Abstract
Radio is an under-researched medium, yet it is present in an increasing range of forms and roles in our everyday lives. For the last two decades, Australians over 18 years have listened to an average of 20 hours of radio a week. Owning multiple receivers is very much the norm and it is not unusual to hear of households with five or more radios. We wake to radio, listen to radio in our showers, go to work with radio in our cars, listen to radio while we are on telephone-hold during the day, and take radios to the beach or to sporting events to follow the commentary. Radio at home can be aural wallpaper, a source of information and entertainment and a companion, as the talkback shows demonstrate. Most of all, radio is local — or at least, it has been.
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