When I was in my teens, listening to the plethora of top 40 stations all playing the same songs. What made me stick around? The disc jockey. Every night I would listen to Cousin Brucie on WABC, Larry Lujack on WLS and in the summer when distant reception was less reliable, it was Chuck McCoy and Tom Rivers on CHUM. I loved the sound of their voice and what they had to say.

Another jock I liked was Dick Summer who while at WNBC did overnights, I think.

mace wrote:

Another jock I liked was Dick Summer who while at WNBC did overnights, I think.

Yes, it was called "The Lovin' Touch."

I've talked to a number of young people who look at me like I have three heads when I mention radio. They've never even heard of AM, much less listened to it and I rarely hear mention of FM. Most of them seem to be on a streaming service, like Sootify and Apple. They just want to hear music, not talk or commercials. I myself abandoned terrestrial radio years ago for satellite.and I see plenty of SiriusXM antennas.

paterson1 wrote:

Even in our era, there were always friends who didn't listen to the radio much or at all.  I had friends that only listened to their cassettes that contained all of the songs that they liked. No annoying announcers talking over songs, no tunes they hated, and no commercials. 

That same 23 year old is also not watching broadcast TV, not reading newspapers or magazines.  I wonder if this age group still goes to the movies as much.

If there’s a must-see movie, young people still go - see the Minecraft movie earlier this year and all the “Chicken Jockey” reactions.

I don’t go to movies much but I went to see the new Superman movie a couple months ago, during what is summer vacation for high school and college students. Most of the people at the theatre were in their 20s or early 30s, couple of teenagers, but the theatre was only about 20% full. I had a whole row to myself.

mace wrote:

Another jock I liked was Dick Summer who while at WNBC did overnights, I think.

Dick Summar was also on WBZ back in the 60s. He had a program called Subway.
 

newsguy1 wrote:

I may have told this story before, but a few years ago I was asked by a young woman in our newsroom if she could have an application for a union card.
I was all to happy to help her fill out the card and the next step was to put it in an envelope and mail it in.
She looked a bit worried, and said, could I do that for her.
She then explained, and I'll never forget this, "you see I'm a millenial, I never learned how to mail a letter."
At first I thought she was joking but luckily I didn't laugh and realized she was serious.
I then asked if she would like me to show her how to write the address on the envelope, put on a stamp and drop it in a mailbox out on the street.
She replied to the effect that she would not need to know that because it's probably the only time she would need to mail a letter.

  

What Union would that have been? I'm a lifelong member of United Steelworkers. I'm retired now, but Union for life. It's like the song says "You can check out any time, but you can never leave." ♪♪  ♪♪
 

RadioActive wrote:

This reminds me of a great episode of The Outer Limits from about 20 or 30 years ago. It was a remake of the show from the 60s, not the original.

In this story, everyone was born with a chip in their brains that wired them directly into the Internet. In an almost prescient prediction by the script writer, because this was well before we had it, they called it "The Stream." If you tapped into The Stream via that brain chip, you knew how to do everything and were an expert in whatever was needed, making the world a very different place.

Except for one poor guy, who was forced to be a janitor/garbageman who read old fashioned books, because his chip didn't work for some reason. Although still clever, he was despised as the lowest of the low in society because he didn't know how to do anything and his knowledge was limited by what he read - considered almost mentally deficient and constantly put down by his "betters," who thought cleaning up trash was all he was good for. 

And then one day, The Stream suddenly stopped working. All those who depended on it for their knowledge and wisdom going back to the beginning of humanity suddenly found out they didn't know how to do anything. All that needed it for their livelihoods were rendered completely helpless and totally lost, suddenly adrift with no real intellect. And with no Stream available to access repair instructions, they had no idea how to fix it. 

Which is when the abused "moron" stepped up to become the smartest man on the planet, having learned what he knew the hard way - and the only one who retained the knowledge. He became the ruler of the Earth, after all those years as a throwaway human being.

It was a great story and of course, it had a great moral.

I wonder what those who rely only on the web for their ideas and entertainment and think those who use "old fashioned" methods (like radio), would do if the Internet suddenly went down. 

It was just a TV show and a fictionalized story. But it certainly makes you think!

