Radio on the Other Side of Time

Abstract

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles aired the radio drama The War of the Worlds on the CBS Radio network, adapting the science-fiction novel by the British writer H. G. Wells. During the broadcast, listeners became stricken with panic, believing that the Earth was actually being invaded by giant snake-like Martians launching rays of fire down on humans. Welles was a groundbreaking figure whose trickery exploited the technological novelty of the radio to its fullest, adapting classic texts in ways that exploited the opportunities afforded by this new medium. Over the years, this radio classic has been adapted a number of times, though none has seized on the technological advances of our times. Drawing on the most salient innovations seen in Internet radio, this article creates an imaginary scenario that replicates Orson Welles’s work in the present day, when the Internet has become a channel for broadcasting and hyperlinks have brought different media together. The text is an exploration of the other side of time, where transmedia storytelling facilitates the exchange of stories among consumers, and broadcast programming is no longer linear.

Keywords

• ciberradio
• internet
• narrativa transmediática
• consumidor
• telefonía móvil