Category Archives: Sales

August 24, 2025 · 3:00 am

When Is Local Radio NOT Local?

WLAN – AM1390 signed on the air in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1940 from offices and studios located 252 North Queen Street. Seven years later, WLAN – 96.9FM began broadcasting from the same location as the AM station, which was a three and four story walk-up.

2004

DCF 1.0
DCF 1.0

I was hired as the General Manager of WLAN AM/FMN in the fall of 2004 and quickly realized the stations not only needed to be modernized but relocated to a part of Lancaster that would be more accommodating to our listeners (for prize pickups and events), our advertising clients, and our staff – in particular our sales staff, which had to come and go from the station multiple times a day.

2005

Meetings with Clear Channel corporate led to getting a budget for a move and the green light to relocate to 1685 Crown Avenue, Suite 100 in Lancaster.

2006

In May of 2006 the ribbon was cut and a huge party for listeners and advertisers was held in our parking lot outside of our state-of-the-art broadcast center. Tours of our offices and studios were given while members of The New Holland Band serenaded our guests.

19

Sadly, while the stations were able to broadcast from their original location for sixty-six years, the new facility would be abandoned just 19 years after it was opened.

I learned this news when I stopped in to visit the stations during a weekend getaway my wife Sue had planned in Lancaster County.

As we drove up to the front door, we saw a dumpster outside filled with building materials and looking through the windows, we saw that the former offices and studios had been completely gutted.

Nobody’s Home Anymore

What I would learn is that WLAN AM/FM had moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; about 40 miles and an hour’s travel time away from Lancaster.

Listeners who wanted to pick up prizes they may have won, now had to drive to 600 Corporate Circle in Harrisburg.

The website listed numbers to call for the Studio Lines, but all I’ve gotten when I’ve tried calling is a recorded message that says “your call cannot be completed as dialed.”

Local Is Where You Live

In my time as general manager of WLAN AM/FM, I rarely traveled to Harrisburg, even though my regional manager was located there and was manager of Clear Channel’s dominant radio stations in Dauphin County and Pennsylvania’s capital city. Harrisburg was a world away from Amish country in Lancaster.

WLAN-FM now lists itself as a Harrisburg/Lancaster radio station with Elvis Duran’s New York City syndicated morning radio show airing live and voice tracked DJs the rest of the day.

The only local air personality that remains from my days at WLAN is Damian Rhodes who is the station’s production wizard and covers the 4-7pm afternoon drive time period.

Reviewing WLAN-FM’s website reveals mostly items for iHeartRadio, national news, entertainment and music stories with just a couple of items for events in Harrisburg, but it is devoid of anything happening in Lancaster.

For a city of almost 60,000 people located in a county of over 560,000 people, you would think there would be a lot going on that a LOCAL radio station would be involved in.

I know that’s the way it once was, when the radio station was actually broadcasting from the City of Lancaster.

“Doesn’t it always seem to go,

You don’t know what you’ve got,

Til it’s gone.”

-Joni Mitchell

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July 13, 2025 · 3:00 am

Where Should the Radio Industry Be Focused?

You most likely have heard how the radio industry in America is trying to get Congress to pass a law requiring that all cars sold must have an AM radio installed in them. Radio folks say this is necessary so emergency information will be available to the general public in times of a crisis.

The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act is bipartisan legislation aimed at ensuring AM radio remains accessible in all new vehicles sold in the United States. It would require automakers to include AM broadcast radio as a standard feature, without any additional cost to consumers. The bill also addresses transparency by requiring automakers to disclose if a vehicle lacks AM radio access before the rule takes effect.

But is this really necessary, if we’re being honest with one another?

When Sue and I are on one of our many road trips, and a weather emergency or some other crisis occurs in the area that we are traveling in, our iPhones go crazy with that critical information.

Redundancy

Today, we live in a world with a lot of redundancy when it comes to communication. It’s not like a hundred years ago where radio provided the only means of immediate information to the public. In addition to broadcast radio/TV, we have computers, tablets, and smartphones filling the role of delivering emergency information quickly.

I won’t ever forget the day a tornado alert was issued for Bowling Green, Kentucky, including the campus of Western Kentucky University; every electronic device my students carried with them went off with the tornado warning.

The sound was deafening.

Obviously, as I was teaching a class at the time, no one was listening to a radio or watching TV but we all immediately knew of the imminent danger and sought protective cover.

