While radio advertising is still being heard by radio listeners, the relevancy of those ads to listeners is low. In contrast, the audio ads heard by podcast listeners were deemed highly meaningful.*
The Radio Ad Disconnect
Once upon a time, radio stations employed gatekeepers. (Gatekeeping – “the process of controlling information as it moves through a gate.)
Let me give you a personal example of what I’m talking about. In the 80s, I was managing WFPG-FM in Atlantic City, New Jersey. WFPG-FM programmed a Bonneville Beautiful Music format and was the market leader in the Atlantic City-Cape May, New Jersey Metro. Walter Powers, Vice President of Operations at Bonneville Broadcasting System, was our music gatekeeper. But just as important as making sure that the music was well targeted, WFPG-FM’s program director was the gatekeeper of every other element of content that would be heard on the radio station. Every advertisement was reviewed to insure it was appropriate and relevant to our audience. We employed these same standards when it came to our promotions and air personalities too.
Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey News and Commentary on the ABC Radio Network was an advertising powerhouse. Paul considered himself to be a salesman first and a broadcaster second. Harvey wrote and voiced the radio copy for the products and services he told his listeners about and it was well-known he would not advertise a product or service he did not personally use.
Today, we see this happening with podcasters who likewise voice the ad copy for the company that sponsors their podcast. I believe this is why podcast ads resonate with podcast listeners versus radio advertising.
Howard Stern
When Howard Stern was the afternoon air personality on 66-WNBC in New York City, he often read live copy for his local advertisers.
On one of my trips to New York City to meet with advertisers, I stopped into the broadcast facilities of WNBC and met with their local sales manager. I will never forget asking her this question: “What are fewest number of commercials you will sell an advertiser?” She answered: “one, if it’s on Howard Stern’s show.” One, I asked? Is that effective? She told me that Howard Stern was such a good communicator and had such a loyal audience, that if he promoted a product or business, even just once, they always got results. But then again, Howard had the authority to accept or reject any advertiser.
Both Paul Harvey and Howard Stern were gatekeepers for their radio programs.
Randy Kabrich
This past week, we learned of the passing of one of radio’s great CHR/Top40 programmers, Randy Kabrich.
In reading an article about his life, I couldn’t help but notice that the twice named Billboard magazine CHR/Top40 radio programmer of the year was a serious gatekeeper.
When Kabrich was Program Director at WROQ-AM/FM in Charlotte, North Carolina, the station management planned to accept an advertising buy from Planned Parenthood. Randy felt the ads were “too volatile and blatant” to appear on a “family” radio station. Inside Radio reported that Kabrich said “I’ve been trying to make WROQ a fun, family radio station – an escape from reality, from the conflicts in life – and I felt these spots were inappropriate for the station’s audience.” This resulted in Randy resigning.
Anything For a Buck
There was a time when radio operators employed gatekeepers that weren’t afraid to say “NO” to an advertiser and his money when their product, service or simply the way they wanted to deliver their message was not in concert to the goals of the radio station.
Those were the days when radio operators understood that EVERYTHING
that came out of the listener’s radio speaker mattered. Spoiler Alert:
For the radio listener, your next break is all that matters. Does it speak to your listener? Does it have relevance to your listener’s life right this second? How do you know?
Back before the turn of the century, radio station owners often did market research to find viable programming “holes” in a market. Often it didn’t even take research, just an experienced radio nerd with a sense of what was to be popular. Once identified, the task was simply to put it altogether and hit the air.
It’s why they forked over hundreds of millions of dollars to have Howard join their team.
I read the 
I am a trombone player. Or maybe I should say “was” as it’s been quite a few years since I picked up the horn. Growing up, I knew that was the instrument I wanted to play. Out of all the instruments in the band, trombone was the one that caught my attention and was relevant to me.
DickTaylorBlog 