Dear Editor:
Radio isn’t dying. Bad strategy is.
In a recent commentary, Jerry Del Colliano wrote about groups choosing to let licenses expire rather than invest in repairs. But what we’re seeing with companies like Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media, Audacy and iHeartMedia isn’t the death of the medium. It’s a shift in priorities.
When a station goes silent, it’s rarely because radio “doesn’t work.” It’s because:
- Debt is too high
- Overhead is bloated
- Or the station lost its connection to the local community
Let’s call it what it is: This is balance sheet management, not a reflection of radio’s relevance.
[By this author: “After CBS, Let’s Take Back the Airwave”]
Local radio still works. It drives business. It builds community. It wins when it’s done right.
The real issue? Too many groups moved away from Main Street and chased scale, automation and national dollars — while leaving behind the very thing that made radio powerful in the first place: local connection.
AM isn’t dead either. Undervalued? Absolutely. Mismanaged in some cases? Without question. But dead? Not even close.
We’re proving that every day: Lean teams, local programming, real community involvement and clients who actually see results. It’s not theory, it’s execution.
There are operators out there — myself included — who would gladly take on these “underperforming” signals and turn them into something meaningful and profitable again. Not by cutting more — but by rebuilding local relevance, local sales and local trust.
If you think these stations have no future, you’re looking at them the wrong way.
Give me your tired signals. Your underperformers. Your overlooked frequencies.
There’s still life here. And in the right hands, there’s still real business to be built.
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