Each day, in my “palatial” upstairs office, I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to a different radio station. Sure, I could probably tune in to my music playlists or a podcast, but I’m a 100% radio “nerd.” Invariably, the old PD in me will hear something that raises my temperature almost as it did in my day-to-day programming days.
One particular day, I was listening to the tail end of a nationally syndicated morning show, which shall remain nameless, of course.
One of the show’s talents comes out of a song and goes right to a caller, and what ensues is about a 2-minute (or longer) conversation about where and when this caller met that talent. That, my friends, was the gist of the discussion. Later that day, I’m listening to a Classic Hits station out of the Midwest and get treated to a long list of star birthdays and then, hear the next two breaks with just the station slogan and a song intro. Nothing more.
Finally, on a weekend evening later that week, I experienced how some local stations really handle a weather emergency. I live in the Nashville area, and as we drove into the city that evening, we received the dreaded Tornado Warning alarm on our phones. The station I was tuned to provided the obligatory EAS Warning message, twice, but other than that, I heard a talent voice-tracked from out of the market (spoiler alert – I know the talent and I know he voicetracks on this station) with basic intros and outros.
I was looking for specific storm info since I was in it. I tuned to three other stations and three more voice trackers, so I found some TV audio on my Apple CarPlay and was led to safety by a live and very local on-air meteorologist.
I remember when the immediacy of radio was its strongest attribute, but now can we honestly say that? Because of these experiences and others, I really believe that we must create an on-air environment where every talk break must count, no matter what or when.
For me, the storm hit on an early Saturday evening, a time when most radio stations are voicetracked. I needed specific information and still thought radio was the “go-to,” but learned otherwise.
Then, I thought of those “empty breaks” and that useless caller with that morning show, and realized that we, as an industry, possibly DON’T CARE about every break. We only attend to those segments that attract the most listeners at the best times, which, even then, are not all filled with compelling content. Think about it – most shows are 4 to 5 hours in length, but when you dial it down, a talent uses, maybe, about an hour maximum of actual airtime every workday.
Why can’t that hour be the best your talent has to offer? I’m not totally faulting the talent for this, by the way. It always starts with the PD. I saw a recent column in another trade mag about the aircheck session becoming obsolete in favor of the show brainstorm session. This makes total sense if your goal is to make every break count. Aircheck sessions dealt more with formatics and style. There needs to be more guidance on creating content that entertains. My colleague Buzz Knight addressed this in a column a few weeks back, as the difference between good and great.
Listener choices have increased daily, especially in the one place where radio still somewhat rules: the car. Check out this recent Quu 2025 In-Vehicle Visuals Report.
Once again, thinking 5 years down the road, instead of 90 days, radio needs to do what it does best – entertain – every single break! Challenge your talent and yourself as a talent coach.
John,
First of all, thanks for caring enough about quality to even notice these things, then breaking down your insights.
You’re talking about a quality control issue here and the consequences of a weak process in place to make sure the highest quality outcome is always delivered.
These examples of sloppiness are symptomatic of what’s slipping in the radio industry right now and they all beg the same question: Who’s minding the store?
Which of these questions would generate the longest list of names today:
Which C-suite executives are striving to build cultures of excellence from the top down throughout their organization that inspire and empower their teams to achieve the highest level of quality each day by compiling and constantly improving lists of Best Practices for each department inside each radio station?
Which C-suite executives appear to me much more focused on keeping strong, strategic relationships with the board of directors…then periodically firing a bunch of people and reshuffling managers?
How many local market managers picked the phone up and talked to a single client this week about how well their sales teams are taking care of their needs and what they could do better?
How many General Managers spoke to a single listener this week and asked the what they could do to make their local radio station sound better?
John, those mistakes that you picked up right away were just symptoms. The root cause is a lack of effective leadership at every single level which is aloof and woefully detached from the listeners and the clients. The listeners have other choices. The advertisers have other choices. Ineffective leadership is why radio is rapidly losing both.
Great article, John! Thank you
Tim Rank, Scott Miller– I really appreciate and agree with your sentiments !!! Thank you both as well !
It does start at the top but when will they actually admit THEY are the source! I guess it must be those “headwinds” they keep talking about in their earnings reports. Must really be blocking the view.
Thanks for the great comments, Dave!
Excellent column! Why radio can’t take a page from streaming’s book to pepper their breaks with short pods while also offering a bit of content is beyond me. Advertisers will do better airing in shorter breaks, which should increase the value of that time to the stations when listeners don’t rune out midway through yet another 16-spot stopset.
But stories like the Nashville situation are why the AMREVA is garbage. Ownership groups are not only abandoning their AM signals but now also FM, while making claims about being vital to “public safety”. I guess it’s only the other station groups that are that important.
I too was disappointed by the lack of info during those storm warnings. Maybe I’m too OLD SCHOOL, but not too long ago, the radio was a trusted source for information. In addition, it was a companion. I really don’t get that feeling that today’s radio is doing either one. Just a lot of generic talk between songs. Is that all radio has become?
Scott/Tim,
“Trusted” being the operative word. We are about to lose that if not already. Thanks for the comments!!