On average, my travels put me in a radio station every other week. What appears to be consistent, despite market size, is the erosion of the value of AQH, the need to find new ways to generate revenue, and the lack of consensus on how radio stations are approaching the use and offering of digital media.
This is despite the clear and obvious demand for digital inclusion by advertisers and legacy media’s need for revenue growth.
There are those stations that have little knowledge of how to maximize the interest advertisers have in buying digital, and there are those that insist that digital be a part of every ad buy that is closed. I’ve sat with sales leaders who aren’t sure of how much digital they have to sell, what it’s worth, or even how to traffic it when they do get a digital ad buy.
On the other hand, I’ve visited with group-wide leadership that is so aware of digital’s growth that they are looking to claw back impressions because the demand is greater than what they’re selling Over The Air. They have a systematic approach to selling digital, rates that connect the platform with OTA, and are committed to training their sellers on how, when, and why to present digital to the advertising community.
Consultant and researcher Fred Jacobs in Techsurvey 2026 put a spotlight on the need for a focus on digital by noting that “The digital train hasn’t just left the station; it’s halfway home.” He encouraged action by saying: “It’s an imperative that both programming and sales departments embrace this challenge and this opportunity.” Unfortunately, the method of selling digital is at times akin to asking the buyer if they “want fries with that.”
Selling digital as a part of an ad campaign should be presented as a magnifier and a way to further target the advertiser’s customers. RAB President Mike Hulvey recently said, “Radio is a force multiplier.” The view there is that radio, combined with other advertising platforms, multiplies the reach of the campaign and the memorability of messaging with frequency. To that end, radio continues to be seen as one of the best marketing vehicles there is to build brand awareness. That doesn’t lessen the targetability of digital as a competitor when fighting for radio’s share of limited ad budgets.
During the most recent NAB, I had the opportunity to moderate and learn during a session on digital ad sales presented as “A Revenue Model Built by Broadcasters; How Radio & TV Leaders Are Accelerating Digital Revenue.” Panelists included Chris Leonard, President and General Manager of New West Broadcasting (Owner of six Hawaiian radio stations), Todd Baker, CEO of sales consulting firm NuLeaf Digital, and Remington Phillips, President & Founder of digital marketing vendor Crowdfire Solutions.
Leonard, as an owner/operator, opened the session with a dose of reality and an acknowledgement that the evolution of how we sell media is critical. He said, “With national business continuing to slide, it’s more important than ever to make the most of what we control locally. Our radio stations still provide unmatched, cost-efficient reach and deep trust in our communities. These are stations that people have grown up with, relied on for decades, and continue to believe in today.” Regarding new media, he added, “Digital allows us to extend and reinforce that trusted connection, meeting audiences where they are and giving advertisers multiple ways to connect with local consumers.”
What resonated with me the most regarding what Chris said was in regard to the local connection that can be even more finite when digital is combined with radio. “We have the ability, with our relationships in our local communities, to move the needle for advertisers that we know better than anybody else.” Local community matters, and it’s radio’s strength. Thinking like that puts a spotlight on the necessity of knowing your community, the needs of your advertising prospect, and assisting in satisfying their goals and objectives. Leonard’s sellers are a product of training and execution.
Knowing how to sell digital starts with knowing what you have and how to target it. Then it becomes about how you incentivize your sales team. Todd Baker, as an experienced digital sales consultant and trainer, believes that it starts with the margins. “Ensure you have no LESS than a 50% margin on ALL digital products you are offering. The biggest mistake I see broadcasters make is overpaying a digital vendor, which then cripples the broadcaster’s ability to compensate their sellers at the same percentage commission they pay for broadcast, resulting in AE’s having zero motivation and simply not selling it.”
Case in point: he shared that one of NuLeaf’s clients, a major TV group, had been paying their sellers 20% on new broadcast, meanwhile only 4%-8% on digital (depending on tactic). As Baker said, “They wonder why they keep missing their numbers!” His encouragement is that when stations set up sales plans for digital, pay your sales team “the same commission percentage on ALL tactics!”
Remington Phillips, Founder & President of Crowdfire Solutions, lives in the digitally focused broadcast world every day. The origination of his media career was in the digital world, with legacy broadcasting being an offshoot. While that has not been the traditional path we tend to see, it’s one that provides a unique perspective.
Remington brings with him none of the bad habits many of us continue to hang onto in our attempts to modernize legacy media. It’s as Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig has been quoted as saying, “If radio were invented after the Internet, what would that look like?” Remington, like Anstandig, is one of those bright young minds who see things differently than the many.
During our NAB session, Phillips said, “Advertising spend is not going down. It’s going up. Ten years from now, a broadcaster may look at their signal as just one of their products, rather than their primary product.” This aligns with my supposition that where radio is going must be greater than OTA. It’s why when it comes to content, I keep opining that content creators need to distribute content across multiple platforms. He added, “The primary product is advertising. It doesn’t matter what channel advertising is being put through. It’s all about selling products, services, and reaching an audience.”
We need to embrace digital. It’s not the savior of legacy media. It is, however, radio’s greatest opportunity for a rebound in sales growth and audience expansion. Digital cannot be ignored.
