By Dan Granger-10 October 2018 00:23am
I left the radio business in 2013. I was working at iHeart, at the time bogged down by the regime change as it transitioned from Clear Channel, run by the Mays Family, then rebranded as iHeart under the new stewardship of Bob Pittman and friends.
The world was changing and I felt the dominant radio groups were falling too far behind. I just didn’t have the patience to wait around and see if it would catch back up, given the rate at which new technology was redefining the landscape.
Programming on-air was stuck in its ways, on a constant chase for Top 40 content, while the podcast ecosystem was catering to vigilant tribes, starving for someone to speak to them. Only them. Tall towers in big fields, the multi-million dollar sticks that gave radio value, were losing value at an alarming rate, barely worth the price that their broadcasting licenses were printed on. As the internet became ubiquitous, the value of a terrestrial signal diminished proportionately.
When all I could see was decline, I mistook it for a death spiral. A wise friend told me, “This thing ain’t over. The major players will not go quietly into the night.” I wasn’t so sure.
Additional story at: The Drum: https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2018/10/10/how-radio-has-consumed-the-podcast-world