These spots don’t have to be live. They don’t have to be delivered by a marquee name, though they should be delivered by someone with a name (otherwise, how will the listener relate to him or her?).

With a limited number of channels and heavy commercial loads, it seems to us that FM music radio is never going to beat the challengers by playing their game, which is based on music quantity and customizability.

We have a platform with continued good will in the community. We have listeners interested in things that will impact their lives directly. Sounds like a good combination.

While older demos may be kinder to radio, we’d rather not envision a future with a dozen stations per market serving 40-54’s.

These formerly tried-and-true tactics can still provide lift for radio, provided their implementation is updated to use the full width of current technology and that you observe best practices in terms of playing the Nielsen game.

Paired against the un-hosted, un-curated (or minimally-curated) streams available from Spotify or Pandora, the human connection on broadcast radio can achieve great things: preference and loyalty.

While broadcasters’ initiatives into digital-only content and distribution will be measured against the wider universe, over-the-air efforts continue to be measured against – and thus, have to be targeted at – ratings likelies.

Radio can’t to afford have listeners ignore the enticement, borne out of thinking the contests aren’t legitimate.