AM Radio

From my earliest years as a listener, it was AM radio that caused me to want to pursue a career in the radio industry.

The first ten years of my radio career were spent on-air, in programming and operations. The next thirty years would see me move in to radio sales, sales management, general management and finally as a market manager of radio station clusters.

Over that period of time I watched as AM radio listenership grew older and declined, while FM radio amassed a large audience and the lion’s share of the advertising revenue.

The point I’m trying to make is, that AM radio was always available in cars and trucks, but people had moved on; to FM radio, satellite radio and portable music playing devices.

Reach people where they are, not where you want them to be.

Where Did All Radios Go?

Pete Seeger wrote a song that is applicable to the radio issue today, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” This song could be radio’s battle cry, by changing “flowers” to “radios.”

If you go into any retailer today, you’ll feel like Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Arc trying to find a radio receiver.

Recently, Sue and I road tripped to Gainesville, Florida for another one of our grandchildren graduating from high school. During our two weeks of travel, every hotel we stayed in no longer had a radio in our room. Instead they had a large screen TV (up to 85 inches) and by our bed a charging block for plugging in our smartphones, tablets and computers.

So, should the radio industry be adding to the “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act” as well as hotel rooms too? I think not! Have you ever tried to listen to AM radio on one of those cheap radio’s that hotels used to put into their rooms?

The Francis Marion Hotel

On our way home from Florida, we stayed a couple of nights in Charleston, South Carolina at The Francis Marion Hotel. The hotel was named after a revolutionary war hero and built in 1924. The Francis Marion hotel was early to include an AM radio in every room and even housed the city’s first radio station on an upper floor of the hotel.

The 1920s was the Golden Age of railroads, radio and grand hotels, and the Charleston Renaissance was in full bloom.

That was then, this is now.

Today, our room at The Francis Marion featured one of those clock charging cubes by our bedside, two flat screen TVs and excellent WiFi. Oh, and there is no longer a radio station broadcasting from the hotel; that’s been gone for years.

Radio Today

James Cridland reported in his latest newsletter that he read in Radio Today that the UK’s first commercial radio station is switching off two of its FM frequencies. The owners claim that DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) and online streaming serves its audience well enough. Cridland believes they won’t be the last either.

The Future is here, NOW!

What Do We Listen To When We Road Trip?

Everything we want to hear when we’re on-the-road comes from our smartphones. They automatically connect to our Honda’s audio system via Apple CarPlay. For music we can choose from my own music library, RadioTunes or Pandora. If we want to hear any radio station, we can listen to it via TuneIn Radio, StreamS, myTuner Radio, or Simple Radio. Plus, any time I want a quick check of the latest news, I click on my Hourly News app which streams the latest news from NPR, CBC, AP, ABC, CBS, FOX, and the BBC in succession. By the time I’ve finished listening, I not only have a good sense of what’s going on in the world, but how each news service ranks each story’s importance to its listeners.

The amazing thing about all of this is, the streaming of audio content we’ve found, is stable; with no dropouts, static or disruption of any kind. Unlike satellite radio which drops out under bridges, streaming audio does not.

In fact, my blog of January 9, 2022 titled “Why I Stream ALL of My Radio Listening,” goes into detail about how and why I started doing this. https://dicktaylorblog.com/2022/01/09/why-i-stream-all-my-radio-listening/ While we still own the 2009 Honda Accord talked about in that article, we recently upgraded to a 2018 Honda Accord for our road trips, which makes everything even easier. Mind you, this vehicle is seven years old and has an AM radio in it; somewhere, I just haven’t spent any time looking for it. The touch screen does have a button at the top that says FM Radio, even when I’m in Apple CarPlay mode, which is ALWAYS.

The Bottomline

Today we live in an ON DEMAND world. People want what they want, when they want it, and where they want it. The focus of today’s radio owner/operators should be on that reality, not on trying to keep a 20th Century technology alive by forcing it on people.

Five years ago, the Radio Advertising Bureau’s Senior Vice President Jeff Schmidt was telling radio sales people,

“If you’re selling the way you were five years ago,

you’re in trouble because the world is changing

and we need to change with it.”

And he’s right, but not just about radio sales, about the entire radio industry. It can’t try and hold back the massive change that is occurring in the world of communications. That’s the message.

