What happens when you put the format’s legendary icons from the Country Radio Hall of Fame into a room with 20-something innovators currently keeping local radio alive with an iPhone and endless hustle?
Representing our established HOF vanguard: Rick Jackson (Rick Jackson’s Country Classics) and Heather Froglear (PD/Afternoons at KFRG/Riverside). Representing our rising trailblazers: Hannah Brummer (APD/Afternoon Drive for Star 105.5 & The 9-6-7 and Middays on Chicagoland’s Free Country at 98.3 & 102.3) and Gideon Dean (Communications Director/Swiss Army Knife for WBQK/Williamsburg).
We dug into the critical questions facing our format today. As the answers rolled in, however, a striking truth emerged: beneath the surface differences in technology and experience, both generations are fighting for the exact same thing.
1. The Magic Wand (The Blind Spots)
I started by asking what single blind spot is most urgent in Country radio right now. Indeed, the responses highlighted a unified frustration: structural systems that pull radio away from its human core.
Rick Jackson: “The critical role of talent. In just the last couple of days, two of the most successful radio on-air talents for the past 20 years in Charlotte have been dismissed by iHeart and Audacy (Matt and Ramona and Tanner in the Morning). It’s a worrisome trend that stunts opportunity and creates a local disconnect.”
Meanwhile, our next-gen programmers zeroed in on the exact same problem — approaching it through the lens of modern relevance.
Gideon Dean: “There’s a generational disconnect in the content a lot of stations are putting out. Being dialed into trends and topics that younger people are engaging with is crucial to bringing that base into your listenership.”
Hannah Brummer: “I’d love to see even more opportunities for up-and-coming artists to be heard. There is so much incredible talent out there, and some of the most exciting moments come from discovering an artist before they become a household name.”
2. The Battle Against “Brad the Robot”
Next, we looked at the existential threat: streaming algorithms and AI. If an algorithm can curate a playlist, what keeps a driver from plugging in their phone?
The panel was unanimous: if your station sounds like a utility line, you’re already dead.
Heather Froglear: “Local radio wins when it feels ALIVE. The magic isn’t the music anymore — everybody has the music. The magic is the companionship. If your station sounds like it was assembled by a corporate robot named ‘Brad,’ people are absolutely plugging their phones in.”
Hannah Brummer: “The personalities I care about aren’t trying to sound perfect. They share their lives, celebrate the community, tell stories, and make me laugh. What makes me stop and listen is hearing something real.”
Rick blamed a management culture that values spreadsheets over actual showmanship — a sentiment our next-gen digital natives completely backed up.
Rick Jackson: “We’ve created a culture of computer programmers. The best are terrific at understanding music research and rotation strategies, but that’s not going to be enough. If all we have are music jocks, AI will rule. Better voices, fewer mistakes, cheaper. But a great personality will destroy AI.”
Gideon Dean: “The AI DJ ‘X’ on Spotify can’t tell you a story about how it was driving its kid to school and noticed a new restaurant opening in town. Keeping listeners engaged requires you to be engaging.”
3. The Great Music Discovery Schism
This is where the mechanism of delivery sparked some debate, though the final destination remained identical. Does Country radio still play a major role in music discovery?
The established voices stood firm, emphasizing the emotional connection of a hit.
Heather Froglear: “It ABSOLUTELY does. Radio adds emotional context that playlists can’t. A huge Country hit often doesn’t become a true shared experience until radio turns it into one.”
Rick Jackson: “Radio is still the place an artist must be heard if they want to perform at the highest level.”
Gideon, however, approached the question through the lens of a social media manager — and still arrived at the exact same finish line.
Gideon Dean: “The vast bulk of music discovery is happening on social media. Social algorithms are what is putting fresh music on people’s radar. Radio just establishes a viral moment as a ‘hit’ to the masses at the finish line.”
4. Street Hustle vs. Cheap Keychains
What does real-world street impact look like today? The era of the card-table remote is officially over. Both generations, moreover, want to replace it with genuine energy.
Heather Froglear: “A radio station has to stop acting like a billboard and start acting like an EXPERIENCE. Why would I ask my audience to spend their gas money to come see me for a keychain? Give them multiple chances to win a really cool prize, street bits, or an artist pop-up show. Your talent must create a ‘stir’!”
Gideon then took Heather’s exact philosophy and paired it with a smartphone camera.
Gideon Dean: “I look at any remote as an opportunity for content. Street-style interview videos are an incredibly popular social format. Radio stations could absolutely have the market cornered on videos like this if they plugged a tiny mic into their phone and asked passersby something as simple as, ‘Who should play a country music halftime show?'”
5. The Generational Handshake
Finally, I asked our panel what old-school fundamentals need a comeback — and what modern realities we can no longer ignore. The symmetry in their answers was striking.
Heather Froglear: “Video, video, video. Go where your audience is. I recently bought a dress for the ACMs, came home, and realized the red-dye security tag was still on it. I turned it into a story arc. Out of spite, I did all my artist interviews with the tag on, and posted a video of the artists reacting to it. You do not have to be Steven Spielberg. Just do it.”
Notably, the rising talent didn’t ask for better apps to accomplish this. Instead, they asked for the original, hyper-local blueprint that Heather and Rick grew up on.
Hannah Brummer: “One old-school radio principle that needs to come back is staying truly local first. Radio used to be fully rooted in the community. When air talent is deeply connected to their market and speaks directly to it, trust, loyalty, and relevance naturally follow.”
Gideon Dean: “Any 20-something will tell you that we yearn for all the old-school ways radio operated in the past… just now with an iPhone in the studio. TikTok and Instagram make it really easy to see people as numbers on a screen. I hope the human connection doesn’t get lost in that.”
The Executive Summary
Looking at these responses, the glaring realization is clear: we aren’t actually speaking different languages. In fact, we want the exact same thing.
Vets like Rick and Heather are crying out for the human element, local vulnerability, and creative freedom that built the format. Trailblazers like Hannah and Gideon are begging for the exact same depth — they just want to use a phone, a TikTok feed, and a vertical video clip to amplify it.
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As the Executive Director of Programming & Operations for Pamal Broadcasting, Kevin Callahan oversees 25 stations across five markets, including the company’s four Country brands. An award-winning brand specialist, Kevin is a passionate advocate for talent development, dedicated to mentoring personalities and restoring our medium to its most vibrant, high-impact form. His career is highlighted by 12 years as Audacy’s West Coast Regional VP of Programming for the Country format, where he managed premier brands across major markets including San Diego, Seattle, Phoenix, Riverside and more. Today, Kevin balances his corporate leadership with his role as President of Sonic Maple Media, serving as a fractional executive advisor to broadcast leadership and fractional programmer and talent coach to broadcasters nationwide. He can be reached at kevin@pamal.com
