Radio Survivor

TV Coverage of Michael Jackson's Radio Airplay

I’ve been combing through the web trying to get a handle on how radio has responded to the death of Michael Jackson on Thursday. There’s much anecdotal evidence to suggest that radio listenership was up, as fans sought out his music and news about his death from the radio. However, as listeners turned on their radios and TVs (and the Internet) to hear the sounds and see the images of the pop icon at his best, not all stations were able to deliver great programming from the outset. As Matthew pointed out on Thursday, many commercial stations with automated programming weren’t in a position to provide Jackson-themed music and commentary as the news broke.

However, an article in the Boston Globe today, “Live Radio Takes the Lead: Canned Programs are Set Aside as DJs and Fans Celebrate Michael Jackson,” points out that the Boston airwaves did have some success in terms of satisfying fans. According to the piece: (more…)

I am listening to San Francisco’s hip hop station KMEL stream the suddenly dead Michael Jackson’s opus, and reading press releases hailing the full Senate confirmation of Julius Genachowski – he soon to be chair of the Federal Communications Commission.

“I look forward to working with Julius,” declared interim Chair Michael Copps this evening, “and all my colleagues at the Commission in tenacious pursuit of a communications policy that truly puts the public interest first.”

There are still two more FCC nominations that await Senate approval, one for South Carolina Public Service Commissioner Mignon Clyburn (she daughter of prominent Democrat James Clyburn) and another for former National Telecommunications and Information Administration biggie Meredith Attwell Baker. With their approval, the Obama administration will have a full Commission.

Julius Genachowski at his Senate confirmation committee hearing last week.

None of these new people have any substantial experience with radio. Genachowski is a new media guy. Clyburn, like most state public utilities folk, is most familiar with wireline regulation, and may be the least prepared of the new crop for her new job. Republican Baker’s focus at the NTIA was with the DTV transition, spectrum grants, and Internet domain issues. Incumbents McDowell and Michael Copps have their opinions about radio, but neither has any real affinity for the medium. McDowell was a telecom lobbyist prior to his coming to the FCC.

And my guess is that they won’t pay much attention to radio. It’s all going to be about broadband, wireless, spectrum allocations, white space, wireless issues like openness and exclusive handset deals, and, of course, the future of network management. All crucial issues, but so is radio.

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Wow. A childhood musical hero has died. My Twitter, Facebook, and email accounts have been buzzing with the news of Michael Jackson’s death today and my Generation X agemates are understandably freaked out. As MTV said this afternoon, he was the “soundtrack for a generation.” Many of us remember spending hours of our childhood watching music videos in the 1980s and Michael Jackson’s were particularly iconic. Hearing songs of his from a particular era will always fill me with nostalgia for junior high roller skating parties.

So, I suppose, many of us will now remember when we heard of Michael Jackson’s death, where we were, and how we heard about it. I found out on email (how retro!) from a fellow college radio DJ. Our radio station’s staff email list is actually the place where I’ve gotten the first word about many music-related deaths.

From the posts I’ve seen on Facebook, it would seem that many people heard about the news via that social networking site. And, I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter has functioned the same way today (after all, it’s the new college radio!).

But what about radio? Did any of you find out about Michael Jackson’s death today on your local radio station? On your college radio station?

In the days to come, radio will be the place where fans might congregate to celebrate Michael Jackson’s life in song. If you have special programming planned, post it here. Also, I’d love to collect stories about how people heard about his death and if radio played a role in spreading the word.

I’ve got to go now and settle in for MTV’s Michael Jackson tribute tonight at 9pm EST to memorialize the King of Pop.