This year marks the 10th anniversary of world radio day and celebrates 110 years of radio worldwide. Over the course of the century, the most iconic moments of history have been delivered through the mighty radio, be it a declaration of independence or war.
The theme for this World Radio Day as per UNESCO is ‘New world, New Radio.
The world around us is changing, on one hand Elon Musk is taking us to new planets and on the other hand we on earth have a new family member our “phone”. The number of videos uploaded every second will soon compete with the number of stars in the sky.
According to research by Microsoft, our attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds and now it’s shrunk significantly to 8.25 seconds. In fact, scientists reckon, we now have shorter attention span than goldfish, who are able to focus on a task or object for 9 seconds. With content flowing from all directions towards a consumer every medium (TV, social media, OTT, streaming apps or radio) are fighting for their share in the pie.
Radio always had one trick up its sleeve and it still has, i.e LOCAL. Radio has always been the voice of the Society and Time. It has always been a medium to raise voice for the local issues, has questioned authorities and in some cases, has provided solutions too.
With the pandemic hitting the world, we not only realized the value of being multidimensional but also realized it is absolutely important. Radio stations all across are focussing on content that is digitally compatible, the idea is to make take local radio, GLOCAL.
In the new age, radio will be connected to its audience in its purest form, we will still have people calling in and playing contests, we will still call the authorities and ask them to fix the road but we will also entertain you when you are not listening to us on your radio sets, we will be on insta with fun reels , we will be on twitter with the current topics , we will be on Facebook with live sessions with your favourite actor /singer.
They say change is the only constant and on this world radio day we accept the changing world with open arms. Good content and talent never goes out of fashion.
Author:
Radio City’s RJ Palak, host of Double Decker show that airs Monday to Saturday 5-9pm on Radio City Mumbai