Radio dominated the first half of the 20th century but the advent of affordable TV sets in the 1950s seemed to spell doom for the format. Yet, radio endured. Radio was able to create a distinct image for itself, separate from TV. I have own theories as to why (cars, transistor radios and the music industry) but nothing conclusive.
Because Alistor is a crafty fucker.
More genuinely… they’re not entirely overlapping experiences. Just listening without needing to stare frees room for more consideration or imagination.
There are things that are better on a TV, like a Marvel movie, and things that are better on a radio, like a Douglas Adams story.
I listen to the radio a lot. The BBC has some excellent radio on offer. My favourite is Radio 6 Music, a DAB-only station that just plays music all day. Various DJs, a bit of chat, but mostly music. No ads. Like others have said, it doesn’t demand attention, you can listen or not.
It’s kind of a bonkers question because they are different technologies with different use cases only related in that they were both used for entertainment. It’s almost like “how did trains survive the invention of airplanes?” (or boats and planes).
The amount of attention. You never sit down and say ‘I’m going to listen to some radio’. Radio gets half your attention at best. When it’s a movie or a streaming service or a TV then there’s a battle on. When it’s a background thing that requires little effort and (if you choose your station), it’ll be broadly acceptable, why would you move away? Whether it be in your workplace, car or home, easily delivered engaging content wins. Unlike TV and physical press, Radio is not a ‘burning platform’, it has a few years left. Citation. I Ieft radio recently after 35 years in it. I wouldn’t advise joining it as a career choice, but as mentioned, I think it’ll be around for a while yet. (To the guys who say ‘Cars’. All new cars are online now)
To the guys who say ‘Cars’. All new cars are online now
To be fair, I bet there’s a large market of people too cheap for a Spotify subscription but also too lazy to load music on their phone, who just want some sort of distraction while driving. After all, cars have had alternate ways to play music for decades now (8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, MP3 players via Aux).
Cars. The answer is cars.
And factory / construction work
Why are podcasts (read talk radio) still crazy popular? Cause sometimes you just want to listen without having to pay attention visually
You can listen passively during work (household, cooking, construction work) or while driving. You often need your eyes. Also radio often plays music which doesn’t consume a lot of active thoughts. It depends a bit on the station though, some talk a lot and play less music.
Price. You can buy an AM/FM radio on an integrated circuit for probably under a dollar ready to integrate. I’ve seen radios given away as swag including wired earbuds.
Ubiquitous access to portable devices that show video is close, but the devices are expensive, data is expensive, and watching video while driving is illegal.
Hell, the entire reason I skirt YouTube official is so I can turn off my damn screen.
watching video while driving is illegal
…
And besides, that is also extremely dangerous for yourself and everyone around you.
It’s basically all of those things, but also that a newer technology doesn’t necessarily mean the older technology has no use. People still use bicycles even though cars and motorcycles exist. People still read books even though audiobooks and TV shows exist. The number of people doing those things may have gone down, but they have a specific use case and need that the “better” technology doesn’t satisfy.
On the other side, there are technologies that get entirely replaced by the successor. because it’s just flatly better even in the same scenarios. 8-Tracks being made completely irrelevant by Cassettes, for example.
People still read books even though audiobooks and TV shows exist
Indeed. Why would I replace my reading time with inferior substitutes?
Don’t get me wrong, audiobooks are great for listening while you drive, but personally? I still prefer reading printed words off the page.
(TV shows are fine, too, but they’re a different category of entertainment than reading books)
8 tracks are better than cassettes, they’re a loop so there’s no rewinding and they have higher audio fidelity. It was cost that killed the 8 track.
Cars. For the majority of the 20th century, radio was pretty much the only way to listen to music in a car. That alone was likely enough to keep it economically viable.
IIRC Motorola started out making car radios and the name is motor(car) and the at the time popular -ola suffix for forming product names.
I don’t understand how the two technologies even compete. This post makes no sense to me.
You can’t drive safely while watching a TV.
I feel like once self-driving vehicles are the only kinds that exist and they have TVs in them, radio will crash big time.
If you ask some police forces, driving with the radio on is also dangerous as it can also affect concentration.
Not as much as a screen, sure, but nonetheless.
Source: Know at least one driver who was given a warning using the above argument by a bored police officer looking for drunks. They were barking up the wrong tree, but the argument does have some merit.
No portable TVs, you can listen with your eyes closed, music.
Radio was portable pretty early on. Also, the first TV stations didn’t play music. TV was for stories, Radio for music.
Radio and TV are like apples and oranges. Sure, they’re both fruit, but they’re different enough to occupy different niches in our diets
