Let's start with AM radio... While I'd like to give you a history of radio up to this point, I won't discuss that. I will point out, that during the 1960s, the AM radio format was the dominant medium for music, even though it was ill suited for it. Am signals dimmed and were cut off while driving under overpasses or in tunnels, picked up static near power lines, and only broadcast a monophonic signal. The quality of sound was poor, unless the station had a very powerful signal.
By the 70s, the FM stations that used to be reserved for college stations, civil band transceivers, television audio signals, became increasingly used for music stations. They could broadcast in stereo, had no problems with static interference, and could provide decent sound within the range of broadcast. The number of FM radios available to the public at a decent price also increased . Soon came the stereo boombox, a portable stereo radio/cassette tape player. Many featured the ability to record music directly from the radio, allowing owners to 'bootleg' songs (more about this in a future blog..).
By the 1980s, the ratings for music format AM stations decreased. Many stations were sold, becoming foreign language only stations to serve immigrant communities. Others converted to either news formats, or all talk formats. This is not to say that these formats did not exist, previously. They merely were not that numerous until the advent of FM stereo. At this time, the popularity of nationally syndicated radio talk show hosts began to escalate.
So, let's look at the radio talk show. One thing that helped it's popularity was the introduction of cell phones. Because the most highly rated shows were often at "drive time", during morning or evening commutes, we can assume that the most listeners are in the car at the time. And since many talk shows were using listener calls to drive the discussions of the hour, we have to assume that the drivers having a portable phone to contact the station played a part in the popularity. This made AM radio an interactive medium reliant on broadcasting a mass message, and receiving distinctly individual responses, which became part of the mass signal. So, another important element was the station switch board, which screened calls. Because the station often received so many calls at once, the telephone redial feature is also part of this equation. Callers, upon hearing a busy signal, could rapidly repeat call attempts until they got through.
Now, radio talk shows usually come in three sizes: 1 hour , 2 hours , or 4 hours long. In this time, the station must sell advertising blocks of about 10 minutes, have a station identification announcement, and some stations have news breaks that give local weather and traffic conditions. All these typically occur every hour, with two news breaks on the half hour, station identification at least once an hour, and ads running at least 4 times an hour. So, the actual time spent for the talk show is less than 15 minutes per segment, upon average, and will usually only talk about one topic of discussion per hour. Estimated guess: a total of 45 minutes per hour actually listening to the discussion.
This means talk shows favor listeners who are quick to speak, and have little to say. The host must move along as quickly as possible. This also means that a long debate will probably curtailed. This can be done subtly, in the radio station control room, by reducing volume on the caller's voice, and speaking over him in a way the listening audience doesn't perceive. Talk Show host Rush Limbaugh openly admits that this is a policy of his, claiming that it is his right, as it is his show, not the listener's. This lack of time also means that many radio talk shows only allow one call to go through per caller. If a caller has already spoken on the air once, he or she will probably not be allowed to speak again on that show. Thus, a caller can be remarked upon by later callers, including denigrating remarks, without hope of rebuttal..
Another interesting thing about callers; often, they sound as if they read from a script. If a talk show format is politics and /or news, it may be listened to by special interest parties, such as unions, or political campaigns, or government office employees. And, some may have had instructions to call in (often without disclosing their affiliations) if a topic pertaining to that group is discussed. They will often hastily try to make a statement that contains the salient points of the group's statement on the subject. This practice smacks of message board "sock puppets" (which we discuss in the next blog). But, it doesn't often become a subject of challenge on the air, by callers without such affiliations. One must assume that they either don't know, or don't care about the difference..
I think that will be all for now.. Next time: internet message boards.
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