Through the end of the year, we’re digging into our archives from the past 12 months and pulling out some of the most-read posts from our JacoBLOG. This one is almost a year old, and hopefully provides some food for thought about my vision of the radio industry…as we now head into 2014. – FJ
I know this post will come off as callous or even blasphemous to many hard core radio people, but I’ve been thinking a lot about point of view over the holidays.
In fact, I’ve changed my Facebook Timeline picture to show a view (in Michigan) out the windshield – rather than looking back through the rear-view mirror.
At so many formal and informal radio gatherings over the past few years, the conversation has devolved to a discussion, debate, or lamentation about how the radio business isn’t what it used to be.
Nothing is what it used to be. That’s why the phrase, “the new normal,” came into being. It’s a statement that life as we knew it has changed. It is incumbent upon all of us to adjust – or simply move on. Either decision is valid, but to stay in place and complain about how the business has gone to hell is simply counterproductive, especially for those of us who are making our way through it, trying to innovate, make adjustments, and keep it vital and healthy.
While there are so many aspects of radio that I also miss, getting caught up in conversations about the good old days erodes our ability to implement change, improvements, and to keep it moving forward.
So that’s why I’m looking ahead.
We can debate or lament the industry’s changes, and point the finger at consolidation, radio companies going public, or all the painful staff cuts that have taken place.
Or we can play the cards we’re dealt the best way possible to make it better.
So I’m done with radio reunions.
And it’s not because I don’t want to see old friends and colleagues because the past four decades have been cherished times professionally and personally for me.
But I’m hoping that the next decade is just as memorable, amazing, and exciting – even though I know all too well that it will be very different than the way things have been in the past.
No rear view here.
Eyes out the windshield.
Who’s taking the ride with me?
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I grew up standing at the front window of subways. Always look fwd. 2014 IS The Year of Radio Renaissance!
From your lips, Clark. Thanks for commenting.
30 + years in the biz, and I too am looking forward! I’m with you guys, 2014 is The Year of Radio Renaissance!
Hey, maybe we’ve got something going here. Thanks for chiming in, Kelly.
I shake my head and say its a shame the driver didn’t see that 18 wheeler with no brakes bearing down on his ass. Happy new year, Fred… I recommend, at least, a shoulder check once in a while.
As I write this, Keith, I’ve just finished up a 15 hour day on the interstates. Believe me, I’m looking out that front windshield – and yes, checking those shoulders, too!
Well said Fred, well said!
Appreciate it, Keith. Thanks for reading it.
Hi Fred,
Thanks for asking for my POV on radio. I don’t mind reminiscing about radio. Personally, I believe one can learn a lot from our past and apply it to situations today. However, I find the barrage of negativity about today’s radio industry that some current and former radio pros spew to be counterproductive. I don’t need the negativity to bog me down when I’m doing my job, or having that negativity get in the way of my passion for the business.
Yes the industry has problems, challenges, issues and new competition that need to be discussed. It’s how we discuss them, and how we go about trying to continue to keep our industry vibrant that interests me. Not bitching about how radio isn’t like it used to be. The reality is, I don’t have control over the choices any company I don’t work for makes. What I do have control over are the choices I make for the stations’ I run. The type of radio I “practice” on the air. The type of people I hire. How I try to influence the culture of the company I work for. (I also can control the job situations and cultures I work in.) There’s still a LOT of us from 2 or 3 generations working in radio with lots of passion, ideas and knowledge. If we all go about following our passion and are true to what we believe, then I think we’ll solve our problems and continue to have a vibrant industry.
I think radio has a great future. We might end up changing how the product is delivered. We may have to rediscover, as far as music radio is concerned, that it’s the music, the people, the content and the human connection all working together that truly make it “radio.” We may have to realize that people accessing music from the internet isn’t the death knell of traditional radio. It may change some of the formatics on how we execute formats– or over time re-define formats. (Heck, I can’t for the life of me understand how radio and the labels haven’t gotten together to push internet sales of music. The technology is there to use radio websites as a custom branded portal to help people buy music with one click. But– this is a topic for another post!) Living in the now, I think there’s a lot of us that get it. If you listen close enough you can hear it.
And as Mr. William Joel put it in “Keeping the Faith”:
the good ole days weren’t
Always good
And tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems
Thanks always for the insight!
Great comment, Rob, that stands on its own. Thanks for the passion and speaking for a lot of people who love the radio business.
I know what you mean. I get tired of the negativity, although I totally understand it.
BUT the last radio reunion I went to proved to be very helpful; I met for the first time another station alum and wound up hiring her. She’s a great find! The one before that led to a part-time voicetracking gig in a top 5 market that’s lasted over 10 years and is still my #2 gig.
Things are what you make ’em.
As networking events and a chance to reacquaint, reunions can be wonderful. I just have a thing about the inevitable “the business aint’ what it used to be” conversations. Maybe I’m going to the wrong reunions?
By now if people don’t realize that no government agency, Congress nor corporate bankruptcy is going to send radio back to the 70s and leave it in a time warp there forever, they never will. While some are on message boards complaining about the end of the good old days, others are producing podcasts, becoming independent media companies or are taking their stations to new levels. There was a lot that was great about radio in the 1960s and 1970s. There was a lot that sucked too. What are we going to do to make it great for the 2010s and 2020s?
Good, thought-provoking questions, Brad. Thanks for taking the time to join the conversation.