Radio has spent a lot of time talking about how to compete with podcasts, streaming services, and every other place people can find audio. But I think one of our biggest advantages has been sitting right in front of us the whole time.
Radio is local.
I remember listening to KZKX (96 Kicks) Lincoln, Nebraska, before I ever worked there. That station was everywhere. Concerts, rodeos, the state fair, festivals. If something was happening in the community. If there was a festival and 96 Kicks wasn’t there, it almost felt like it was less fun.
That stayed with me.
The radio personalities I love most today still have that quality. They notice things. A new mural downtown. The burger place everybody is suddenly talking about. National Ice Cream Month and where you should go for the best cone in town.
None of those things need a five-minute segment.
Sometimes you have 30 seconds. Sometimes you have 15. Sometimes you have six. Use it.
Connect on Every Break
I’ve always believed you should find a way to connect on every break. Listeners might not remember every word you said, but they’ll remember how you made them feel.
- Make them laugh.
- Give them something useful.
- Tell them something they did not know about the place where they live.
- That is something radio can still do exceptionally well.
Podcasts are incredible. I have my favorites too. But most podcasts are recorded days or weeks ahead. They cannot always tell you what is happening outside your window right now.
Radio can. And that immediacy matters.
Immediacy Matters
When something happens in a community, radio can respond. I saw it after Hurricane Katrina. I was working in Texas, and local radio stations helped mobilize people to support our neighbors in Louisiana and the evacuees arriving in Texas. Stations organized clothing and cleaning supply drives, blood drives, donations, and volunteer efforts.
Everyone seemed to know somebody who had been affected. Radio knew that, and radio responded. That is the power of being local.
It does not only show up during disasters, either. It happens when a personality runs the local 5K, shows up at the concert, talks about road construction at the airport, or gives listeners a quick heads-up that airfare may be cheaper at a certain time of year.
Local news does not always have to sound “newsy.”
It can simply be conversational, useful, interesting, and relevant. That’s where radio has an opportunity right now.
For years, we have tended to think of news as something scheduled. There is a newscast at the top of the hour. Maybe another one later in the morning. It has a specific format and a specific place on the clock.
But that is not how people experience information anymore.
They are seeing stories throughout the day on their phones. They are talking about them in group texts, on social media, at work, at school pickup, and over dinner. Radio can weave those conversations into the day too.
A 20-second local update going into a commercial break. A quick community story between songs. A local sports note. A new restaurant opening. A school issue people are talking about. A weather change. An event tonight.
Small Moment To Add Dimension
When local information disappears because staff have been cut, listeners notice. Maybe not consciously at first, but the station starts to feel flatter. Remove enough of those connection points, and eventually you are competing more directly with a generic playlist.
That is not a competition radio needs to enter.
Radio has personalities. It has trust. It has immediacy. And it has a connection to a place. The challenge is that the people who are still inside radio stations are already doing a lot.
A personality might want to talk about what is happening locally, but downsizing means that same person is doing the show, production, social media, appearances, and who knows what else. Asking them to spend another hour digging through local websites looking for something worth talking about is not always realistic.
Local Information Without Hours of Digging
That is one of the reasons we built Riply.
Riply gathers local information and gives stations a steady supply of stories they can use when and where they need them. That might be a traditional newscast at 7 a.m., or it might be something a personality wants to work into the show at 10:37. The station decides.
The goal is not to turn every personality into a news anchor. It is to give them more ways to know what people in their community are talking about.
I think of it as helping personalities read the room.
What matters today? What are people talking about around town? What is useful, surprising, emotional, funny, frustrating, or worth knowing?
Give talented radio people that information, and they will know what to do with it.
That is where I see a real opportunity for radio.
The Real Opportunity for Radio
Streaming services can give you music. Podcasts can give you incredible long-form conversations. But radio can give you a great personality, a trusted connection, and something happening five minutes from your house right now.
We just have to make sure we keep using that advantage.
Stay current. Stay useful. Stay connected.
Most of all, stay local.
This guest column is provided in partnership with Ross On Radio. RadioInsight is not responsible for the contents of this column.
