I'm old enough to remember listening to the radio regularly in my living room, not just during a ride in the car.

As a youngster, I recall listening to the Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston fights with my grandfather in our Weissport home.On Saturday nights, I didn't watch TV. I was glued to the radio listening to WWVA (Wheeling, West Virginia) and its Saturday Night Jamboree. The Jamboree was live from Wheeling each week and featured such stars as Porter Wagoner, Ernest Tubb, Ray Price, Kitty Wells and other stars most young people today have never heard of. They sang their hits on a stage in Wheeling. Often people attending had short interviews; I remember once there was even someone from Slatington who got to say "hello" on the air.It was always a dream to visit the Jamboree. Alas, the Jamboree no longer exists.As the years passed, I grew attached to WIOV in Ephrata as a country station and the former WYNS in Lehighton as a great location for the oldies.Today, I don't even play the radio in my car. I doubt if many people have a radio station turned on in their homes, although live broadcasting of local football games and other events is ideal for people who have children or grandchildren involved and can't attend. Local TV, though, also carries more live events, giving radio compelling competition.I've heard often in the past few years of newspapers referred to as "dinosaurs," meaning their extinction is eminent. I don't believe it. I think there always will be a niche for printed news.On the other hand, I wonder if regional radio stations will be able to survive.How many people today tune to a radio station at the top of the hour for top news stories? When's the last time you called your local radio station to request a song?In cars, satellite radio has done to local stations what the internet has done to many newspapers. It has inflicted a seemingly mortal wound.Satellite radio offers genres of music often not accessible on the regular car tuner.Let me clarify that I'm not endorsing satellite radio. In fact, I refuse to subscribe to it. At home, I often listen to the music stations at the 800 level of my dial that Blue Ridge Cable provides. It's here that I can still hear the songs from my old WWVA performers.Radio was a predecessor to TV in that it provided music, news, original programs and public service announcements without the visuals.It was the radio where people first learned of the Pearl Harbor attack and the explosion of the Hindenburg. The visuals and details were provided by newspapers.TV isn't a replacement for newspapers, but the internet has become more than a viable threat. With radio, both the TV and internet have inflicted indelible harm.Can radio stations survive? Only time will tell.The last time I tuned in to a radio station was when I had a 15-minute commute to work. I put on a country station and sometimes I would drive the entire distance without hearing a song. The disc jockeys would have banter about a program they watched on TV the previous night or some other silly topic.I'm hoping to be proven wrong about local radio. Radio stations provide employment, offer useful services, help the local economy and are entertaining.Only time will tell.