Many in radio wonder where the next generation of talent is going to come from. As smaller markets increasingly lean on syndicated programming and other efficiencies, how can radio tap into the largest, emerging generation? Of course, we know them as Millennials. Some also believe that many young people aren’t interested in radio, and have […]
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Our "Radio's Most Innovative" series recognizes the broadcasting professionals who have propelled our industry forward.
Radio's Most Innovative: High School Radio Day
Many in radio wonder where the next generation of talent is going to come from. As smaller markets increasingly lean on syndicated programming and other efficiencies, how can radio tap into the largest, emerging generation? Of course, we know them as Millennials. Some also believe that many young people aren’t interested in radio, and have […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Radio.com’s Minimations
Television has always been better than radio at recycling, repurposing, and repackaging its best content. From reruns to syndication to the now unavoidable cable channel marathons, every show airs a multitude of times, creating lasting value for producers and networks. Radio has always struggled with this challenge. We create great content on a daily basis, yet […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: iHeartRadio
It’s no secret that the ways in which listeners are consuming audio is shifting constantly and has been for some time. The ubiquity of smartphones and the growth of streaming all but require radio stations to deliver their content in ways that consumers can access without having a radio nearby. iHeartRadio, the platform launched by […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: “Sexually Speaking” with Dr. Ruth Westheimer
We’ve been showcasing innovators here in this space since last August, without a single sexual reference – until now. Sexually Speaking, featuring the most unlikely radio talent of all time – Dr. Ruth Westheimer – took on historic mores and standards in radio broadcasting – and turned them on their side. The story behind this […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: NPR’s “Car Talk”/Doug Berman
One of the beauties of true innovations is that when they work, we accept them as the phenomenal winners they turned out to be. When they strike gold, it seems like they’ve always been there. But the truth is that in their beta stages many of these wild-eyed ideas weren’t exactly sure things, and vocal supporters […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Lee Abrams
As we look back at the way that broadcast radio has evolved, morphed, branched into tributaries like satellite radio and streaming audio, Lee Abrams has been at the precipice of many of these changes, often getting there first. I think of him as radio’s “Crown Prince of Innovation.” Lee is insightful, thoughtful, out of the box, […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Jeff Smulyan/WFAN
It’s often said that success has many fathers. The problem is that it can make it a challenge to determine who was really responsible for a great innovation. That’s what makes this week’s RMI profile so rare; a major radio innovation that is clearly credited to one person. Emmis Communications Founder and CEO Jeff Smulyan is responsible […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: XAPPmedia
It’s no coincidence that some of the most innovative developments in and around radio these past couple of years revolve around the advertising message – specifically, the interactive nature of platforms that connect audiences and brands. Last year, we highlighted Jelli, Mike Dougherty’s programmatic buying service. And with startups like Clip Interactive integrating a wide […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: NPR One
When we launched our “Radio’s Most Innovative” initiative last August, we started making lists of possible candidates from the past and the present. On the latter list, NPR One was near the top from day one. If you aren’t familiar with this remarkable app, you probably don’t work in public radio. NPR One is one of the most […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: WNIC’s “Pillow Talk” with Alan Almond
Those of you who have been following our innovation series know that we’ve been bouncing around between today’s hot new innovations in radio broadcasting to the amazing inventions and experiments from the past that turned out to be highly successful. Some of our innovations and the people behind them are familiar to you, but hopefully, […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: NextRadio
NextRadio may be the most discussed innovation in the radio industry in a long time. Like most truly noteworthy concepts, it has both admirers and detractors. But whether you’re bullish or bearish on NextRadio, you can’t argue the fact that Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan and SVP/CTO Paul Brenner and their team are making a bold effort […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Scott Segelbaum’s “Rock Art Show”
The combination of radio stations looking for new sources of revenue and advertisers searching for marketing opportunities beyond traditional spots has led to a growth spurt for station branded events. For many broadcasters, they’re becoming a bigger and bigger part of radio’s path of future growth. But creating an event from the ground up is […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Dan Vallie, National Radio Talent System, Part 2
Last week, we showcased Dan Vallie’s broadcast educational initiative, which he describes as “the farm system that we in the industry have talked about needing for decades.” According to Dan, the goal is “discovering and preparing talent we can hire today who can be leaders in our industry tomorrow.” So, this week, we wanted to […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Dan Vallie, National Radio Talent System
“The radio talent pool is really a talent puddle.” Maybe you’ve said it or heard it before, but it seems like everyone involved with hiring personnel for radio stations has shared this feeling. And then there’s that sense that young people aren’t interested in careers in radio. Well, myth or fact, it seems that until […]
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Radio's Most Innovative: Innovate This
When we started our “Radio’s Most Innovative” program back in August, we briefly discussed just how long the initiative might run. How easy or difficult might it be to find innovation in radio week in and week out? Well, almost five months later, it’s apparent – at least to us – that there is no […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Innovate This
When we started our “Radio’s Most Innovative” program back in August, we briefly discussed just how long the initiative might run. How easy or difficult might it be to find innovation in radio week in and week out? Well, almost five months later, it’s apparent – at least to us – that there is no […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Jerry Lee
There’s no doubt that deregulation forever changed the radio industry. Multitudes of operators who once owned stations in markets big and small sold their properties and left the industry behind. But not everyone is gone. One of the last remaining independent, major market broadcasters is Jerry Lee, owner of WBEB in Philadelphia. A stand-alone signal, […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Jim Fox and KKDO’s "Like/Dislike"
As long as there have been request lines piping the voices of listeners into radio station air studios, there have been PDs saying things like: “These people represent a small portion of the audience” OR “Just because a song is being requested a lot doesn’t mean it’s a hit” OR “Don’t get distracted by the […]
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Radio’s Most Innovative: Jim Fox and KKDO’s “Like/Dislike”
As long as there have been request lines piping the voices of listeners into radio station air studios, there have been PDs saying things like: “These people represent a small portion of the audience” OR “Just because a song is being requested a lot doesn’t mean it’s a hit” OR “Don’t get distracted by the […]
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