Real Talent Is Appreciated...And Scarce

By Frank Absher

Having recently attended my second live broadcast of a Prairie Home Companion, I've come to appreciate it as being much more than just another show on the public radio station.

Sitting through the two-hour broadcast, I clearly saw that this was how radio used to be. The program was full of variety, with music, comedy, "drama" and an announcer who connected personally with each listener. Live performers did the work, including a sound effects man. There was no editing. A director/producer kept things on schedule. There were no "second takes." Things had to be right the first time.

I sat and watched, realizing that things used to be this way with virtually all radio programs in the '30s and '40s. It was gratifying to see real professionals work and hear the finished product.

There's no real need to do things this way anymore. Technology has given us the ability to provide musical "entertainment" via radio, complete with a human voice occasionally interjecting information, without the need for a human being to be at the station. And guess what! People listen! Thus, there's no need to spend money to do things any other way.

And stations can maximize profit even more by doing away with local origination and plugging in to someone else's product. Again, people listen.

Agreed, there are those stations that allow a few local voices on the air, but most "older" listeners agree it would be a stretch to call many of these people "talent."

"Talent," to me, is more than what's available now. It requires intelligence, a personality, creativity and glibness, not to mention a certain degree of tact. I challenge you to find more than three or four people on the radio in St. Louis who possess all of this. But people listen.

This is the point to which radio has progressed. I don't care for it, but it appears a lot of people accept it. My age puts me outside of radio's important demographic targets, so my opinions don't matter, and that's okay. That's progress. People still listen. I don't.

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