Radio needs to get on board

or

miss the boat.

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March 23, 2025 · 3:00 am

What Skills Are Needed in Today’s Media & Communications Industry?

This week, Sarah McGrath, an editor with the LinkedIn News team, emailed me to get my feedback about their inaugural “List of Skills on the Rise in Media and Communications.”

LinkedIn mined its member data base of media and communications folks to compile a list of the 10 fastest-growing skills that working professionals feel are needed to get ahead and grow in the 21st Century.

I’m going to post LinkedIn’s list and invite you to share your thoughts and comments about what people interested in a career in the media and communications industry should be investing in. If you feel this list missed a skill that you believe should have been included, please respond on the www.DickTaylorBlog.com website’s comments section.

AI Literacy

Artificial Intelligence or A.I. is certainly a must in today’s world. A.I. is turning our world upside down at the speed of light. I don’t believe anyone could imagine not having the skills and understanding needed to leverage this technology, for fun and profit.

Emotional Intelligence

In a world where your smartphone can quickly provide the answers to any question you might have, the skill I see that should be on this list – and maybe #2 – is emotional intelligence, also referred to as EQ.

People with a high EQ possess the skills necessary in building strong relationships and navigating social situations. They are able to manage emotions effectively, allowing for the achievement of both personal and professional success.

The Harvard Business Review says that while technical skills may have helped you to secure your first promotion, without emotional intelligence it may not guarantee your next one. For EQ is the skill that will help you successfully coach teams, manage stress, deliver feedback and collaborate with others.

“Emotional Intelligence is one of the most sought-after interpersonal skills in the workplace. In fact, 71 percent of employers value emotional intelligence more than technical skills when evaluating candidates.”

The good news is, emotional intelligence can be improved in each of us if we make a conscious effort to practice on developing self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and social skills.

My wife Sue, who edits this blog, says listening is a very important EQ skill. It’s one I’m still working on.

Active listening means to pay close attention to what others are saying, both verbally and nonverbally, and trying to understand their perspectives.

For “50 Tips on Improving your Emotional Intelligence” click on this LINK.

Now It’s Your Turn

I would really love to hear what your thoughts are on the skills young people should be developing and strengthening to thrive in today’s media and communications world.

Be sure to click on this LINK and share your thoughts in the comments section on the blog.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

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February 16, 2025 · 3:00 am

The Cost of Uncertainty to Radio

In January, I characterized the future of radio in a word, and that word was “uncertain.” Since then, the future of the business world is now being described using that same word.

Radio Advertising

The radio industry has one means of support for all that it does in our local communities;

ADVERTISING.

Local businesses that advertise their products and services are the economic engine that pays for everything a radio station provides to its listeners. Depending on the size of a radio market, additional monies may come from regional and national advertising too. But it is through advertising that commercial broadcast radio exists.

It’s a business model that today is challenged by digital media services, which offer a subscription with an advertising plan allowing two revenue streams for their support.

Uncertainty is Bad For Business

Every business student has heard repeatedly that “uncertainty is bad for business.”

Under President Trump, uncertainty is gripping the business world, with the Associated Press writing:

“Trump is taking a blowtorch to the rules that have governed world trade for decades,” and the “reciprocal” tariffs “are likely to create chaos for global businesses and conflict with America’s allies and adversaries alike.”

The reality is business has no idea how to plan in a long-term, sustainable way, and that includes the radio business.

Seventy percent of America’s economy is based on consumer spending, and the National Retail Federation (NRF) is warning that the myriad of tariffs being proposed “will be extremely disruptive to [America’s] supply chains.” It will also mean higher prices for America’s families which will erode household spending power.

Recessions & Advertising

I started in radio sales during the recession of the early 80s. Orders for radio advertising didn’t just come in over the transom, as had been the case up until that time. If you wanted to build your account list with advertisers, you had to burn some shoe leather and go out to see them, work with them to developing an advertising program that would bring customers into their establishment. I remember Warren Buffett describing these days as…

“Only when the tide goes out

do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”

Which meant to those of us selling radio, tough times revealed who was actually working at the art of radio sales and who was just waiting for the phone to ring.

History clearly taught that businesses that advertised during difficult economic times like during a recession were taking advantage of a strategic opportunity to increase their share of the market and increase their business’s awareness in the mind of the consumer.

