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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Radio Still Plays In Age Of The Internet Latest Deal Shows How Important Medium Remains

Associated Press

In the decade of the Internet, direct-to-home satellite television and new cable channels by the fistful, a technology that predates them all has emerged as a powerful force.

Radio, quaint but ubiquitous, is hot again.

Westinghouse’s decision to spend $3.9 billion to buy Infinity Broadcasting and its 44 radio stations highlights more than anything else how important the business has become to media giants.

“As a radio guy, I absolutely love it,” says Rush Limbaugh, one of the medium’s modern-day stars. “Radio has always been the stepchild. Now, it’s being taken more seriously.”

Seriously is right. While the number of U.S. radio stations has grown by about 30 percent since 1980 to more than 10,000, the money they take in from advertising has more than tripled to $11.5 billion, says the Radio Advertising Bureau.

With that has come the emergence of bona fide superstars like Limbaugh, Howard Stern and Don Imus. The latter two work for Infinity.

Why has radio not only endured technology’s blindingly fast advances but thrived? After all, radio still functions much as it did during its heyday, when listeners tuned in acts like “Amos and Andy” and the news reports of Edward R. Murrow.

The answer’s as simple as driving a car. Literally. Radio listening is, and always will be, a quintessentially hands-free effort.

“It makes the day go faster,” says Bert Madia, a Fairfield, N.J., truck driver with 30 years behind the wheel.

News reports are particularly important for drivers like Madia. “It tells you the weather. It tells you the accidents. It tells you what’s ahead of you,” he says. “The radio helps you more than the CB!”

Drivers caught in traffic jams from Los Angeles to New York are a ripe audience.

Of course, that’s not the only reason for radio’s popularity. With a growing number of stations, and big companies like Westinghouse now owning strings of them in the same market, there’s more of an effort to target stations to individual tastes.

“There are a lot more different formats today then there were 10 years ago,” says Dennis McAlpine, a media and entertainment analyst at Josephthal, Lyon & Ross, a brokerage firm.

In the most recent ratings period, he notes, some disco stations posted gains. That’s right, disco.

Advertisers, who pay the bills, love to be able to speak to specific audiences so they can better target their products. And they’ll pay for the privilege. Ownership by big media companies can help stations more aggressively peddle advertising.

For behemoths like Westinghouse, which gobbled up CBS just seven months ago, radio looks like a big winner.

In fact, Westinghouse chairman Michael H. Jordan said at a news conference Thursday that radio has been the company’s top development priority since the CBS purchase.

“Radio was the real hidden jewel of this venture,” he explained.