RadioTiki

The Great Radio Tiki Experiment, or "RadioTiki," is an online talk radio show which began on February 11, 2000. A group of friends in Chicago and its suburbs who met regularly to discuss their lives and current events discovered that their conversations were entertaining to many bystanders. A technically savvy member of the group suggested they broadcast their meetings as streaming radio show.

Despite the lack of any sort of formal promotion or budget (the cast members are not paid), the show's popularity has grown in the intervening years, and it has gained popularity with listeners around the world. Listener numbers for any given show, including live streams and podcast downloads, typically number in the tens of thousands.

The informal, conversational style of the program, and its sense of humor, are intended to recall "classic" Chicago talk radio, similar to that of Steve Dahl and others. A mix of intelligence and childishness pervades the humor. Current events in the lives of the cast provide a jumping-off point for long comic digressions, the cast reads email from listeners, and provides their take on news stories from the previous week.

Schedule
Though the volunteer nature of RadioTiki sometimes affects the schedule, the show is generally performed two Fridays in a row, with a one-week break in between. Live broadcasts usually begin around 8:00 PM and end before midnight, US Central Time. The newest show is always available as a continuously looping , and as a podcast. Older shows play randomly on the RadioTiki audio stream.

Cast
The regular cast of RadioTiki includes Tom Bartkowiak, Jeff Wisniewski, Maurice Mattis, Brad Kruizenga, and "Robot Brad" (a character composed of audio clips of cast member Brad, taken out of context for comic effect.) Shows have been performed with as few as two cast members present.

Format
Currently RadioTiki episodes consist of six segments, generally following the format:

Segment 1: Drop, song, general freeform conversation, song

Segment 2: Drop, ways for listeners to participate in the show, listener mail, song

Segment 3: Drop, more listener mail, odd news stories (originally called "Hard News Squishy"), song

Segment 4: Drop, ways listeners can support the show and purchase RadioTiki merchandise, any remaining stories, song

Segment 5: Drop, music review by Maurice, Jeff leaves, song

Segment 6: Drop, general freeform conversation, wrap up ("Follow Your Bliss" by B-52's)

Timeline
February 11, 2000 -- The first show. With no prior promotion, there were approximately three listeners, including Brad, who called in. The first cast members were Tom, Jeff, Maurice, and "Producer Emeritus" Chris, aka Chrispy, who supplied the studio, equipment, and bandwidth needed to run the show.

March 3, 2000 -- First ever "wacky quiz". The quiz was called "Star Trek Episode or Christian Metal Band", which is arguably the best wacky quiz ever on the show.

March 24, 2000 -- Brad's first guest appearance on the show. He then disappeared from the show for over two years, then returned as a regular cast member.

June 23, 2000 -- Only show during RadioTiki's tenure in Chrispy's "Studio" to not be held in the "Studio." Chris could not be on the show, so it was moved to Tom's basement.

June 29, 2001 -- "Follow Your Bliss" by B-52's officially becomes the show's closing theme.

August 3, 2001 -- Maurice begins his weekly music reviews. First official review was Barenaked Ladies' "One Week."

April 4, 2003 -- RadioTiki changes its broadcast schedule from every week to taking every third week off. The schedule remains in place to this day.

July 25, 2003 -- Girls-only edition of RadioTiki with a substitute cast of significant others and friends of the main cast members.

June 11, 2004 -- Last appearance of Producer Emeritus Chrispy.

June 12, 2004 to August 12, 2004 -- Show goes on hiatus, as internal discussions lead to cast changes and a change of venue.

August 6, 2004 -- The show returns to regular broadcasts and the studio is moved to Tom's house.

August 13, 2004 -- First appearance of "Robot Brad" character.

March 4, 2005 -- First show to be broadcast in 44 kps. Prior to this date, the show had been broadcast in 22 kps.

February 16, 2007 -- Seventh Anniversary show, also the last show before cast member Tom moves to England.

The Future
February 16th, 2007 marks the seventh anniversary broadcast of RadioTiki. Cast member Tom has reported that he will be moving to England for at least three years, and cast member Maurice may relocate to Canada at some point in the near future.

The cast has stated their intent to continue producing the show, although obviously their past production method -- meeting together for a live broadcast, then streaming and publishing that show as a podcast -- will have to change. The most likely method will involve the cast teleconferencing together and recording the results, possibly dropping the live broadcast for the time being in favor of a podcast-only show.

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