Yes, it has been a while since I’ve written anything here. This was partially due to the fact that I feel like I’m preaching to the choir on this platform. Most of the readers here “get it” – but the people who need to hear this message the most – the people in charge – simply weren’t listening, so I stopped.\u00a0 But I’ve heard from several of you that you actually enjoyed my rants and found them to be a source of inspiration because I’m able to say things here that you wish that you could. But because you’re stuck “in the system,” you are unable to speak up. So if this is serving some type of purpose, I’ll continue to post from time to time.<\/p>\n
Amazingly, very little has changed since my last article. With some exceptions, the radio industry continues to make mistakes and inflict wounds upon itself. Large corporations are all busy trying to systemize content as much as possible…. taking mediocre, generic content and distributing it cheaply across as many stations as possible to reduce costs. Never mind that this scheme is making radio less relevant to listeners because the “content” is largely stripped of anything local, compelling, or unique.<\/p>\n
If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’d like to take you on a journey back to the future. Some of you can recall a time when AM radio reigned supreme, and FM stations were basically experimental. The experimental nature of FM at the time led to the innovation of the AOR or “Album Rock” format. The combination of “underground music” and talent who were unusual “characters” curating the experience with a counter-culture approach made for a very authentic experience compared to other commercial radio offerings at the time. These stations developed cult followings, and many eventually became powerhouse brands that still exist today. Ironically, just like many stations today, the experimental FM’s back then didn’t have many resources. The marketing and research dollars that existed back then went to the powerhouse AM stations across the hall. The FM’s had nothing to lose, so they followed their instincts and experimented with concepts that defied conventional thinking at the time. There was nothing to lose, so who cares? Take the risk!<\/p>\n
The reason that I said “back to the future” earlier is because we need to bring back this “experimental” type of thinking. Let’s face it – many stations are again in the position where they have “nothing to lose,” and trying something completely different or unusual might bring about the next big thing.<\/p>\n
You don’t have to look very far. There are plenty of podcasts with large audiences who are experimenting with content that you would never hear or find on commercial radio. But why? Why aren’t we giving creative programmers an opportunity to experiment with actual broadcast stations? There are so many clusters of 5 and 6 stations where only 3 or 4 stations are currently viable. Why not take that 5th or 6th station and try something radical? Are you really any worse<\/em> off if you tried something and it didn’t work? And what if you stumble onto something big?<\/p>\n You’ll never really know until you actually take a risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes, it has been a while since I’ve written anything here. This was partially due to the fact that I feel like I’m preaching to the choir on this platform. Most of the readers here “get it” – but the people who need to hear this message the most – the people in charge – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5i4nE-1z","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104,"url":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=104","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":0},"title":"A Living, Breathing Thing…","author":"admin","date":"December 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Early into my time in New York, I met someone who would become one of my closest friends. Mike Erickson was the Chief Engineer of WCBS-FM, and quickly impressed me because he's one of the most passionate people I've ever met in radio. We both share a passion for great\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=104#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=25","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":1},"title":"Announcers versus Personalities","author":"admin","date":"November 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In all the years I've programmed radio, I'm not sure that I ever hired an on-air \"announcer\" - I'm not even sure what that title means or why ANYBODY would have the need for one. I've always searched for personalities. Even when I've hired a station imaging voice, I never\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"disrupt\"","block_context":{"text":"disrupt","link":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?tag=disrupt"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33,"url":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=33","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":2},"title":"Your True Calling","author":"admin","date":"November 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I admit it. I'm a sucker for those YouTube clips from shows like America's Got Talent, X-Factor, etc, where you see an awkward looking misfit who \u00a0works the fast-food window as their day job get up on stage and the judges all roll their eyes as if they just KNOW\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":123,"url":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=123","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":3},"title":"Real Solutions for Radio","author":"admin","date":"October 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the most talked about sessions at this year's NAB Radio Show was a presentation on listener's reactions to long stopsets. The presentation included video of the listener's real time reactions to an 11-minute commercial break. Now, I'm sincerely not trying to be sarcastic... but is the state of\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=123#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=39","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":4},"title":"Finding Radio’s “Why?”","author":"admin","date":"November 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm a huge fan of Simon Sinek. In his book \"Start With Why,\" Sinek proposes that the best and most innovative companies and leaders have a strong sense of purpose, or \"why\". And much of the success of the most innovative companies is due to their leaders abilities to inspire\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35,"url":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/?p=35","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":5},"title":"Your Own Transmitter","author":"admin","date":"November 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"According to his employer's website, Dan Thorn took the path that many others do who want to be on TV. He earned his degree in Broadcast Journalism from Brooklyn College. He interned at a couple of New York City TV stations before landing a starter job in production in upstate\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102,"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.domtheodore.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}