Headlines

(Jeffrey Hedquist) If the characters, voices, and situations in your commercial are ones your intended audience can identify with, root for, or relate to, then that audience will bite. Remember, an emotional story will be much more memorable than one that isn’t.

The Broadcasters Foundation of America brought its 2026 Media Mixer tour to a conclusion in the Windy City on October 7 at the Museum of Broadcast Communications, one night ahead of the Radio Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Fairmont Chicago.

Big Tech has the reach, the resources, and a relentless appetite for the audiences local stations have served for generations. At Forecast 2027, the NAB's top executive will take on that threat in a candid conversation about what radio and television need from Washington.

Customers suspect businesses padded their prices, and they are wary of AI-made advertising. That combination could shape how local advertisers want to sound in the months ahead, and new research gives radio sellers a read on what customers want.

(Randy Lane) Radio has one advantage no algorithm can copy or streaming service can manufacture: you’re from here. But being local isn’t enough. The goal isn’t simply to talk about the community; it’s to sound like the community.

(Bob Lawrence) One of the worst events in life that most of us go through is the loss of a job. So many of us value and measure our lives by the success we achieve in business. It seems to be more and more difficult to recover from the shock, disappointment, and fear of a job loss.

MediaCo is putting a new name in charge of its engineering operation. Ken Wilkey takes the Head of Engineering post at the multicultural broadcaster after leading media operations, engineering, and technology at stops that run from Spanish-language radio and television to cable business news.

Happy Friday! This week’s Radio Ink Blast From The Past features Ronnie Love. This promo shot takes us back to 1975 at WJBE-AM/FM in Knoxville. Send your photo to Editor-in-Chief Cameron Coats for your chance to be featured.

The Lisa McKay Women in Radio Scholarship is back. Female college seniors and early-career programmers can apply for one of three packages covering registration, airfare, and hotel in Nashville for first-time attendees to Country Radio Seminar ahead of CRS 2027.

A rising tide is lifting advertising, and audio is in the boat. A new global forecast shows the overall market climbing sharply on AI investment and major events, with audio advertising growing as online audio gains and radio, still a large category, adjusts at the margins.