The Infinite Dial

Last year I wrote a piece called "Radio's Looming Crisis Is Not Digital," in which I made the point that what radio really needed to focus on in the coming months and years was not their digital strategy, but their human resources strategy. Digital strategies are crafted by people, and having a great digital strategy means hiring the best and creating attractive environments in which to work.

You cannot control what Apple does, or what mobile phone manufacturers to, or the price of broadband, or what car makers do or even what listeners do. All you can control is what you do. When radio does things like this, and this, it sends a clear message to would-be talent, both on-air and off, that radio is not a particularly good career choice. Do I know the full details of what happened in those two situations? No, but it really doesn't matter. The story of those two situations is that radio is a crappy business, full-stop. It doesn't need to be. It's time for management to wake up and realize that in the age of social media, you can't control the "spin," or the story. You can only control what you do, and how you treat people. Your format is not an asset. Your music doesn't belong to you, and is worth less and less everyday. All you are, is your people.