Pay Now Or Pay Later

If what I heard at the All Access Audio Summit is any indication, the talk around radio is about artificial intelligence when it isn't about where and how to find new talent. The two are, of course, related -- AI voices could conceivably replace talent, though most panelists held out hope that nothing will ultimately replace human voices and interaction -- but that's what seems to be on everyone's minds.

It might be accurate but might be wishful thinking that AI will prove to be more of a useful tool for programming and those pesky little jobs like writing copy for ads and promos than it will serve as a replacement for jobs currently held by humans. It also seems like everyone's conceding that the latter WILL happen with regard to things like overnight shifts. I'm not sure that AI scraping the internet for random entertainment news will result in good or even adequate content, but it's the future and you'll have to come to terms with our new artificial overlords at some point, it appears.

But assuming AI doesn't totally replace human radio personalities, the other topic is where and how to attract fresh new talent. Gen-Z is particularly resistant to the idea that they should work in radio for diminishing returns, and when Sheri Lynch of "Bob & Sheri" fame said, "The days of you collecting a fat paycheck from a broadcast company are gone. I think you have to be super entrepreneurial," it was both true and an indictment of where radio is regarding talent.

The radio industry talks a good game about developing talent, but for years, one of the primary inducements cited by industry people for young creative types to go into radio rather than doing it themselves on podcasts or streaming is that radio can pay a good salary along with career advancement opportunities. Sheri's right: the fat paychecks are gone. And if they're gone, the question remains: Why WOULD a young creative person go into radio when they can do it themselves? If being in radio still means you have to crank out original and valuable content on the air and in social media, and if it means you have to find additional means of monetization like TikTok and YouTube if the salary isn't enough, what's radio bringing to the table? If you're going to have to be active in sales as well as content, if you're going to have to work your butt off anyway, and the financial reward of a salary isn't going to be all that great, why do it for someone else when you can do it for yourself?

Radio does have things going for it. It still reaches a huge audience, even if it's not as huge as it used to be. It has the potential to reach a larger audience than you might get by doing it yourself... or not, considering how big some social media followings are. It's a marketing tool. It's maybe the best medium for localism, although that gets blurred by voice tracking and national programming. It's still ubiquitous in cars for now (another hot topic -- we'll get back to that soon enough), it's free, and it's easy to get. Yet, if the "fat paychecks" are gone for good, and those paychecks are the primary differentiator between doing content for radio and doing it yourself online, those are not enough to convince a up-and-coming talent to be on the radio, are they?

It's a pipe dream to think that radio will ever pay young talent what it'll take to get them on board. Radio always kept entry-level salaries low, using the "we can replace you in a heartbeat" method. Today, now that demand for those jobs isn't what it used to be, it's more about "we're in deep debt, so this is all we have budgeted, but don't worry, we'll try to get you some remotes so there might be some talent fees involved." Even AI might be skeptical about that. But if radio's going to be what it says it is -- Live! Local! Personality-driven! Engaging! Your Daily Companion! -- it has to do better by the talent that actually provides all of that content.

I know, times are tough and revenues aren't what they used to be. But you're not going to grow if the content doesn't evolve and improve. It evolves and improves when you attract creative people and let them develop. And you attract them by paying what they deserve. It's the cost of doing business, THIS business. And if you can't cover the cost of doing business, perhaps your business model needs a little revamping. If we've learned anything over the past few decades of radio, cutting costs and jobs may get your company through the current quarter, but it doesn't lead to growth.

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Hope you enjoyed the All Access Audio Summit and my session with Jon Grayson of KMBZ/Kansas City, Todd Hollst of WHIO/Dayton, and Steve Goldstein of Amplifi Media. If you missed it, you can still register and see all of the sessions on demand soon; sign up here.

Perry Michael Simon
Senior Vice President/Editor-in-Chief and News-Talk-Sports-Podcasting Editor
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
Twitter @pmsimon
Mastodon @pmsimon@c.im