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A young El Paso woman wrote to me about her first radio job. “I want to give it my all,” she said and asked my advice on what to read, learn and study. It has been 39 years since I stood where this young person is, but I remember what being new in broadcasting felt […]

Routines are useful, but the downside is they can create rote behavior. In real life, breaking news, a loud noise, or the ping of an incoming text disrupts our patterns and forces us to pay attention. Suddenly we are alert, focused, and energized. Intentional pattern disruptions in radio and podcasts work the same way. They […]

There are many differences in the listening experience to radio shows and podcasts. Podcasts are more of a time investment, whereas, radio shows are typically listened to in short spurts. Podcasts are usually focused on a theme and radio shows generally cover multiple topics. Despite these differences, these two audio mediums share many similarities. Let’s […]

Your audience is in a damn big hurry. Consider these media headlines and think about what they mean for your radio show or podcast. Shorter hit songs. The average pop song length is now 3:17. In 1975, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody was six minutes. 60-Second clips. Executives I work with at Instagram tell me that while video posts can […]

Judd Apatow’s documentary, George Carlin’s American Dream, impeccably demonstrates the three-step process for becoming a successful media personality. The film illuminates Carlin’s development of content, character, and execution. CHARACTER Carlin’s early career was more mainstream with character bits like The Hippy Dippy Weatherman. In the documentary, W. Kamau [...]

The bad news for radio: downsizing continues, revenues haven’t caught up to pre-Covid levels, commercial loads remain too high, listenership is declining especially with young people, music has become commoditized, and our old medium isn’t considered cool anymore. Yikes! The good news: Radio has survived a series of technological disruptions including television, MTV, the iPod, […]

There are not many scripts for a drive-time entertainment radio show or podcast. Usually, one person leads, and a partner or partners react to move the conversation forward, much like improvisational theatre. Inexperienced players sometimes stall or shut down the conversation with one-word answers, “Really,” “No,” “That is crazy.” Sometimes they merely parrot what was already […]

The human brain is wired to be interested in just about anything if it is presented in the form of a mystery. Movies like Top Gun cause us to ask, what will happen next? Sporting events like the NBA Finals, cause us to ask, who will win the game? According to behavioral economist George Lowenstein’s Gap Theory, curiosity happens when […]

Which of 2022’s top podcasts will still be around in 2032? Predictions are tricky, but as a broadcasting nerd, I love studying the past for clues about the future. As you think about your original podcast, consider lessons from the early days of television that might enlighten your strategy in the early days of podcasting […]

Your show is made up of a unique variety of elements. Yours may include music, talk, contests and games, news, stunts, pranks, topic segments, interviews, and various benchmarks. A step that many shows miss is balancing how your audience receives that content as they listen. In your planning process, take an extra moment to look […]