A few of weeks ago, my wife Sue & I went to two different churches for Easter Sunday services; our new church, where we just became members and our old church where we exchanged our vows of commitment to each other.
Here’s what I learned…
Talking versus Preaching
One of the pastors delivered the service as if he was talking to us. He engaged us with his message, as if he were having a conversation, and even posed questions to the congregation. The religious meaning of Easter Sunday was delivered in a relatable way, bringing meaning and perspective to the world we are living in today.
The other pastor, at our second Easter service, preached…or what I might characterize as “talking at and not to” me. It didn’t really relate to the world outside the church doors, in tone or message. The sermon made no effort to tie a religious message to our current reality.
WABC – “The Last Aircheck”
On Saturday, May 10th, Rewound Radio aired, what’s become known as “The Last Aircheck,” the day that WABC Music Radio 77 would switch their format to Talk Radio 77. That happened 43 years ago on May 10, 1982.
Those final hours were hosted by Ron Lundy and Dan Ingram, and as I listened to the replay of that broadcast, I got goosebumps. The sound of their voices took me back in time, when listening to the radio was like a religious experience for me.
Techsurvey 2025
Fred Jacobs has been tracking the power of personalities in his annual Techsuveys, the most recent one which came out in the first quarter of this year. Here’s the trendline:
Fred’s graph only goes back to 2014, but radio captured my heart in the 60s. It was a time when great radio personalities ruled the airwaves on virtually every broadcast signal.
Radio owners would covet, promote and value their air personalities and so did the radio audience. For the radio listener, meeting their favorite air personality was a heart pounding experience.
The Human Voice
I never had the opportunity to meet Ron Lundy or Dan Ingram, but their voices owned real estate in my brain. As it was broadcast over Rewound Radio, hearing them talking on “The Last Aircheck” made the same impact as it did when I heard them LIVE 43 years ago.
That’s the power of the human voice.
Church Attendance & Radio Listenership
In today’s world, both entities are challenged to build and hold an audience. Our new church saw its lead pastor of 12 years promoted and a new pastor was named to replace him.
Like a radio station that loses a popular personality, and causes listeners to seek out other listening possibilities, a church changing its pastor is monumental change, often causing people to try other churches.
One saving grace in our church’s situation was having an assistant pastor that provided continuity to the congregation during this time of change.
The good news is that when the new pastor arrived, he would be as dynamic as the pastor who had left; maybe even more so. Our congregation has grown under his leadership, at a time when other churches have not. He talks, not preaches; and he listens.
Every Hour in Radio is Front Page
Radio, unlike print publications, doesn’t have a back page. Every minute of the broadcast day is like being on the front page. Every minute counts and a radio station is either building an audience, keeping an audience or losing an audience.
Radio’s reduction in force (RIF) of its air personalities has created two problems:
1) many hours of the broadcast day are now sterile and
2) those sterile hours aren’t just driving away radio listeners to other venues, but they also aren’t attracting a new generation of broadcasters who’ve been inspired by what they hear coming through their radio speaker.
BOTTOM LINE
Today’s radio lacks personality and FOMO.*
*FOMO is Fear Of Missing Out
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I often wonder if today’s youth would gravitate to the style of radio that attracted me to make radio broadcasting my career for five decades. Would they be attracted to a Dan Ingram, Robert W. Morgan, Dave Maynard, Ron Lundy, The Real Don Steele, Big Ron O’Brien, Larry Lujack or any of the countless other personalities that so influenced me as I was growing up?
AM radio. Mine was a Zenith Royal 50 that came with an ear phone, that allowed me to listen to the Red Sox while in elementary school or to radio stations from far, far away after it was ‘lights out’ and I was supposed to be asleep.
That got me to thinking that maybe a new radio format could be created bringing back deceased personalities like Robert W. Morgan, Dan Ingram, The Real Don Steele, Big Ron O’Brien, Ron Lundy, Larry Lujack among other greats by using the power of artificial intelligence. These incomparable radio personalities would “live again” via talented writers and programmers who would tell them what to say. Can you imagine how it might sound?
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