The Future of Radio

Blogger’s Note: I love radio. I wanted to be a songwriter, but majored in journalism with a concentration in radio for a bunch of reasons. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love. I discovered “Adventures in Odyssey” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” I met Himam Brown, the man who coined the phrase, “The theatre of the mind”.

Jeff Brown with WAY-FM posted a great blog post today. I invite you to respond on his site. He asked four questions about the future of radio. I put my responses on his blog and here.

As long as we drive our own cars, we will love radio. As soon as cars ride on rails like in I Robot, radio may fade.

How do you prefer to interact with radio? Phone? Text? Twitter? Not at all/Passive listener?
Radio needs to get ahead of the curve. With all the studies on distracted drivers and laws being passed, the NAB and NRB need to join together to create a new radio dashboard interface. More stations need to push song data to the screen of the radio. I’m not opposed to advertiser information there as well.

There should be a series of buttons on the radio interface (and maybe the steering wheel) that allow a listener to respond directly to the station. This would allow the station to take immediate polls or contests. Furthermore, if you heard an ad you liked and wanted more information for, push the “ad” button and an email will come to you. In a new technologies class in 1988, we discussed a car thermal printer that would print radio coupons. I think you could create the same thing with an email generated (or a text).

Does the idea of live, streaming video as it relates to radio intrigue you at all?

If I have a relationship with the on air talent, it might be fun to watch them. But businesses are placing bandwidth restrictions on office computers, etc.

Do you like the idea of being able to take your favorite radio show with you wherever you go to listen to whenever you want? Minus the music?
I subscribe to many podcasts of Christian talk (“FamilyLife Today”, “In the Studio with Michael Card”, and “Insight for Living”). I can’t hear them when they air, so I listen on my schedule.

I believe this will grow as education increases.

Would you welcome the opportunity to interact with other like-minded listeners live and in real time while listening to your favorite show?

Isn’t this already happening on Twitter for TV? Radio may never be in that space because of the role of the vehicle.

What I would really love to see is a renaissance of radio. We’ve got music and talk. In the Christian space, we have teaching. But what if somebody embraced “drama” again?

What if Brian Singer brought “Captain America” to radio instead of TV or the big screen? We might have a phenomenon on our hands and a return to radio.

What if we had a live stream on radio from an imbedded reporter in Iraq. The mic was always on (Truman Show), but he didn’t always talk. We heard the shots fired, the grunts, the distant explosions, etc. I think we would be riveted.

What if an author serialized the reading of his new book BEFORE it was available in stores? John Grisham or Stephen King on air for 30 minutes every morning or during afternoon drive. They would read the first 1/3 of the book or so before release date. Book sales would skyrocket (and audio book sales would, too.)

What if “Nashville Star” gave up on trying to be American Idol Country and went to radio instead. It could become the new Grand Ole Opry with a live audience and lots of internet interactivity, but the performances were only available on radio (Citadel radio presents…)