Was Urban Radio The First Social Media?

    DURHAM, NC, June 11, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Urban radio has displayed an uncanny ability to reinvent itself as an American media enterprise and business model for over sixty years. Yet, the book Urban Radio - Unlocked! is the first real media study and critical look into the mindset and psyche of the urban radio audience and their strong relationship with radio and radio announcers. The results uncover several new research firsts, discoveries and insights that unlock the code behind urban radio's timeless appeal and tremendous ratings prowess.

The research presented in Urban Radio - Unlocked! is the culmination of five years of research that entailed historical analysis, one-on-one interviews with some 200 industry professionals and a telephone survey of over 500 urban radio listeners. The book uncovers precisely why urban radio has such renowned ratings and high levels of audience and social engagement.

The book contains the needed media and market insight to help forge a new definition of what urban radio is today and what drives it's enormous ability to connect with local communities, national markets and across global boundaries. The book Urban Radio - Unlocked! was inspired by the legend of DJ Oscar "Daddy-Oh" Alexander that innovated social media back in the 1950's with his 'Daddy-Oh On the Patio' radio in Winston Salem, North Carolina. His program was live and included all types of social/media interaction. Did urban radio pioneer social media?

Yes -- by all accounts and measures in use today, i.e. social interaction in groups/audiences via a media technology, one would have to conclude that it did. Both in the modern and post-modern broadcast eras - urban radio is perhaps the first of all social media.

This fact is made clear by The Daddy-Oh On The Patio live remote radio broadcast on WAAA at Ray's Roadside Drive-In Restaurant in Winston Salem, North Carolina during the 1950's. Urban radio listeners socialized both in and out of their cars while listening to a live remote broadcast of famed DJ Oscar 'Daddy-Oh' Alexander. White listeners would drive-by and call-in on the telephone with requests. Oscar "Daddy-Oh" Alexander, the program's host and announcer was located atop Ray's Drive Inn Restaurant in a glass booth broadcasting and would interact with fans on site and over the air.

W.G. Smith & Associates assist companies and organizations in diverse audience and market research, marketing, and management decision-making. Specializations include social media and market research, trend analysis, strategic planning, and non-traditional targeting of cross-cultural and global markets.

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