Umeå University's logo

How can silence be studied, and what can we learn from it? This article explores the so-called ‘modernization’ of Swedish Public Service radio by pertaining to pauses, halts and the absence of content. By applying computational analysis to the broadcasting archive, radio can be explored on a larger scale than previously affordable. The article argues that it is possible to understand the rhythm between more and less dense content by studying the distribution of silence in time. The analysis focuses on how varying degrees of silence are distributed throughout the day in broadcasting by the Public Service Program 1 (P1). Sweden was one of the last western, democratic countries to undergo broadcasting de-monopolization. However, in order to stimulate a modernization process, competition was introduced within the state monopoly before the proper commercialization of radio in 1993. Though the actual effect of this process remains disputed, the last decade of the Swedish radio monopoly is considered a significant media historical period of transition. Whilst the organizational structure endured, public discourse witnessed a clash between new and old ideas concerning the very essence of radio. The period thus enables the study of radio in transition.

To grasp the potential effects of these debates and organizational changes on the very content of radio, this study takes its cue from the overlooked but essential matter of silence in the radio medium. Tracing the changes and trends in a set of sample weeks from 1980 to 1989, the results indicate both how the amount of silence diminished and its rhythm became more uniform. Whilst providing insights into the style of Swedish public service radio, the work is also intended to inspire new, creative ways of researching sound media.

This article explores the significance of scale within the field of audioanalysis. The introduction of digital signal processing methods is today enabling large-scale processing of recorded sound, which in turn provides access to vast amounts of unexplored audiovisual data. It is now possible to zoom the sounds of our past. In order to highlight both affordances and limitations of these new methods, this article studies 5000 hours of Swedish radio from the 1980s. By adopting computational tools from bioacoustics, linguistics and musicology it be-comes possible to study trends and developments in the acoustic style of broad-casting. This provides insight into the changing characteristics of public service media in the era of de-monopolization. However, to achieve these insights, the historian needs to practice the sonic scales.

This study explores the dynamic variations in Swedish radio broadcasting from 1980 to 1998, focusing on amplitude. The analysis examines volume variations across the three main public service channels to identify patterns in music and speech. P3, the youth channel, shows a marked increase in amplitude, reflecting the influence of the global “loudness war.” P2, which focuses on classical and world music, reaches a plateau during the 1990s. P1, the spoken word channel, displays a complex pattern of rising and falling amplitudes, correlating with a reduction in music content. Additionally, the article demonstrates the methodological possibilities of signal processing in radio studies.