Knock! Knock! Knock!

I should’ve learned something in 1991…when important news happens—expect no reaction until its been chewed twenty times on both sides then swallowed.



My normal time of arrival was 2:45 to host a radio morning show that began at 5:30…it didn’t matter how cold the wind blew, before any steamy cup of coffee was poured into a often washed but deeply stained cup the tiny television positioned perfectly on a desk rumored to have once been used by legendary jock Jay Thomas had to be cranked up to see what might have happened during the moments of home departure to radio station arrival.



The daily goal was to participate with an audience nearing a million plus. It wasn’t a choice but a requirement to be completely in tune with more than just the time and temperature. Andrew Ashwood wanted me to be my listener’s second skin. We had to be in sync and being behind allowed others to make a bigger better wave.



On this particular morning being ahead of the game proved to be encouraging but not engaging. Word broke quickly; the Soviet Union was no more. Wasting no time, I slammed open the telephone lines—I wanted a reaction and got nothing. I remember looking at my producer Chris Beck and sharply questioning his skills, “Are the phones on? The Soviet Union is no more and you’re telling me American’s don’t have anything to say about it!”



These were the days before the internet was beamed into every on-air studio—we show prepped using USA Today and Good Morning America…so instant access to worldly events was almost null and void—although most stations came equipped with teletypes in the news room locked onto Washington, Paris and Moscow…due to the state of the economy and unfavorable financial conditions management elected to toss that system out.



Getting news wasn’t cheap in 1991. In times of struggle, the decision to dump the only connection you to have the present can easily be compared to a modern family deciding if we’re having slider burgers or Mom is frying six eggs to be divided between nine kids.



Getting no reaction from radio listeners has haunted my past nineteen years of radio. In every lecture I’ve shared on the campuses of many university and schools of broadcasting, the decision to toss out the stations morning show music format to seize control of what I assumed was breaking news made me realize how far I truly was in not being a listener’s second skin. I had come face to face with being out of tune.



This was before the Rush invasion of AM radio—political talk was just coming out and the only thing morning radio shows presented were thirty second stages for listeners to tell a joke or for us to make fun of you like Simon Cowell does on American Idol.



Last nights Super Bowl put me right back in those shoes of 1991.



Because I had received a major reaction from blogging live on Face Book for the Grammy’s…my oversized Broadcaster’s ego assumed being there to talk about those infamous commercials before morning radio shows got a hold of you the following day would serve as great Sunday night entertainment.



Busted! Only a few caught on. To whom I lost in the third quarter when The Saints turned the game into a one point play. Reaction was limited and usually came between the downs and if communication was connected it had nothing to do with the origin of why I elected to stay on Face Book for four unheard of hours. My page was filled with horrified Colt’s fans and overly excited newly discovered Saints saviors. Fans of the sport were hooked to their flat screens like a magnet making out with metal.



Real radio people never sleep...in an age of constant change and no limits on how the word is being delivered, the mind raced to locate the whereabouts of the X and Y Generation, lightly salted with Baby Boomers that magazines and newspapers claim are completely addicted to their I-Phones, Blackberry’s and laptops. My attempt to broadcast without the aid of antennas and formats still has me light years from realities bite.



I failed to let you digest. Which is a nightmarish comment to make—look how often the five and six o’clock news casts blast their way into your life with earth shattering stories. If they were forced to peacefully wait while the rest of the world catches up…we’d only be talking to those who just discovered The Cupid Shuffle. Been out two years…many are doing it for the first time.



What is the current pace and pattern of the modern day traveler? Companies are spending millions of dollars trying to locate who and where you are. As much as we want to believe the internet is everywhere and everything to the masses…it’s proving to still be a toy. Which in the long run is incredible—not being on Face Book meant you were spending real time with real friends and face to face conversation is so much more important than tap, tap, tap then hit send.



This morning the email system was caked with over 350 separate reactions and a note that said, “You can’t have any more until you dump.” Basically meaning, I jumped from a pool of water still dressed in tadpole clothes.



I know you’re there…figuring out a way to get to you is the Broadcaster in me. See you at the Oscars!



arroecollins@clearchannel.com