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Program directors have enormous responsibilities these days. They must produce the best content in all of audio, because the competition for ears has never been greater. They have to find and teach and massage new local talent. And they surely must help produce a product the sales department can successfully sell so that fire-breathing GM can be calm, cool, and collected while sending that nice big piece of the cash-flow action back to corporate.

(By Radio Ink Chairman Eric Rhoads) Big things happen when you least expect them. It was the summer of 1974, I had been fired from Y100, and I was living with my parents. One day my friends Charlie Willer (the man who got me into radio) and John Garrett decided to take a road trip to Chicago from Fort Wayne. Our goal was to meet the famous voice behind The Secret Adventures of the Tooth Fairy and Chickenman.

(By Gabriel Barnes) When looking to pinpoint an audience based on geography, the terms "geo-fencing" or "geo-targeting" are often used. These terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably, creating confusion, so let’s clarify what they mean.

Billboard writer Tom Roland worked his way into John Shomby's new office in Nashville for an up close and personal interview with the Nash Network's new director of programming. Shomby took the job with Cumulus after spending 13 years as Dave Paulus' right hand man with Max Media in Norfolk-Virginia Beach, where he was director of programming for five stations. Shomby tells Roland, “It’s a brand-new Cumulus. It really focuses on the people, and that’s a real important draw for me.” Check out the full profile on Shomby HERE.

Are you a talent looking to secure your future in the audio business? Syndicated hosts Ace & TJ want to help you achieve your goals. They've launched a new platform called "The Radio Button Network." It's a new digital service run by talent, for talent, focusing on "the other 20 hours" you may not be on the air.

As we get closer to the general election, Westwood One has released a deck of slides to help radio sellers push the power of radio. The data shows how radio can target specific voters political campaigns may want to reach. Included in the report is what Westwood calls the "political radio format planner” -- a guide for media planners and buyers to reach voters based on format. The Westwood One Insights team says the data can help both national and local political advertisers.

Ben Downs is responsible for 10 stations in Texas for Bryan Broadcasting, where he's been for 26 years as Vice President and General Manager. When we asked Downs, as part of our Independent Warrior Special Report, what he'd like to see radio doing better, he said radio has three problems that would improve how the world sees the industry. He details them all here but says none of them are easy to fix.