Everyone is at home but with no radios

In the midst of the pandemic, following an aspirational blog post from Fred Jacobs, an email chain circulated with active and former senior radio executives — if you are in the radio business, these are names you would know. With Covid-19 wiping out the commercial logs at most radio stations and a sad succession of staff cuts befalling even the best radio companies, several in this email chain suggested that radio’s troubles are so deep that now is the perfect time for radio to throw the long ball and reboot — try new formats, break new talent; rethink and rebuild.

Romantic thoughts, and one could easily argue they are right. There is, however, a certain irony as many of the same executives presided over the homogenization and yield management of the business. We all own pieces of that.

If there is any humor to be found during Covid-19, it is the oft-used term the ‘new normal.” As a wise analyst recently said, “no one knows anything.” That seems right. The only thing we know is that habits have been altered and the chance of everything reverting back are pretty minimal.

What’s been happening with audio during this time is a series of lessons in audience migration and listening patterns.

Radio station drive times have been slammed hard — anecdotally, more than 35%. On the rise is smart speaker usage…