History of Radio Advertising

Radio Advertising

Radio advertising is one of the earliest and most popular forms of advertising in today's world of mass media. Although television has shifted much of the audience away from radio it is undisputable that radio is always there. Radio is broadcasted everywhere twenty-four hours a day and always has the breaking news. Walter Cronkite, a famous broadcast journalist, started his career in radio and concluded, "Radio has its own special strengths and contributions. While TV pulls the big audience, it's still radio that's there virtually every place, all day, all night. It's radio that's there when disaster strikes. Radio is that medium of the single sense and frees the imagination." (Schulberg, 1989. pg 15)

Nearly 98 percent of people listen to the radio primarily for news, talk, entertainment, and sports. Unlike many other mass mediums radio is much more personal and friendly which attracts large audiences. Radio audiences have concluded that they listen to the radio, much like television, because they are either bored or lonely. (Schofeld, 2005)

Although radio did take a severe hit when the television was introduced into average households they still managed to make a comeback. Radio reaches 77 percent of consumers, and 80 percent of the younger audiences daily, which is remarkably comparing with the competition. Radio is now the third largest mass advertising media trailing newspapers and of course television. (Schulberg, 1989, pg 2)

Radio advertising became increasingly difficult with the dawn of the television era which prompted the need for new ideas to reach the audience. Instead of working against television which was virtually impossible radio companies began working with them. In the early to mid 90s Fox was having trouble obtaining the younger audience that they wanted so they looked to the radio. During this time the younger audience was one of the radio's highest audience percentage thus Fox began advertising their network over the radio. In 1994 for the first time ever Fox reached third place in the 18-34 age demographic ahead of CBS. Not only did Fox benefit by having the audience but the stations benefited by getting paid for airing Fox advertisements. (Schulberg, 1989, pg 178)

Some advertisers may have doubts about radio advertising but there are actually many reasons why radio advertising is very effective. One of the largest reasons why radio advertisement is effective is because radios are everywhere for every one person there is two radios. Also the radio cannot be ignored like magazines or newspapers can, when your within distance of a radio you will hear it whether you want to or not. Radio advertising is also simplified because it is formatted for specific audiences which allow advertisers to be more flexible. Radio is also very economical, reaching nine out of ten people over the age of twelve. Radio stations are also often a better solution the advertisers with a limited budget because unlike television it is inexpensive. The final reason that radio advertising is so prominent is because it is fast. An advertiser can have a live local commercial on within hours of creating it unlike television or print media taking days. (Book, Cary, Tannenbaum, 1996. pg 49 & 50)

Over the past fifty years advertisers have caught on to the "do's and don'ts" of advertising on the radio. Successful advertisers know that rather then writing towards a crowd of people, the dialog should be written to a single person. Even though there may be thousands of people tuned in, it is very important that advertisements on the radio be more personal then anywhere else. Advertisements must also be exciting on the radio because unlike television the audience must use their imagination and visualize the product being advertised. The best way to enhance the audience's