampart with the explicit need to educate the masses. In recent times, some radio stations fully commit to education such as Education Radio and BAM radio. In BAM Radio, for instance, programs such as on the childcare providers radio, a subsidiary program of BAM, focuses on giving advice to parents and care givers on stages of child development and coping with the resulting changes. This show goes the extra mile of inviting experts on the relevant areas to ensure that the information is valid. Learning institutions in participating in educating through radio also have their own stations run by students. Renowned universities such as University of Ohio, Wisconsin, Princeton, Berkeley, new York University and almost all capable universities run station that contain content aimed at its students and other relevant parties (Lamb, 2012). Artistic radio shows have a wide range of concepts stemming from music, art commentaries and critics. Music is, however, the greatest distinguisher of these artistic shows. There is the opera show on National public Radio that plays classical and opera music. Such programs, endeared by listeners, form the relaxing aspect of radio with others claiming therapeutic value. Other examples of artistic shows include Otto’s Opera house. “All things considered” is a news program on National Public Radio. It is one of the news programs that have shown a knack in evolutionary tactics taking on a changing with the time tactics. It has brought its audiences from the traditional one man news presentation to include features such as commentary features, nonrestrictive interviews and a broad analysis of current events. Even with the existence of the internet, people around the world still listen to the radio. As mentioned above, radio plays the role of keeping the audience informed and entertained, give comfort and hope and reconfirm American values (Teorey, 2011). Information varies from political, social and thence extends to global. People rely radio reports to inform them of crisis such as Hurricane Katrina, not so large a crisis like a relapse of Lindsay Lohan, historical events such as the election of Obama or the assassination of J. F. Kennedy. As of the beginning of 1990, over 95% of Americans, twelve years and over had access and listened to radio. Furthermore, according to Arbitron, a media marketing research organization, radio is as universal as it is multifaceted. A research in 2010 revealed that there was no discriminatory listening in radio in regard education levels or race in the United States. The preference of the radio station remains subject to the individuals taste but over 90% of persons across the extremes of affluent to nonaffluent listen to radio. However, Adults over the age of 50 listen to radio more than populations in their teens. The universal appeal of radio is not a characteristic of the American population alone. In Canada, an average adult radio listener listens to radio for over 17 hours a week. All factors constant, this is a drop of 4 percent in the last decade. Australia reports a 14% drop in general radio audience as of the year 2004. This drops result mainly from the steady popularity of the internet even among the older generation citizens. Nonetheless, experts claim that, in light of advancement in technology that seeks to out phase traditional Medias, this is, in fact, a respectable standing for radio. For instance, people still prefer Radio when they are commuting, at home or in the office which makes up for more than 3 hours in a day. Radio needs to catch up with the advancing technologies, therefore, need to go digital looms over this current scenario (Hendy, 2008). People have tended to think of radio personalities as their friends, as opposed to remote celebrities they cannot get near. This fact is due to various characteristics of the radio presentation. One of the main features is the conversational nature of radio transmissions. Unlike on television where the anchors rely on scripts, radio relies on the personalities of the presenters and their ability to keep a steady stream of conversation. There are real pauses in the conversations real tones coupled with real emotions (Teorey, 2011). Tom Vernon a radio presenter in 1970 saw the need for reaching out to the ordinary people instead of confining ideas to enclosed studios. He said the aim of radio stations is to reach people living normal, ordinary lives, with tax issues, inflation and an excessive yet imperative need to be heard (Hendy, 2008). In essence, these facts boil down to radio personality’s intrinsic selves, thereby, coining the idea that Radio personalities are indeed “real people” on the air. Through their actions and omissions, radio presenters can make or break an audience. In 1964, Bill Brennan facilitated the Beatles in Jacksonville. The extent of radio personalities influences on the population was such that the day before, hurricane Dora hit the state, but a record 23000 people went for the concert (Fitzgerald, 2011). Most celebrities due to the scripted nature of their lives tend to come off as plastic or mere representations of the ideas of film makers. Radio presenters, on the other hand, have real, personal opinions stemming from real experiences. For instance while Robert Siegel, senior host of all things considered” was a student anchor for Columbiana University Radio station; he covered the Columbiana demonstrations in1968. In light of this, his opinion on the matter is dependent on experience and not scripts or acting. At events such as Oscars or Peabody awards, Radio presenters appear as themselves. All an audience has to do is put a face to a personality they are well aware of making radio personalities real people. Radio covers all artistic and news-oriented bases in a variety of ways. Music covers the art bases in radio almost extensively. Radio provides for all types of music for all types of cultures and ages ranging from classical to modern punk. Even with the internet, people still listen to the radio so as to escape from the virtual aspects of the current world to a more familiar one. Familiarity results from the fact that Radio personalities are “real” to an individual in ways others are not. Teorey (2011) argues that while stage productions and films require that persons to leave their homes, radio is an experience in familiar territory like ones living room kitchen or car. For all of these reasons, this paper has shown that radio has facilitated an exceptionally rare give and take relationship between the people who host radio shows and the people who listen to them. References: Fitzgerald, M. (2011). Boss Jocks. Southern Cultures, 17(4), 6-24. Hendy, D. (2008). Radio’s cultural turns. Cinema Journal, 48(1), 130-138. Lamb, T. (2012). The emergence of educational radio: Schools of air. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 56(2), 9-10. Teorey, M. (2011). Metadrama in old time radio: “Abbott…..What page are you on?” Journal of American Culture. 2011, 34(4), 357-371. Read More