What impressed me most at the Barrett Media Summit wasn’t just the star power in the room. There were plenty of recognizable names, familiar voices, and people who have built significant careers in this business. That part was great.
But what stuck with me most was the youth.
I talked to a handful of bright students who came looking to get a foot in the door. They wanted to learn, ask questions, meet people, and be part of whatever radio and audio become next. They were not sitting around waiting for an invitation. They showed up. They listened. They talked to people. They put themselves in the room.
Simply put, we need more of that.
More Than Data and Demographics
We need corporate execs and data analytics — of course we do. But we also need more college kids who understand what it means to connect. They are not doing it because it is a business. They are doing it because it is a passion. That matters. In some ways, that passion may be the very thing radio needs to find again.
Then, as the summit went on, college radio kept popping up in different panels and conversations. Not always as the main topic, but enough to make me realize something. Maybe college radio is not something from the past that we recall with a smile and a story about our first bad overnight shift. Maybe college radio is starting to move back toward the center of the conversation.
During one summit conversation about talent and the future of content, the point was made that “there still is college radio being done with incredibly creative people who want to be in this industry.” That line stuck with me because it runs counter to so much of the doom and gloom we hear about the next generation. They are out there. They are creating. They are experimenting. They are trying to find their way in.
Where It All Started
For me, that hits home.
My years at WRAS Atlanta were the pathway to 99X in the 90s. Without that pivotal point in my career — and without walking through the doors at WRAS — I would not have had the career that I have had. It is that simple. College radio gave me a place to learn, to make mistakes, to figure out what worked, to understand music, and to begin becoming who I was going to become in this business.
I owe a lot to college radio. And I intend to repay it.
Because I believe in the medium. I believe in radio. And I believe in college radio.
A Loss Bigger Than We Realized
Somewhere along the way, college radio fell off to the side. The industry got bigger, more consolidated, more measured, more researched, and more cautious. There were fewer training grounds, fewer places to experiment, and fewer places to be wrong before you got good.
That may have been a bigger loss than we realized.
At some point — and maybe this is it — big media has to recognize that the youth of America may be the primer that helps us figure out where to go next. Not just analytics. Not just past history. Not just another look at what worked before. Young people are the ones venturing into new territory, trying to redefine an age-old medium in real time.
That does not mean we throw away research. It does not mean we ignore experience. But it does mean we should stop pretending the next answer will only come from the same places we have always looked.
The New Language of Connection
Because now, as radio tries to figure out what comes next, it may be time to look back at the place where so many of us started. Not out of nostalgia, but out of necessity.
The next generation understands things many of us are still trying to figure out. They understand what resonates on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Discord, podcasts, short-form video, group chats, and all the places where culture actually moves. They do not separate audio, video, social, and community the way the traditional broadcast industry often does.
To them, a show is not just a show. It is a clip. It is a moment. It is a comment. It is an inside joke. It is a shared experience. It is something that lives beyond the studio and beyond the signal.
Teachers and Students at the Same Time
That does not mean college students know everything. They do not. They still need guidance, coaching, and the fundamentals of structure, storytelling, discipline, responsibility, and how to respect an audience.
But we should stop pretending we know everything, too.
We are not all-knowing. We are not sitting on top of some mountain, handing wisdom down to the next generation. At our best, we should be teachers and students at the same time.
That is where college radio becomes so important again. These young broadcasters may not be trying to change the world — or maybe they are. Either way, they are much closer to the way younger audiences actually think, listen, share, laugh, discover, and connect.
That matters.
Let Them In
The tastemakers and gatekeepers in the broadcast industry should not be shy about looking to college students for direction. That does not make the industry weaker. In fact, it makes it smarter.
Radio needs ideas. It needs energy. It needs people who are not afraid to try something before a committee has a chance to water it down. It needs young people who understand the secret sauce of what connects now.
College radio may not have all the answers. But it may be closer to the answers than we are willing to admit.
So let’s lean into that. Let’s listen to them. Let’s invite them in. Let’s give them a real seat at the table.
Because the future of radio may not be waiting for us to teach it.
It may already be trying to teach us.
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David Hill serves as a Music Radio Editor, Columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. A radio lifer with more than 30 years behind the mic, in the control room, and in the program director’s chair, David’s career spans influential stops at brands such as WIYY 98 Rock, WBAL-AM, and 99X. He has worked across multiple formats and ownership groups, including iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media, developing talent, breaking music, and navigating every major industry shift from diary to PPM and terrestrial dominance to streaming disruption. When he’s not writing or analyzing the industry, Dave runs The Tune Farm, a marketing firm built to help artists and brands grow audience the same way great radio always has—by creating connection, not just impressions. He can be reached at David@BarrettMedia.com.