Unfortunately, nothing good (luckily also, nothing bad) lasts forever. The Peanut Whistle will go on but I am afraid radio broadcasting as I have known it is on its last legs. I have been blessed to spend a relatively short time in the industry. Roughly from May, 1983 until August of 1995—12 years. Even in 1983 radio, particularly AM, begins a terminal decline. However, it isn’t until 1996, following the consolidation of radio when I see the final nail in the coffin. Large conglomerates are now allowed to gobble up little stations in all markets into a cookie cutter clusters centrally programmed via satellite, voice tracking, the list goes on.
Stations like my first are victim of “consolidation.” The memories only remain.
The radio dial pre-1996 is a wonderfully diverse place. Yes, there are some really bad ones thrown in with the good; at least, to me, the diversity makes this ancient business much more appealing then than now.
The point is moot. Internet services like Pandora (which I use more than real radio for music, anyway) are actually getting better ratings in our top ten markets than over-the-air broadcasting. The future is on the Web, obviously.
The Next few ‘Whistle posts will chronicle my 2011 journey back to the present day: my futile struggle getting back into radio. Maybe you can’t go home again.
Stay tuned.
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