The University of Michigan, which monitors consumer sentiment, says that its index continues to decline, suggesting that consumers are very aware of what’s happening in Washington, DC with the talk of tariffs and the possibility of a global trade war.

“Tariffs are taxes,” said the European Commission. “By imposing tariffs, the U.S. is taxing its own citizens, raising costs for business, stifling growth and fueling inflation. Tariffs heighten economic uncertainty and disrupt the efficiency and integration of global markets.”

Uncertainty & Business

Economists have tried to study what uncertain conditions mean for business in countries all over the world. What they’ve consistently learned was that uncertainty makes businesses:

  • More reluctant to hire
  • More reluctant to invest
  • Leads to lower sales

Businesses can adapt when they have some idea of what the future looks like, but when it isn’t clear what the rules will be, both businesses – and their customers – end up in limbo.

Past spikes of uncertainty were caused by recessions, financial crises, negative word events – and most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this time the uncertainty is almost like a deliberate move to cause it, making it hard for anyone to predict how both businesses and consumers will respond.

Already both businesses and consumers are pulling back on expenditures of big ticket items, spending only on those things necessary for their daily existence. It’s that pull-back that could result in a much larger impact to the American economy.

People in times of uncertainty hunker down.

When anyone of us is uncertain about our future, we tend to hold on to our money, preserving capital to be ready for whatever the future may hold.

These days, whether you are the radio station owner, the radio seller of advertising or the radio listener, we are all trying to figure out what’s going on, what it means to the world and our family – for at this point in time…

No one knows what’s going to happen next, and that’s the problem.

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January 5, 2025 · 3:00 am

Best of the Blog 2024

2024 marked my 10th year of writing this blog, and while I reduced the number of articles I would write this year to focus more on faith, family and friends, here are the Top 5 Most Read articles from the past year.

To date, 508 articles have been published over the decade since the blog began, with over 314,215 views from folks around the world; maybe you missed them or perhaps you’d like to read them again.

Most Read Article of 2024

In 2016, Winchester, Virginia’s WINC AM/FM celebrated its 75th anniversary; eight years later this historic radio station and its 37-year morning man, Barry Lee, would be “Gone in a WINK.”

As the radio industry continues to eliminate radio personalities that have become a part of the fabric of the communities they broadcast to, this story about the end of one local radio station resonated with readers.

Second Most Read Article of 20214

How important is it to have AM radio in cars, if the majority of the people on the roads don’t listen to any AM radio stations, with the subject of “Use It or Lose It.”

While I became attracted to a career in broadcasting due to AM radio and even had the opportunity to be an air personality on “The Air Castle of the South, 650AM-WSM” the reality in the 21st Century is that AM radio is the past and digital is the future.

Third Most Read Article of 2024

In the 1970s, listening to FM radio stations was pretty much equal to that of AM radio stations. However, FM radio gradually surpassed AM in popularity throughout the late 1970s, with the shift largely attributed to the introduction of FM stereo broadcasting and the FCC’s “non-duplication rule” that encouraged FM stations to offer unique programming compared to their AM counterparts.

The article “Are We Helping or Hurting by Giving AM Radio a Piggyback Ride on the Power of FM Radio” did a deep-dive into the subject of why AM radio stations can’t compete for ears with FM radio stations.  

Fourth Most Read Article of 2024

Radio station operators – commercial, public and religious – don’t play by the same rules. Readers were surprised to learn that the largest radio broadcaster deals with fewer regulations in “What If Every Radio Station in America Could Operate Like EMF?”

Fifth Most Read Article of 2024

It became quite clear as I reviewed the list of articles written in 2024 and what most readers both read and shared (over 13,000 times), that AM radio stories dominated the list.

While the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) tried to get Congress to pass the “AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act” – and failed to do so – the number of AM radio stations in America (and indeed around the world) continued to sign-off. That was the subject of “AM Radio in Retreat.”

Why I Blog

I blog for broadcasters, educators and students, to provide media mentorship and to pay-it-forward to the broadcasting industry that I have been a part of for over 56-years. I’m grateful for the more than 233,000-people from all over the world who have visited this blog (https://DickTaylorBlog.com) and have read articles that have caught their interest.

Also, every article I’ve written is archived on my blog site and easily accessible.

As I begin my 11th year of blogging, I plan to continue writing new articles when I feel I can add a different perspective to how our media world is changing and evolving; but just not on a weekly schedule.

