OK, let’s call it out right from the jump: last week’s column rubbed some people the wrong way (perhaps understated, HA).
Anyone who knows me knows my target was never air talent — creators navigating layoffs who often have the least opportunity to speak up. It was directed squarely at armchair PDs and internet trolls, or anyone who practically makes a career of tearing the industry down without offering a single idea to fix it.
That said, if that distinction got lost in translation, that’s on me. I own it.
However, friction can lead to real dialogue. Instead of retreating defensively, that post opened up a direct line of communication with one of the most vocal IG accounts in our business: Shitty Radio Jock (@shittyradiojock on IG).
Ultimately, we wound up with an unfiltered DM exchange. And guess what? We quickly realized we are driven by the exact same thing: an unshakeable passion for radio, a deep frustration with the state of the industry, and a desire to see talent win. I’m happy to take a few punches based on the result, knowing that if we do the right thing, the audience will champion everything we do.
Overcoming the Old-School Hangover
During our conversation, SRJ and I discussed why so many personalities feel hesitant to speak up. We kept circling back to a legacy hangover in our industry — a lingering leftover from an old-school corporate mindset that installed a culture of myopic, top-down management. I have a name for it, but we’ll save that for another time.
For years, talent was conditioned to believe that keeping their heads down was the only way to survive. Pitching an out-of-the-box idea felt like a career risk, and corporate leaders mistakenly thought hoarding control gave them job security.
The result? A generation of brilliant, creative air talent who feel like their voices don’t matter inside their own buildings.
So, if we want to build a real future for this medium, that dynamic has to die. Leaders need to stop managing out of fear, and talent needs a safe, structured runway to bring their wild, unvarnished creativity back into the building. NOW!
The 10 Idea Challenge
That’s where SRJ brought a simple, brilliant concept to the table.
SRJ pitched an idea centered on bottom-up ideation: Give every jock on your staff the floor to submit 10 raw, unfiltered ideas.
Not polished pitch decks. Not sanitized station promos. Just 10 raw thoughts on making the show/station better, engaging the community, executing a local feature, or causing localized chaos on social media.
Under SRJ’s framework, the PD reviews every submission and identifies the 10 strongest ideas across the staff but does not act as a gatekeeper. Every submitted idea goes up the chain, with the PD’s top 10 listed first. An idea that misses with a local PD might resonate higher up or ignite a much larger concept.
That transparency matters. Strong leadership isn’t threatened by talented people; a good leader creates opportunities for employees to shine and gives them credit. Strong leaders show they can build strong teams.
The complete list goes to upper management, but the process requires a real monthly feedback loop: which ideas could realistically move forward; which ones won’t work, and why; and which ideas aren’t possible right now but deserve to be revisited in a few months. That follow-through turns the exercise into something meaningful. The most demoralizing outcome is asking talent for creativity and then letting their ideas disappear into a corporate black hole.
Here is why this concept works, and why every Program Director reading this needs to steal it immediately: In real ideation, there is no such thing as a “dumb” idea.
The wildest pitch is often the seed from which the next game-changing show element or station event grows. But that magic only happens if leaders commit to rule number one: You never shoot down an idea at the whiteboard.
If a personality brings 10 ideas to your office, your job as a leader isn’t to play lawyer and list 15 reasons why constraints won’t allow it. Your job is to look at idea #7 — the crazy one — and say, “OK, how do we shape this into something legendary?”
Common Ground and the Way Forward
It is easy to throw rocks online. It is much harder — and far more productive — to sit down with someone you supposedly disagree with, drop the egos, and ask, “How do we make this better?”
My talk with SRJ proved that even when starting on opposite ends of the room, people can come together to create positive momentum. We don’t need fewer opinions in radio; we need better conversations. Furthermore, we need to stop treating critique as an attack, start using it as fuel to fix the machine, and realize a coaching session isn’t just listing everything talent did wrong. That’s stifling.
So, let’s turn this into an immediate, actionable challenge for every cluster in the country:
- To the Talent: Sit down this week and write out your 10 ideas. Don’t self-censor. Don’t worry about rules. Focus purely on what would make your show magnetic, local, and impossible to ignore.
- To the Leaders: Open the door. Ask for those 10 ideas, put away your red pen, and listen. Create the psychological safety your team needs to take big swings. Perhaps most importantly, give credit where credit is due when you present an idea. That makes you a stronger leader, as it shows you know how to develop a team. (My PDs and talent will be getting an advanced copy of this article.)
A final note to talent reading this: you may take a few punches from time to time. Don’t let that deter you from creating and sharing. At the end of the day, SRJ and I had a great conversation.
Also, NO, I don’t know who SRJ is.
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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