Does anyone know anything about National Radio Day?
According to some online calendars, Aug. 20 is National Radio Day in the United States (and not to be confused with World Radio Day or College Radio Day). Two years ago, NPR posted on this topic, and I find plenty of (brief) subsequent references to the anniversary on various public radio sites. A few radio stations have noted it on their Facebook pages, and I found a fun image, shown here, on the “Car Talk” site.
Yet as our own Brett Moss blogged last year, hardly anyone seems aware of this event, and I sure do not find anything about how it came about. Is there an official effort behind it? Was it just a fun idea that went (marginally) viral? Industry wide, it sure seems like a missed opportunity. Or a bad PR job.
Meanwhile the folks at equipment dealer BSW, making a shameless plug for editorial coverage, shared a National Radio Day video with us this year, complete with retro radio artwork, blatant name-dropping of certain RW editors and a pretty good impression of Don Pardo (R.I.P.)
But why Aug. 20? Well I’m guessing, but I suspect it is because that was the day in 1920 that 8MK began testing with its mighty 20 watts, purportedly becoming “the first radio station in the world to broadcast regularly scheduled programs.”
If you know the genesis of National Radio Day, let me know.
