At a time when too many are in doom-and-gloom mode, viewing the state of the format through this lens should put a pep in the step of every news/talk host, programmer, producer, news person, and board operator.
As the national political landscape gets saturated with content on YouTube, podcasts, and elsewhere, local stations won’t be able to win by trying to compete exclusively in that lane.
It’s been nearly three years since the discussion began, and despite this being one of the few areas with bipartisan support, there has still been little movement on the bill.
As a format, one of the things we need to continue to work on is making the content more digestible for a wider audience, while still sticking to who and what we are.
Young people are looking for compelling talk content, and while they’re likely to find it on a podcast, the fact that they want it suggests radio has a chance to compete.
Borrell Associates projects that figure will climb considerably over the next four years as the industry undergoes what it describes as a "great reshuffling."