Everyone who has worked in radio for any length of time has, at one point or another, looked at the decisions made by a station’s management team and thought, “I could do better.” Now, with the release of the new game Airwave Empire, we all finally get our chance.
I recently got served an ad on Instagram — way to go, algorithm — for the newly released game and had to investigate. The link took me to a home page that greeted me with a challenge: “Can you win the ratings war?” The splash page also said I would get to “build radio stations, fight for listeners, and crush the competition.” But of course, it had me at “ratings war.”
Curious to learn more, I reached out to Brian Schrader, who built the game. Ironically, it turns out that Airwave Empire is the brainchild of someone who works in television. “As a kid I fell headlong into a love of radio,” he says. “I was fortunate enough at fifteen to get a job at a little local radio station and just loved it. Since then, even though I moved into television, I’ve always kept up with the industry.”
That lifelong obsession also led to the belief that media — and more specifically radio — was a great framework for a game. He started developing a board game based on the industry more than a decade ago. Then technology caught up to his vision. “With the miracle of AI coding I thought ‘wow I could turn this into a realistic simulation of radio.'”
From Vision to Vibe Coding
Using an agent for vibe coding, he was able to develop the framework of Airwave Empire in just a few weeks. However, he emphasizes it wasn’t as simple as it might sound. “Vibe coding is powerful, but it still requires a human guide. I didn’t just say, hey, create a radio game and it spit all this out. I have spent hours and hours on this and I still spend three or four hours a day getting the game into the form you see today.”
That form gives players the opportunity to do everything that goes into running a radio station — like choosing target demographics, making format decisions, hiring and firing talent, budgeting for marketing, and even managing sales — so that hopefully your station is profitable.
Delving Into the Past
An interesting facet of the game is that players can run stations in different eras. It starts around 1970, which Schrader sees as one of the most interesting times for the industry. “That felt like the most accessible start for the game because it’s where you really begin to have the specialization of formats,” he explains. “One of my favorite scenarios to play is where you’re the middle of the road heritage station who has this big audience facing more specialized competition as the decade goes on. You have to decide, ‘what are we going to do?'”
It’s important to note that the gameplay, even back to 1970, is based on actual market conditions and history. These aren’t made-up stations in an imaginary town. Gameplay takes place in cities we all know, built on top of a base of historical radio data.
Schrader credits David Gleason’s World Radio History site, which he describes as having “tons of archival material.” That includes Duncan’s American Radio, which chronicles the ratings of American radio stations. “They laid the groundwork. Jim Duncan did the research, painstakingly compiling those ratings histories. Through David’s website I was able to access it all, and that really provides the foundation for how the game works.”
Coming Back to the Future
As the game progresses through different eras, changes in the industry are reflected accordingly. “The way that the game is developed, the FCC ownership regulations match the time. It gradually loosens to what we have today,” explains Schrader.
With the coming of the Telecomm Act and consolidation, players will face off against bigger companies that are consolidating their holdings. Some might even sound familiar. “As you get into the mid and late 90s there are some companies, for example Clearwave and Nimbus, that begin buying up your competitors.”
That puts players in the role of the stand-alone local broadcaster, but maybe not forever. “Right now, you’re playing in one market and can own whatever the cap is at the time,” he says. “You can’t, in the current iteration of the game, then go to another market and buy stations. But that is on the roadmap.”
Streaming, Revenue, and the Road Ahead
Beyond ownership changes, players who choose more modern eras will also encounter changing technology. “When you get to 2005 in the game, you can start investing in streaming, which could eventually show up in the ratings and make you some money. But it’s not going to replace what you were making from your terrestrial broadcast.”
Also true to challenges the industry faces, available revenues start to decline as players operate stations through the 2000s and beyond. “You’re going to have to make some decisions,” promises Schrader. “As the local broadcaster, are you willing to accept a 5% profit margin on your FM station? Or maybe your FM station is doing well, but you’ve got an AM station that you are emotionally attached to, so you’re willing to subsidize it with the FM’s profits. That’s all up to you.”
Digging Into the Details
Running a radio station in the game isn’t just about surface-level decisions. It gets into the nitty-gritty. The ratings are broken down into different demos, so players can obsess about gaining and losing numbers in small demographic slices from one ratings book to the next — just like real Program Directors.
“It’s not as simple as just deciding to do album rock and cutting it loose,” Schrader says. “You have to really nail down what you want to do.” That includes everything from negotiating talent contracts to deciding on spot loads and more. Additionally, players can generate their own station logos, create jingles, and invest in having a station van if they choose. “Not only does a van look cool, but it does boost your promotional efforts. You’ll get a little extra mileage out of whatever you set your promotion budget at.”
Another feature that mirrors how the industry changed over time is the option not to have live, local talent in every daypart. “Early on you have automation available. Then in the mid-nineties you can start voice tracking.” But just like in real life, the audience will respond to those choices. “They’re going to be more likely to connect with real talent over automation, but they might be more willing to accept voice trackers.”
Mornings Still Matter
Furthermore, mornings remain the most important daypart. Schrader says the simulation gives extra weight to mornings in determining the overall success of the station. “You’re allowed to pick how much you want to invest in the sound of the station and which dayparts to focus on. So, once you get mornings doing well, then you can start working on other dayparts. But you’ve got to have a good morning show or you’re probably going to struggle.”
Every decision you make in the game has consequences for your station, especially the bad ones. “I’ve enjoyed coming up with stuff that affects morale,” Schrader says. “If the station’s ratings are sliding, the staff starts to lose faith in management, and they become harder to retain.”
And if all else fails, players can get outside help. “You can commission a research report that goes really in depth into what’s going on in the market,” he says. “It also provides specifics for your station, looks at who your competitors are, and how they are positioned.”
Finding the Game’s Target Audience
Schrader says he expects the main audience for the game will be radio industry folks, but there are also a number of people who play simulation and business strategy games like this for industries they aren’t part of. He’s hoping to eventually catch their attention as well.
“For the radio people, who hasn’t thought ‘what if I had the keys to this place? How would it turn out?'” Schrader says. “Well, now you can find out and potentially lose imaginary money if you run it into the ground.”
And for anyone who does decide to play, Schrader says feedback is welcome, especially from people who are in the business. “If they have any ideas or suggestions I hope that they’ll take the time to send me a note because I really do want to make this the most realistic radio station management simulation possible.”
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Mike Stern is a Classic Rock columnist and Features writer for Barrett Media. He has been with Jacobs Media consulting stations in the Classic Rock, Rock, Alternative and AAA world for more than a decade. Prior to that he programmed stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver Las Vegas and other markets. He also worked as News/Talk Editor for Radio and Records, wrote about Top 40 Radio for Billboard Magazine and had his own radio talent coaching business called Talent Mechanic.