Let's face the truth. Radio is simply an appliance. The content is king, not the delivery device.
Back in 2006, CBS radio learned this lesson when Howard Stern and his radio show moved to SIRIUS Satellite radio. Why would people be willing to buy new equipment and pay a subscription fee to hear what the could before for free? It's simple. Howard Stern's content was what people wanted. They didn't want commercials, rock music and traffic reports. Stern and his listeners also didn't want the FCC to censor and babysit their radio listening. People are willing to pay for quality and freedom. CBS Radio tried to replace Stern with the inexperienced David Lee Roth and later Stern wannabe's Opie and Anthony. Both of which failed.
Now, with the huge growth in Internet radio and its availability on PC's, Tablets, Smart Phones and some now being included In-Dash in new car radios, I see the reliance on "old-school" AM/FM radio to be going away by the day. Much like the way that Cable and Satellite TV rule Television broadcasting over rabbit ears and antennas that can only pick up a handful of local stations.
Another great example of this is Tom Leykis. The talk radio legend left terrestrial radio (CBS radio dropping the ball again, BIG SURPRISE!) due to CBS radio switching format of his flagship station (KLSX) to another automated top 40 station. Leykis used his time off between 2009 and 2012 to build a new online radio network called The New Normal. He developed four high-quality and commercial free music streams and one stream dedicated to his talk show. After his CBS contract was up (he still got paid the whole time by the idiots), he returned to the air online and is absolutely killing it. He has had over 3 million different listeners tune into his show in a year (real numbers, not an estimate or people reader meter), has been able to attract advertisers and new and old listeners alike. Leykis is now uncensored and better than ever. You can check out more from Tom Leykis at blowmeuptom.com. He's on weekdays from 6-9PM eastern and his show replays 24/7 until the the show.
People are willing to pay for more options, better content and the ability to record their favorite programs, fast forward through the commercials and other BS and get down to the content that they want to consume. A great example of this is Michael Robertson's DAR.fm, a website that allows users to record their favorite radio shows, and download and listen to them later. This is one of the BEST things to happen for talk radio listeners. I highly recommend the service to talk radio lovers.
Music listeners also have tons of customizable on-demand radio services like Pandora and Spotify. They also have thousands of radio stations, both commercial and commercial free, at their fingertips with services like TuneIn Radio and iheartradio. All of which can be heard crystal clear in their cars and homes. Who has time for static and commercials when there's a better way?
All the while, terrestrial radio seems to be asleep at the switch. Instead of allowing for more freedom on air and promoting local talent, they run more commercials, voice track and syndicate their stations to death. I believe the future of terrestrial radio will be maybe 4 stations per city on AM and FM. One for news and talk and the other for music. And you can bet most of it will be syndicated and voice tracked with local talent no where to be found. Clear Channel and CBS Radio likely haven't made a profit in years, yet they still churn out crap.
This is so sad as I remember the days of tuning into KDKA and listening for school closings with my AM radio as a kid. I loved the personalities and the awesome station imaging that included a strong voice introducing the KDKA Weather Center and KDKA as the 50,000 watt blowtorch. I remember the days of listening to DVE and their morning show with my dad, my favorite top 40 songs on B94, Hip Hop on WAMO 106.7 and new rock on WXDX 105.9. All of these stations are now a shell of their former selves, or are off the air.
Now, WXDX is now pretty much a classic rock station, with most of their playlist being 20 years old! Their only saving grace is Mark Madden, truly the only real beacon of hope for talk radio in Pittsburgh. Like him or not, thank God someone has the balls to be a bit controversial and outspoken in this city! KDKA has no hosts with a real personality and awesome show production like Fred Honsberger used to have. All of the hosts have no intros and use the same bumper music. Griffin, Pintek and Mangino all sound like the same show on many days. Pintek at least tries to do different stuff sometimes, but other than his show and the news, the station has fallen on its face. WDVE's morning show is old and boring (both the hosts and the content) and has seemed to have lost some steam since Jim Krenn left.
With all of that being said (sorry, quite a rant), what will happen in Pittsburgh? What stations and talents do you see staying for the long run and where will the new local talent come from? I only see WDVE and KDKA, due to their longevity and name recognition as likely making it through the radio free fall that will be coming, and that's it.
I truly believe that the next great radio talk hosts, personalities and shock jocks will come from the internet or satellite radio far before they will show up on terrestrial. Terrestrial should be scouting the internet and satellite for talent, though they would have to have the host agree to censor themselves to make the radio babysitters (the FCC) happy.
Honestly, I see this coming within 10 years or sooner. Am I off base here? Let me know! Let's talk about the death of radio!
