Jarl Mohn, President and CEO of NPR spoke at #RadioShow2019 session, You’re Not Just in the Radio Business Anymore that featured innovators who’ve made the transition from traditional radio.

Coming out of a background in commercial radio where he worked onair under the name of Lee Masters,  Jarl has some “things to ponder” for radio operators.

He says that radio has almost always been under siege, starting with motions pictures then TV, then 8 track, cassette and CD, mp3 players, iPods, then satellite radio.
Now it’s Pandora, Spotify, Beats and Podcasts, but radio continues to survive.

Jarl says that the number of spots stations are playing, and the length of the breaks are detrimental to both the advertiser and the station.

He stresses that a lack of innovative programming for 18 –  24’s could be damaging in the long run because if stations don’t target them, the chance of turning them into long term radio listeners is low.

Jarl has told RadioShow attendees:“If you offer something truly different, and good that no one else is doing you might survive for another 45 years.”

On diversification he says while exploring other revenue avenues is important, it is vital to not lose sight of the importance of competitive programming, personalities and localism.

Here is part of his presentation

 About the Author

​ Wayne Stamm is in Dallas reporting on the NAB RadioShow exclusively for radioinfo.