Devices and desires: What I learned when I once went shopping for a radio
About a dozen years ago, I went out one evening to buy a simple counter-top radio — and I wound up picking up a lesson in changing consumer tastes.
The anecdote has been on my mind lately for a few reasons, including some reading that car manufacturers want to phase out AM radios from their consoles. More on all that in a moment.
Back to the anecdote. I wanted something similar and affordable for the kitchen counter: better than a clock radio, but not nearly as expensive as the higher-end models like Tivoli. I grew up in a house with radios all over, all the better to tune in a program in any corner (and the yard), and I did not think this would be a big ask.
Well, now. Had things ever changed in the marketplace.
I went to a succession of stores in the Stavanger shopping area of St. John’s. I was surprised, to be honest, to see nothing like the radios I knew on the shelves.
My last stop was Best Buy, and a chipper young fellow greeted me near the door. I told I was looking for a radio, and he said to follow him. Finally! But, to my surprise, he walked me to an aisle of large TVs with related components.
“This is the home theatre section,” I said. “I just need a radio.”
He leaned in with a smile, and told me, as if letting me in on a revelation, said, “They’re called tuners now.” He pointed with pride at one.
I explained that I just wanted a simple radio that I could plug in near the toaster. He had a marvellous look on his face — a smile that tried to stay in place while his eyes narrowed and showed some confusion. I asked if he knew what I was talking about.
He asked then if I meant a car radio. Nope, an indoor radio. AM and FM. A CD player would not be necessary, but I’d take it.
“I don’t think we have anything like that,” he muttered.
And it hit me. He hadn’t seen one because no one was buying them. The clerk (I would say he was college-age) to his credit really wanted to help, but was genuinely stumped. He was kind, but had no experience with what I was describing.
This was a bolt of insight for me. And, as I worked for the public broadcaster, it felt like an existential threat — the radio business depends on, well, radios!
But in time, though I came to see it as opportunity.
I grew up in a generation that smuggled transistor radios under the sheets to listen to the radio. (Top 10 at 10, anyone else?)
Over the years, the conventional means of finding radio have changed. The two-band radios we saw years ago, with punchy preset keys, have been replaced by ever-more sophisticated entertainment consoles.
More to the point, the standalone radio became unnecessary for many consumers, because it was folded into products that multiple functions. We noticed this years ago with standalone watches. Apart from the luxury segment, most people now check their time with their phone, and if they wear something around their wrist, they want to do many other things with it, too.
One of the key moves CBC made some years ago was creating what’s now called CBC Listen — a platform that runs as an app and also is vibrant on the web. I learned a lot watching audience behaviour there. One key insight: average times on CBC Listen were significantly higher than what we call terrestrial (e.g., good old-fashioned) radio.
In other words, the audience is there; we just have to connect with them.
Consoles and consolations
I’ve read from time to time that some auto manufacturers want to make radio optional for such an array, but they do that at their peril: consumers still consider radios absolutely necessary, at least in the U.S., where there is more research data. Some research from last fall found 96 per cent of consumers want AM/FM in their cars.
Things are getting testy, though.
Some EV makers, including Tesla, BMW and Mazda, have removed AM altogether, and Tesla has had its eye on knocking out FM, expecting customers to switch to streaming.
As you might imagine, broadcasters are not happy, and last fall a bipartisan bill — it has the unambiguous title of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act — was introduced in the U.S. Senate.
As we move toward easier access for streaming, it might make sense and even be preferable for a lot of consumers.
But if you’ve ever been in a huge weather crisis (locally, think Hurricane Igor or Snowmageddon) and the power goes out, radio — actual radio — becomes an absolute lifeline. This is a key argument from American broadcasters right now.
(Incidentally, one thing we launched at CBC as a service in power outages is what’s called a lite version of the website, which operates on very low data.)
From hardware to software
Radio is still a part of our lives — it’s just that how and when we engage with it has changed. In the industry, thinking has evolved to consider the aggregate (that is, the various ways audience can connect, including on demand).
It’s also not just about the hardware … that is, the physical radio itself. For years, my phone has been my radio. My morning routine (continuing into retirement) was catching up as I puttered around the house, including throwing it to a speaker via Bluetooth. Sometimes I listen via my laptop.
In other words, software has become critical for our radio experience, to such an extent that we don’t really even think about it anymore. For many in the audience, it’s still “radio” even if their fingers didn’t touch a tuning knob.
A postscript.
When we packed up my folks’ place, a couple of their radios — like I said, they had them all over — came to me. That includes a Sony that my dad used.
It now sits on his old desk, which I now use, and next to it is a small Sylvester, the Looney Tunes cat that Dad kept in his office, an unusual bit of whimsy that cheers me up every time I see it.
The radio is crackly but works just fine.
Things to look at this weekend
On Sunday, I wrote about how we were on the verge of a market correction. Following yet another rout yesterday, we’re there. Fortune’s headline? “The big stock market correction that Trump can’t talk his way out of is official.”
Earlier this year, Paddy Daly stepped down as host of VOCM’s influential daily Open Line program, saying he hadn’t been enjoying the final months. He’s now landed on his feet, and in a prominent place: he’s effectively a political appointment through the premier’s office, working with Executive Council as something called an engagement and policy consultant. allNewfoundlandLabrador broke the story.
In politics, PM Mark Carney and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston reached a deal Friday to simplify federal and provincial environmental approvals for major infrastructure and resource projects.
Kash Patel’s famously bulging eyes may have extended again, with news that Iranian hackers had accessed his personal Gmail account. But one cybersecurity expert said the findings released online are not much: “This isn’t an FBI compromise — it’s someone’s personal junk drawer.”
If you need daily inspiration and you’re on Threads, follow John Dabell, who tracks his cancer diagnosis with heart and conviction.
This weekend is former colleague Heather Barrett’s final time hosting Weekend AM on CBC Newfoundland and Labrador before a much-deserved retirement. She had a chat with Jen White at the St. John’s Morning Show about her career.