Earlier this month another big radio group essentially folded, surprising no one. A story that’s becoming far too familiar to ignore. So, it’s easy to understand why many of the independent broadcasters I talk to think the major groups pivoting to digital first a few years ago was a mistake. But, those big groups aren’t struggling because they read the tea leaves, watched consumer habits change and adjusted accordingly. They are faltering because every available dollar they have goes toward servicing their debt. Buying hundreds of stations at a 10x multiple that are now worth 5x or less would cripple anyone. Imagine purchasing a home for a million dollars that’s now worth 500k, then multiply that by one hundred or a thousand. Many of these large groups are good at digital but hamstrung by their debt. While the smaller, independent groups with better balance sheets are often bad at digital. In my opinion, the key to saving our industry lies in correcting these two issues. Here are some thoughts on how.

There’s no easy solution to the debt challenge the major radio groups face. What I’d like to see happen is for anyone who owns a radio station they have no intention of operating to sell it to someone who does for a realistic price. That’s already starting to happen, and I believe that will continue because stations that aren’t being operated as anything other than a jukebox will only go down in value with each passing year. I work with multiple independent operators who would be happy to add additional stations, which I encourage, as long as it’s done slowly and strategically.

Luckily, the answer for independent groups who struggle with digital is much simpler. First, they need to stop assuming everything the major groups do is stupid. Major groups tend to be more data driven, purposeful and strategic with their programming and promotions and put significantly more of a priority on creating multi-platform digital content. All of those are examples the smaller independent groups should follow. Secondly, they have to get over their fear of digital. It’s not rocket science, it just takes hands on experience, and it actually ties in really well with broadcasting. There are examples all around us that show exactly how we can turn everything we do audio-wise into video content, tools like Radio Content Pro write the web and social content for you now and the skills our on-air talent already have give them a huge leg up over people who’ve never talked into a microphone before.

Most importantly, independent radio groups have to invest in digital content creation at the local level. That’s the missing piece at the major groups who can no longer afford to do so. Local revenue is still the key to radio thriving but we’re only going to get our fair share of that local revenue if we invest in our operations and personnel at the local level. I don’t mean staffing up to pre-pandemic levels, I mean having a few people in every market who are willing to embrace AI tools to 10x themselves and fully understand that working in radio now means doing much more than just radio every single day.

What do you think? Comment below or email me at Andy@RadioStationConsultant.com.

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Andy Meadows is the Chief Editor of Radio Update and the founder, CEO and lead consultant at Radio Station Consultant. He’s also the host of the weekly Radio Influencers podcast series for Radio Update.