Top of the Tower Podcast #051: Sean Ross on Radio Programming Right Now

In this week’s edition:

The coronavirus epidemic is continuing to turn all of our lives upside down. How can broadcasters ensure we can stay on the air, continue providing information to our communities and keep our staff and families safe, while vacating crowded studios and following new guidelines for social distancing? And how do we provide all that service – and inform and calm communities inflamed by protests over racism and policing?

This week, we continue our special series of Top of the Tower Podcasts addressing the many questions broadcasters are facing right now.

Today, we called on veteran industry analyst Sean Ross, whose “Ross on Radio” columns run on our sister site, RadioInsight.

In our wide-ranging conversation, we touched on issues including radio’s immediate response to protests and rioting around the country, why music radio stations need their own news departments, the balance between local and national radio brands, the changing patterns in radio usage as listeners stay at home, radio’s role in breaking new music, and much more, including Sean’s quest to identify and list the “Lost Hits of the 80s” in detail and whether there will be a “Song of the Summer” this year.

(If you’re burned out on the news of the moment and want to skip forward to the programming talk, it starts at 05:25…)

What questions do you have right now about how to make your programming responsive to changing times, how to make remote studios work, how to keep revenue flowing in challenging business times, and about how we can all stay sane while we serve our communities? Bring them on – we’ll try to get you some answers!

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