Going the way of the newspaper

Radio is getting older, not so much the technology itself, but the audience is growing grayer, and like newspapers, station owners don’t seem willing to change to the new medium.

I noticed this a couple of months ago when 99x went off their air in Atlanta, for the second time, and was replaced with an 80s/90s concept. 99x was the only station I listened to when I didn’t have my mp3 player in the car. The station had been huge in the 90s, went off the air three years ago to make room for a top-40 hits station, was resurrected, and then died a quiet death. Of the stations I used to listen to, a former hard rock station is now playing a mix of music that includes songs form Grease, and the two Top 40 stations in town appear to be having a “Big 90’s Weekend,” every weekend.

To me, it seems obvious that stations are switching formats to reach out to an older crowd; a crowd that hasn’t migrated to mp3 players, Pandora and other streaming music programs that flat out are just better than radio stations. Pandora has turned me on to more great artists than any radio station ever could because I have three Pandora stations tailored to different tastes

Those who have smart phones are able to stream Pandora wherever they go. In Atlanta, Pandora grabs as much market share as the broadcast radio stations. Most smart phones have FM chips, but users are choosing apps over live radio, and non-radio apps over those offered by the broadcast stations.

Most stations don’t have apps, and most station apps only stream the content of the station. Why do that when there are so many better ways of getting your music? Rhapsody, Slacker and Spotify are much better at getting music that their subscribers want to hear than radio stations. New cars are starting to come music app ready, and with a little, work phones can be jacked into most cars’ sound system.

The end result is a predictable slide for FM radio, and probably satellite radio, although AM radio seems to be holding onto its market share better. Also, Spanish language radio stations are doing much better than their English counterparts. Still, what’s traditional broadcast radio’s response to the internet? Well, I called the head of one of the major networks for comment. Their spokesperson assured me they’d get back to me after a commercial break, four songs I didn’t want to hear, and a DJ talking about her personal life.

As someone who watched from the inside as his own career path became reduced to ranks of amateur bloggers I have these words of warning for my brothers and sisters in radio: Find a different career now, don't wait for an email informing you to politely exit the building as your station enters an, "Exciting" new stage that doesn't include you.