Not even Covid killed the radio star: the role and impact of Portuguese Renascença Morning show during the pandemics: rethink impact

Radio has always faced many competitors during its history. More recently, and despite the increasing competition from other media outlets, the medium was able to reinvent itself and adapt to the digital challenge. With the pandemic crisis, radio had again to rethink its strategies, and to resort new digital technologies and devices to continue its broadcasting from home and maintain its important role as a source of news and entertainment. On the one hand, then, from a technological point of view, during a period of social distance, and with very short notice, the medium had to discover new ways to continue its transmissions, by exploring and operating with different equipment, assembly, and digital supports. On the other hand, the “at home” new reality caused by Covid 19 made people spend less time in their cars (reducing the need for traffic information), and sports and musical events were cancelled, which also limited the content variety that the radio usually broadcasts. So, in terms of the message, radio was forced to draw new production processes and contents to meet the new demands and needs of its audiences. Covid 19 indeed triggered an unprecedent change on the media environment, including radio, and despite the worst previsions, the medium registered an increase in its audiences in 2020-2021, a time of sharp cuts in advertising investment in the media sector. The present work focuses on the study of the Portuguese morning show radio As Três da Manhã, broadcasted in the catholic generalist station Renascença, from March 2020 to December 2021, covering the period of the three waves of the Covid-19 pandemics. Hosted by three women, the programme meant something completely innovative in the Portuguese radio scenario and has been conquering listeners since its origin, in February 2019, gradually contributing to the channel's increasing audience, a trend made more evident during the pandemic period. The aim of the study is to analyse the channel main changes and adjustments in terms of procedures during the social distance period, and to explore how this specific radio show behave earned its success, responding to the necessities of its listeners in terms of information, new formats, remote production and content. To carry out the aforementioned research, semi-structured interviews were carried out with the radio presenters, the channel’s Director and Deputy Director, the morning show producers, the channel’s brand manager and the engineer responsible for all the technical logistics for the transmission from home or outdoors, during the few occasions when the programme aired from a mobile street studio. This study also contemplates the morning show scripts content analysis through a critical reading of the program's emission logs, to better understand and justify the success of As Três da Manhã during the constraints caused by the pandemic.