Both seasons of the original 1963 Outer Limits are available on Amazon Prime

So I am 43, and I listen to the radio a lot. But I usually do not listen to one station. I listen to a lot of stations on different apps. Part of it is the format of the station, but also the on-air talent. Stu Jeffries used to be on LG73 Vancouver when I was growing up, so I have listened to him for years. I remember Buzz Bishop from Z95.3 in Vancouver, and he is now in Calgary. So I tune in there. I listen to Indie 88 locally because the morning show is quite funny and entertaining, plus it is one of the very few 3 person morning shows around. Middays are hosted by Adam, who previously worked at Edge before Edge lost its edge. Lana is smart and talented and puts a lot of emphasis on the music she plays. So it makes for a great afternoon show. I have also enjoyed the fact that they have Bob, who has been around the radio block and Jeff Spindell on the station. Both have been excellent additions to the on-air staff there. 
Currently, I have been listening a lot to 89X because it reminds me of what Sonic tried and failed to do in Vancouver. Boom 97.3 is another station I try to listen to a lot for similar reasons to Indie. The on-air staff are extremely talented, and the playlist to me doesn't feel like it gets stale, compared to some of the other variety hits stations, such as Jack and Bounce. 
My almost 16-year-old daughter, on the other hand, doesn't like the radio too much because of all the commercials. We are at a time when we can skip ads or not have ads on many services, so having ads on the radio turns her off from listening to the radio. Also, she can usually tell when a show is not live by some of the things discussed. Especially when there are a lot of best of shows. Listening to CFOX in Vancouver at night and hearing Tucker and Maura, and sometimes hearing the same bits twice in the same day on two totally different stations, causes her not to want to listen. She and I are the same way, though in the sense that she likes the personalities on a station as I do. We just prefer live, even if they are not in the same market, because at least there is less chance of repeating bits. The only station I am currently listening to regularly with no on-air staff is 89X, and it's only because it recently relaunched. When a station has no on-air staff, I try not to listen because I want personality and bits of relevant information. 
There is nothing worse, in my opinion, than a radio show that is designed to be generic enough it can be used on multiple formats. I have seen that with Tucker and Maura here, being on Edge and on Jump Ottawa. In the States, there are some hosts I have heard on an Alt-branded station as well as a top 40 station. My wife listened to a Country station for a while, and one of the on-air hosts sounded familiar, and that host is on a hip-hop station and a couple of rock stations. Each one of the stations airs the same bits pretty much. That's how generic that show has become. That would be something that would turn off most younger listeners.
I also enjoy the randomness some stations have with the playlist. For example, Indie 88 in the last hour, 4-5 pm, has played Barenaked Ladies, Mark Ronson Ft Bruno Mars, George Michael, The Weeknd, and more. That almost sounds like what my shuffle does on my music apps I use. When radio is too predictable, it also turns people off, especially younger people, I believe. I have said for years that radio cannot be predictable. It needs to be random, it needs engaging hosts, and it needs to do things to capture an audience. I hate giving Rogers credit, but they have done a good job with Roz and Mocha. They are on a few stations. I believe they are on Kiss Toronto, Winnipeg, Sudbury and North Bay in the morning, but the shows feel somewhat local. They are engaged with the listeners and always sound good. I know it is the same format for each station, so it works. Just like Katie and Ed on Z95.3 and Amp Calgary. Both morning shows sound local and work well. Shows like that will keep listeners engaged. But when it is something like Tucker and Maura on two different format morning shows, it doesn't work as well. Or if it is a more generic midday show operating on several stations. Tarzan Dan makes that work for Bounce because of the style of show he does, but on the 6, Rogers owned Jack stations, Meredith (who used to do afternoon drive at Edge) does a very generic-sounding show. It almost sounds like Rogers doesn't want her show to be full of personality. So you can hear it in the show. It doesn't sound local. It sounds generic. There are a few bits she pre-records (you can tell by what they are) that are inserted to be more local. The localized bits you can tell are pre-recorded have usually missed key details about something related to a local sports team. Usually, the Canucks, had all the drama last season with the team. 
I also think good radio hosts should really use social media to their advantage. Advertising the station they are at while doing bits online gets people interested. 
There are ways to get younger people interested in radio while also keeping older people interested in radio. I feel like radio companies do not want to spend the money on things that will bring more listeners and younger listeners, so they are content with letting people leave for streaming services. 

 

RadioActive wrote:

I found this article from Radio Ink kind of interesting. An industry consultant asked a typical 23-year-old her impressions of radio and why she  - and presumably her generation - doesn't listen to the medium. Her answers were blunt and maybe not all that surprising. But they're worth a read.

Among her reasons: 

-“Why would I? I can’t skip anything I don’t like.”
-“TikTok...doesn’t waste my time.” 
-No one talks to me. They talk AT ME.”

The real question is how to win the next generation back - or even if it's still possible.

I Asked A 23-Year-Old Why She Doesn’t Listen To Radio

At least she's honest enough to admit she doesn't listen to radio. So many nowadays listen to that streaming stuff and pretend it is radio.
 

Just for fun, I will ask some of the early 20's cashiers where I work if they listen to radio. I suspect their answers will be similar to the 23 year old woman.

paterson1 wrote:

Hey mace- Where you work do they have a radio on?  If so what station?  I was golfing near Brantford the other day and they had 92.9 The Grand playing throughout the clubhouse, restaurant and patio.  As a background station, sounded good and perfect for Thursday's 45-75 older daytime crowd.  When we were leaving around 2:00, they were kicking off a tournament with a somewhat younger group.

There is a radio in the meat department. During the week, either CJRT or BOOM. Weekends, usually Classical96.3. When the butchers go home at 5pm, the kids take over. Usually EDGE102, KISS92.5 or VIRGIN99.9. Caveat: If the Jays are playing, FAN590 rules. In the store there is a syndicated music system which can be operated from the store office. The staff does its best to ensure no Christmas Music is played until one week before the Big Day. I work in the fish department and thankfully, there is no speaker near me. I listen to my own choices at work on my phone. Not loud enough any other department can hear it. Senior Management [the store owner] has no problem with it.

I asked a 25-year-old about Spotify today and he showed me on his cell phone. It's just amazing - thousands of channels and you can program your own music. I might be getting that! I asked him if any of his friends listen to the radio. His response: "Nobody in my generation listens to the radio."

I loved radio, I worked in radio, I don't listen to radio because it's crappy and I'm in my 60s..
Too many of the responses here begin with "when I was in my teens," the world is different now.

UnSub wrote:

I loved radio, I worked in radio, I don't listen to radio because it's crappy and I'm in my 60s..
Too many of the responses here begin with "when I was in my teens," the world is different now.

I love radio too. But here in small town London, other than CBC, radio is crappy. I don't know what I would do without my SXM.