It’s a simple question, really.
And some of you know the answer in a heartbeat. For others, it’s a struggle. And as you run down your staff (or what’s left of it), you may start thinking in relative terms. It shouldn’t be that difficult. There was a time when every station had one obvious personality who was the standout—the engaging, smart, funny, clever one. Or the host who told the best stories. Or answered the studio line when you called. Or made sure she said hello to or pose for a selfie with every last fan at the remote or bar night.
And in fact, that person is needed more in radio at this time than perhaps any time in the medium’s last century. And that includes armies of riveting personalities and hosts. Because today, it’s these people who may be very well holding the station together—the talent who captures attention and differentiates your station from the others in town or the myriad of audio and video options available with a click, swipe, or touch of a button.
Lately, I’ve been posing the “beer with” question in focus groups and quantitative studies our company does because I love the responses it generates. It’s not the same as asking about general preference nor is it necessarily comparable to respondents telling us who’s the funniest personality on the station.
Watching the body language in the groups, I like the process. It’s interesting seeing the wheels turn as our participants give it a good think before revealing their answer to this telling question.
I think of that person as your station’s “standard bearer,” defined by Merriam-Webster as “someone who bears a standard, or someone who leads an organization, movement, or party. It can also refer to a person who carries an emblem or flag.”
In other words, someone who can deliver your message in the most compelling, charismatic way. The person you want waving your flag, connecting with your station.
The person most members of your audience would like to sit down and have a beer with.
These circumstances came to light a quarter century ago when George W. Bush ran against Al Gore to determine who would occupy the Oval Office for the next four years. (After a contentious Supreme Court decision that ultimately settled that question, Bush would go on to serve eight full years in the White House.) But when he first ran, the former governor of Texas became known as the candidate most voters would like to have a beer with. He came after a series of somewhat awkward guys, including Bob Dole and W’s father, George H.W. Bush, both of whom were skilled politicians but lacked that eye contact, “everyman” type quality.
Each was defeated by Bill Clinton, the candidate most Democrats in the ’90s wanted to enjoy some time with over a lager. Just as W became his party’s standard bearer, he replaced the guy who held the same position for the other side. And a party—or a radio station—that’s searching for that often elusive person is often in the #2—or worse—position in any given race.
Like the Democratic party. At a time when they should be marshalling their resources, they are actually losing ground. And while you can point the finger at any number of reasons or excuses for the slippage since Trump has returned to D.C., first on the list is the obvious voice at the top of the Dems’ heap. There’s no one person to rally around, no moral or philosophical leader to get behind. The Democrats may still be a party of ideas, but until they’ve got their standard bearer, they’re destined to flail and dither.
It’s the same thing, whether we’re talking about a radio station or a church. In fact, we’ve watched the same drama play out at the most famous church in the world these past few weeks in Vatican City. The knowledgeable and perceptive Cardinals at the conclave earlier this month knew their job wasn’t merely to replace Pope Francis with the “next man up” as they refer to it in sports, but with a standard bearer for the entire Catholic faith. So far, so good.
Any of us can see a similar scenario playing out at our local church or synagogue. The person delivering hopefully inspirational messages will fare far better when he/she is the standard bearer for that particular congregation. I thought about this aspect of religious leadership over the weekend when I read “Dick Taylor’s Blog” which conveniently shows up on Sunday, often when I’m deeply immersed in planning out the coming week.
Dick’s new post, “How You Say It, Makes All the Difference,” took us back to two Easter services he and his wife attended this past Easter. And the difference between the two? The pastor delivering an important message on one of the most solemn days on the calendar. And as Dick deftly explained, one connected with his flock, delivering the sermon in an engaging relatable way. The other merely “preached,” and predictably, his attempt to connect his congregants to the big issues of the day fell woefully short.
In the process of telling his story, Dick included the chart below which many of you have seen not just in our new Techsurvey 2025, but over the last nine years when the result has been the same. Among the tens of thousands of core radio listeners who took our survey this year, the power of personalities trumped the appeal of music for a radio medium that’s trying to recapture its equilibrium, if not its mojo.
Every time I publish or present this chart, someone asks why so many corporate leaders don’t seem to get it, seemingly acting against their companies’ best interests every time they RIF another station personality.
And I explain that a strategy that requires having a standard bearer at the top of the heap can be expensive, arduous, and aggravating. It can also be disheartening and even devastating, especially when the organization has invested time, energy, coaching, and of course, lots of money investing in a personality, only to see it blow up when that person goes across the street for even more money, falls into scandal, or becomes unmanageable.
We’ve all been there. The personality path is the longer, more circuitous road, littered with obstacles and even heartbreak. But that’s the “no risk – no reward” equation at work. The standard bearer approach yields the big wins, and in a world where the competition for a consumer’s time and attention has never been higher, it continues to be the smartest approach.
