Video Killed The Radio Star - Or Did It?

With television and social media seemingly dominating the social and political landscape, it certainly comes as a surprise to learn that radio - an oft forgot medium - still has an influence on America today. In fact, Internet's Broader Role in Campain 2008 states that aside from the internet, "National Public Radio is the only other news source to show significant growth since 2000; currently 18% say they regularly learn about the campaign from NPR, up from 12% eight years ago."


While many of us still think of radio and it's influence as outdated, no one seemed to mention that to the radio. In fact, radio has played a vital role in elections past and this time was no exception.

An E-commerce times article reiterates that radio is certainly not dead. "In fact, it is morphing, and its new iterations, such as Internet radio, satellite broadcasts and podcasting, [that] are gaining the attention of leading candidates." This proves that the men and women behind the scenes understand the need to embrace new forms of technology. In today's day when the competition is as successful as it is at bringing you news coverage, one should not forget the new variations of radio offering in depth coverage of political events. "Many radio stations have now embraced the idea of streaming their shows over the Internet and include links on their Web sites so listeners in remote locations can do just that. "In fact, radio reaches over 210 million voting age listeners every week, according to Jeff Haley, President of the Radio Advertising Bureau. He also says that the reason why politicians utilize the radio is because of its effectiveness. As a result, "politicians [were] expected to pump $1 billion into radio advertising"during the 2008 presidential campaign. Radio is the perfect medium to target a captive audience. While you're in your car, you are susceptible to the messages being broadcast to you and through your radio. Radio is the perfect medium to reach a broad audience, but is also great for targeting a specific demographic such as young voters or an ethnic group such as Latinos or Asian Americans. Aside from commercial messages, talk radio is another form that often gets used because those individuals listening to such programs are already more inclined to be searching for information and news.

Satellite radio company XM recognizes the importance of providing what their subscribers want as evidenced by the following quote: "We think that the variety of candidates and issues in this election makes the idea of a channel dedicated solely to it appealing." Thus proving that while the "face" of radio might be changing, its impact still is relevant and growing today.