Radio

In the 1930s and 1940s, when radio still was regarded as a new medium, special children’s programs were broadcast in order to attract young listeners. As such programs became popular, production increased. Children and teenagers took pleasure in listening to programs specifically aimed at children as well as other programs. By this time, American children aged nine to twelve listened to radio approximately two to three hours a day, especially during the evening. Girls preferred romantic and historical dramatizations and boys listened more to popular and novelty programs, but one study came to the conclusion that the differences mattered less than the similarities. With some variations, comedy and mystery radio plays were preferred above others by both boys and girls of all ages. Thus children enjoyed a variety of programs, including those produced for adults.

As with other electronic media, radio was met with worries from the adult world. In Sweden, as in other countries, it was a common anxiety that too much listening could make children passive and less eager to play. In the 1940s, Swedish teachers expressed worries about being regarded as mere “loudspeakers” by children accustomed to passively listening to radio. However, compared with reactions to other electronic media, radio seems to have incited relatively few “moral panic” attacks. Partly this can be explained by radio’s supposed usefulness in education (discussed below).

In the 1950s, when TELEVISION was introduced, researchers in Britain came to the conclusion that television reduced radio listening more than it reduced any other activity. In spite of this, one in three children said that if they had to do without radio they would miss it quite a lot. The study also noticed that children who had been watching television for several years listened a little more often to the radio. This was described as a revival in line with reports of adults’ media behavior. While radio plays could not compete with television plays, other types of programs held listeners’ interest, including panel games, discussions, music, and sports commentaries.

Other studies have arrived at the similar conclusion that, with increasing age, children spent more time with radio than with television. TEENAGERS in particular have been found to be regular radio listeners. Researchers have attributed this to the socialization effects of radio, although explanations of what those effects are have varied over time. In the 1970s socialization to political virtues was considered to be an important factor, while in the 1980s, radio was seen as a source for identity formation in a peer group. This change can be related to the shift of content in programs addressed to teenagers. In the 1980s and 1990s teenagers listened more to music than to anything else on radio.