In interviewing the Radio Ad Bureau’s CEO, Erica Farber, my worlds collided: it’s a podcast, but about radio, the medium I grew up in and started my career in. Certainly radio IS about community, but it was still surprising to discover zero degrees of separation with Erica and two important people from my past: my dad and my first female boss, Joan Gerberding as well as a recent Insider Interviews guest and radio aficionado, Carl Fremont!

Erica and I took the conversation from the evolution of radio to the present, to how it’s defined today – audio? is digital radio still radio? – to its challenges, success stories, and current career opportunities.

We discussed:

• What is radio today?

It’s broadcasting, but Radio is also available on any platform: If you want to hear it on your smart speaker…If you’re sitting in front of your computer or in your automobile. It’s multi-platform and available in any form and full of diverse content. It is a companion. It is a trusted source of information, news and entertainment. It’s available 24 seven. And there’s no cost to access it.

• The ways everything is audio-focused today – with sound and voice;
• The power of personalities;
• Why Theater of the Mind is still key to listener engagement/conversion;
• How radio served — and recovered from — the Pandemic;

I’ve never been so proud to say I work in radio as I have since March 2020. No one knew what to do…But radio rose to the occasion and stations did what they do best: they put their arms around their communities, consoled listeners and brought some humor and information. …They said to businesses that were open, ‘let us help you communicate to the market your protocols’. How can we raise money to feed or clothe people, to help people keep their homes? We have example after example of retailers who said that if it wasn’t for local radio they would have lost their business.

• The role of the RAB as a nonprofit trade association;
• Overcoming the digital divide and big brand success stories; (Reference: P&G and Radio)
• What makes good creative (Resources Referenced: The Radio Ranch and Wordsworth & Booth)
• Radio research; (Resources Referenced: RAB Research, Westwood One )
• Trends for the future of radio formats and revenue; (Resources Referenced: Entercom, Beasley)
• Why radio is a great career and mentoring women (MIWinRadio) in the space….

And yes, host E.B. Moss finds a way to sing in yet another episode….