80 Years of Radio in Film

There have been many films about radio. They may focus on a real historical character, pirate radio, corruption, or it may just be fodder for a situation comedy. But there have been many, but with the decline of broadcasting I suspected that the setting of a radio station will resonate with fewer viewers over time and we would see this micro-genre evaporate.

But in raw numbers I see the exact opposite.  In 2012 we had four radio films alone. That's more than we had in the whole 1960s.  I expect that if this were adjust3ed as a percentage of all releases it would conform better to my theory. I excluded all films which aren't focused on radio, or the setting of a radio station or a DJ character. Sleepless in Seattle does not count. Below is a list of feature films about radio and their year of release. I've excluded short films and foreign (non-english) films...mostly because they're hard to confirm.

• Roswell FM (2015)
• Dear White People (2014)
• Shoplifters of the World (2013)
• Corporate FM (2012) - Documentary
• Radio Unnameable (2012) -Documentary
• Radio Rebel (2012)
• Campus Radio (2011)
• A.M. Mayhem (2011) -Documentary
• FM 1992 (2011) -Documentary
• Midnight FM (2010)
• Pirate Radio (2009)
• Naked Radio (2009)
• Dead Air (2009)
• Radio: Love on Air (2009)
• College Radio Sucks (2008)
• Radio Daze: Cleveland's FM Air Wars (2008) - Documentary
• Talk to Me (2007)
• A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
• Radio Free St. Louis (2003)  -Documentary
• Radio (2001)
• Representative Radio (2001)
• Mai FM: Behind the Airwaves (2000)
• Radio Free Steve (2000)
• Private Parts (1997)
• The Radio One Story (1997 Documentary)
• Signing Off (1997)
• Mother Night (1996)
• Power 98 (1996)
• Airheads (1994)
• Radioland Murders (1994)
• Bad Channels (1992)
• Straight Talk (1992)
• Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991) - Documentary
• Pump Up The Volume (1990)
• Zoo Radio (1990)
• Tune in Tomorrow (1990)
• Talk Radio (1988)
• Radio Days (1987)
• Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
• Born in Flames (1983)
• On the Air Live with Captain Midnight (1979)
• FM (1978)
• The Good Old Days of Radio (1976) -Documentary
• The Disappearance of Aimee (1976)
• A Cry for Help (1975)
• American Graffiti (1973)
• Play Misty for Me (1971)
• The Big Broadcast (1962)
• The Gleiwitz Case (1961)
• A Face in the Crowd (1957)
• Disc Jockey (1951)
• Behind Your Radio Dial (1948) -Documentary
• Tokyo Rose (1946)
• Who Done It? (1942)
• Radio Surprises (1940)
• The Big Broadcast (1935)
• Radio Pirates (1935)
• The Big Broadcast (1932)