What Now, Radio? The Attention Economy is Here!
Radio's relationship with its audience has fundamentally shifted, and the industry's summer of mass layoffs at Cumulus, iHeart, Rogers, Odyssey, and Corus has exposed a deeper crisis than spreadsheets can solve. I basically recap the absurdity of how radio companies built their talent's social media followings only to sever connections abruptly, freeing listeners to explore alternatives. While industry data still shows radio leading in car listening and ad delivery, the reality on the ground tells a different story: the best moments on any station come from people and personalities, not songs or commercials. And going forward, radio is going to have to do live on some rented ground.
Discussed:
- Why attention, participation, community, and trust have replaced traditional broadcast ratings as the new flywheel
- How algorithms are prioritizing local content just as radio stations abandon local programming
- The financial viability of AM radio ownership and why long-form content must be repurposed across multiple platforms
- What podcasters are getting right about monetization that radio continues to fumble
Promised in the show notes:
The Bobby Bones prank story from 2004
The Broadcast Dialogue podcast with Connie Thiessen, Matt Caine, and Rob Brown about buying and running an AM station
Lamont Hollywood’s Facebook post about being cut from 107.7 The Bone
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