Since being “on hiatus”, “on the beach” (or whatever you want to call my latest “extended vacation” from being on the air), I have had discussions with many of my radio associates I have gotten to know over 30 years in many markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Grand Rapids, San Antonio TX, Detroit and Lansing. They range from air talent, programming, sales, promotions, marketing, production, consulting, management and ownership…all who have been quite successful in their own right. In all these discussions there was a common agreement…that this business we love is not doing well at all.
Ten years ago I listened to much more radio than I do today, which is a hard admission from a guy who grew up always listening to it, let alone someone whose career is in radio. Nowadays, when I do tune in, I am hearing a bland, boring medium…a much less than former shell of what it is. I am discovering that I am not alone in this opinion. The past 3 months I have heard the same from many others…from all walks of life, not just “radio folk”.
In 1986, 96-98% of the public listened to radio during a typical week. That number is now around 90-92%. Compared to network TV and newspapers, the ratio of lost following in radio is much smaller than network TV and newspapers, yet the loss is still there. 6% of 300 million people equal 18 million. That is a lot of people to lose as a following.
Radio has been taking a beating on all sides. The economy affected radio like it has the housing market and the banking industry. The 500-watt AM station I worked at in the Detroit/Ann Arbor market in the mid-1990s sold for $2 million in 1999. 11 years later, in 2010, the 4-station group I worked for in Lansing – two of those four stations being 40,000-watt plus FM stations – sold for only $4 million. Advertising revenue is way down as well. From 1996 – 2005 we had 5 – 9% growth in revenue, and since then we are losing ground to the point where we are at 10% of what it was 15 years ago.
Could this have been prevented? Certainly some of this could have. Back when things were going well in the 1990s and early 2000s radio forgot about the basic philosophies of the radio business by focusing solely on bottom-line and not the product going out over the airwaves. I’m not saying we shouldn’t focus on the bottom line. Radio should be focused on the bottom line … period. If not, bills and employees don’t get paid and you have no budget to do promotions and marketing. But quality product is forgotten and opportunities get missed if that is your only focus.
Many radio veterans with years experience and success over the past few years were unceremoniously “let go”, not because they weren’t successful in the current economic climate, but solely because the stations they worked for couldn’t afford to pay them anymore. Back in the day radio hired smart, talented people and expected them to perform, and they kept their jobs if they did. It was about performance and not process. The key to getting back to doing good and successful radio is to start getting back to focusing on the correct “P”. A part of radio’s problems have come about because it’s very much about the process today.
There have been so many so-called “radio killers” that have come about throughout the industry’s history. First TV was a radio killer, with industry heads preaching gloom and doom for radio back in the 1940s. Then it was the car record player, then the 8-Track and the cassette, then the CD, then the iPod, then satellite radio, and now Internet radio and social networking. Each time a “radio killer” came along, radio rose to the challenge and was innovative and creative in making it unique and delivering a product that the others did not. Instead of trying to be more like the competition, we need to focus on the differences and accentuate and improve those differences.
Yes, the future of radio is the Internet with its capability to allow us to network with our listeners better through streaming, blogs and social networking. Right now you can purchase a new 2011 Ford Escort with WiFi and the capability to connect online. We need to focus on embracing and developing these avenues as an industry, but at the same time not forget the core and main part of what we do…the on-air product, that still is reaching 90 – 92% of our listenership. We need to go out and make that work first. Digital is not projected to reach 20 – 30% of our listenership for another 2 – 3 years. Yet there are programmers that spend 85% of their current energy on tweaking their streaming, Facebook and Twitter and only 15% on the product going out over the air. Simple math: only giving 15% to 90% of your audience spells failure.
And just as we need to retain the veteran experienced broadcasters that have brought success, we need to allow the new generation opportunities in this business. Many interns and part-time “newbees” have been disillusioned over the past few years by the problems with radio, and some have given up. This new crop is radio’s future. These are the ones to put to the task of the new digital opportunities available to us. They know it, they understand it, and it is a major part of their lives. And with proper direction from us “seasoned veterans” radio can become strong again in this digital age.
Many have asked if I will be returning to the airwaves soon. That is a tough question to answer. Though radio, music and entertainment have been a major part of my life since I was in Kindergarten, it is not how it once was. Part of why I am not involved at the moment is because although this business realizes it is not how it once was, at the same time it is blind on how to keep the “good parts” of the “good old days” to insure its continued success. The good parts of what radio is all about have been forgotten with the current dire straits of the business today.
These things will take time to happen so that the radio business can get back on track again. But with the changing face of the media landscape and the current Madison Avenue perception of radio, it’s time we don’t have much left of.
