LOOKING AHEAD to the Second Half of the Third Decade of the 21st Century
By Michael Harrison
TALKERS
Publisher
With the conclusion of 2025 at hand, we are entering the second half of the third decade of the 21st century. It will be a remarkably transitional period for the talk radio industry and its closely associated fields in talk media, as well as media-in-general.
Here’s what’s going to happen:
The age old “radio station” paradigm as a brick-and-mortar business/cultural/communications center will disappear. After more than a century, it will be financially and physically impractical to operate the process of “radio” as a federally licensed production company tethered to a broadcast tower that houses programming, sales, and a roster of creative practitioners under one roof on an employee-based payroll. Radio “stations” will be more of an esthetic meme than an actual physical place on a dial coming from a specific business space with desks and “departments.” Programming and sales – local, regional, and national – will be provided by “outside” sources. Most “talent” will operate as either independent contractors or employees (or “partners”) of these outside companies. Local-ness and/or national-ness will not depend upon actual location of sources but rather focus of content. The biggest challenge facing radio station owner/operators will be to transition their “media station” brands from being licensed entities to effectively competing in the “dark jungle” or “high seas” of unlicensed platforms… without going broke.
In the wider world of media:
AI is going to put “Hollywood” out of business. Oh, there will still be a nebulously geographic place in Southern California called “Hollywood” but it will no longer be mythically based on big studios, production companies, and star talent.
And lovers of freedom will come to recognize the communications arm of “Big Tech” as the greatest threat to liberty facing humanity since World War II.
More on the above in 2026.
Happy holidays!
Michael Harrison is the publisher of TALKERS. He can be contacted at michael@talkers.com.
The United Nations and its specialized agency, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have given the radio industry all around the globe an invaluable gift. It’s called “World Radio Day 2024.” Now in its 13th installment, WRD takes place annually on February 13 with the purpose of spotlighting the accomplishments, importance, and ongoing relevance of the radio medium as it evolves deeper into the 21st century. This year’s theme is “Radio: A Century Informing, Educating and Entertaining.” By officially designating the platform as worthy of its own officially sanctioned UN International Day, the august world body has recognized, spotlighted, and endorsed radio’s continuing relevance and potential for being a vital force for the betterment of humanity.
We live in an increasingly noisy world. The accelerating advancement of media technology, with its accompanying “everybody is a star” syndrome, combine to make it increasingly difficult to get attention. By that, I mean real attention – the kind of attention that those in the professional media (and related) industries describe as “traction.”
There are media and there are media. There are platforms and there are platforms. Not all cultural artifacts are equal in terms of their utilitarian versus cultural value. Damn the tone-deaf corporate bean counters who are ripping the heart out of the spirit that gives humanity its life force! Marketplace obsolescence should not solely be determined by profit and loss. With all due respect to the idea of public service, what about the concept of loyalty? Shame on the automobile industry! Not only is it turning its back on the needs of millions of people, it is in the process of betraying one of its historic partners in not only commerce – but romance and glory. In other words, the automobile industry owes the radio industry a huge debt. The relationship between cars and radios goes a century deep and has been nothing less than a two-way street. Yes, auto industry, don’t be so hasty to save a few bucks by rushing AM (and then FM) radio out the door. You might just find in the long run that “radio” outlasts the private “car” as a fixture of human activity.
Many years ago, I received a late-night call from a legendary radio talk show host who had just been let go by management at the iconic major market station where he had been presiding over the airwaves for several decades. His ratings had begun to downtrend a bit, but he still was a big draw for audience and advertisers. He was one of the biggest names in talk radio history and his still-sizable audience loved him. Thus, the unexpected news of his severance blindsided him with a wallop and surprised the heck out of the biz. Everyone was buzzing about it.
The embarrassing situation and accompanying financial vulnerability being faced by our colleagues at FOX News is a high-profile example of the consequences of audience “targeting” that has become the common positioning strategy in today’s competitive media marketplace. The process is simple: You give the specifically targeted audience what it wants, not necessarily what it needs, even if what it wants is of dubious quality or unhealthy and – in the case of political talk media – untrue. It is a problematic, unsavory practice that has been brewing in our industry for years and, in the case of FOX, the proverbial toxicity has just hit the fan.