Back in 2006, CBS radio learned this lesson when Howard Stern and his radio show moved to SIRIUS Satellite radio. Why would people be willing to buy new equipment and pay a subscription fee to hear what the could before for free? It's simple. Howard Stern's content was what people wanted. They didn't want commercials, rock music and traffic reports. Stern and his listeners also didn't want the FCC to censor and babysit their radio listening. People are willing to pay for quality and freedom. CBS Radio tried to replace Stern with the inexperienced David Lee Roth and later Stern wannabe's Opie and Anthony. Both of which failed.
Now, with the huge growth in Internet radio and its availability on PC's, Tablets, Smart Phones and some now being included In-Dash in new car radios, I see the reliance on "old-school" AM/FM radio to be going away by the day. Much like the way that Cable and Satellite TV rule Television broadcasting over rabbit ears and antennas that can only pick up a handful of local stations.
Another great example of this is Tom Leykis. The talk radio legend left terrestrial radio (CBS radio dropping the ball again, BIG SURPRISE!) due to CBS radio switching format of his flagship station (KLSX) to another automated top 40 station. Leykis used his time off between 2009 and 2012 to build a new online radio network called The New Normal. He developed four high-quality and commercial free music streams and one stream dedicated to his talk show. After his CBS contract was up (he still got paid the whole time by the idiots), he returned to the air online and is absolutely killing it. He has had over 3 million different listeners tune into his show in a year (real numbers, not an estimate or people reader meter), has been able to attract advertisers and new and old listeners alike. Leykis is now uncensored and better than ever. You can check out more from Tom Leykis at blowmeuptom.com. He's on weekdays from 6-9PM eastern and his show replays 24/7 until the the show.
People are willing to pay for more options, better content and the ability to record their favorite programs, fast forward through the commercials and other BS and get down to the content that they want to consume. A great example of this is Michael Robertson's DAR.fm, a website that allows users to record their favorite radio shows, and download and listen to them later. This is one of the BEST things to happen for talk radio listeners. I highly recommend the service to talk radio lovers.
Music listeners also have tons of customizable on-demand radio services like Pandora and Spotify. They also have thousands of radio stations, both commercial and commercial free, at their fingertips with services like TuneIn Radio and iheartradio. All of which can be heard crystal clear in their cars and homes. Who has time for static and commercials when there's a better way?
All the while, terrestrial radio seems to be asleep at the switch. Instead of allowing for more freedom on air and promoting local talent, they run more commercials, voice track and syndicate their stations to death. I believe the future of terrestrial radio will be maybe 4 stations per city on AM and FM. One for news and talk and the other for music. And you can bet most of it will be syndicated and voice tracked with local talent no where to be found. Clear Channel and CBS Radio likely haven't made a profit in years, yet they still churn out crap.
This is so sad as I remember the days of tuning into KDKA and listening for school closings with my AM radio as a kid. I loved the personalities and the awesome station imaging that included a strong voice introducing the KDKA Weather Center and KDKA as the 50,000 watt blowtorch. I remember the days of listening to DVE and their morning show with my dad, my favorite top 40 songs on B94, Hip Hop on WAMO 106.7 and new rock on WXDX 105.9. All of these stations are now a shell of their former selves, or are off the air.
Now, WXDX is now pretty much a classic rock station, with most of their playlist being 20 years old! Their only saving grace is Mark Madden, truly the only real beacon of hope for talk radio in Pittsburgh. Like him or not, thank God someone has the balls to be a bit controversial and outspoken in this city! KDKA has no hosts with a real personality and awesome show production like Fred Honsberger used to have. All of the hosts have no intros and use the same bumper music. Griffin, Pintek and Mangino all sound like the same show on many days. Pintek at least tries to do different stuff sometimes, but other than his show and the news, the station has fallen on its face. WDVE's morning show is old and boring (both the hosts and the content) and has seemed to have lost some steam since Jim Krenn left.
With all of that being said (sorry, quite a rant), what will happen in Pittsburgh? What stations and talents do you see staying for the long run and where will the new local talent come from? I only see WDVE and KDKA, due to their longevity and name recognition as likely making it through the radio free fall that will be coming, and that's it.
I truly believe that the next great radio talk hosts, personalities and shock jocks will come from the internet or satellite radio far before they will show up on terrestrial. Terrestrial should be scouting the internet and satellite for talent, though they would have to have the host agree to censor themselves to make the radio babysitters (the FCC) happy.
Honestly, I see this coming within 10 years or sooner. Am I off base here? Let me know! Let's talk about the death of radio!
