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The Death of Radio
I've been worrying about this for awhile now, and a recent Time magazine cover story highlighted the age of technology and its effect on young people today. Try going someplace these days without seeing someone younger than you carrying either a cellphone, an iPod, a laptop, or some other technological device. I've always been five-to-ten years behind the crowd in accepting change. My former colleagues at Stafford Middle School can attest to that. In fact, I've just started getting excited about my growing CD collection, only to find out that teenagers today aren't buying CDs anymore. They don't have to. They can have all the songs of their choice around the clock on their MP3 or iPod.
Yesterday I hired Tony Hollop to be my videographer for a "Fox on the Run" show I was making in Chazy. Tony is an intelligent well-adjusted, well-traveled 16-year-old, an honor roll student at Plattsburgh High School. When he hopped into my car for the trip to Chazy I was playing some Amos Lee songs on my CD player. But Tony was holding this intriquing white contraption with a screen on it. He explained that this was an iPod with an iTrip. He could play songs from his little machine and the music would come through my car radio. I said, "I don't think so!"
He chuckled that this 57-year-old would be so out of touch. He explained how it all worked, but it just sounded like some mumbo-jumbo to me. I repeated, "I don't think so!" He offered to show me. So Tony clicked off my CD and dialed up a channel on my car radio. He then pushed a few things on his white contraption, the iPod I mean, and, lo and behold, some Jack Johnson song comes out my radio speakers. He said, "See, it's working because of this iTrip," pointing to a small cyclinder attached to his iPod. I repeated, "I don't think so!" But it was... it was really working. Tony further explained that his little iPod could hold thousands of songs. I said, "I don't think so!"
And that's what I'm worried about. Tony's generation has no use for a radio. These days I often listen to WIRY Radio and other radio stations at least when I'm in my car. But Tony's generation doesn't listen to the radio. They don't have to. They have all the music they could ever want. How long can radio stations survive? I'm worried.
During my lifetime I've enjoyed WEAV, WKDR, and, of course, the survivor, WIRY. As I grew up I remember listening to Chet "Chester O" Bosworth (I even marched around the Breakfast Table), Sid Spiegel, Ben "Never Rest" Everest, and, of course, Gordie Little (Who's He?). And listening to the local high school sports calls of Mike Mannix. In more recent years we've all enjoyed the WIRY personalities, such as Bob Pooler, Ducky Drake and Charlie Stone (the King of the Snippets).
Anyway, when was the last time you bought a radio? When was the last time you bought your teenager a radio? I still love the radio for local news and Yankee baseball. But can you survive on that? My mom plays the radio throughout the day when she's home. But she's 84. I don't see any teenagers playing the radio. And I don't think a radio is going to be on any of their wedding wish lists.
In 1979 a guy named Trevor Horne wrote a song called "Video Killed the Radio Star." It was the first song ever played on MTV, predicting the demise of the radio. But the video hasn't completely killed the radio. Local radio stations have survived somehow, and MTV has changed its format from strictly videos into a variety of programs. Maybe it's time for someone to write "iPod Killed the Radio Star."
I was impressed with Tony's modern-day music machine. I guess all of his friends have one, too. But am I ready to run out and buy an iPod with an iTrip attached? I don't think so.
Comments
Gordie Little recomended I post this question:
Background - I was stationed at the Plattsburgh Airbase in 1957 - assigned to base newspaper. Two of our staff at the time worked part-time at WEAV. Gordie gave me one name he is "familiar" with - Dave Dewey (we dropped that part quickly).
The other name I need aired mostly Top 40 hits - he drove a robins egg blue Jaguar, wore dark sun glasses most of the time, and smoked the worst smelling cigars - and my desk was near his.
I had one thought - his name might be in an old copy of the base newspaper - at least in 1957-58-59.
Can anyone help?
Posted by: Larry Schiff | January 16, 2007 8:42 PM
Hello Foxy,
Just discovered your site, after doing a Google search on WMFF. I'm an old upstate New Yorker, myself, and my Dad bought our first radio from Jack McFadden's furniture store in Plattsburgh. We actually lived near Rome, but he was a traveling furniture rep, and Plattsburgh was part of his territory.
My question to you: What did the call letters WMFF stand for? Could it have been McFadden Furniture?
Will eagerly await your reply. Thanks, and regards!
Ed Ripley
(Foxy's note: Ed, welcome to the blog. I will throw that interesting question out with my next blog. There are some "old-timers" who read my blogs and help fill in the spaces before my time or the gaps in my memory. )
Posted by: Ed Ripley | June 18, 2006 1:08 PM
The joys of being a musician in South Texas!!
