When I came up with the name “Radio or Not” for this website, I was being clever. Obviously, it’s a take on “ready or not” – something that one says in anticipation of something exciting.
Then, or course, the more literal meaning. What I do is radio… but these days without the traditional radio transmitter or antenna. So, it’s radio, but it’s not.
That, I believe, is the future of radio.
No, I don’t think over the air radio will ever go away, just as we still have basic over the air television (although I don’t know anyone who gets their TV signal using rabbit ears antenna any more). But I do believe that, as most of us have some sort of cable or satellite connection for our TV, most of us will be getting our radio show via the internet.
Now, I’ve said this before, and I was way too early for the party. Just check out my history with moving radio online here.
The internet was becoming ubiquitous so, just as I had created one of the first radio station websites a few years earlier at KSCA (someone actually has much of the KSCA website archived here!), this time I was at the helm for the seamless move of Channel 103.1 from over-the-air to internet-only, and made history as the first station to ever do so. I wrote about it for The Album Network‘s sister publication Totally Adult.
Unfortunately, the dot-com bust soon exploded and, along with it, the Clear Channel internet radio stations.
That was back in 2000-2001. Fast forward to 2010 when I, yet again, experienced the end of the radio entity for whom I worked. This time, it was the network, Air America, that went under.
I had already begun podcasting some of my old music radio interviews under the Radio or Not banner… this time, I just decided to do my entire show here. And here we are, almost five years later. The world of podcasting and internet radio has certainly grown around me. I’m still struggling to make a living, but between the generous donations of many listeners, the occasional sponsorships, and side work, I’ve gotten by.
The biggest contributor to my “side work” has been The Randi Rhodes Show. I first guest hosted Randi’s show on my 50th birthday! It was November 4, 2009 – and I’ve been Randi’s primary guest host ever since.
I would have been upset reading the news yesterday that Premiere Radio, who syndicates Randi’s show, will not renew her contract when it’s up at the end of the year even if I did not have a vested interest, as we need Randi’s voice. But to add insult to injury, that work has provided me with the bulk of my income over the past few years.
So, yes, I’m devastated on a few levels.
But if you read my history, you’ll know that it’s hard to keep me down. I’m working on a few ideas to take this baby to the next level – and hopefully Randi will join us as the brave new online radio world is finally catching up to my lofty ideas. Stay tuned…
Today on the show
After talking about the history of radio and lamenting the changes, we got into the meat of the show.
Julianna Forlano brought some laughs with her latest edition of Absurdity Today. I welcomed her to FloriDUH with three stories:
- The KKK does a recruiting drive in a predominately black Florida neighborhood
- An armed Florida man brandishes a gun at a Dunkin Donuts, trying to get a cop discount
- Allen West has book deal and uses a word we’ve never before heard in the title: Guardian of the Republic: An American Ronin’s Journey to Faith, Family and Freedom If you’re wondering what the word “Ronin” means, you’re not alone. So, we turn to the South Florida Sun Sentinel who informs:
For the many who undoubtedly don’t know, dictionary.com defines a ronin as “a lordless samurai, especially one whose feudal lord had been deprived of his territory.”
Oh Jeez…
And finally, the Working Families Party is getting all kinds of credit for helping propel Bill de Blasio to a huge win in the NYC mayoral election. So, I invited Joe Dinkin, communications director for the WFP on to tell us what they’re all about.
And we’re done for the week… but we’ll be back Monday morning with Congressman Alan Grayson to help kick off the week.
