I Considered Listening to The Radio Today

"I considered listening to the radio today" was how the text exchange with my son Carver began. Carver is a software engineer at Apple. In some ways, Carver is a typical 20-something (and here is a proud dad coming through); in many ways, he's exceptional. He loves to try to get under his radio-loving father's skin, which is the way he started the text.

Practicing what we teach about handling objections, rather than take the bait and share all the research with Carver, like the fact that 83% of adults his age tune into radio each week (see Why Radio slide deck at RAB.com), I instead asked questions. Here's the exchange:

Carver: I considered listening to the radio today. Didn't do it, but I considered.

Dad: LOL. Thanks for sharing. What caused you to consider?

Carver: Well, I run out of music to listen to, and it's a constant problem. I'll always put music on when I'm doing work, but when the playlists start looping, it gets repetitive and old fast. Radio wouldn't necessarily solve that because if I listen to a station long enough, I'll hear the music repeating. Still, having someone come on occasionally and say things would be interesting. Radio has hosts that talk and make it enjoyable.

Dad:Tell me more...

Carver:Like a talk show all day; it's like an infinite podcast. So that's like the thing that radio has going for it, the hosts.

And there it is again, this time from a 24-year-old. Our talent is the point of differentiation for radio among Spotify, Pandora, and curated personal music playlists. The "hosts," as Carver calls them, come on occasionally and say things.

Because we work in the same building, we can easily take our on-air team for granted. To think they are nothing special, just other workers in the building. However, to the audience, even a younger audience member, they are the key difference between all the different audio options. They are the stars that keep our industry fresh, current, relevant, and personal. They do fantastic work connecting with our communities.

If it's been a while, go down the studio hall today and thank the on-air staff for the incredible work they do. They make a difference, and for radio, talent is THE difference that sets us apart. Then, talk about leveraging their relationship with the audience to benefit your clients through live reads, endorsements, and appearances.

Meanwhile, I'll keep working on Carver. Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com. You can all so connect with him on X and LinkedIn.