Posted by: Kelly Miller | April 7, 2006 2:34 PM
Part of the problem with radio today is the mega companies like Clear Channel and Hall Communications gobbling up all the locally owned stations and removing the "individual feel" of the local station.
In Plattsburgh the Bissell family owned WEAV for years, the Pelkey family owned WIRY and Peter Guibord owned WKDR. KDR was the first domino to fall in Plattsburgh when the hot dog king Roger Jakowbowski bought the station. For the most part KDR's programming stayed local with a few network talk programs until the station was sold again to a Vermont group who moved station op's to Burlington. WEAV was next to leave the local programming as both the AM and FM stations were leased out to Vermont based broadcasters feeding us satellite programming.
Throughout it all and under current owner Bill Santa, WIRY has been the only Plattsburgh station to survive the attack of the multi-billion dollar mega-casters. Lets hope they last for a long time to come.
(Foxy's note: Thanks for the history lesson on this! I found it interesting and I think readers will as well.)
Posted by: Rick K | April 4, 2006 2:39 PM
Radio is not dead...I know it because I still do it every day. Just for background, I worked at WIRY from 1993-98, was a DJ and then News Director for a year, but I've had a career that's spanned all of Northern New York for 19 years (that 19 years was marked April 1st of this year). What radio was, that it isn't now, is that it used to 'super-serve' the community, not just do the job but do it bigger and better than anyone else. Every station did it in their own way, some more successfully than others, but the basic concepts were the same. The news was everything, from the Common Council all the way down to the mattress fire. The DJ's were King, even when there was TV to compete with them. Radio people 'knew everybody,' and 'everybody knew them.' and they were 'everywhere'. If something big was going on, you heard it NOW!!
You still hear music, news, weather and sports on local radio today, but most of it is just O.K., people listen to it but they're just not connected with it like they were. It just kinda lays there like an old tired dog. I'm lucky, I work at the very last station in St. Lawrence County that has live DJ's in every daypart, a full-time 'roving reporter' news guy (me), and a full-time sports director. WPDM in Potsdam and WIRY are the 'last holdouts' of local radio Up North in a satellite, clock-filling, anonymous, music machine age. I think there will always be a demand for truly local radio. But for it to be done well it takes a 24-7, 365 commitment. Not many want that out of their careers now. It used to be radio stations got hundreds of resumes and tapes in a month. Now they have to beg to find staff, and the days of the 'natural' broadcaster are gone. Guys like Gordie, Chet, Ducky, Mannix (father and son), and Charlie come once in a lifetime. What a pleasure it was to work with, know personally, and learn from all these people as a young man, and what a blessing to be able to channel their immense talents, energy and spirit today.
(Foxy's note: Thanks, Scott, for your insight into this subject. You are one of the true radio pros!)
Posted by: Scott Dosztan 'S-M-B' | April 3, 2006 9:55 PM
Death of the Radio:
You are so right the "death of the radio" is sad to watch. I, like you, continue to go kicking into the 21st Century. Radio was a huge part of my life. My father, Martin D. Mannix, was the News Director at WMFF and then WEAV and moved to WIRY when the station went on the air in 1950. I spent more than two decades broadcasting high school and college sports in this area.
Growing up without a TV we gathered around the radio all the time. How many remember listening to Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders, Pam and Jerry North, The Green Hornet, The Shadow, The Burns and Allen Show, Bob & Ray, Guy Lombardo, Mitch Miller and His band and the local Saturday morning Junior Jamboree with Hortense Graves and many local talent performing live. Chet Bostworth and Miss Lonely Hearts every morning. Those were fun times and the family was all together at home enjoying the radio show and being together. If you were not home listening to the radio you were OUTDOORS PLAYING, no MTV or video games to keep you inside. Ah, the good old days.
Posted by: Michael J. Mannix | April 3, 2006 2:11 PM
Foxy, Radio will still be around, as long as listeners don't have to pay for it, on the local level. XM satellite radio is another new concept, besides i-pod. Besides without my WIRY, I couldn't keep tabs on all you guys!! LATER!!!
Posted by: Steve P. | April 3, 2006 1:54 PM
Foxy,
you can't hear the local news on an i-pod. I think radio will survive for other reasons as well. The songs are FREE on the radio. The songs on an i-pod that are downloaded have to be paid for. Besides, how could we live without Charlie in the morning?
Posted by: Mark Schwartz | April 3, 2006 1:04 AM
Foxy, if you like Amos Lee, you will love Ray Lamontagne. I have seen them both live and they are amazing.
Posted by: Kelly Miller | April 2, 2006 9:31 PM