You may have read the story last week about how Warren Buffet bought another newspaper – this time, it was the Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia. This continues an ongoing purchasing pattern for his incredibly successful company, Berkshire Hathaway, of scooping up distressed small and medium size newspapers.
Why would one of the richest men in the world – and clearly, one of the savviest investors ever – be sinking serious money into legacy media? Buffet explained his rationale a couple years back:
“…I believe that papers delivering comprehensive and reliable information to tightly-bound communities and having a sensible Internet strategy will remain viable for a long time.”
Whether newspapers are still viable in 2016 is an important topic, and it reflects an ongoing conversation in this blog revolving around the continued efficacy of radio as an industry…and as a career choice. Many of the commenters on JacoBLOG openly debate if radio broadcasting is still a growth industry or whether it has seen better days.
This idea of whether radio is on the “up” escalator or heading “down” is something that those of us in the business ponder every day. And for those of us with kids in high school and college, it’s also a household topic.
Would you recommend your son or daughter get into radio in the next five years?
Now some new stats from McKinsey, using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, suggest that a media career (radio is not specified) is a solid choice because the digital revolution has transformed the equation. “Media” is second in growth and in “digitization,” second only to the oil and gas industry (and you have to wonder how they are holding up). And that opens the door to career opportunities and economic fulfillment. 
This data also makes the point that the skills essential for thriving in media are changing, and that digital chops will be a necessity moving forward. That may not be a happy message for many of radio’s aging rank and file, but it does offer potential for the next generation of radio employees who grew up with smartphones and tablets in their cribs.
Business Insider writer, Matt Rosoff, framed it up this way in an article that appeared late last year:
“Forget the doomsayers: Media is a fine career choice thanks to the digital shift”
Looking at radio companies in just the past year or so suggests that same shift is underway. Among most of the broadcasters we interact with, many of their new hires have “digital” in their titles and/or job descriptions, suggesting the McKinsey data makes sense.
It’s something to consider during the next one of those daddy/daughter, mommy/son conversations about education, jobs, careers, and the future.
Maybe radio is stepping on the “up” escalator.
This topic is at the core of Gordon Borrell’s LOAC 2016 conference in late February in NYC. I’ll be speaking about the impact of the “connected car.” The agenda is excellent and worthy of your time. Check it out 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 think the digital qualifier is what makes radio an outlier. Radio seems to have pushed revenue into digital, rather than really commit to it and let the market do its work.
There are serious financial challenges to a wholesale migration from broadcast to digital…plus people still love and use terrestrial radio, so even if that weren’t the case it might not be the best strategy.
Honestly, I don’t know how anyone could suggest that the current radio landscape makes a good career choice. Seemingly endless cuts to all departments is enough to rule it out. I started out in sales and could not have improved my situation the way I did coming up in this environment as I couldn’t have moved to a different station, or leveraged the option to gain more responsibility.
To be fair, digital media sales isn’t a great career choice even outside of radio, as its become so commoditized that many of the things that talented sales people can bring to the equation don’t apply.
IMO Radio as a medium has a brighter future than radio as a career.
Bob, I do believe that digital jobs in radio have become a growing category and will continue to expand this year and beyond. The monetization piece continues to be a conundrum, but inside most companies, the digital commitment has gotten stronger. This should be an interesting year. Thanks for the comment.
A belated Happy New Year Fred!
I don’t see “radio” as a desirable career choice without a few things happening, most importantly the largest companies in radio broadcasting need to stabilize. If Apple, Amazon and Google were all in danger of filing for bankruptcy far fewer college bound young adults would be considering career paths in programming…computer programming that is. The companies I just mentioned require long hours but they also offer desirable benefits, they are currently growing with more growth forecasted into the foreseeable future and they have enough cache that at least one current hit TV show (Silicon Valley) has been developed around their industry.
Radio has a lot of upside if the industry gets it’s finances in order and embraces both technology and the innovation talked about daily in your blog. Even if all of that happens though and the college kids come it won’t be to what we think of as traditional radio jobs. The growth will be in developing teams similar to the crew Zach Sang has assembled including visual producers and writers. The future job seekers in radio, and really the current ones, need to have a diverse skill set to create compelling content, market it and bring it to their audience wherever they might be.
Thanks for keeping the conversation going to kick off the first week of 2016.
Appreciate the thoughts and comments, Sean. It’s a process to be sure, and the radio industry has a way to go to stay competitive in the Millennial job market.
Great thoughts and info Fred. So very timely for me.
As God and my parents genes gave me a great voice and my Mom gave me a quirky personality as well as being the beneficiary of my Dad’s great story telling and creative writing ability…our now 18 yo son is ready to take on a broadcasting career.
I need to be careful, as any parent does, not to sway him one way or another. I do feel it’s important to give some ‘real life’ advice, especially since I was a broadcaster for 10+ years.
He is a really smart kid (as long as it isn’t advanced pre cal type math :)) and is a hidden genius when it comes to devices/software…that said, he did also receive the same benefit of a cool deep voice and creative quirky genes.
Stay tuned 😉
Sounds like all the right parts are in place. The device/software piece will come in very handy. Thanks for the comment, John.
Fred,
I have been out of Broadcasting school for over a year now and can’t find a job which is obvious for most…. How is it possible to do so I am passionate about this and decided on it as a career due to my love for music. I fell in love right from the start but after reading your article I have to ask, is their still hope?
I’m sure you hear that question all the time…
Alex, thanks for commenting, and sorry that’s it been a tough task to get the foot in the door. As the majority of radio vets reading your comment would tell you, once you get that first job, you’re typically off and running. Everyone’s personal situation is different, but I can also tell you that many of us got our start by interning for an area radio station. Of course, you may not get financially compensated, but it does expose you to the inner-workings of a station and it introduces you to radio managers – most of whom are more comfortable hiring people they know and who they’ve worked with. Hopefully, that internship wouldn’t last too long and might lead to full-time work. If any radio pros reading this wish to add to my response to Alex, have at it. Thanks again.
Let’s assume you’re right; I certainly hope you are. What can an old-timer like me do in the short run to rejuvenate my career?
-JW
I don’t want to counsel someone I don’t know and I have no background in who you are and what you’ve done. Radio (and every industry these days) is looking for people who can bring value to the organization. That could be any number of things – from digital know-how to video editing to customer service to being able to effectively market the station. There are many voids inside radio stations, in spite of reduced staffing. I hope these don’t come off as empty words. Thanks for writing.