knowing for a fact that they could be in the same spot ten years from now, if they choose? If you throw out Clark Howard, who's more syndicated than local, I'd say the list is two: Scott Slade and Ryan Cameron. You can make an argument for Bert, but the fickle nature of pop radio combined with the Cumulus affiliation along with the crust of age in a young format (see Steve McCoy) leads me to predict he's not a certainty.
You've got others who are entrenched in situations that seem stable: Cadillac Jack is a good example...you've got plenty of personalities who've had nice runs in niche formats like the 680 talkers (Chuck, Chernoff, Dimino, Rude, Kincade are the stars...but only Kincade and Rude have had an uninterrupted decade-long run there...Dimino and Chernoff were on the beach for a year or more) and the Fish morning show is very strong and unique.....but think of all the personalities that you would have bet the house on 15 years ago: Baron, Barnes, Wachs, Von Haessler, Mara, McCoy, Locke, Kaedy, Moby, Rhubarb or even Frank Ski/ Mike Roberts at the top station in town. Half are long gone, half had to adapt. Poor Barnes even had to take a weekend jock slot.
All of this assumes terrestrial radio is in the same place 10 years from now (and none of us can positively claim that it won't be comparable.)
Talent aside, what does it take to be truly indispensable? I'd argue it has as much to do with the employer and the format than the personality. I'd also argue that it has to do with the personality concluding that - longterm - it's safer to be paid $200,000 than $500,000.
You've got others who are entrenched in situations that seem stable: Cadillac Jack is a good example...you've got plenty of personalities who've had nice runs in niche formats like the 680 talkers (Chuck, Chernoff, Dimino, Rude, Kincade are the stars...but only Kincade and Rude have had an uninterrupted decade-long run there...Dimino and Chernoff were on the beach for a year or more) and the Fish morning show is very strong and unique.....but think of all the personalities that you would have bet the house on 15 years ago: Baron, Barnes, Wachs, Von Haessler, Mara, McCoy, Locke, Kaedy, Moby, Rhubarb or even Frank Ski/ Mike Roberts at the top station in town. Half are long gone, half had to adapt. Poor Barnes even had to take a weekend jock slot.
All of this assumes terrestrial radio is in the same place 10 years from now (and none of us can positively claim that it won't be comparable.)
Talent aside, what does it take to be truly indispensable? I'd argue it has as much to do with the employer and the format than the personality. I'd also argue that it has to do with the personality concluding that - longterm - it's safer to be paid $200,000 than $500,000.
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