50 Interesting Facts About Radio

Last updated on March 25th, 2023

41. Radio is the leading reach platform, with about ninety-two percent of people listening to AM/FM radio over the airwaves. The TV viewership is at 87%, and smartphone use at 81%. Thus, more than 244.5 million American adults listen to the radio per month.

42. The radio audiences have become more diverse in the US, with over forty-five million Hispanic and more than 35 million black listeners every month. More than 71.2 million listeners are 18-34 years old and nearly 59.6 million adults between 35-49 years each month. A larger group that uses radio is 50 years and older.

43. When a natural disaster strikes, local radio plays a significant role in providing minute-to-minute updates in the broadcast that are easily accessible. You can access information through the car and portable radios, hand-cranked, and battery-operated radios.

44. Radio is the most reliable signal — far superior to landlines and cellular networks. It is also a reliable means of communication in times of disasters since every one access to the radio, whether rich or poor.

45. NASA has a radio station, and the only thing they play is alternative rock.

46. One of the popular radio acts in the 1930s was a ventriloquist (Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop, known as a “dummy”), something that baffled contemporary critics.

47. The actual car radios were not introduced until the 1930s, which cost $130. Philco introduced an early head unit around the same period. When adjusted for inflation, USD 130 translated to USD 1800 today.

48. Satellite radio started in 1992 when FCC (Federal Communications Commission)  assigned a spectrum for nationwide broadcasting. However, it was launched in 2001.

49. Wi-fi uses radio waves routed via a wireless internet router using waves in frequencies between 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz.

50. Robert Plant once offered ten-thousand US dollars to KBOO, which was a non-profit community radio station in Portland, Oregon, as an incentive never to play the song’ stairway to heaven.