If you’re a subscriber to my blog – IT’S FREE – you will automatically receive new articles as they are published.

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December 15, 2024 · 3:00 am

A Purple Pine Tree

Last weekend, Sue & I joined other members of our family as they went on the hunt for their Christmas tree. We had a sleigh load of fun, but I was stunned when we arrived at the Christmas Tree Farm to see a purple pine tree amongst all the green ones.

It certainly grabs your attention!

The Purple Cow

Seeing this purple pine tree immediately brought to mind, Seth Godin’s book “The Purple Cow.”

In the book, Godin argues that companies need to innovate and create unique products to stand out in a crowded marketplace. The book’s main points include: 

  • Traditional marketing is no longer effective

The traditional marketing cycle of buying ads, getting distribution, selling products, and buying more ads is no longer working. 

  • Create a remarkable product or service

To cut through the clutter, companies need to create products that are new, different, and exciting. 

  • Target people who will spread the word

Companies should focus on creating products that people will be likely to tell others about. 

  • Be “too something”

Products and services that are “too something” for some people, but just right for others, are more likely to grow. 

DX’ing

Growing up, I loved to listen to as many different radio stations as my Grundig radio could receive.

DX’ing is the hobby of receiving and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two-way radio contact with distant stations. The term “DX” is telegraphic shorthand for “distance” or “distant”.

Growing up in the 60s provided a young person a plethora of purple cow radio signals. Every turn of the tuning knob brought a new listening experience and that made listening to the radio a very exciting experience, and it was hard to turn the radio off at night to go to sleep for fear of missing something.

Fast-Forward to Today’s Radio

Sadly, today, finding that unique or special radio station is “Mission Impossible.”

We might blame it on automation, or syndication, or consolidation, or simply everyone following the same “Best Practices” playbook, but the result is a world of sameness in the radio broadcasting world.

If Everyone Was Exactly The Same The World Would Be A Boring Place

– Kerry Magro

General George S. Patton put it this way: “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”

I rest my case.

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September 1, 2024 · 3:00 am

What If Every Radio Station in America Could Operate Like EMF?

At the beginning of 2024, I read an article from Rolling Stone.com that I can’t get out of my head. It was titled “Why Is the Radio Full of Christian Rock? Thank This Nonprofit.” It’s a long article, that I encourage you to read, but if you’re short on time, I will summarize its most important content for the commercial radio industry.

What is EMF?

EMF stands for the “Educational Media Foundation,” a name that does not immediately convey that they are a religious broadcaster.

On their website, the foundation states their mission this way:

“Educational Media Foundation (EMF) is a nonprofit, multi-platform media company on a mission to draw people closer to Christ. Founded in 1982 in Santa Rosa, CA, with a singular radio station, EMF today owns and operates the nation’s two largest Christian music radio networks (K-LOVE and Air1) with over 1,000 broadcast signals across all 50 states, streaming audio reaching around the world, and a growing family of media ministries including podcasts, books, films, concerts, and events. EMF employs nearly 500 team members between its offices in Nashville, TN, Rocklin, CA, and field locations around the country.”

Today, I believe, EMF is the largest radio station owner in America, with more radio signals in its control than iHeartRadio, estimating that it reaches a weekly audience numbering over 18-million listeners. It’s those listeners – and their donations – that fund EMF’s operations, much like the listeners support at public radio stations. EMF’s radio stations are licensed as non-commercial educational (NCE) radio stations and the foundation receives the majority of their donations during their twice annual pledge drives; usually held in the spring and fall.

What is iHeartRadio?

iHeartRadio is America’s largest commercial radio broadcaster and owned by iHeartMedia, which was rebranded by CEO Bob Pittman from Clear Channel Radio in 2014.

Full-disclosure, I worked for Clear Channel Communications from 2004-2010, a time when the company operated in a decentralized manner, allowing each of its radio station’s general managers to make their own decisions based on local market conditions and to deliver what was forecast by the radio station’s annual budget. That would change after I left the company to a centralized management model.

At its peak, Clear Channel owned and operated more than twelve hundred American radio stations. Today, the iHeartMedia website says:

“With over 860 live broadcast stations [with 781 employees] in 160 markets across America, there’s an iHeartRadio station where you live. Discover how our stations can deliver your message live and local to your community.”

