Since March, it’s been clear 2020 will likely go down as the Worst. Year. Ever.
It’s hard to argue with that one. From COVID to racial tensions to political divisions to economic pressures, the U.S. ends 2020 hoping for better days ahead.
It seems hard to believe that simply turning the page on a calendar and hearing Ryan Seacrest wish us a “Happy New Year” will turn the tide and change our fortunes.
But NYE symbolizes the passage of time, and hope for a better year for all of us, personally and professionally.
COVID has turned out to be a heartbreaker. In America alone, 340,000 deaths (and rising), thousands of failed businesses, and economic hardships have punctuated 2020. And those are just the impacts we can see. The educational deficit many of our kids and grandchildren have endured, as well as the mental anguish that millions of people are feeling, are under the radar but very much a factor in our well being.
It is not possible to measure heartache, but we all feel it.
For the radio broadcasting industry, the year started off with much financial pressure amid end-of-2019 cutbacks and “reductions in force.” COVID exacerbated many of radio’s problems and its challenges.
But it also brought out the best in many people working in radio, from the corner office to the sales cubicles to the control room – or in reality, those bedrooms, basements, and other makeshift studios.
And we’ll start this blog out next year (Monday, January 4th to be precise) by looking back at some of the ways radio broadcasters made lemonade out of those intense challenges we faced in 2020.
Looking forward.
Happy new year to you all, be safe, and we’ll see you right back here in 2021.
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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