Audience Demand and the Shape of the Radio

To be fair, there were many different factors shaping the development of radio in the 1920s. To develop tunnel vision and only focus on one would grossly oversimplify the industry's complications. However, that being said, out of all the factors, I believe audience demand was the most crucial to radio's development in the 1920s, as without it, none of the other factors would have a lasting effect; audience demand sustains the industry.

Audience demand is something of an amorphous concept; difficult to describe in concrete terms. On the surface, it's exactly what it sounds like: what the audience demands from its media. This has a powerful effect on all media industries. For this topic, radio will be focused on. Is there demand for a country music station? One will surely pop up. Does demand die down for hip hop? The local hip hop station may very well go out of business or be forced to radically alter its playlists and style. Although the industry suits would no doubt love it, it is not always possible to tell the audience what they want. Media bows to audience demand.

Audience demand had a very blunt, direct effect on the development of radio in the 1920s. As it was a fledgling industry, those in charge were still looking for ways to turn radio into a profitable venture. They settled on a system that is intimately familiar to us today. Advertisers paid to have their ads carried on radio programs. This was revolutionary for the time. However, there was one unknown factor: would audiences reject radio if it featured too much advertising, rather than constant programming? This is where audience demand came into play. This was a brand new medium, and audiences wanted to eat it up, no matter what. If it had advertisements, so be it. A necessary evil for one of the most exciting inventions people had ever seen. Audience demand was strong enough to propel the advertising-based model forward, shaping not just the radio of the 1920s, but the radio of all decades to come. Audience demand created the radio format we still have to this very day.

No images for this entry. I just couldn't find any interesting ones about radio, and I certainly didn't want to dip into generic images! At least the post actually has a title this time!