World Radio Day!
I couldn’t let this one go by without mention. It is World Radio Day, and I’m happy to have made radio a big part of my world for over forty years. For as long as I’ve had ears, the sounds and voices emanating from the alluringly illuminated dial of the hi-fi, after having sped across invisible airwaves over distances unimaginable, absolutely captivated me. Under the covers late at night with my am transistor, I’d heard tropical weather forecasts From New Orleans, agriculture updates from St. Louis and top 40 out of Chicago! What a big world it was and how fascinating this medium that connected it all without wires. So I decided at a young age to be one of those voices carried on the wavelengths to unseen destinations, maybe informing folks along the way, maybe getting a chuckle out of them each day, and of course entertaining with great music. A lot has changed throughout my years in the industry, but radio is still alive and kicking, people hear and respond to its message, and most importantly, the people behind the mic, and behind the scenes in general, still care that we do it right and that it works! As always, thanks for listening!
More on World Radio Day The United Nations made it an official holiday in 2012. This year’s theme is celebrating over a century of radio helping to inform, entertain, and educate. Here are a few more fun facts!
1. The first commercial radio broadcast was over 100 years ago on November 2nd, 1920. Now there are over 15,000 radio stations in the U.S. alone.
2. A poll a few years ago ranked the radio as the 11th most important invention of all time. The top three vote-getters were electricity, phones, and vaccines.
3. The Model T came out in 1908, but cars didn’t get radios until the 1930s. The first ones cost around $130, which is like $2,300 in today’s money. (Keeping A.M. radios in cars is another focus of World Radio Day this year.)
4. The call letters for stations in the U.S. have to start with either a “K” or a “W”. It’s a military thing from the 1910s. In general, stations west of the Mississippi start with a “K”. Most stations in Canada start with a “C”.
5. One in five people say listening to the radio is a top “little thing” they look forward to. Hearing your favorite song played ranked fifth on a list of nice things that can happen on any given day.
6. A poll found 9% of people wish we’d play more commercials, (Call the sales manager!)
7. “Broadcasting” was originally a farming term. “Broadcast seeding” is when you scatter seeds in a wider pattern than normal.
8. Around a third of dog owners have used the radio to keep their dog company when they were gone.
9. A recent poll of more than 1,000 radio hosts found the top reason we do this is it’s a whole lot of FUN.
