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This past weekend, the CBS Sunday Morning program ran a sociology piece titled “Starstruck” about the relationship—or lack thereof—between fan and celebrity. The piece featured bright, successful, seemingly normal individuals interviewed about how they half-lost their minds having encounters with the likes of Stevie Nicks, Meryl Streep, and Jesse Eisenberg.
CBS spoke with Professor Vance Ricks at Northeastern, who talked about what psychologists and sociologists label these celebrity fandoms as: “Parasocial relationships”; those that are one-sided – like the fascination and devotion that fans hold for their favorites and how that intense fan-celebrity relationship speaks to the human condition.”
What struck me is that, as a radio programmer and host, I’ve met and interviewed so many celebrities now that I’m not sure I’d remember them all. As I write this, I’m about to get on Zoom to interview Rascals frontman Felix Cavaliere, who not only had 13 top 40 hits and three number ones but is also in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Earlier this morning, I interviewed Sal from the Impractical Jokers. Just another Tuesday for me. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy or find myself grateful for these opportunities, but it probably takes Sinatra returning from the great beyond to stop me for a meet and greet to stop me in my tracks.
But listeners are different. Never mind the disbelief the average person has that most of us in this business not only meet celebrities all the time, but they are impressed by us and the other radio entertainers we know. It’s pretty exciting for a person to meet another person whom they’ve heard on a speaker or seen on a screen and enjoyed.
Listeners often place their favorite hosts on a pedestal just as they do movie and music stars or athletes because they enjoy our work just the same. We ought to never forget that or be jaded by the frequency all of us meet celebs or even other radio stars.
But it goes a step further, leading me to suspect there is a much deeper, more visceral “parasocial” connection with the radio host because of first, the power of the spoken word and its ability to generate a variety of emotional responses, the intimacy of the medium, one on one and direct and the access to us the listener has.
Not only do radio personalities have the opportunity to hook a listener directly, but unlike most celebs, radio hosts, while not immediately accessible, are often reachable by request line, email, social media, and appearances in the community.
That’s a deep connection, creating a real relationship that can be slightly more than one-sided. Radio hosts can get to know their fans by name (and that can be perfectly normal), leading to long-term listenership locality and that host being a powerful local brand influencer.
Whether it’s a fan showing up at an event to meet me or a person overhearing me speak at a restaurant and coming up asking if I’m the guy they know from the radio. That parasocial connection is a powerful one, and those kinds of interactions, by the way, have more value to me and my work than the cattle call photo ops with celebs do.
Let’s none of us take them for granted.
Robby Bridges works for Press Communications where he serves as the VP of Programming for 99.7 and 107.1 The Boss. He also hosts the morning show ‘Robby and Rochelle’ alongside his wife, Rochelle. He’s been with the company/stations since September, 2021.
Prior to arriving in New Jersey, Robby spent decades working across the country in many top markets for many highly successful brands. Among them include Z100, WPLJ and Q102. He has also worked in Detroit, Boston, Providence, Portsmouth, NH, and served as an exclusive guest host for Scott Shannon on the True Oldies Channel.
To get in touch, reach Robby by email at RobbyBridges@hotmail.com.
