Downsizing radio personalities.

The radio personality one day may be as rare as a buggy maker or telegrapher. Citing research that says listeners want to hear their favorite personalities, even if they are merely voice-tracked, Clear Channel is eliminating live bodies during the mid-day shifts across the country. The real reason for the move is probably because it also eliminates those pesky salaries.

But programmers are also struggling to compete with the iPod, which just plays music without interruption. Don't be surprised when the other chains follow. Already, live shifts during the overnight and weekend hours are rare.

Do the listeners care? They probably think it's a blessing because corporate radio trained them to accept it. An entire generation has grown up without hearing compelling content or listener interaction between the songs. What they have heard is banal chatter or mindless liner card readers.

On KSD (93.7 FM), you can now hear morning driver Craig Cornett from 5:30 a.m.-noon, although the last three hours will probably be voice-tracked. Billy Greenwood will be on the air from noon-7 p.m., voice-tracking outside the heart of drive time.

KLOU (103.3 FM) went "jockless," with no personalities for the entire week after Christmas. Did anyone notice? You can now hear Julie Buck from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., but most of her show will be voice tracked. Paul Arca will be on from 4-9 p.m. Dodie Rahlmann moves back to 9 p.m.-3 a.m. The Smash Morning Show's hours have not changed.

At hit music station KSLZ (107.7 FM), Taylor J will be on 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The talented Curt Copeland extends his shift to include 2-7 p.m., and Haze now handles 7 p.m.-2 a.m. On KMJM (104.9 FM), Darrell Eason will handle 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and Tony Scott will be on from 1-7 p.m. The shifts will be voice tracked for the most part outside of 3-6 p.m. While budget cuts are probably the main reason for the switch, some research is indicating that the traditional day parts are no longer relevant, since far fewer people work the old 9 to 5.

Radio executives are also aware that listeners no longer buy into the hype. Phrases like "Number One Hit Music Station," or "The Best Variety" are just so much noise to the listener. Music stations are in trouble unless they do something unique to bond with the listeners. Today's listeners are much more sophisticated. They know that if a personality is on the air for seven hours, the show is probably voice tracked. Personalities are the only thing keeping radio from giving it all up to the iPod and the Internet. The younger demos won't know what they are missing.

Music on the radio

Corporate stations seem not to understand why people are listening less. They continue to cut personnel and add commercials while playing the same safe scientifically tested Billy Joel, Elton John and Journey records. Radio is boring. When we were growing up, the stations were also playing the same music. What they did between records is what kept us tuned in. A lack of independent stations is snuffing out compelling content.

Radio was once the leading form of discovering new music. It has been replaced by digital downloads and can't compete with the diversity of satellite or online radio. If you want variety, online or satellite is the way to go. The amount of music paid for online is up by 100 percent in one year. Radio is technologically inferior, and HD2 radio is a bust.

When television arrived, people predicted radio would die. But the industry redefined itself and not only survived, but thrived. The experts predicted AM radio would die when FM emerged. But the AM stations redefined their product to provide news and talk. The challenges from technology are even more daunting today, and radio will have to change again.

It's becoming more difficult to report on local music radio because it is quickly becoming irrelevant. Listeners are now bombarded by choices tailored to their needs and wants. A bar is a good place to gauge people's reaction to music. (The Top 40 format was born when two radio executives noticed people in a bar kept playing the same songs over and over on a jukebox) For years, a little bar on The Hill played KLOU (103.3 FM) or KHIT (96.3 FM) at top volume. So I was surprised to hear some pretty compelling programming coming out of the speakers recently. They were playing awesome '70s hits not heard in years. The bar had turned to satellite radio. The bartender summed it up when he said, "because they don't play the same old s**t."

According to Inside Radio, summer ratings of Persons Using Radio (PUR) numbers declined to their lowest level since Arbitron began keeping statistics in the fall of 1998. The article reported that radio usage is dropping among all age groups, except for Baby Boomers. The steepest declines are among teens and young adults. The most significant statistic is that all the technology out there is also cutting into the highly coveted 25-54 demographic. Among female listeners, only the 50-54 and 65+ demos did not drop. Men 45-64 are actually listening more. It won't be long until only the elderly will still use terrestrial radio.

This 45-year-old listener bought satellite radio recently. Since then, I have turned on local radio only for news and traffic. And I've been disappointed in some of those instances. During that Saturday afternoon snowstorm in December, I tuned to KMOX (1120 AM) only to hear someone droning on about elderly law. In the past, KMOX would have been airing calls from listeners and broadcasting road conditions. It wasn't happening. A flip over to KTRS (550 AM) found it continuing some home improvement show with mostly silly banter. I blame the hosts for being so self-centered. Some think their little show is too important to let important information get in the way. Could we put aside the winter planting tips just for a few minutes when a storm is coming? I had to go to the satellite traffic channel and the Weather Channel to find out what was going on in St. Louis. No wonder we are losing listeners.

Yet another sports station

Ratings of sports stations in town add up to a tiny blip. So, naturally, we need another! As of the first of the year, "The Talk Monster" KRFT (1190 AM) switched from talk to ESPN Radio. The programming includes "Mike and Mike in the Morning," "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" and "The Mike Tirico Show." Some might recall that 1190 AM had dropped sports talk for politics not too long ago. Big League Broadcasting owns KRFT and all-sports KFNS (590 AM). Meanwhile sports talker KSLG (1380 AM) drops ESPN radio for Fox Sports and the new name TEAM 1380 "St. Louis Sports Insiders." The station will remain local from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. None of these stations attracts significant ratings--their signals are horrible, particularly 1380 AM and 1190 AM.

Joe Sonderman is a traffic producer and anchor for Total Traffic, and reporter and on-air personality for KLOU (103.3 FM)