Something To Celebrate

Sunday is another World Radio Day, which is, like National Radio Day and National DJ Day and National Beaten-Down Morning Show Intern Day, roundly ignored in the U.S., not only by the general public but by the radio industry itself. Other than a few jocks posting their call letter history on Facebook, you wouldn't know that these quasi-holidays exist. And World Radio Day isn't just one of those randomly-selected unofficial honors created by some random organization, it's an actual United Nations international declaration, always on February 13th. This year, it's also Super Bowl Sunday, so I guess you can give the general public a pass for not paying a lot of attention to World Radio Day this year, but, still, it's a day to honor an industry that can't quite get the hang of honoring itself in any manner that would connect with the general public.

And maybe that's beside the point. Radio is, in the public's mind, a utility. If it was ever a glamour business, something special on its own, it isn't that now. But podcasting isn't that much different, as much as people seem to want it to be. Radio, and podcasting, and streaming, aren't in and of themselves what people think about. It's about the content. Let's not call it content, though.

It's about the show.

Sure, there are brand names. There's Z100 and KFI and The Fan. There's Netflix and HBO Max and CBS. There's Spotify and SiriusXM and Pandora. But, ultimately, people seek out the shows, the music, the entertainment and information. Which makes World Radio Day closer to World Refrigerator Day or World Coffee Mug Day or World Toaster Oven That's Also An Air Fryer Because Air Fryers Are Really Just Little Convection Ovens Day. It's celebrating the vessel, not what's in it.

And it's about the people. You. You create the shows. You do that for radio, or maybe you do that for podcasts, or you might be making videos or writing or producing or editing. But you're making a show, not the technology that distributes it. We can celebrate the technology -- if you're an engineer, especially -- but when we talk about radio, and podcasting, and streaming, what people really care about is what they hear and see, not how.

So, let's celebrate World Engaging With The Audience Day. World Audio News Day. World Talking Too Much About The Harden-Simmons Trade Day. World Telling Relatable Stories Day. World True Crime Stories Day. World A Couple Of Comedian Friends Sitting Around Talking Into A Digital Recorder Day. World Conversational News Update Day. World Lame Morning Show Bit That You Know Is Faked But You Still Kinda Enjoy It Day.

World Show Day. Someone call UNESCO and make it happen.

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By the way, I'm busy planning some stuff for the All Access Audio Summit, to be held virtually on April 20th and 21st, and if you enjoy or tolerate this column every week, I think you'll like what I have in mind. Announcements coming soon, but in the meantime, click here, find out more, and register. Apologies in advance: I'll be bringing this up a lot for the next few months. But I'll try to keep it contained here in this little column-ending paragraph, because I'm merciful that way. Anyway, go sign up. Thanks.

Perry Michael Simon
Senior Vice President/Editor-in-Chief and News-Talk-Sports-Podcasting Editor
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
Twitter @pmsimon