Last month, I argued that radio needed to cast a deeper net. That our formats were stuck in a world that doesn’t exist anymore, while audiences had already moved on. I expected some pushback. I expected a few eye rolls. I did not expect what actually happened.
My inbox filled up with emails from program directors, station managers, and even a few owners from across the country. And the message was almost identical every time:
“We implemented this exact approach. It works. Our numbers are up.”
It turns out stations are doing this quietly, without corporate press releases or consultant approval, and they’re seeing exactly what we’ve been talking about: engagement, growth, and excitement.
And here’s where the sales perspective comes in, because the question I keep getting now is:
“Josh, why does a radio salesperson care so much about format?”
The answer is painfully simple:
The better the product, the easier it is to sell.
You can have the strongest work ethic in the world, but if you’re handed a product that sounds like it got frozen in 1993, you’re already losing before you make the first call. And unfortunately, this is still the expectation in many stations: the GM and sales manager tell the sales team to go out and sell a format that the audience abandoned 15 years ago.
Then they’re shocked – shocked! – when local businesses don’t want to buy it. I’ve said this before, and I’ll repeat it: if you go on a call and the decision maker has never heard of your station(s), you’re already up a creek without a paddle.
It’s 2025. Listeners aren’t flipping through presets looking for the same 40-song corporate playlist they’ve heard for decades. They’re listening to Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell, The Red Clay Strays, Zach Bryan, Charley Crockett, Billy Strings, and whatever else their favorite Spotify algorithm serves up between them. They’re mixing genres, crossing eras, and building playlists with no rules.
If your station refuses to reflect that reality, the product suffers. And when the product suffers, the sales suffer.
That’s why format matters. That’s why salespeople (well, at least this one) care about format.
A vibrant, modern, personality-driven station with a musically relevant format doesn’t just create listeners; it creates fans. And fans make life easier for salespeople because advertisers want in. They want to be connected to something real, not something canned.
The stations that emailed me last month understand this. They didn’t reinvent the wheel—they just stopped pretending the wheel was still made of wood. They built formats that sound like 2025, not 1993, and now they’re reaping the benefits.
Which brings me to the heart of it:
Sales and programming aren’t separate departments. They’re partners. If programming takes bold, smart steps forward, sales have a product they can proudly take to market. When sales bring in more revenue, programming gets the resources to keep building. It’s a cycle and one that starts with format.
I’ll say it again:
Radio doesn’t need another consultant-driven tweak. The stations willing to break out of the format prison are the ones growing. The stations still worshiping the rulebook from 1993 are the ones shrinking.
Cast a deep net and happy selling!
