South Carolina ETV

Southern Lens

Losing their Voices


When small town radio first swept the nation, many towns gained their voices with a local station. It was where residents turned for news, obituaries and church services. It was where they traded their junk on the swap shop. And for most, it was the home of the local athletic teams. As the country changed, so did radio. In an era of multi-station owners, digital and satellite radio, some question whether local AM and FM stations can survive. This documentary looks at those changes, and how some stations in South Carolina have survived while others failed.

The filmmakers, Haney Howell and Mark Nortz, talk to station owners and personalities, local politicians and local talent, and touch the fever of Friday night football in a sports-mad state. The president of the National Association of Broadcasters, the NAB Sr. VP for Radio, a leading Southern technical consultant, and numerous station owners appear in the film.

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Response by: Bliss  on  07/15/2010  at  10:13 PM
Who does the song, "Fork in the Road"?
Response by: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  06/27/2010  at  01:25 PM
Material (commercials) that could be aired during children’s television shows, effectively reducing the quantity of advertising allowed during children’s viewing hours by 33 percent. Within four months, the price of a minute of advertising on network television increased by roughly 14 percent. What impact do you think this had on the revenues of the networks?
Response by: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  05/12/2010  at  02:18 PM
Is there any way I get my hands on a copy of this program?
Response by: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  10/07/2008  at  02:54 PM
Great idea. Started in broadcasting in NC and SC and still travel the backroads of Carolina doing tech support and visiting great little small towns and their ghosts of local info. Some are still there fighting the machinery of dish TV and cable TV-inserted commercials. Man do the lights come on during HS Football Fridays. Streaming has not killed the radio star just yet. But there's a fee for everything to broadcast and get it back to the station where the cobwebs and insects move over for a few months out of the year and few local merchants left to fend off the Wal Mart and regional malls hellbent at dumbing down the populace still living on the edge of urbana for those special events we still need. Anyone recall ice storms and hurricanes where local radio was IT?
J Smith
Jax Fla
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