It is a funny thing, seeing places you worked at go up for sale. Not the stations themselves – but all of the studio buildings. All of the memories come flooding back – the smell of the studio, the carpet, and the coworkers that made going into the station a joy and not a chore.

All three of the studios that I started my radio career at have been sold, or are up for sale.

I get that you can run a radio station with no studio, no physical footprint, and just sling the audio directly to the transmitter site.

But that ruins what made local radio fun….both for the audience and the air talent.

When you sit in a studio, it’s like an actor on a stage. There is a feel.

And when the studios had other people in it, it felt more lively. Listeners liked that the place with the tower out back was somewhere to send cards/letters, and say hi when picking up prizes.

19 years ago, I was excited to work at my local AC station – it was the jewel of the company, and the AM sister station had a history of being the full service outlet to Central NJ (it’s the station my great grandparents listened to every weekend for polkas). Even on weekends, there were people in and out of the building at all hours for Rutgers sporting events, newcasters, and promotions people.

Now? The place is almost completely empty and up for sale like the other budlings I worked at in New Jersey.

Seeing your coworkers, and having a great manager, builds up “Esprit de Corps” – an X factor that does help build stationality and keep things humming when times get tough.

I will say, it would be hypocritical of me if I didn’t mention that all of my voicetracking is out of market.

But each station I have a connection to, and all still have studio space. I do my best to keep up with local news & events to not seem like I just dropped in – and I know other personalities who do the same to make sure that it doesn’t sound disconnected.

My home tracking studio is set up that I feel like I am doing it live even when tracked – processed audio in my headphones, VoxPro with remote start for firing off beds/sounders, and a phone hybrid to do interviews without having to jump thru hoops. And lots of tchotchkes everywhere to give it a “not home office” look.

Also as a station (former) owner, I know that bills gotta be paid, local direct revenue is down, and offices are expensive to heat/cool/power especially when many dayparts are not live/local. But there has to be a happy medium between the portrayal of radio in “American Graffiti” with the studio under the tall tower staffed 24/7…and everything in the cloud driven by AI. Or just a rack of servers in the backroom.

One size does not fit all – some stations would be fine with just having the audio come from the cloud (or a rack room) with no studio. Others might just need it for one or two dayparts, etc.

Unfortunately some of the new studio templates don’t scream “show business” as much as “call center”. And a logo on a flat screen TV does not make for a vibe.

Radio is still showbusiness….and the more we dumb it down, the more it becomes an appliance that is replaceable.

One of the studios I helped build is used for a streaming show – TJ Radio, hosted by the public television producer TJ Lubinsky. It has a “Saturday Night Fever” dance floor, professional lighting, and multiple cameras for different shots. Could he have just used one camera, a ring light, and a Rodecaster? Sure – but it wouldn’t have the same impact.  With the rise of video podcasts, a studio that fits the vibe of the show is more important than ever before. And it can be done on a budget with the right mix of software and hardware.

There needs to be a strategy as to how and why you shift a station to be headless, or reduce studio space – many of these moves are not to better server listeners, clients or communities…but because the bills are due and they need to stall for time. But eventually you run out of towers, studios, and stations to sell. And while there is no line on a spreadsheet for “Esprit de Corps” or “staionality”, the erosion will show when ratings and revenue slip over time.