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K-JO 105.5 FM midday DJ Cyndee Campbell glances out the window of the studio during her live broadcast Thursday afternoon. Ms. Campbell has been with the station for six years and remains positive about the future of the radio industry.

The British New Wave group Buggles’ 1979 song “Video Killed the Radio Star” made reference to the golden age of radio and how new technology posed a threat to the medium’s popularity.

In the digital age of music, where iPod is king and digital songs are downloaded, swapped and shared by millions of music fans, new technology has once again threatened to steer listeners away from the radio dial.

Radio stations are fighting hard to keep their listeners. How well they are doing depends on what market they are in. At least that’s what Eagle Radio general manager Gary Exline believes.

“It’s a tale of two cities in regard to large markets versus markets in St. Joe,” Mr. Exline said.

Mr. Exline said Eagle Radio had record profits in advertising recorded last month. But even with this success, he says reaching out to young listeners continues to be a challenge with the popularity of MP3 players.

“The teenagers of today, everybody’s got an iPod,” Mr. Exline said. “If they’re listening to that, that means that they aren’t listening to us.”

But radio is also using new technology to reach new listeners. Many stations have Web sites where people can listen to the station online, and many send out podcasts to people with iPods.

“We’re using that technology that may have made some people in radio nervous,” said DJ Dan Michaels, an on-air personality at 92.7 Q Country in St. Joseph. “We’re embracing it and using it to our advantage.”

Myron Fears is the programming director for Hot 103 Jamz in Kansas City. Other than their on-air programming, the station is constantly utilizing e-mails, text messages and its Web site and exploring any and all technological options to gain and keep an audience.

“You’ve got to get right on top of it. If you don’t, you’re going to get lost, lost and left behind,” Mr. Fears said.

Even with new technology, radio still maintains pretty strong popularity in most areas of the country. Other than the music a station plays, audiences continue to come back, due to local information and interaction.

“Radio is more personal than an iPod,” Mr. Michaels said. “An iPod can’t tell you there’s a traffic accident down the road, or you can’t call in to get a dedication on an iPod.”

It’s also a place local residents turn to during disasters. After the ice storms in December 2007, when the power was out and the roads were treacherous, Kevin Wagner, programming director for Q Country and K-JO 105.5, recalls residents phoning in to get their voices and concerns heard.

“For a little over a week, we couldn’t get all the calls on the air,” Mr. Wagner recalls. “It was the best way to social network that anybody can find.”

The communal connectivity of radio is a characteristic that Mr. Fears believes keeps people tuning in.

“You are a service of the community,” he said. “I don’t care if you’re a town of 10,000 or 10 million, if you’re not serving the community, you’re not doing your job.”

With radio stations adapting to today’s technology while keeping their focus on informing and serving their respective markets, it doesn’t appear the popularity of MP3s and iPods are going to have much of an effect on radio’s longevity. After all, as Don Hicks, president and CEO of the Missouri Broadcasters Association points out, this isn’t the first time that radio has had to persevere.

“Eight-track didn’t put radio out of business, cassettes didn’t put radio out of business, CDs didn’t put radio out of business, and iPods are just another in a long line,” Mr. Hicks said. “Radio is a strong medium and will stay a strong medium for many, many, many years to come.”

Blake Hannon can be reached at blakehannon@npgco.com.