Op-Ed: The On-Going Transformation of the Radio Industry

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, March 25, 2024 | 4:10pm CT

Bernardoni Media and Marketing

The following is commentary from Bernardoni Media & Marketing's Bill Bernardoni:

I have loved radio since I was just a kid listening to Pat Hughes and Ron Santo call Cubs games on WGN Radio in Chicago and all these many years later, despite everything I have been through in the radio industry (that is another article or five), I still love it. It is easy to look at the radio industry today and say that the radio industry is in serious decline, but there is a pathway to success. As I have gone from station to station across the country whether as an employee or in a consulting capacity, I have witnessed too many radio companies that focused on staying profitable or becoming profitable again by trying to "cut their way to prosperity." While there are times when budget cuts are necessary, do not expect those cuts to fix your problems. In fact, cutting back without a serious plan in place will often lead to disastrous results, I know, because I have seen it happen firsthand.

My first job after I graduated from college was with a radio syndication company working for some of the biggest talk-radio hosts in the United States. This was where I first realized that the industry was going through some fundamental changes. Advertising revenue started to dip as businesses were turning towards more digital advertising opportunities on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google and stations, and the company I worked at, failed to respond.

Over the past fifteen years or so budgets have been drastically reduced, staffs have been cut by 50% or more in most places, local newsrooms have been completely eliminated or have become basically useless, and local on-air hosts are being replaced by syndicated nonsense that the vast majority of the local audience cares little to nothing about. Because of those significant changes that the industry is going through, it has led to some thinking that radio is doomed to completely collapse, but there is a pathway to success.

What changes is the radio industry going through? And what does that pathway to success look like for the radio industry in 2024 and beyond? The radio industry is going through an evolution, and it is becoming increasingly digital every day. Some of my former clients and employers have tried to fight against the ongoing digital transformation, but if they refuse to embrace it, eventually, they will fail. Success in 2024 and beyond in the radio industry starts with embracing the digital transformation.

Why is there a need for a digital transformation? All you need to do is look at the data. Media consultant Mike McVay of McVay Media in a recent Radio Ink piece (that you should read in full) outlined some recent data from Edison Research that really does tell a story:

"Listening to radio OTA or via mobile apps is changing dramatically... Especially with younger listeners. Aged 13-34 listeners are divided into 19% Radio Receiver and 48% Mobile Device... Even in-car listening, which radio has previously owned, is seeing erosion. Mobile devices make up 23% of the listening in auto. Other audio sources make up 19% of listening in-car. Radio still leads with 58%. Not long ago it was 90%."

And those numbers will only trend more towards streaming as the years go on. To have success, stations need to embrace digital streaming. One of the companies that has done the best job at this is Audacy. The mobile streaming application that they developed is as good as it gets. Take the next step outside of just putting a basic stream on your website. Create a mobile app and more importantly promote the living hell out of it. All you need to do is look at the above Edison Research data to see where things are eventually headed.

Embracing the digital transformation also means embracing social media. Social media has transformed society over the last 15 years and used properly it can be used to grow and expand your audience, but sadly, most stations are not using social media to its full potential. Chris Sumlin wrote a great piece for LinkedIn on "Why Your Radio Station Should Prioritize Social Media" (I highly recommend you check it out) in which he gives a few of the benefits social media can have for radio stations. In his piece, he outlines numerous benefits of social media, including:

1. "Social media platforms serve as powerful amplifiers, extending the station's influence beyond geographical boundaries."
2. "Social media empowers radio stations to establish real-time connections with their audience."
3. "Beyond the voice on the airwaves, a radio station's brand comes to life through social media."
4. "Social media opens avenues for revenue generation beyond traditional advertising models."

Social media takes time and a lot of effort to do properly and I understand that most stations are understaffed and don't have the resources to put into social media, but if you want to be truly successful in 2024 and beyond, then social media needs to become a priority, no matter how much you (or I) might truly despise it. Take the time to interact with your audience, promote your content, and livestream your radio show. Doing that costs little in additional money but can have a tremendous impact over the long haul.

Embracing the digital transformation also means that you embrace podcasting. This is one that stations, and radio companies have finally started to get on board with because podcasting brings with it the opportunity to bring in a much younger audience, but I'm not just talking about posting your radio interviews and news/entertainment reports as a podcast, though you should do that, but actually take the time to create new content and make the effort to promote it. Do you have a host that is interested in sports? Launch a sports podcast about the local teams. Or you have a host(s) that are young parents and want to create a podcast for other young parents about raising their kids. You could also use this as an opportunity to find new talent in your community. To be successful in the radio industry in 2024 and beyond, you need to embrace the digital transformation that is currently taking place, but you also need to embrace the local audience.

Done right, there is little that is more powerful than local radio, but sadly local radio stations are being gobbled up by giant corporations, staffs are being demolished, and syndicated programming is replacing locally produced programming. Now, syndicated programming has its place, for goodness sakes I would not have a career without syndicated radio, but LOCAL radio stations need to have a LOCAL focus. What does having a local focus mean? Well, having a local focus means a few different things. First, and most importantly, it means having local hosts who understand the local community and are involved in the community. Do not just sit in the studio, get out to local events, and become visible. Second, it means having an actual local newsroom that covers what happens in the local community. There are too many radio companies that are cutting back from local news entirely. But that is exactly the last thing that stations should be doing. There are too many local so-called newsrooms who have become what I like to call press release regurgitators. Local newsrooms set the radio industry apart from its competition because in most areas the local radio newsroom is the only media outlet covering local events.

The radio industry is being transformed right before our very eyes, but there is a clear pathway to success. Charles Darwin is attributed to once stating that "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change." The radio industry is different from it was at the start of the century, not at all, and if you want to not only survive, but thrive, you need to adapt to the changing environment around you.

Bill Bernardoni is an Illinois based media and marketing consultant and the founder of Bernardoni Media & Marketing. You can learn more about Bill and his company by visiting his website Bernardoni.media.