November 19, 2021

If you could fix one thing about radio, what do you feel it needs the most?

Orlando, WLLD: Open the doors, for hardworking rookies, and give them a pathway to earn a way in. KROQ, Z100, B96, POWER 96, HOT 97, WiLD and massive brands all found stars and amazing foot soldiers that way. We need that DNA back.

Buster Satterfield, WIOQ: Content. More content. Giving the audience what they want or are seeking out.

Java Joel, WHBC: Shave the layer upon layer upon layer of VPs of programming, regional brand managers, format leaders and general pains-in-the-asses. Let your local programming staff do what you hired them to do!

Fish, WKRZ: Locality! Real locality, not the fake/automated type. You have to have boots on the ground and people who know the market.

Toby Knapp, WASH: Oh, where do I start? 1) An end of the predictable nature of what we do. I heard recently that our show was “predictable, ya’ll say the same words – “kick off, kicking off” – at the same times – in the same way – day after day – in music sweeps.” The programmer was right. We can’t be predictable. We have have to get back to the LIVE mentality, embracing the unplanned, and owning the real moments which you can’t fake or prepare for. You know, the stuff that makes us unique in the world of Spotify, SiriusXM, Pandora, Podcasts. Our listeners think we sound pre-taped and not authentic… that’s gotta change. We can’t be afraid of being unscripted. 2) We need more showbiz back in the game. Dan Hunt and I were talking about this… we need to be the conduit to fame. We’ve got the access, but it can’t be about who I’m interviewing or what meet-and-greet I’m in. It has to be something which allows the tribe to experience something unqiue through our eyes – and we have to make sure they stay up front when we do what we do. That’s showbiz. Make them feel famous. Put them on a red carpet. Let them meet Taylor or Adele. If we can get back to that mindset of selflessness, we’ll get back to winning… big.

Matt “MJ” Johnson, WPLW: As an industry we have to serve clients and listeners. If we continue to super-serve Wall St. only, this industry will die.

Mike O’Donnell, WKRZ: This is an easy on for me. The industry as a whole needs more local live shows. There’s no doubt in mind there’s a direct correlation between that and ratings. Outside of that, there’s nothing that separates us from all of the other music delivery services. Localization is what makes us unique.

Bob Patrick, WXLK: More opportunities/places for young talent to get experience and hone their skills.

R Dub, Z90: The owners to CARE for it. It’s a living, breathing thing that needs attention and cannot be mass produced.

Frankie V, KSSX/KHTS: Radio needs to find hungry young talent that are obsessed with radio, the way many of us were when we started! That young hard working talent pushes everyone to be better and ignites us all!

Jonathan Shuford, WRVW: Fun and flexibility!

Jagger, KCHZ: More urgency! We’re trying to appeal to listeners that have grown up with technology and many digital options in their hands. We need to get more urgent with them and have them feel like they have a say in the radio station more than they think so. We have to figure out a social media way to do it, if not, in ten years there might not be a Top 40 format anymore.

Rick Vaughn, KENZ: Understanding its target. Everybody’s targeting 25-54 as a demo group rather than one individual they can see and describe and write a bio about.

Max Volume, KOZZ: Live on-air staffs, playing new and old format-centric music.

Chuck Damico, WMMR/WPEN: Self-respect.

Buzz Knight, Buzz Knight Media: Radio needs to develop a new ad model to better compete with streaming services while allowing for a successful business model. As more listeners migrate to listening via the stream it’s more crucial than ever to improve the listening experience

Lee Abrams mediavisions: Spot loads!

Dom Theodore, Radio Animal Media Strategies: I would fix the debt problem, because most of the other issues in our industry are a direct result of too much debt on the balance sheets of big companies.

Randi West, WRMF: Where do I begin? More creativity and local presence.

Kobe, WUVR: A better system to train and cultivate upcoming talent., and more local engagement and independent control.

Brian Mack, WXXL: It needs to embrace influencer strategy for both audience/content and revenue. We already have all the influencers and direct business. We need our leadership to begin encouraging the progression of our operation beyond the FM dial and audio in general.

Valentine, WBHT: Being local. It’s the one thing that makes us different than streaming services and satellite radio. It’s not simply “local breaks,” also local environment/community, and load up with local content that matters to the audience and makes a difference in their lives…Impact! Just running sweepers isn’t going to cut it.

Joey Brooks, WKSS: Figuring out who that next crop of people are to enter the business. I don’t know that their out there like they used to be. There are so many different media platforms to express your creativity these days, we’re not getting as many people beating down the door to get into radio.

Jana Sutter, WXXL: Support staff! It would be great to have the ability to train and grow talent again.

Drew Heyman, WHYI: More jocks need coaching. We need to teach them how to do dope radio!

Guy Zapoleon, Zapoleon Consulting: I think many stations are doing the best they can post-Covid and with audience steadily leaking to streaming platforms. In today’s consolidated radio world I wish more stations could be live and local as I think radio can still make a big difference in their local community when the station has a great morning show as well as strong personalities around the clock, and they’re connected to the community and interfacing with their listeners across the social media spectrum. If I could fix one thing, I’d love to change, (and it would require a time machine back in 1987) the Soft Diary from being created. The Soft Diary rewarded workplace listening by an 8 to 1 ratio over previous long music listening diaries and changed credit from “listening to hearing. That move changed radio from a music intensive medium to a background utility and background AC stations went to #1 and active music listening formats like Top 40 and Rock suffered. The audience leakage to streaming would have happened a lot more slowly than what we are facing now.

Next Week’s Question Of The Week:
What are you most thankful for, and who is your favorite holiday movie character of all-time and their most endearing quality?
e-Mail your responses to: jodorisio@deanemediasolutions.com or bburke@deanemediasolutions.com