That was true during the glory days of WABC, as Dick reminds us, when amazing communicators like Ron Lundy and Dan Ingram ruled the airwaves, as it is today when Pierre Robert (pictured) or Nik Carter crack the mic at WMMR and KLOS respectively. They are the modern-day standard bearers for their still-iconic radio brands, more than five decades worth of engaging, entertaining, and compelling talent.
Jacobs Media clients learned this way back in 2002 when author
Emanuel Rosen keynoted our Summit that year at the R&R Convention in L.A. His new book, The Anatomy of Buzz, had just hit store shelves, a great read about the source and the power of word of mouth marketing.
As Emanuel posted in a key question and a telling response:
Q. What do people talk about most?
A. Other people.
It’s that simple…and that hard.
You either have that standard bearer…or you don’t.
After decades, the famed investment Berkshire Hathaway is learning this lesson in real time. Its iconic leader, the “Oracle of Omaha”—Warren Buffett (pictured), will be 
stepping down at the end of this year at the ripe old age of 95. He’s been the face of the company—its standard bearer—for seventy years.
But now the fate of the company is in the hands of Buffett’s successor, Greg Abel. Like Tim Cook (Apple), Andy Jassy (Amazon), and Steve Balmer (Microsoft) before him, all of whom replaced standard bearers in their massive companies, being next in line is no easy task. (Of course, I’m talking about the challenge of taking over for Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates, all of whom eventually were replaced.)
The strategy of finding, developing, and nurturing radio station standard bearers is nothing new. But it is clearly more challenging in today’s environment. That’s why Don Anthony and I have worked together these past seven years on our AQ research initiative—gathering and learning actionable information about radio personalities, their hopes, fears, and goals.
At this year’s Morning Show Boot Camp, we’re going to do something a little different. I’ll be pulling insights from the last six years of AQ research as “jump balls” for a superstar session of radio personalities and programmers.
At last summer’s Boot Camp in San Diego, I presented the key findings for AQ6. And as I left the stage, Michelle Younkman, CEO of Christian Music Broadcasters, intercepted me to ask about whether we couldn’t conduct a similar study for her members. And we shook hands on it then and there. Now, months later, the study is back from the field, ready to go, and loaded with important characteristics about how talent is getting it done.
Here is just a sampling of driving questions for this new study:
How are Christian music personalities different from the ones we’ve listened to for years on commercial stations? What motivates them, how do they perceive the Christian radio platform, and how can her members gain insights that will help them navigate the strategic landscape this year and beyond?
We’ll learn the answers to these key questions at CMB’s wonderful “Momentum” conference in Orlando next week. I’ll be honored to take the main stage and help hundreds of attendees better understand their personality mindset in 2025 in the Christian music format.
It is all about seeing the playing field with a clear-eyed perspective, something that audience research can help uncover.
But ultimately, radio broadcasters have to decide:
Who’s waving your flag?
Who’s holding your beer?
Registration for Momentum is closed, but you can register for an On-demand option here. Look for updates here and on JacoBLOG.
Registration for Morning Show Boot Camp in Austin this summer is here.
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 had a consultant back when I was programming 98 Rock in Des Moines, IA that I sounded like a guy the listeners would like have a beer with. I took that compliment to heart and have tried to connect with my listeners even more since then.
You can’t go wrong prioritizing listennig to your listeners. Thanks for sharing that story.
Thank You, Fred, for sharing my thoughts and extending them in your blog today.
What we are both addressing is what makes any enterprise great; it’s leader, or as you called it, its “standard bearer.”
I hope this message breaks through to the leaders of today’s radio industry, the people who will make or break our wonderful industry’s future.
I hope so, too. It’s not just a good idea, it’s an imperative. Thanks for the inspiration, Dick.
Fred: I really like this one. Sometimes when you are blessed with a group of really professional talent It’s hard to narrow it down. Good example Howard Stern who we hired to do mornings at “Real Radio”. It would be hard to imagine anyone in Orlando could beat him on the beer scale. Yes most wanted to meet Howard and spend time with him, frankly that included me. However, he would not have been my pick. No, that goes to PM drive personality at that time, Jim Philips. Philips was your next door neighbor and the magnet that brought in the newbies. WABC everyone would say Dan Ingram but to me it was Ron Lundy.
Here, if everyone promises not to try and steel him, it’s morning man Donnie Shaffer. If your a “radio pro” and drive through the market you wont get it. (Not you Fred as I know you do get it and have for years.)
I guess it’s because early in my career I was lucky enough to work with the Great Salty Brien on WPRO Providence and the infamies Bob Steel at WTIC Harford. Very different approaches, and exactly correct for their market. The “it”factor or let’s have a beer with this person that makes all the difference.