Wikipedia says ”iHeartRadio’s main radio competitors are Audacy, TuneIn and SiriusXM,” which I found interesting in that TuneIn owns no radio stations, and while SiriusXM is licensed to operate by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and does employ land-based transmitter sites in addition to its satellites, it is basically a subscription service.

Its real competitor, like that of the rest of the commercial/public radio industry, is flying under the radar.

EMF versus Commercial/Public Radio

Rolling Stone writes: The big difference between EMF and other commercial broadcasters is that it operates without a local presence and unmanned transmitters.  

“Almost every new EMF station operates as a repeater

with no local voices, few local jobs and barely any overhead.”

Rolling Stone says that as of 2022, this “little-known organization had just shy of a billion dollars in net assets (a number that grows steadily year after year), with an annual revenue of nearly a quarter billion. (National Public Radio, by comparison, had net assets of less than $150 million and operated near the break-even mark.)”

The EMF business model has few operating costs – unlike commercial and public broadcasters – where every new radio station they acquire becomes a new source for donations. It’s estimated that about ninety-seven cents of every dollar comes from listener donations.

“Nonprofit EMF has built an unassuming money-making machine.”

-Rolling Stone

The genius of the EMF business model is that it exploits loopholes that the FCC created to help small nonprofits.

“in my own heart, I know God was involved

[in the decision to form a 501(c)(3)]

because being a not-for-profit has paid off for us

many, many times.”

Mike Novak, EMF CEO

The decision to incorporate as a “not-for-profit” entity allows EMF to enjoy many benefits:

  • Avoid paying taxes
  • Waves FCC applications costs and other fees
  • No requirement to maintain a local broadcast studio
  • Legally accept tax-deductible donations from their listeners (a revenue stream not available to commercial broadcasters)
  • The acquisition of translators* that are made more easily available to entities such as religious broadcasters
  • Access to lower FM band frequencies (88.1 – 91.9) that the FCC reserved for use by colleges, community and public-radio organizations and tribes; entities that the FCC envisioned would have limited funds to acquire these frequencies, and  commercial broadcasters were banned from bidding on, but didn’t exclude a not-for-profit giant like EMF from buying up.

Sadly, true community broadcasters find this unlevel playing field almost impossible to compete with, when EMF’s billion-dollar foundation can offer iHeart-level prices for neighborhood radio stations. It’s something I personally witnessed happen in my city of Winchester, Virginia when EMF bought 50,000-watt WINC-FM. All local community programming vanished, along with its employees and building.

While the FCC still maintains a policy of not allowing a single radio broadcaster from owning more than five AM or five FM stations in any one city, it left open a loophole for noncommercial broadcasters by never applying its ownership cap to nonprofits. There’s also no ownership cap on the number of translators a nonprofit may own in a single radio market.

Soft Conservatism

While nonprofits can’t legally engage in any political campaign activity, don’t think EMF isn’t using its fortunes to influence its point-of-view; through lobbying and legislation. Those in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) industry know that the genre is a punchline for most Americans; it’s something that actually works to EMF’s advantage, by keeping them low profile.

Unfortunately, this unlevel playing field is negatively impacting local commercial and public radio stations to profitably operate, which impacts the communities these stations once served with vital local news, sports, weather and community information.

*Translators are small FM radio signals that rebroadcast a parent radio station into an area the original signal couldn’t reach.

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August 18, 2024 · 3:00 am

A Life Changing Observation

When we’re in school, we often begin to think that the most important things in life are what we read in our textbooks, or hear in our professor’s lectures, and that getting the best grades are very important. But really, how much of anything you learned in school, do you remember today?

Use It or Lose It

Being a physics major in college, most of what I studied, including the use of a slide rule, are today a very distant memory. Why? Because I don’t use most of what I studied back then, in my daily life today.

When I entered radio sales, I would use Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion from my physics education:

“For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.”

That simple statement can be found in the Bible expressed this way:

“As you sow, so shall you reap.”

And one of my sales mentor’s, Zig Ziglar, put it this way:

“You can get anything in life you want,

 if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

In sales, I used this universal principle on a daily basis to help my advertising clients grow their business, and later in my career as a market manager of radio station clusters to grow my people.

As a university professor, I not only taught my students this important life principle, but lived it as an example of its power.

