intention and retention

i've been having mixed loyalties to my occupation.

i'm currently studying broadcast radio, and i'm not sure about my passion for this industry anymore. i think its incredibly interesting, and there is so much history and significance to this platform. for journalism, entertainment, and connection, radio is absolutely indispensable. i'm just not sure if i'm the person built to deliver.

in my sales and promotion class, we were given a short paper with the following prompt: If you were the CEO of Corus Entertainment, Rogers, Bell Media, or any other broadcaster, what would you recommend the company do to evolve Radio and keep it a relevant and meaningful advertising option for local business owners? this was one of the more fascinating prompts we've been given in the program, and i wanted to share my response. i think it reflects a lot of my opinion on the radio landscape right now, and what an idealistic change to the industry might do to my loyalty to the industry. there's a lot here that feels so close to me figuring out my feelings, so i figured i'd share.

as ceo of the rogers-corus-bell-siriusxm conglomerate, i believe it is in our best interest to redevelop our approach to commercial and satellite radio. there are two pivotal questions that should guide our new approach as we adapt to a changing media landscape, and those questions are: “why do people in this age still listen to radio?”, and “what does radio do that no other media platform can do?”. in my earnest opinion, i believe there has been a distinct disconnection between stations and their audiences, and what the audience (more specifically the younger audience), actually wants. we in radio are in an incredibly unique position in the current media rhetoric: there is an overlap between what younger and older audiences look for in a radio listening experience. the crux of that desire is a disconnection from algorithms, a.i., hyper-polished personalities, and a reconnection with authenticity and uniqueness. i believe that this is a very rare opportunity for the radio industry to get ahead of the nostalgia wave and expand listener connection in radio.

first, it is important to define what is currently working, and what has always worked for radio. spoken word, and subsequently radio, have always been a cultural touchstone for storytelling. the oral tradition pre-dates all technology and is central to human experience. the golden age of radio from the 1920s to the 1950s was centralized on the announcer delivering stories to an audience within the familiarity of one’s own home, work, or car. this storytelling was accompanied by music to score the average working person’s day, creating a longevity to listenership. unfortunately, i believe the modern radio landscape has adapted out of what brought people to radio in the first place. people go to the radio to listen to other humans, find out what is happening in their community, discover new music, and listen to songs that they love. today, stations are experimenting with a.i. on-air hosts, increasing voice tracked or asynchronous content, generalizing topics to apply to an evergreen syndicate, and playing music that has nothing to do with their loyal demographic to accommodate a wider, less retainable listener. i believe the current radio industry is zombie-fied by social media now; begging and pleading for listeners to engage in new and modern ways. how quickly we forget what makes us unique when we try to engage with what is profitable for other platforms.

radio hosts of the 20th century were celebrities in a way that we don’t see much of anymore, especially in the canadian radio landscape. radio personalities like howard stern, casey kasem, and terry gross alike have all reached levels of celebrity because of the intimacy created on their shows. the parasocial connection was the lifeforce of radio and its raison d’être. this highlights one of my key points: modern radio attempts to involve too wide a demographic, thus alienating the audience. alternative stations are playing pop music to accommodate a younger, hipper audience. pop stations play country music to accommodate a rural, older audience. talk breaks are meant to be as sanitized and un-inferable as humanly possible. as a result, listeners don’t see themselves in their stations, or their hosts, and they don’t connect. the key to solving this involves two pillars: intention and retention. the intention piece involves sticking to a format and brand without compromise, and allowing for the radio to be a platform of discovery for listeners. even more so, a safe place for a like-minded niche. this means alternative stations playing music from bands no one has heard of (and elevating local, canadian artists in the process), on-air hosts allowing themselves to be gutsier, and wisely curating content to align with the format and niche the station intentionally aligns with. there are so many branding opportunities that come with a niche, and the podcast market has become highly aware of this and taken advantage of this in droves. intentional branding, content, and curation opens the door for audience retention. by narrowing the breadth of topics, music, and content, a narrowed audience is more likely to feel seen and heard in ways they don’t otherwise in their everyday media. audience retention and p1 listenership is reliant on connection to the identity of the station, and the more an individual sees themselves in the station’s alignment, the more they are willing to go to bat for the brand.

i’ve brought up a lot of hypothetical concepts, so it is important to address concrete, actionable ideas. what are some actual, implementable changes that can be made? one of our great strengths as an audio format is theater of the mind: without a visual to tell the whole story, listeners can superimpose their own ideas and visuals to stories and characters, creating a deeper connection. i believe there should be an emphasis on storytelling on radio, harking back to the days of popular radio plays. one such suggestion that adapts to trends of today involves playing games, literally. actual-play tabletop roleplay podcasting is a blossoming industry, with podcasts like dimension 20, critical role, and the adventure zone accruing massive cult followings. according to networthspot.com, dimension 20 has a net worth of $536.7 thousand, and critical role a net worth of $5 million (the adventure zone’s net worth has not been made public). these are unignorable figures that must be studied. the benefit of ttrpg play is how simple it is: at its most basic, all that is required is pencil, paper, and dice. what radio has that podcasting doesn’t have though, is the power of live. the current trend of ttrpg podcast involves a lot of polish and editing, sound design, and is overall an inaccurate representation of what playing a real dungeons and dragons session with your friends at home is like. imagine 3 radio hosts and a special guest on a talk show doing a 2-hour, cooperative storytelling session. there are nerves, inside jokes, laughter, and absurdity. i believe the improvisational nature of radio is an incredible match for rpgs, and is a vein that is completely unexploited in this area. there are plenty of promotional branding opportunities to follow: live shows, branded dice, tv simulcast, games company partnerships and ad campaigns, station-sponsored rpg sessions at local games stores; the sky is truly the limit. i believe it is just one way we can incorporate the trends of today without sacrificing the uniqueness of the platform, all while specifically targeting a niche without alienation.

in conclusion, i believe radio is at a crossroads: we can either continue to morph into the molds that tv, social media and podcasting have built for us, ultimately letting them gobble us up; or we can return to our roots and recognize what makes us unique. according to statscan, the demand for radio has increased; the net operating income has doubled between 2024 to 2025. however, the number of stations being eaten up by major media conglomerates, such as the one that i am definitely ceo of, has dwindled our numbers down from 979 stations across canada in 2021, to 953 in 2025. the audience is begging for recognizability, accessibility, and a way out of the technological complexity that is demanding their attention and data everywhere else. the stakeholders are demanding marketability and profit. there is a clear solution in simplicity, and it is a mistake to leave this hole in the market unexplored in the interest of innovation of our time. people, for the first time in this industry’s history, want less, not more.

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