Ten years and 16 days ago we opened the doors on this website. On June 11, 2009 Matthew Lasar inaugurated Radio Survivor with this post: “Congress grills FCC, NAB on Low Power FM.” This was still about 18 months before the Local Community Radio Act was signed into law, opening up the most recent wave of LPFM stations and triggering the largest expansion of community radio in history. But the push for the LCRA really gained traction then, in 2009.
The eventual explosion of low-power FM stations in the US is one of the things Radio Survivor was founded to cover. And cover, we did, in weekly reports beginning December 5, 2013, when all the license applications had been submitted and we and other LPFM advocates began examining the groups who applied. We wrapped up weekly coverage, nearly 28 months later, on July 28, 2016. By that time the vast majority of licenses had been assigned, and there was less weekly action. Looking back at these dispatches, I think you’ll have a hard time finding a more thorough documentation of the flowering of any radio, or communications service.
What’s (a) Radio Survivor Anyway?
Reviewing this first year of publishing, I’m struck by the fact that we didn’t publish a prototypical “hello world” post or other raison d’être. Rather, we just got down to business, writing the stories about radio we wanted to exist and wanted to read.
We did publish an “about” page in which we declared, “[f]or us … radio is a cause. We’re Matthew Lasar, Paul Riismandel, and Jennifer Waits, and this is our news blog about radio’s present, past, and uncertain future.” Then, articulated a mission stating, in part,
As both fans and producers, we write about the problems and prospects of radio.
We embrace college radio stations in crisis. We defend radio pirates. And we care about the on-going survival of our favorite radio stations.
We are obsessed with the future of radio and are charmed by radio historians, radio dramatists, radio bloggers, and anyone else who cares about radio as deeply as we do.
At the close of 2009 we – at the time still just three Radio Survivors – joined forces to write about the 14 most important radio trends of the oughties decade illustrating that vision in practice. Why an un-round number like 14? “Well, ten was too few, and, uh, we ran out of steam at fourteen,” I wrote. Fair enough.
We nominated trends like “Pacifica radio democratizes itself,” “cash strapped schools turn their backs on college radio” and even podcasting – then only five years old – which only came in at number four.
Only in 2010 when a reader asked us to explain exactly “what is a Radio Survivor?” did we attempt more specific definitions. Matthew started with a little foundational history. “I first approached Paul Riismandel last Spring (2009) about creating what eventually became radiosurvivor.com because I was, and still am, concerned that discussion on the ‘Net about the state of radio has become marginal and fragmented… It has become fragmented because most of the big sites that report news about radio do so from the vantage point of a particular corner of the radio industry—streaming, terrestrial, podcasting—and almost always from the perspective of management.”
He went on to explain, “I wanted something more than that. Radiosurvivor.com’s mission, as I see it, is to stimulate dialogue about radio from a listener perspective. It is the listener, who does not have a monetary or employment investment in some corner of the status quo, who is in the best position to discuss the future of radio.”
Jennifer started off noting, “when I was invited to join Radio Survivor, the blog had already been named. So, my interpretation about the meaning has more to do with my personal feelings about radio and connections with radio than with the official origin of the name[.]”
“I am also a radio survivor,” she admitted. “Having been a college radio DJ off and on since 1986, it’s hard to believe that I’m still passionate about doing radio (through all of its ups and downs) 24 years after my first stint behind the mic…
“So, I’m devoted to the survival of radio, think radio is a survivor, and have made it my mission to evangelize radio as much as I can in order to remind people that it still has the power to be an incredible force.”
I opined, “ A Radio Survivor (the person) is someone who continues to believe in the medium. A Radio Survivor is not a luddite clinging to her transistor radio while eschewing iPhones and netbooks, nor is he a retro fetishist stuck in the past. Rather, a Radio Survivor recognizes the simple power inherent in broadcast audio, which can be done inexpensively and bring people together in a community.” (Remember netbooks?)
Moreover, “[r]adio, as a medium, has a great chance to survive because of the internet, iPods and mobile phones, not in spite of them.” I think the tremendous growth in podcasting and streaming audio services in the intervening years evidences this prediction well.
Radio Surviving in Praxis, on the Radio
Eric Klein joined our gang in 2015, helping to launch the podcast – and now syndicated radio show – on the occasion of our sixth anniversary, in June 2015. He’d actually contributed a piece a few years earlier, but it would be another eighteen months before he and I would meet and start cooking up plans.
