I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this story; when I decided to leave Pennsylvania and move to Wilmington, North Carolina, I’d never seen the city before. I had it on good faith that the city was beautiful, that there were a lot of reasons why I should go live there, but I’d never seen it for myself. I packed all of my things, loaded a UHaul full of all the life I could carry, and at three in the morning, I left the Keystone State with no intention of ever carrying a Pennsylvania Driver’s License again in my life.
Once the rush of the move and the adrenaline stimulated by madness had worn off, I came to the realization that I was a strange person in a strange city and I had no way of getting my bearings. Driving around the streets of Wilmington, I remembered a story that my friend Garrett had told during a meeting once: when he moved somewhere new, he turned on the radio to get an idea of what was going on in the city. That’s exactly what I did. I don’t think I ever appreciated advertisements more in my entire life — the merciful broadcasters of the Port City had crafted advertisements to tell me where I could get food, what activities were happening in town, and even better: traffic reports!
It’s a funny thing, finding a song that catches your ear in a supremely pleasant way, but that was the unintended outcome. From the first time I’d listened to the radio in Wilmington, I began amassing a collection of favorite songs to listen to. In that regard, I win!
I owe a lot to radio — a lot of my successes as an adult are the result of knowing and working with the folks at Magnum Broadcasting. Those men and women taught me how to be the consummate professional. Independent of a radio pedigree, radio does provide results. When it comes to persuading someone to purchase something, one of the psychological responses you are hoping for is “initial recall,” and radio can produce that. When the money spending portion of the populace says “I’d really like to get take out,” you want your restaurant to be the first person they think of, right? What better way to create that initial recall than by being in their ear routinely? You can do that with a healthy advertising program through your radio station. If you’re in business, I would say that it’s worth your time to pick up the phone and call your nearest broadcaster.
As a member of the community, the radio is a great way to find out about your community, and support the members of that community who are in business. It’s an easy way to stimulate your local economy.
One of the biggest reasons I love radio? Because my little battery operated radio was ready to be between the complete chaos of Hurricane Florence and me being informed about what was going on. We ended up evacuating, but that little radio was ready to keep me in the loop with what’s going on. For that reason, I loved that little radio and I make it a healthy practice to keep one near me as often as I can.
I wanted to share my thoughts on the radio this week because I really feel like we’re disconnecting from each other. We’re taking so much time to worry about what Vloggers and Social Media Influencers are doing that we lose sight of what’s happening in the world most closely around us. Call it nostalgia, but it’s true.
So, from me and my little radio: we’ll see you on your next trip across the Millerverse.
A.P. Miller 