The New Radio Industry is Online

I loved the radio industry - the broadcast radio industry. It was so wrapped up in presenting content in theater-of-the-mind style, and the opportunity for being creative was there, every day. Example: Produce a radio program on how to light a baseball stadium. That was the challenge when The Cleveland Indians opened its new stadium in 1994. The lighting system was new, and SportsRadio WKNR was tasked with explaining its efficacy. I got to write and produce the program, and voice the bumpers. One of our sports-talk talents hosted the program. (Sample it here.)

"As new dashboards hit, opportunity grows. Small players have an equal chance at becoming big, which makes it the perfect time to be an enthusiastic amateur radio programmer."

"The Illumination of Baseball" is a style of radio programming that no longer exists. It disappeared with earlier long and short form programming, wherein a DJ had a "show," or when an orchestra was in the studio. Radio today is as different from the above genre of programming as it is from the "Lone Ranger" days. Be clear. I'm not advocating bringing anything back.

What I do call for is an attempt to entertain and inform within a radio format using a listener's ability to visualize. It is the only way to build a relationship with an audience using audio alone.

The broadcast radio industry has lost sight of this objective, leaving opportunities to build new radio programming online.

Online is where people who believe they are creative build programs. Whether or not they are good is opinion, but at least they try making "new."

There is a sudden, growing fear in the radio industry that digitally-delivered audio is competition. Stations in markets 75+ have a few more years of utility left. Larger markets, while having numbers to boast, are realizing Return on Investment (ROI) demands from advertisers cannot be waived. With the debt carried by major players, there are questions on an ability to create content of quality. The culling of creative types has been noticed.

Youth find their own audio platforms. Adults take longer, but eventually swing to "new."

We are witnessing a building momentum for change. Given the lack of creative power within radio, there's an opening for online radio stations to take a chance and be different. Create. Make something worthy of being passed on among friends.

As new dashboards hit, opportunity grows. Small players have an equal chance at becoming big, which makes it the perfect time to be an enthusiastic amateur radio programmer.

Of course, it comes with caveats: You must have your own style, and present it so your audience can visualize the content.

From noted programmer John Gorman: It's one out of a hundred, one out of a thousand, one out of tens of thousands. Occasionally one grows. And Internet radio is overdue for that superstation - the one others will aspire to be like. The one that gets the programming and business plan down pat - and able to grow slowly and steadily like a craft beer or a local band that goes national.

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While the broadcast side of radio has a near lockout on indie artists, introducing music is open wide to internet stations.

Here's a Pop artist to consider: Carmin Blinn.

sample song

Carmin Blinn Download Song Tweet

Give Carmin Blinn's "I Wish" a listen.

Add it to your playlist, free! Such is the new world of music distribution.

The radio industry had its shot. It's time internet radio programmers take a chance and reach into a huge pile of talent. It is there that new hit songs will increasingly be found.

It's obvious to all except those in denial that the new radio industry is online.










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