Internet
may be the future, but ""radio in the old-fashioned way will
survive", said WILM Program Manager Allan Loudell.
No future for small
town FM radio?
While Kim Elliott of the Voice of America thinks shortwave radio
still has many more years to come, local radio station WILM in Wilmington
DE, forsees many changes on the radio scene with the Internet revolution.
"Delivery through Internet, without commercials, will do it
in the future", WILM Program Manager Allan Loudell told participants
at the radio listeners' annual meeting in Kulpsville, PA.
" Only those focusing in a local point of view will survive",
added Loudell, stating his own AM radio station as one example.
He predicts the decline of mainly FM radio stations as we know them
today. Only stations with a clear local focus stands a chance, he
believes, giving a new advantage edge to AM radio.
"Radio in the old-fashioned way, with focus on local issues,
will not only survive, but prosper in the future," said Loudell,
in charge of programming at family owned WILM. A station with a
future, although it is not a fancy world with lots of earnings.
"70 percent of our budget is payroll."
Which doesn't mean that it is easy to find new staff.
"Actually recruitment is our biggest problem. We cannot find
people willing to work in the radio business, as those into communication
want to work at TV stations. And those in radio are all heading
for bigger market than Wilmington offers."
Which is why Internet, according to Loudell, will do for most of
us in the future to come.
Risto Kotalampi, hcdx live from Kulpsville,
March 10, 2001
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