There’s a radio on my desk. I can’t remember the last time I turned it on.
It’s a device that delivers linear content, the way content has been delivered since Marconi. What’s on is on. What you hear is determined by the station. It’s the same for broadcast television: you tune to channel 5, and you get what channel 5 wants you to get at that moment.
For most of our lives, that’s how we consumed audio and video content. Appointment listening? Everything was appointment listening, out of necessity. It was that way in the Golden Age, in the Top 40 age, in every age….
Until the last decade, that is. Technology enabled on-demand entertainment and information, and enabled streaming of live content without the need for a broadcast signal or cable, and linear broadcast and cable is perceived as old news, unnecessary, a relic. Even with the minor uptick in over-the-air television viewing (hey, the old antenna works!), all the buzz is with streaming video, podcasts, DSPs, video-based social media, and YouTube. It’s conventional wisdom that the only thing keeping linear TV afloat is live sports, because watching a big game on-demand instead of live is the nichiest of niche audiences.
Now, however, sports are migrating to streaming, too: there’s football on Amazon Prime Video, baseball and soccer on Apple TV+. The audience for linear broadcast radio and TV is aging, and until national and agency dollars seek out the 55+ crowd, that’s not a good sign. So, linear services – radio and TV the way we knew it forever – are destined for the junkyard, right?
Not so fast. The common element of success for all media since Gutenberg is providing what the public wants. It’s about the content, not the medium. The medium has become increasingly irrelevant to the consumer; watching a show on your phone or on your 70-inch OLED is a matter of personal choice, but however you watch it, it’s the same show. A Taylor Swift song on Spotify is the same song on every other platform. Influencers gonna influence, whether they use TikTok or Instagram or whatever new app comes along to replace them.
News is news, whether it’s at the top of the hour on radio, or on cable news, or on social media. What people want, they will seek out.
Which means that linear radio and TV still have a shot. They’re not dead, no matter what some people like to say; as long as there’s some audience, there’s still a business. Hey, just look at the success of streaming FAST services like PlutoTV and Tubi, where much of the content is streamed as linear channels playing one show’s episodes in a neverending loop (can’t get too much “Addams Family”). And we’ll leave the toxicity of private equity, and the way the radio giants handled overleverage and financial distress, aside for a moment and focus on this: If you give the people what they want, even if it’s not on-demand, you’ll draw an audience.
Let’s say, for example, that an influencer like MrBeast, who draws millions to whatever platform he uses for a particular stunt, announces a huge giveaway that will take place not on TikTok or Instagram but on broadcast radio. Tune in at a series of appointed times to find out how to win. You don’t think kids will listen? Maybe they won’t listen on a radio, but they’ll find the stations on their phone apps. Maybe they’ll stick around if they like what they hear next.
Aggressive local news, live events, letting local residents do guest talk shows… whatever you can do that’s a) unique, b) exclusive, and c) what your target audience wants, well, do it.
Do it because what you’re doing now isn’t really working. It’s time to get really creative and throw everything out there, not just ticket giveaways and Two-Fer Tuesdays. Get people talking. Play on their FOMO.
If you have great, exclusive content, spread the word. Might as well not let those broadcast signals and streams go to waste. There’s no need to surrender when there’s even the slightest opportunity to make things work again.
Give me a reason to turn on that radio on my desk.
Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
