Advantages of Radio over TV

Advantages of Radio over TV

Following the advent of television, radio has to a large extent lost its importance and its listener-ship. However, radio has its own importance. Television has not been able to dislodge it from its position as the most widespread and most popular medium of mass communication. There are many reasons for this :

1. Radio is found in all countries of the world, even in the lesser developed countries where television has not yet been introduced. In such countries, radio continues to be the most sophisticated mean of mass communication.

2. Even in countries where television has been introduced, it is not feasible for economic and technical reasons to be spread all over the country. Thus in many developing countries of the third world, television is limited to only parts of the country and there are vast areas, mostly rural, where television has not yet reached and a large number of people of these areas are deprived of television.

3. Television- is an expensive medium and everyone cannot afford it. Thus there are large numbers of people both in the urban and the rural areas who cannot afford to have television sets, and who listen to the radio for their needs. A comparative study of the prevalence of radio sets and TV sets in different countries will show
that even in rich countries such as the USA and England radio sets vastly outnumber television sets, and in poor countries like India and Pakistan, there is a tremendous difference between the two, and only a very small percentage of the population owns television sets. However, since radio sets are comparatively cheaper and more people can afford to buy them.

4. Television can be used only in places which have access to electricity. Thus a large number of people in the developing countries cannot take advantage of television because their villages are not electrified. Not only people belonging to rural areas but also underdeveloped areas and slum settlements in the cities
cannot watch television for this reason. However, these people can listen to radio because of the boon of transistor.

5. Radio is more convenient than television because it can be carried around from place to place. Because of the small size of the radio and its lack of dependence on electricity, it can be listened to anywhere in any situation; the farmer can take it to the fields, the student to school or college, the mechanic to his workshop and the office worker to his place of work. Similarly, even in the home, it can be listened to in the bedroom, kitchen, garden or even the bathroom. In most homes, it can be seen that the television set is found fixed in a convenient place like the drawing room or TV lounge but the transistor set is carried around from room to
room according to convenience.

6. Watching television requires a certain measure of concentration as it requires the use of both eye and ear. And if the eye or the ear is turned away for sometime, an important pan of the telecast may be missed. But radio requires the use of only one sense, that of sound. So one can listen to the radio while doing some other
work also at the same time, even driving.