The People's Friend

We love the radio, it makes us happy according to some research carried out by the RAB (Radio Advertising Bureau)   The research also talked about listeners who are connected to their radio by companionship.  I will anecdotally vouch for that, having answered thousands of listener's calls over the years.

It astonished me how many callers trusted the radio station so much that they would tell you their innermost thoughts and anxieties - stuff they wouldn't normally tell a close family member let alone a complete stranger.

I got used to women happily telling me about their sex lives or that they fantasised about killing their mother-in-law (that used to crop up quite a few times) I also remember one octogenarian lady calling and explaining she still had 'womanly needs' and thought I was a nice sounding young man and she would very much like to ..... the rest is censored - but she graphically described how she would like to make love to me.  It was one of those calls that when you think afterwards - why didn't I just hang up?

So why should you trust the radio? Why are we so connected to the wireless?  I think the intimacy of the medium has a lot to do with it, also the majority of radio shows are presented by just one person and over time they become part of your extended family in a way that other media can't.