On an eight-hour drive from Zurich, Switzerland to Wimereux, France, I recently had a lot of time to think about broadcast radio. I'd like to share my observations. Maybe the best way to start is with an example; ABBA still gets regular airtime. Not some nostalgic moment, I mean a couple times a day, every day, on several stations. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like ABBA as much as the next guy… heh, heh, heh, no, but seriously...
Like many things in life, sometimes it’s strength becomes it’s a main weakness. In this case I refer to the programming variety, which often goes beyond eclectic, past extreme and has a shindig just outside of schizophrenic. It’s hard to believe that there are professional program managers that think the idea of following a Led Zeppelin retrospective with two hours of excerpts – including interviews – from the annual “Save the Shrubs” Nose Flute festival is something their listeners would like.
I’ll find myself spinning the radio dial (that’s the “Seek” button for some of you) and find some vintage Bob Marley, so I think “cool”. Sure enough, it’s followed by more vintage and contemporary Reggae. I set the cruise control, stop swearing at the other drivers and settle into my bucket seat nibbling on my Flips.
After a time I find myself swearing at the drivers again and realize that somewhere after Strasbourg the music changed and I’ve been listing to tribal chants from Yemen. I quickly spin the dial, i.e. push seek, (this is a true story) and some hard core Rap fills the car, explicit lyrics and all, followed by *Frank Zappa’s “Bobby Brown” – this always makes me smile – and then **“Lady in Red” from Chris De Burgh.
Lucky there was not much traffic. I gained control of the car, picked the Flips off my lap and checked that I didn’t damage my knuckles too much when I punched the Seek button. It’s at this point I started thinking about Radio in Europe.
Notes:
*“Bobby Brown”, which would never be allowed airtime on most US stations, not only gets played quite often in Switzerland, it’s about the only Frank Zappa piece that does. I find this odd.
** I have the horrid feeling that “Lady in Red”, along with “Like a Virgin” (Madonna) and most of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is still on the charts in Switzerland.
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