I was at a staff meeting at my radio station back in the late 80's. My boss said, and I remember it like it was yesterday, "I'm not interested in new listeners. I just want to keep what I have."
He essentially threw in the towel. How do you expect your staff to compete and excel when you've given up? That was the day I realized radio was cooked and it was time to move on.
Fast forward to a recent morning. I work with a part time kid who has a good voice. I asked him if he's ever considered a job in radio. He replied that radio is dead. Nice!
The kid is in his early 20's. He should be in radio's prime demographic. Yet, he sees radio as passe, and I bet many of his peers feel the same way.
Two radio friends recently lost their jobs, at separate stations last month. Both had been there more than twenty years. A local weekend sports talk show I sort of liked went belly up a couple weeks ago. It's so sad.
Radio is a great medium. You can't beat the immediacy and the intimacy. Done well, there is nothing better. Unfortunately, station operators don't see the wisdom in keeping the live and local sound. Yes, live and local costs money, but it pays off in the long run.
My former college station, which should be the epitome of live and local, is now nothing more than an iPod, and the commercial stations in town aren't far behind.
Radio will never be what it once was, but that doesn't mean it can't be special again.
