CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Radio is an essential mass medium that virtually every member of the society benefits from. Kuewumi (2009, p. 147) asserts that Radio has radicalised the face of human communication and ultimately become a fixed point in the daily lives of humans whereby people are informed, taught, nurtured and reformed by way of relaxation, reinvigoration and resuscitation. This he argued, makes radio as a medium of mass communication being constantly sought after by its ardent listeners. Radio is the wireless transmission of signals through free space by electromagnetic radiation of a frequency significantly below that of visible light, in the radio frequency range, from about 30 kHz to 300GHz.
Egbuchulam (2002, p. 28) sees radio as a mobilizer and a formidable factor in the new world order in economy, technology and politics. Radio is best described as the cheapest, safest and the most effective medium of communication available to man.
Familusi and Owoeye (2014, p. 7) ranked radio as the most popular means of information disseminating, regardless of the continent. It is very appealing because of some distinguishing features of interactivity, its capacity to provoke dialogue and to solicit the participation of local population with lower production costs and extreme versatility. It is also portable in the instance that it can be easily transported from one place to another. It is credible as it transmits messages that its listeners hold important. Radio can also present news as it happens, brings the voices of news makers and artists into the homes of listeners. It also provides dramatic shows and other entertainment, which listeners can visualise even in the absence of visuals. For this reason, radio enjoys the advantage of simultaneity. It requires little effort of its consumers to comprehend its message. It is a good companion that entertains and informs its listeners.
Kuewumi (2009, p. 148) has this to say about radio: “imagine a world without radio; it will be like a garden without flowers and trees. Radio daily feeds us with information, teaches us and calms our nerves. If radio is well understood and its potentials realised, hardly will there be any one that will live without a radio. Many anxious moments will be healed.” Radio is a vehicle for projecting personality through which it attracts and holds an audience.
Myers (2008, p. 45) says that radio is still the dominant mass-medium in Africa with the widest geographical reach and the highest audiences compared with television (TV), newspapers and other information and communication technologies (ICTs). Overall, radio is enjoying a renaissance and numbers of small local stations have exploded over the last twenty years, due to democratisation and market liberalisation and also to more affordable technologies.