Plenty was made on Wednesday about “National Radio Day”. I didn’t have an official post on my social media channels because I’ve never been one of those “acknowledge a random day” guys. Did you know Wednesday was also National Lemonade Day? Yeah, no one cares about that either.
Those of us employed in radio need to treat every day as National Radio Day. It’s our job to hype up and be the biggest cheerleaders for our industry. If you’re not doing that every single day, you don’t get to make up for it with a social media post one day per year. It’s like the husband who only shows affection for his wife on her birthday, their anniversary, and Valentine’s Day. You do that, and your marriage will crash and burn. If radio folks take that approach, this industry will crash and burn.
As Garrett Searight noted in a column this week, “The [radio] story is good. Radio is still the most consumed audio platform. Millions of people rely on it daily for news, entertainment, and music. When disasters strike, radio is often the first line of communication for communities. Sports fans rely on play-by-play broadcasts when they can’t be in front of a TV.”
That is entirely true, and radio remains the best medium for forming intimate connections with an audience in a way that other platforms, such as writing and video, simply can’t match. And these are the stories radio needs to brag about as well.
Earlier this week, I learned on my KCMO Talk Radio morning show that a loyal listener had passed away. He was not a caller. Not a texter, to the best of my knowledge. Brett Bacon was 38 years old and died in a tragic accident, leaving behind five children. I learned about this because several listeners reached out, saying that his 13-year-old daughter delivered a speech at his Celebration of Life and talked about how he would listen to my show while driving her to school every morning. She wasn’t always engaged with it, but the show was part of her routine with her father. And it stuck with her enough that she chose to address this in front of hundreds of people.
Those stories, even in a competitive and oversaturated media environment, will always set spoken-word content, still led by radio, apart from any other medium. And there isn’t a close second. It’s part of the intimacy of the format that is largely unmatched.
And these are the stories that radio needs to continue to be proud of. Every on-air personality likely has a similar story they can tell or share. Some will have several similar stories. But listeners hear these stories and realize these shows connect. And they matter. Whether it’s a local show, regional show, or national show, they can all connect with the audience in a one-on-one manner that can’t be topped by any other platform.
The voices, the characters, the live element to the product, and the way that these are reliable, relatable voices there every single day on a drive to work or a drive home, or late at night, is an important part of the job that too often gets overlooked, even by those on the inside of the industry.
As we reflect on National Radio Day, rather than thinking of it as a one-day selfie and hashtag, let’s be a daily champion and share and promote regular examples that prove the value of this medium is strong, despite facing headwinds.
It’s filled with talented people who are making life-long connections with listeners and are creating connections that will keep the platform competitive for years to come. The only thing that will sink radio as a viable platform for high-quality content distribution and engaging advertising opportunities is the industry itself. But that column can be saved for another week.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the Vice President of News/Talk for Cumulus Media, while also hosting “Mundo in the Morning” and programming KCMO Talk Radio in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on X @PeteMundo.
