It’s remarkable the way collisions between the past and the future occur.  Tiger Woods’ future will never be like his past again.  Who would have thought that possible a few weeks ago?  I often wish radios’ collision between its past and future would be just as quick, transparent, and permanent, but it’s not.  This week might be as close as we come in the radio business to hearing “Taps” and “Revelry” played at the same time. (Read More)

At the end of 2008, I made 16 predictions for radio in 2009, nine of which came true.  Here are the 2009 predictions that did come to pass with comments:

1. Advertising spending will stall or fall.  (Fell by double digits.)
2. At least one major radio group, and several smaller ones, will go belly-up.  (Still waiting for the “major” group to fall, which will be early next year at the latest.)
3. Two distinct radio group tracks will emerge.  (Led by new entrant Alpha Broadcasting and joining Bonneville and a few select other “operators”.)  
4. A new radio “operator” will emerge.  (“Alpha” means first, and it was.)
5. Talent prices will escalate for the few, and will fall for the majority.  (Yep.)
6. News, talk, sports and business formats will grow.  (Now borders on a mass movement.)
7. Conservative talk will grow.  (Big time…led by the emergence of Glenn Beck.)
8. At least one of the radio trade publications will fold.  (Goodbye R&R.)  
9. Arbitron will see its radio ratings monopoly challenged.  (Hello Nielsen.)

So, what’s in store for 2010? (Read More)

Yes I still believe content is King, but knowing which content and tools are best for our listeners is even more important.  In a time of not enough money or resources to do all this cool Web and social media stuff, how do we figure out where to start and focus most of our limited resources? (Read More)

With all the attention being paid to creating new forms of revenue in the New Radio Model, this question can’t be overlooked:  How do the roles of existing station personnel change under the new model?  Specifically, how does the role of station on-air talent change?  Is talent still considered an important piece for a radio station in achieving success? 

Talent is just as important as ever under the New Radio Model.  Strong talent gives a face and voice to your station’s brand.  Despite the advent of all the new high tech toys and entertainment devices, radio stations with strong personalities generally still outperform those stations that do without or employ marginal personalities.  (Read More)

One thing that would surely keep you awake at night would be an accurate calculation of the percentage of time your salespeople spend in front of legitimate prospects each week.  You may think the number is north of 50%, but if you could really track it with a high degree of accuracy, you would likely be shocked (think more like 20%—if you’re lucky).

Why is this?  Are salespeople inherently unmotivated to make face-to-face calls with legitimate prospects?  Some of you might think so based on the new-business call quotas I have heard of in the field.  We have found that talented salespeople, properly trained, do NOT avoid face-to-face calls with prospects.  Rather, they are prevented from making a sufficient number of new business calls by the structure in which they operate.  (Read More)