tradio
{{Short description|Radio advertisement program}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
Tradio is a type of phone-in radio program formatted to provide a venue for listeners to freely advertise items they have to sell or trade.{{cite news | title=Weekend: Listen up! | work=The Courier | date=2008-08-03 | url=http://www.thecourier.com/Issues/2008/Aug/03/ar_news_080308_story6.asp?d=080308_story6,2008,Aug,03&c=n | accessdate=2008-09-04 }} The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midwest.
"Tradio" is a portmanteau of "trade" and "radio". The format is also often called Swap Shop; Buy, Sell, or Trade; Biz Baz; or Trading Post.
Format
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2025}}
In most tradio programs, listeners can call in to the show and advertise, for free, items they are selling, or request items to purchase from other listeners The caller then provides a phone number so that other listeners can contact the person for further information. Since the increased prevalence of e-mail and other electronic media, most stations permit the sending in of items to sell via e-mail or fax, though due to regular and/or identity theft concerns some stations will assign a code number to anonymize the transaction and keep identifying information off the air. Most stations also permit listeners to send lists of items through postal mail. Tradio programs are particularly associated with the full service format; tradio was commonly found on Independent Local Radio in the UK when it used a similar format (up to around 1990).
There are usually some limits to what can be bought and sold through tradio programs. Most stations stipulate that only individuals, and no businesses, may use the tradio service, since the financial security of these small stations usually relies on the advertising dollars from these businesses. Federal regulations prohibit the sale of firearms through these services; real estate is also usually not allowed on tradio programs. Restrictions on the sale of automobiles varies from station to station.
The name "tradio" does not apply to any one particular program or franchise; there are no national, international or syndicated tradio programs or intellectual properties.
Popularity
Typically tradio and similar programs are only heard on small, rural stations; KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the largest market with a tradio program, airing weekly on Saturday afternoons. A similarly-styled program titled Wheelin' and Dealin' with Dave Ramos also airs during the weekends on WTAM in Cleveland, Ohio (but is not in a regular timeslot). In smaller markets, tradio programs can air daily{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}.
Various Tradio programs have been the target of prank phone calling by The Howard Stern Show{{'}}s Richard Christy and Sal Governale.{{cite news|title=Trf Radio Station Victim Of Howard Stern Show Prank|url=http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/2110221-trf-radio-station-gets-prank-call-comedians-linked-howard-stern | accessdate=31 January 2018|newspaper=Grand Forks Herald|date=10 October 2009}}
List of stations with tradio programs
{{Incomplete list|date=July 2023}}
- KCTN/100.1: Garnavillo, Iowa{{Cite web |title=Tradio |url=https://www.kctn.com/tradio |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=KCTN |language=en}}
- KECO/96.5: Elk City, Oklahoma{{Cite web |title=TRADIO: Buy, sell, trade radio {{!}} KECO 96.5FM |url=https://www.kecofm.com/tradio/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=www.kecofm.com |language=en-US}}
- KEDU-LP/102.3: Ruidoso, New Mexico{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
- KDKA/1020: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
- KOFO/1220: Ottawa, Kansas{{Cite news |last=Baird |first=Sarah |date=2023-07-11 |title=Looking to Trade a Cat for a Burial Plot? Tune In to Tradio. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/style/tradio-radio-stations.html |access-date=2023-07-12 |issn=0362-4331}}
- KSRM/920: Soldotna, Alaska{{Cite web |title=Tradio |url=https://radiokenai.com/tradio/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Radio Kenai |language=en-US}}
- KTRF/1230: Thief River Falls, Minnesota
- WCJW/1140: Warsaw, New York{{Cite web |title=WCJW – CJ Country 100.9 103.7 104.3 104.9 105.5 1140am – Tradio |url=https://wcjw.com/tradio/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |language=en-US}}
- WGAA/1340: Cedartown, Georgia[https://www.wgaaradio.com/trading-post/ WGAA’s website, The Trading Post page; retrieved July 13, 2023.]
- WKNG/1060: Tallapoosa, Georgia[https://gradickcommunications.com/wkng/ WKNG's website; retrieved July 29, 2024.]
- WLVL/1370: Lockport, New York{{Cite web |last=LinkedUpRadio |first=Envisionwise Website Service / |title=Tradio - Hometown 1340 AM WLVL |url=https://wlvl.com/podcasts/tradio |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=wlvl.com |language=en}}
- WSKV-FM/104.9: Stanton, Kentucky
- WTAB/1370: Tabor City, North Carolina[https://www.wtabradio.com/about WTAB website, “Anout us”; retrieved July 12, 2023.]
- WTAM/1100: Cleveland, Ohio{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
- WYXI/1390: Athens, Tennessee
- WCHE/95.3: West Chester, Pennsylvania