How I Invented Podcasting
Did you know that 80 million Americans listen to at least one podcast a week?
A podcast is described as an audio program made available to each listener, on-demand.
So, who invented podcasting?
I did.
It was long before the Internet, smart phones or even, personal computers.
By age 13, my vision of “being on the radio” was crystal clear. I dreamed about it while listening to my favorite station on the transistor radio under my pillow: KTSA.
I could not wait to grow up to take to the airwaves.
And so, with my portable recorder and record player, I created 5 minute shows, playing music and talking, just like they did on the radio.
Then, I would play these short programs for my friends, on the phone, one-at-a-time, on-demand (mine).
Now, we didn’t exactly have a phone. You see, our phone was inside my dad’s small two-seat barbershop, located in a strip center (Dignowity’s) on San Antonio’s East Side.
Half was the barbershop and the other half was where my mom, dad, younger brother and I lived. We moved there, so my parents could afford to send their sons to Catholic school and college. It was a sacrifice, for which we are forever grateful.
At night, my dad would give me 3 dimes and I would stumble, in the dark, around the barber chairs, making my way to the shoe shine stand, which was next to the payphone on the wall. I’d sit on the chair and carefully dial each friend, hold the phone to the recorder on my lap and play my little productions.
You see, by definition, I was podcasting!
In all seriousness, there was something remarkable happening in my attempt to make my young vision a reality.
Looking back, I am now convinced that my actions had sparked a series of magical events that would take me to places, I’d only dreamed of.
You see, after graduating from Central Catholic High School, receiving the finest foundation a young man can have, I entered San Antonio College, the school that I credit as my launching pad into the world of entertainment. (SAC was recently named The Best Community College in the nation!)
Next, my broadcast education continued at the University of Texas El Paso, where I landed my first on-air job at the number one music station in town. I was making a whopping $1.25 an hour. I honestly, thought I’d died and gone to heaven. How could anyone get paid, while having this much fun?
It wasn’t long before a competing station hired me, where I would eventually become the Program Director and begin to receive national recognition.
Then, one day, I received a call from one of top stations in San Antonio, offering me the position of PD and afternoon-drive personality.
It was the station under my pillow. KTSA.
Henry David Thoreau said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.”
Stay tuned!
~Sonny.