Time to Make Local Radio Local Again
Radio group consolidation into the mega-groups we have now might be good for radio in some respects but it has done immense harm to local radio’s greatest strength.
Good radio is local. It reflects the town it serves in both style and content. Local radio is an active integral part of the community woven into the fabric of what it means to live there. Local radio is a friend, a unique source of local information and entertainment.
Listeners talk about their radio station using possessive language because to them the radio station is for them.
Large groups have forgotten the importance of that relationship.
Faced with the challenge of managing dozens of stations in a wide range of formats owners created multi-level hierarchical management structures with many programming and marketing decisions handled at the regional or national level.
In many cases local people at the stations have been stripped of the traditional responsibility of determining programming and marketing decisions, instead left to execute plans and decisions devised by corporate people.
The end result is generic sounding radio. Station A in one market sounds just like station B in another market. The subtle differences between listeners in different towns is erased.
No one at the corporate level can understand a town as well as the people who live there. Consequently no one at corporate level can devise strategies that work in all markets equally well.
Local radio’s strength and strongest weapon defending against the encroachment of national audio services like Sirius and Spotify was its connection with community. Our biggest advantage disappeared when local radio was replaced by generic radio and our industry is paying the price.