For years, Jacobs Media has compiled its AQ series of air talent questionnaires, but how does that data stack up against the live opinions of some of the most engaged and ambitious air talent in radio, especially when it comes to the medium’s future?
Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs deviated from the norm at this year’s Morning Show Boot Camp. Instead of debuting AQ7, he pulled six years of “greatest hits” from the AQ talent study and asked the room to react in real time.
The AQ survey, Jacobs Media’s annual research into the working lives of air personalities, has consistently shown high workloads, significant stress, and concerns about talent development in radio. Jacobs told the audience that the data has remained “incredibly consistent” year over year, prompting him to focus on core trends rather than new slides.
One of the clearest findings: radio personalities are taking on more roles than ever. Historical AQ data shows the average on-air talent wearing three “hats” at work, like hosting, programming, social media management, or voice-tracking for another station. Real-time polling of the Boot Camp audience showed 60% juggling four or more hats, above the long-term average.
AQ trends also confirm that the more roles a person handles, the higher their reported stress level. Stress levels in AQ remain high across the board, but are most acute among younger talent and women.
When asked to rate their station or company’s performance in discovering and developing young talent, the Boot Camp audience leaned more optimistic than the broader AQ sample.
“Strongly agree” emerged as the top answer in the room, though a noticeable share still disagreed. In the national AQ data, the opposite is true: more respondents disagree than agree, suggesting that the Boot Camp crowd—made up largely of motivated, self-selected talent—may be more bullish on their company’s efforts than the industry average.
A third poll on work-life balance echoed AQ’s long-running split between aspiration and reality.
The largest share of attendees chose “It’s very important and I’m making it happen,” but the second most common response was “It’s very important and it is not happening for me.” AQ results show this divide each year, with younger talent and those wearing multiple hats least likely to report achieving a healthy balance. Jacobs used the moment to underscore the consistency of the data: regardless of market size or company, the pressures described in AQ are mirrored by the professionals in the room.
AQ demographics show younger talent struggling most to find balance, and again, those with multiple roles are least likely to achieve it.
Jacobs used the findings to open a broader conversation about mental health, boundary-setting, and the impact of industry economics. Panelists, including Audacy Baltimore Mix 106.5 host Jess Dutra, Audacy St. Louis host Brett Mega, The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show host J-Si Chavez, Audacy Adult Contemporary Format VP Nikki Nite, and The Bert Show host Bert Weiss, reflected on how AQ’s numbers match their own experiences.
With reporting from Austin by John Shomby
