Different Answers From Everyone

By Frank Absher

What is radio? Each of you has a different answer, and each of you will be right. But I want to share an answer with you to give you something to contemplate. Please think about these statements as you read them:

Radio is the temperature and weather forecast with your morning coffee.

The news of the world at your fingertips.

The proud sounds from space with all systems “go”.

The thrill of a winning home run on a summer Sunday.

A love song under the stars at midnight.

A marching band on homecoming afternoon.

The Sunrise service on Easter morning.

The all-clear after the storm has passed.

Your neighbor’s voice, questioning a Senator.

A compelling discussion of faith, dispelling doubts, illuminating hope.

The voice of the President, confident of our nation’s future.

A high school choir on Christmas Eve.

The sounds of democracy from our legislative halls.

A great American, speaking of mercy, hope and brotherhood from a jungle outpost.

A world of ideas, information and entertainment, wherever you go, day or night.

Radio is small as a matchbox, big as space itself, bringing news at the speed of sound; a sun’s sweep ahead of the fastest high-speed press; the first choice and most reliable voice in time of national emergency; an indispensable servant of the nation; an active member of the community; a cherished part of your family, every day of the month, every month of the year.

To many of you, this sounds like someone who is completely out of touch with reality, a sort of idealist who has no idea of the realities of the business. But the opposite is true.

This is an ad for a real radio station, and those who were around when this ad ran in the 1970s will tell you it is a perfect description of the station.

There is nothing idealistic or unrealistic about the content of the ad. It is a spot-on description of the way one radio station set out to capture a market.

And it succeeded.

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