Radio Gaga

 
René Worni on alternatives in the age of adult radio. 
Admittedly, the wonderful title (Freddy Mercury blessedly used it as the title of one of his most heartfelt songs) is not mine, but appears at the beginning of a report in the Standard. But more of that later, to stay with the Queen song: Nowadays, in the age of adult radio, you probably have the best chance of hearing the song with Mercury's biting voice on Radio 1.
As is well known, Radio 1 wants to be the station for all those adults who have become homeless in the monotony of the usual animated noodle radio and who have always missed the soundtrack of their glorious teenage years. However, since the station of the tireless media man Roger Schawinski can be dialed up for a daily sprinkling, the concept of the industrious quasi inventor, which was still brilliant before the start of broadcasting, has lost some of its shine.
Does this possibly have something to do with the sobering conclusion of the majority of my acquaintances that Radio 1 is not so different from other private radio stations? In the meantime, however, deserving journalists and media specialists have also taken the station to task and confirm this impression. Jean-Martin Büttner, for example, concludes after a risky self-experiment in Tagi: "No resistance whatsoever, no discovery, no passion, instead incessant aerodynamic complacency."
After such findings, good advice is expensive. But there is hope. From Radio La Colifata in Buenos Aires, the station of a mental hospital run by colifatos, madmen. What goes on there as part of a radio therapy concept is now thrilling the masses: Up to twelve million listeners listen to the dreams, opinions and deliriums of the clinic patients, according to Der Standard. The contributions are broadcast on private radio stations as far away as Mexico and Uruguay. Even world musician Manu Chao raves about La Colifata as an "endless source of inspiration. Clarity mixed with surrealism." With slight corrections and the claim "Radio 1 - for crazy people who have already grown up a bit", Roger Schawinski would instantly have a secure national perspective for his station and the copyright dispute with Berlin's Radio Eins would - bang - be off the table.
René Worni, Editor