Blog

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Walt Kelly’s famous Pogo line perfectly captures how radio executives and owners engineered their own crisis. It applies just as well to [...]

My long-time collaborator and friend, the legendary Dave Ryan, shares his wisdom after recently retiring from dominating morning radio in Minneapolis-St. Paul for three decades. Dave is not only [...]

When I was a baby DJ in Phoenix, as Scott Shannon likes to call them, I learned how not to coach talent. I was hosting middays at KUPD and had just delivered what I thought was a pretty [...]

How long is best to give a new show before management pulls the plug? Traditionally, the answer was at least 18 months. In 2026, many companies don’t have that kind of patience, but that [...]

Evaluating a radio show well is both an art and a science. Whether you’re a programmer assessing your station’s talent or a host critiquing your own show, having a reliable process [...]

Almost 30 years ago, I started journaling after reading Julie Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. One of her key recommendations was “The Morning Pages,” a daily journaling exercise designed to [...]

What will radio morning shows sound like ten years from now? Will War of the Roses and Florida Man still be staples? And is the talent even live, or human? Those are the questions Barrett [...]

Jeff Bezos is the latest high-profile believer in The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life. Other early-risers include Tim Cook, Michelle Obama, Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, and many [...]

Back in the day, there was a morning show character formula called “Dick, Dork, Dear.” It was simple and easy to remember. Many shows tried to force themselves into that three-person box. But [...]

“Is our show or digital more important?” That’s a question I hear often from talent and programmers. Today’s personalities are expected to do everything: host a radio show, a podcast, a YouTube [...]