Radio Experiences

            Over a 40 year span I served as a radio speaker.  My first broadcast was on KMIL in Cameron, Texas in 1958, and my last one was on KASO in 1998.  Throughout most of those years I preached sermons, and I probably spoke mostly to church members who knew me and tuned into the broadcasts.   I’m sure I was heard by shut-ins, a few people driving down the highway, and some other religious people.  Most of those programs were broadcast early on Sunday morning.  Radio professionals call that “the graveyard.”

            In the eighties I got out of the graveyard.  I’m really indebted to two people for taking a different approach to radio programming.   Dale Smith had successfully used media in a different way.  One year Dale was honored as the speaker of the year by Toastmaster’s International.   I got acquainted with him in the eighties, and he shared some thoughts about how the purpose of media in communicating a message, and how to make better use of it in advancing the gospel.  Dale believes that people don’t usually decide to buy products by listening to or viewing the commercials.   People don’t usually go out and buy a Ford truck because they’ve seen Mike Rowe talk about them on television.  What Mike does is make people aware of the fact that Ford makes trucks.   His pitch is designed to encourage them have a favorable impression of the Ford Motor Company.   Dale suggested that we need to think about the spiritual use of media in the same way.

At the time he was in Sulphur Springs, Texas, and he was using frequent short messages on the radio.  He sent me a tape of some of his broadcasts.  Dale’s idea was to start with some kind of human interest story or a brief reference to some kind of human problem that’s common to mankind, and then suggest that a person turn to the Bible look for practical help in dealing with those problems.

I started developing scripts that would help me do that. I wrote 30 and 60 second spots, which I hoped would air several times a week.  About the same time, a broadcast professional became a part of our congregation, and he helped me get the project off the ground.  I’ll talk about that next.