The State of Radio

One of my best friends and I have been having an e-mail discussion about the state of the radio industry. The e-mails have been flying back and forth for about two weeks now. It's been a lively discussion, but way to many four letter words about too many specific people to post here.

Robert and I have known each other for the past 16 years. We have worked some of the same companies, and even teamed up for what I thought was some of the best performances I have ever been allowed to be a part of.

I will try to summarize here a few of the points we both agree on:

• Consolidation killed radio years ago. When companies like Clear Channel, Cumulus, Citadel, et al were allowed to come in a just repackage the same programming in a different logo across the country they took the soul that made radio special away. When the big companies came in and were allowed to undercut the competition (mom and pop owners) with dollar a holler and using voice tracking to cut costs, they ripped the guts out of all stations. Mom and pop had to turn to satellite or automation to make ends meet.
  
• There are too many choices out there. When you can pop up any news organization you want on your phone for the latest news, weather, or even music, radio now is in a bigger fight than ever to stay relevant in today's plugged in society. When you add that to skeleton staff, the lack of true personality in today's radio, and it's not hard to see why radio is becoming a secondary, or last resort entertainment choice for many.

I could keep going but those two alone give you the core of where our conversation went. Radio, both personality driven talk, and the music formatted stations out there can become dominant again. They have to stop using the same lame formats and thinking. Evolve radio to match the interactive reality. That is step one, and without it, the rest won't matter.

The other part of the equation is to work to develop real talent, and give them to tools, respect, and leeway to develop the cutting edge programming that will bring today's listeners back to radio. 10 in a row, 20 in a row, even 100 in a row won't cut it anymore. Look at the stuff people go to in droves online. It is all personality driven, not music driven.

Managers have ignored, ridiculed, and even destroyed the people they need the most right now. The guys that can make what is needed left radio because too many corporate programmers wanted all their stations to be exactly the same. This edict left all the creative, talented, and progressive guys that could mould stations into legendary powerhouses out of the loop. They chose to walk away from the business they all loved so much instead of curse themselves for destroying their work with a cookie cutter.

Radio can evolve and survive. I hope to watch it do so soon.