The voters' choice that night was between Warren G. Harding and James M. Cox. Both men had derived their political power as successful newspaper publishers. It is quite ironic, then, that one of these men would reach the highest office in the land on the same night that the nascent radio broadcasting business began its takedown of the newspaper industry.
Nowhere is this takedown more apparent than locally, where radio has become, by far, the advertising medium with the largest reach among Central Savannah River Area consumers.
Last week, for instance, 412,144 adult consumers tuned to their favorite Augusta radio stations. This significantly eclipses local newspaper readership as well as local TV viewership.
Every year since 1970, AM/FM radio has reached more than 90% of all adults. During that same period, newspaper readership has plummeted.
Look at the Augusta Chronicle, for example. Since the second quarter of 2017, the circulation of the newspaper's daily edition has declined by 18%. The Sunday paper dropped by 31% during the same period.
The most important metric, though, for local, small business owners to consider is not the sheer size of an audience, but the quality of the audience. In those socio-economic categories which most advertisers covet, Augusta radio dominates over local newspaper.
By any criteria, radio advertising is superior to newspaper for helping Central Savannah River Area small business owners claim a share of the $8.6 billion local consumers will spend this year.