Habit & Repetition

The lessons we learn best, are the ones we use daily. Through habit and repetition, we grow confidence in our ability to do whatever we put our minds to accomplishing. Drawing on our experiences better enables us to deal with life’s questions, confusions, and problems, making them less overwhelming.

Growth in your career – and in life – is a gradual process. It takes consistently working at what you want to achieve, day after day.

You form the habits of success through daily repetition, but it’s important that you’re doing the right things, and, doing them correctly.

I had a roller skating coach that put it this way:

Practice doesn’t make perfect.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

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August 11, 2024 · 3:00 am

Ad-Supported SiriusXM Requires No Paid Subscription

Eight years ago, I wrote an article for this blog titled “SiriusXM Radio is Now Free.” At the time I was speculating on what might happen to over-the-air commercial radio if the satellite company were to turn on their ad-supported channels in every vehicle equipped with a SiriusXM radio.

Well, it looks like that is finally coming to pass.

SiriusXM’s Growth Has Stalled

Fred Jacob’s wrote in his blog on Friday that…

SiriusXM, increasingly frustrated by their inability to grow their subscriber base.  Looking at the Netflix model, the satcaster earlier this week unveiled their own ad-supported tier for no fee.

Obviously, this is a radical departure from SXM’s legacy subscriber-driven platform.  Radio Ink reported that no matter how you look at the in-car battlefield, satellite lags far behind traditional radio listening.  SiriusXM, however, performs much better in luxury brand, such as Mercedes-Benz and Audio, as well as in newer vehicles.

Inside Radio says there are other hoops for drivers to jump through.  While SXM CEO Jennifer Witz says the new plan is all about “repositioning our business for the future,”  the story goes onto say the free service is only available to owners of vehicles with the company’s  360L receivers.   Additionally, eligibility is limited to those whose free trials runs out and can only be activated by one vehicle per customer.

But it’s a start.  While the company acknowledges it will take time to amp up the platform’s commercial options for advertisers, you can see that’s where they’re headed.  SiriusXM needs to jumpstart its user base, while cashing in on inventory sales.

Will it work?  Can a radical move to offer a “free” version of satellite radio actually be a game-changer for SXM.

We can all speculate about the wisdom of this risky move by SiriusXM, but like the growth of [other ad-upported] channels, it attempts to cash in on the notion of not paying cash for any media content.

Pay & Free

It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to understand why satellite radio is deciding to have the best of both worlds. Offer the premium pay channels to those willing to pay for them and at the same time create a free tier of channels that could be ad supported by national advertisers.

What history shows us are things that happen in other industries and services – eventually making their way around to virtually all of them.

NOW – It’s only a matter of time.

Link to my 2016 blog article: https://dicktaylorblog.com/2016/07/17/siriusxm-radio-is-now-free/

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April 14, 2024 · 3:00 am

AM Radio in Retreat

While the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is still pursuing its goal of getting Congress to pass the “AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act*,” the number of AM radio stations on-the-air continues to shrink.

How Many Radio Stations Are There?

Inside Radio published the latest FCC radio station count and the number of AM radio stations on-the-air continues to shrink.

In 1968, I passed my 3rd Class Radiotelephone FCC License, Broadcast endorsed, it was also the year that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began publishing its Broadcast Station Totals reports.

At that time the FCC said that 4,236 AM radio stations and 2,306 FM radio stations were on the air.

In December 1990, the next report the FCC published became available showing 4,987 AM radio stations and 5,832 full power FM radio stations were now on the air; plus, another 1,866 FM translator/boosters.

It’s worthy to note that the general public cannot tell the difference between a:

  • Full power FM
  • FM booster
  • FM translator signal

as to the FM listener they all are received on a standard AM/FM receiver. Only broadcasters, broadcast engineers and the FCC are concerned about such distinctions.

So, in just the first two decades of my radio career, FM signals outnumbered AM signals by 2,711.

Telecommunications Act of 1996

On February 8, 1996, President William Jefferson Clinton signed into law what is commonly referred to as “The Telcom Act of 96.” The intent of the legislation was to allow more companies to operate in the communications space, but what actually happened was a flurry of mergers and acquisitions as corporate media giants bought out small, local broadcasters.

The FCC reported that as of February 29, 1996 there were:

  • 4,906 AM stations
  • 7,151 FM stations
  • 2,527 FM translators/boosters on-the-air

almost two FM signals beating the airwaves to every AM signal.

