As I was scrolling through my social media feed recently, I stumbled upon an ad featuring Ryan Seacrest.
The ad was promoting Seacrest’s “Top Host” competition, a search for aspiring hosts, podcasters, storytellers, and conversation starters. The winner receives $25,000, the opportunity to lead a six-episode podcast produced by iHeartRadio, and a guest appearance alongside Seacrest himself.
As I watched the ad, I laughed. Not because it was a bad idea. In fact, I love it. I laughed because it is just an old radio bit being recycled by the digital and podcasting space.
A Radio Contest I Remember Well
Much has been made lately about how Spotify, YouTube, and the podcast industry are increasingly adopting strategies radio has used for decades. The moment I saw Seacrest’s competition, I was taken back to the summer of 2010.
Fresh out of college, I entered WFAN‘s “Fantasy Phenom” contest in New York. The premise was simple: Aspiring sports talk hosts were given a chance to showcase their abilities in front of judges for an opportunity to host a weekend overnight show on one of the most legendary sports radio stations in America.
I still remember walking onto that stage to deliver my two-minute rant. As I recall, it was not good. In fact, I don’t even remember what the rant was about. What I do remember is that I didn’t advance.
Clearly, the judges weren’t blown away. But looking back, that’s not really the point.
The contest gave people like me an opportunity. It introduced aspiring broadcasters to the business. It created excitement. It uncovered talent like John Jastremski and Joe Giglio, two friends who have built tremendous careers in the business. And it reminded people that broadcasting wasn’t simply about speaking into a microphone. It was about connecting with an audience.
After that experience, I spent the next several years working on my craft in New York, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma before eventually freelancing at WFAN for five years. Funny how things come full circle in this business.
The Pitch Hasn’t Changed
What struck me about the Seacrest promotion wasn’t the prize money or even the podcast itself. It was the language.
“So if you make people laugh, can captivate an audience, and want to host your own show, this is for you.”
Sound familiar? That’s the same pitch radio has been making for generations.
The reality is that podcasting, streaming, and digital audio have created incredible new opportunities for content creators. That’s a good thing. There are far more paths into the business today than there were 20 years ago.
But I also wonder how many people who enter competitions like this aren’t even considering radio as a career. How many talented personalities are spending years trying to grow a podcast from seven listeners to 15 listeners without realizing their skill set might translate exceptionally well to radio?
Radio certainly isn’t what it was a generation ago. No reasonable person would argue otherwise. But there is still tremendous value in what the medium does best, and there are great careers to be built.
Radio’s Model Is Everywhere
Look at what’s happening around us. Spotify has invested heavily in personalities. Apple Music has embraced radio shows. Podcast companies are hosting live events and building communities around their biggest brands.
Even Seacrest’s competition follows a model radio operators have understood forever: Find compelling personalities, give them a platform and let audiences form relationships with them.
That’s radio.
Remembering the Basics
Sometimes our industry spends so much time worrying about what comes next that we forget to appreciate what we’ve always done well.
People don’t come back because of a microphone, an app or a streaming platform. They come back because of the person on the other end. That’s why the lesson here isn’t that radio needs to become podcasting. It’s that radio shouldn’t forget what made it successful in the first place.
At a time when our industry is racing to adapt to constantly changing technology, there is still value in the basics: finding talented people, developing their skills, giving them opportunities, and helping them build authentic relationships with audiences.
And every once in a while, it’s worth remembering that some of the industry’s newest ideas are really radio’s oldest ideas. And that’s not a bad place to start.
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