2024 marked my 10th year of writing this blog, and while I reduced the number of articles I would write this year to focus more on faith, family and friends, here are the Top 5 Most Read articles from the past year.
To date, 508 articles have been published over the decade since the blog began, with over 314,215 views from folks around the world; maybe you missed them or perhaps you’d like to read them again.
Most Read Article of 2024
In 2016, Winchester, Virginia’s WINC AM/FM celebrated its 75th anniversary; eight years later this historic radio station and its 37-year morning man, Barry Lee, would be “Gone in a WINK.”
As the radio industry continues to eliminate radio personalities that have become a part of the fabric of the communities they broadcast to, this story about the end of one local radio station resonated with readers.
Second Most Read Article of 20214
How important is it to have AM radio in cars, if the majority of the people on the roads don’t listen to any AM radio stations, with the subject of “Use It or Lose It.”
While I became attracted to a career in broadcasting due to AM radio and even had the opportunity to be an air personality on “The Air Castle of the South, 650AM-WSM” the reality in the 21st Century is that AM radio is the past and digital is the future.
Third Most Read Article of 2024
In the 1970s, listening to FM radio stations was pretty much equal to that of AM radio stations. However, FM radio gradually surpassed AM in popularity throughout the late 1970s, with the shift largely attributed to the introduction of FM stereo broadcasting and the FCC’s “non-duplication rule” that encouraged FM stations to offer unique programming compared to their AM counterparts.
The article “Are We Helping or Hurting by Giving AM Radio a Piggyback Ride on the Power of FM Radio” did a deep-dive into the subject of why AM radio stations can’t compete for ears with FM radio stations.
Fourth Most Read Article of 2024
Radio station operators – commercial, public and religious – don’t play by the same rules. Readers were surprised to learn that the largest radio broadcaster deals with fewer regulations in “What If Every Radio Station in America Could Operate Like EMF?”
Fifth Most Read Article of 2024
It became quite clear as I reviewed the list of articles written in 2024 and what most readers both read and shared (over 13,000 times), that AM radio stories dominated the list.
While the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) tried to get Congress to pass the “AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act” – and failed to do so – the number of AM radio stations in America (and indeed around the world) continued to sign-off. That was the subject of “AM Radio in Retreat.”
Why I Blog
I blog for broadcasters, educators and students, to provide media mentorship and to pay-it-forward to the broadcasting industry that I have been a part of for over 56-years. I’m grateful for the more than 233,000-people from all over the world who have visited this blog (https://DickTaylorBlog.com) and have read articles that have caught their interest.
Also, every article I’ve written is archived on my blog site and easily accessible.
As I begin my 11th year of blogging, I plan to continue writing new articles when I feel I can add a different perspective to how our media world is changing and evolving; but just not on a weekly schedule.
If you’re a subscriber to my blog – IT’S FREE – you will automatically receive new articles as they are published.
DickTaylorBlog 
Thanks for another great year, Dick. You have great incite and the ability to communicate with your readers. Keep up the good work!
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Thank You. I appreciate the positive feedback.
-DT
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Happy New Year Dick, and Thanks for offering your time and thoughts. Always look forward to your Sunday morning thoughts.
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Thank You Dean.
Wishing you good health in 2025.
-DT
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Dick, I don’t think we can thank you enough for what you do. I’m an old AM radio guy who grew up within 2 miles of 12 flashing radio towers (4 stations -and I worked for 3 of ’em in my first 9 years in the biz). The entire audio business was put into disarray with the advent of the “smart phone” and its numerous digital counterparts. One might say the future is digital, but the transformation is very slow, and between digital and broadcast (AM/FM) the pie is sliced in many more ways than anyone could have imagined even 20 years ago. We need people like you (and there are only a few) to not only let us know where we’re going, but to continue to see where we’ve been. Happy 2025. Keep your keyboard clickin’
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Thank You Dave.
I grew up in a smaller city, where we had only two AM radio stations. One of them was line-of-sight from my bedroom window and I built a crystal radio that using a pair of headphones could receive its broadcasts.
However, radio stations from the Albany-Schnectady-Troy metro would bring their remote vehicles to my city and broadcast LIVE from our shopping center.
I still vividly remember watching a DJ from WTRY – 980AM broadcasting from behind a large picture window in that station’s remote vehicle (a trailer actually) playing the records and taking requests from the crowd surrounding him.
Those were the days that ignited the radio fire in me and led to a wonderful career.
BTW – tomorrow marks the day that Norway announced that it would become the first country in the world to gradually stop using analog FM and switch to all digital audio broadcasting (DAB) in 2017, to serve its country’s 5 million people.
Happy New Year Dave!
-DT
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Yup. Many of us followed the same path. Maybe it followed us. Hearing our radio heroes, meeting them and then working alongside them is one of those things that makes it such a fun life. In one way or another you’re keeping the fun alive and it’s much appreciated.
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Dick: Thanks for all you do to inform, focus and make us think. The changes we have seen were unpredictable and the ongoing demise in our industry both unthinkable and often unacceptable. Thanks for stepping up at a badly needed time. Best wishes for a happy & healthy 2025 to you and your readers.
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