A year after the Telcom Act of 96, the number of AM signals began its decline to:

  • 4,840 (a loss of 66 AM signals in one year)
  • full power FM signals increased to 7,295 (up 144 FM signals)
  • FM translator/booster signals grew to 2,744 (up 217 FM signals)

While AM radio signals were signing off, FM radio signals were growing by an additional 361.

Ten Years After Passage of the Telcom Act of 96

On March 31, 2006, ten years after the Telcom Act became law, and the consolidation of the radio industry began, the FCC Broadcast Station Totals report listed:

  • 4,759 AM signals
  • 8,989 full power FM signals
  • 4,049 FM translator/booster signals

and now something new began appearing, Low Power FM signals (LPFM) which numbered 712,  meaning the radio listening consumer could now access 13,750 FM signals versus 4,759 AM signals.

Wall Street investors were clearly showing more interest in FM signals than AM signals as their money poured into the radio industry.

Twenty Years After Passage of the Telcom Act of 96

Twenty years after President Clinton signed the Telcom Act and consolidation continued squeezing out the mom and pop broadcasters, the FCC Broadcast Station Totals report listed:

  • 4,680 AM signals (down 307 signals from the day I began my broadcast career)
  • 10,811 full power FM signals
  • 6,582 FM translator/booster signals
  • 1,516 LPFM signals

AM signals totaled 4,680 and FM signals totaled 18,908.

Radio Broadcast Signals 2024

Which brings us to the present day report, March 31, 2024. The FCC Broadcast Station Totals report now lists:

  • 4,427 AM signals
  • 10,983 full power FM signals
  • 8,913 FM translator/booster signals
  • 1,960 LPFM signals

Remember, the radio listening public DOES NOT distinguish between the different classifications of FM signals, as they all appear on the same FM radio receiver they are using.

To the radio listener, they have

4,427 AM signals compared to 21,856 FM signals

they can access. Almost 5 times as many FM signals as AM signals, and each year we witness those AM signals either reducing their power or just signing off-the-air and turning in their FCC broadcast license.

Radio Dominates in Vehicles

The latest research from Quu ( www.quureport.com ) shows that in 2023 model vehicles:

  • 100% of them have an FM radio
  • 98% of them have an AM radio
  • 98% of them have Android Audio
  • 98% of them have Apple CarPlay
  • 92% have SiriusXM
  • 70% have HD Radio

What surprised me about this research report, was that this was the first time I’ve ever seen separate AM and FM numbers listed. All reporting about radio usage should list AM and FM listening separately. I feel it is disingenuous to give the false impression that AM and FM broadcast signals contribute equally when that’s clearly NOT the case.

Having access to an audio service does not equate to usage.

Fred Jacobs in his TechSurvey 2023 for example, revealed how HD Radio was only listened to by 16% and SiriusXM was only listened to by 28%, which shows that despite their high availability numbers in vehicle dashboards, usage is still low. Unfortunately, AM/FM is never broken apart, but listed together so can they can garner 86% of the listening.

I’m thinking that both HD radio and SiriusXM usage might eclipse AM radio listening, if we were allowed to see AM and FM usage shown separately.

Vehicles On The Road in America Today

According to S&P Global Mobility, there are 284 million vehicles on our roadways and the average age of them continues to rise to a new record of 12.5 years. About 23% of all passenger cars now are 20 years or older with the bulk of them made between 2015 and 2019.

By 2050, when electric vehicles are projected to make up 60% of new sales, the majority of vehicles on America’s highways will still be powered by gasoline, because most vehicles today last twenty years meaning AM radio will still be in most cars, but the bigger question is how many AM radio stations will still be on-the-air.

Radio Needs To Look Forward

In ten to twenty years, AM radio will be at best a niche way to listen to audio.

Where the radio industry and the National Association of Broadcasters should be focusing their time is keeping FM radio viable, in all vehicles and FREE!

Sadly, the FM band is becoming overcrowded with signals and this, I believe, needs to be seriously addressed.

Finally, I would like to believe, as does Scott Shannon, that radio can still succeed in the 21st Century if it will just be “authentic, local, magical, and deliver an audio product with passion.” Or as radio programming consultant and author Valerie Geller puts it:

Great radio is interesting people communicating with listeners

by telling the truth, making it matter and never being boring.

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