Next we’re set to release episode 200 of the show, which I’m willing to claim as an accomplishment. That’s because, by at least one count, 75% of all podcasts ever launched are no longer in production, and only half of the podcasts started from 2016 to 2018 were still going by August of the latter year.
An Occasional Struggle To Survive
Speaking only for myself, I must admit to ups and downs with this effort. Scanning back through my output there are definitely periods of greater and lesser activity. Having been a mostly-consistent blogger for nineteen years, beginning with my original blog mediageek, sometimes you grow weary of the grind, run out of ideas or tire of writing for free. (Yes, we do accept financial contributions from generous readers and listeners, but this money primarily defrays costs associated with hosting, distribution and equipment for the site and podcast, rather than paying us as writers.)
When we first started out, I think we really hoped Radio Survivor would generate more income. We ran banner ads at the start, and on some banner days when we hit the zeitgeist just right – like with Jennifer’s annual “Alice’s Restaurant” posts – we would see bursts of hits and brief bumps in earnings. However, the unavoidable reality is that our’s is a niche topic, unlikely to go viral. On top of that, the rates for digital advertising dropped precipitously since 2009, with each page view and click becoming ever less valuable every year. Half a decade in ads still covered our barest of costs, but the ads themselves sometimes were pretty shitty.
That’s why we launched our Patreon campaign in 2015, with our first goal to replace the income from banner ads. I am happy to say that we hit that milestone quickly and have been able to stay above that mark ever since.
We’re not rock stars, nor YouTube stars, on Patreon, but it’s reassuring that there’s a community of supporters willing to help make sure we don’t have to go out-of-pocket, or into debt, to keep this operation online.
Why We’re Still Surviving
Out of necessity, my expectations and investment have changed and evolved over the years. But one of the constants for me has been my fellow Radio Survivors, Eric, Jennifer and Matthew. They’re reason number one why I may have taken a break, but never bailed.
The fact that we have worked together, functioning pretty much as a collective, all these years, with nary a dispute or dust-up, is wondrous. I am grateful for their tolerance, understanding and forbearance, which I have attempted to return in kind. More importantly, I’m thankful for their friendship and kinship in all things radio. It’s rare to find this kind of collaboration with any kind of endeavor.
The other constant is the community that’s grown up around Radio Survivor: listeners, readers and all manner of supporters. We have found comrades around the globe, and we’ve visited many of them. I feel enormously lucky for the opportunity to speak with people on two dozen FM stations across North America, and across the Atlantic in Ireland.
As I tweeted the other day, receiving thoughtful, heartfelt emails and missives from this community really makes it all worthwhile. Every one is “worth many thousands many hits or downloads,” I wrote.
This is a gospel we often preach on the radio show, but I’ll admit it’s sometimes difficult to walk that talk. Today’s online world seems driven by racking up hits, and looking at our stats is sometimes an unwelcome indicator of how small this endeavor is. That’s when I remind myself that the connections are more important than the clicks, that before web counters, Facebook likes and YouTube play stats, when I was a late night community radio DJ, I’d have been thrilled to get a few calls a night, having no clue if I had 25 or 25,000 listeners.
The focus on connection and community, not mass and scale, is the spirit of Radio Survivor, to me.
Still Radio Surviving
If you had asked me in June 2009 if I’d still be writing for Radio Survivor ten years on, I’m not sure what my answer would have been. The truth is that Matthew had asked me to collaborate on a site at least one time before. Yet, despite my deep admiration for his work, I demurred, citing a plate already overfilled with obligations. But when he asked a second time, it was clear to me that two of us would be more effective than one.
When I agreed to join forces, he also suggested that we should at least find a third. I had only recently made Jennifer’s acquaintance after she toured the college radio station I advised. I didn’t actually meet her on the visit, but the students told me about it. So I looked up her website, got in touch and later interviewed her on my radio show.
I just knew Jennifer was a kindred soul, and I’m still thrilled to this day that she was willing to join in the effort we call Radio Survivor. The consistency and constancy of her work and passion has formed its strongest foundation. Then, Eric joining in 2015 only made the whole structure even more sound.
Again, pondering what I would have predicted ten years ago, I have to conclude that it’s irrelevant. We’re still here today, writing and recording words about radio, in all its permutations.
I am still a terrible fortune teller, so I won’t predict if Radio Survivor will celebrate a 20th anniversary. I wish and intend to remain friends with Eric, Jennifer and Matthew, and I’d hate to lose the root of our collaboration and relationship. I also desire to remain in love with radio and the people who also love radio.
I hope you’ll stay tuned to see what happens next week, next year, and next decade.
