The restaurant business is littered with eateries that started with great promise, only to fizzle out. Kind of like radio station formats. For today’s blog, it’s a look at consumer food products and the lengths they now go to in order to stand out and grab attention – without compromising the essence of their brands. I hope that deep into my many analogies, you’ll walk away with a different way to think about the radio stations you program and market.

Everyone wondered how big the boomerang effect would be on various industries mortally wounded by the pandemic: cruise ships, concert venues, and movie theaters are good examples. For the concert business, the numbers are now in, and to no one’s surprise, 2023 smashed all previous records for attendance and revenue. Our Techsurvey 2024 confirms this phenomenon, showing which formats are the most engaged, and pointing the way to how radio can take advantage of this huge opportunity in both its marketing and branding. Take your seat and check it out.

In our effort to analyze whether the word “radio” should give way to more expansive terms like “audio” or even “media,” we might want to pay attention to a growing phenomenon: more and more “amateurs” are creating their own radio stations in their workplaces, often accompanied by much joy, enthusiasm, and passion. What does this say about how consumers value the romance of “radio” but also how they feel about us broadcasters?