A common theme for this blog, our Techsurveys, our live and virtual presentations, and in our consulting work is the role of the air personality in the strategic process. Simply put, a station’s music product can be (and IS) duplicated on any number of platforms in many forms, from playlists to on-demand to curation by humans or bots. In essence, music has become a commodity in the digital world. But personalities can and should be unique and proprietary—assets your competition doesn’t have in their arsenals.
That was a big reason behind why Jacobs Media collaborated with Don Anthony’s TalentMasters to create the AQ studies—research projects conducted among on-air personalities here in the U.S. on commercial radio stations. Starting in 2018, we have designed and produced six of these studies, fielded each summer (with the exception of the COVID year—2020). The most recent study in the series— AQ6 —was conducted in July 2024. And consistently—year after year, study after study—we see the same themes emerge that define what commercial radio talent in America is thinking, feeling, and doing.
Among other findings, they’re wearing a lot of hats, they’re under a lot of stress, and many have taken second jobs to get by while a growing number have started their own companies on the side. They are not wild about the stations nor the parent companies they work for—perceptions that have headed south since the pandemic—and they largely feel taken for granted. Many are concerned with the radio broadcasting industry’s sustainability in an era where new media technology continues to grow.
While we have six years of excellent data that shine the light on radio talent, this information is in the commercial radio vacuum. We have had no idea how those behind the mic in public or Christian radio feel about many of the same questions and issues. No one had researched personalities in these other sectors before.
Until now.
At last year’s Boot Camp in San Diego, I presented AQ6 during the kickoff session on the first morning of the conference. Don’s logic in scheduling it this way is that these studies serve as good jumping off points and level-setters for the rest of Boot Camp.
So, when I finished up presenting AQ and sat down, an excited Michelle Younkman from Christian Music Broadcasters was in my face, telling me she wanted to commission a similar study among talent in her sector that would be presented at CMB’s Momentum 25 conference in June.
And that’s exactly what happened.
As you may have read in yesterday’s post, I presented CMB’s study—called On Air Pulse—at Momentum last week in Orlando. We replicated a number of questions from the AQ studies, using identical wording—or as close to it as we could.
So, the question is, just how different are talent perceptions in Christian music radio versus the commercial formats?
Like night and day. In fact, in one dimension after another, personalities on the Christian music airwaves are happier and more fulfilled than their counterparts on the commercial side of the air studio. In a number of cases, it’s not even close.
In August, CMB and Jacobs Media will be hosting a webinar with a full presentation of On Air Pulse—much more than I had time for at Momentum. Registration info is at the end of today’s post.
But let me give you a handful of highlights here that illustrate the point that life on the air differs between these two talent groups. And let’s start with a bellwether question that illustrates how talent feel about the industry in general:
The contrast continues as to whether talent is inclined to recommend the stations and the companies (organizations) they work for to friends and colleagues. If you’ve seen me present an AQ study either at Boot Camp or in a webinar these past few years, then you might recall how bad this data looks in the commercial world.
But now we have the community of Christian talent to measure against the AQ benchmark. And the results speak—loudly—for themselves:
There’s no way to put a good face on this for how commercial radio air talent regard their employers—especially compared with their brothers and sisters in the Christian radio community. For the latter, very respectable Net Promoter Scores in the 40s are in stark contrast to “underwater” negative numbers for those entertaining and informing on commercial radio frequencies.
Most data points that A/B the new On Air Pulse with AQ6 resemble the ones I’ve already shown you. And that reinforces the harsh reality that when it comes to Christian music radio personalities, the grass is decidedly greener on their side.
Making that call was easy. It turns out a majority of our Christian talent worked in what they refer to as “secular radio” at one time or another in their careers. And we asked these respondents who have experienced both radio worlds, in which have they been happiest:
One more data difference to share with you revolves around the gender story among talent working in each radio platform. In our AQ studies—year after year—roughly three of four personalities are men. And the women generally believe their chances for advancement are limited.
In contrast, a majority of air talent (54%) at Christian music outlets are female. That said, women working at Christian stations also question their upward mobility on the air (in comparison to the men). And I’ve been told anecdotally that in Christian radio, leadership roles are hard to come by for women.
There are other areas, however, where the gap is narrower. For example, the number of different jobs talent is working. On the commercial side, they’re wearing 2.9 “hats” versus 2.7 in Christian music radio. It looks like both radio platforms might benefit from paring down the job duties.
And when it comes to feeling taken for granted, that emotion may sadly come with being on the air. Nearly (47%) half our Christian respondents feel this way, but many more (83%) commercial radio folks sadly answer the same question in the affirmative.
Again, it looks like there’s work to be done industry wide with the goal of making talent feel more appreciated. Is this an issue at your station or in your company or organization? It’s not that difficult to launch an employee satisfaction survey of your own to determine how you compare to the above two benchmarks.
If you believe personalities are the past, present, and future of broadcast radio’s ability to sustain itself—and even grow—then both On Air Pulse and the AQ research deserve your attention.
In that context, commercial radio companies should look long and hard at their talent rosters—and their future strategies for personality discovery and development. In recent years, I’ve heard corporate leadership say words to this effect during talent negotiations:
“Where else are they going to go?”
This new On Air Pulse research shows an obvious pathway some have already taken—a straight line to Christian radio. These days, I can’t even begin to guesstimate whether there’s much of a compensation gap between Christian and commercial. Perhaps when it comes to high-performing, long-running morning shows, there’s an edge in commercial radio. But none of us can put a price on happiness, job satisfaction, and even mental health. They are all in the eyes of the beholders.
The deep dive, industry webinar for On Air Pulse is scheduled for Wednesday, August 13 at 1pm ET—and you’re invited, whether you’re a Christian or commercial broadcaster. Or you’re just interested. You can early register for it here.
And along those same lines, we’ve got something special planned for this year’s Morning Show Boot Camp in Austin on August 7-8. I’m going to compile the six AQ studies we’ve conducted to date, and then I’ll be joined by an all-star panel to discuss whether we’re making any progress.
So far, I’ll be joined by J-Si (The Kidd Kraddick Show) and Bret Mega (Y98/St. Louis) and other “players to be named later”). We’ll also be using the TextGroove platform to make the session interactive with Boot Camp attendees. Info/registration for MSBC here.
So, let’s hear your “hot take” on the state of radio for on-air personalities. No matter where you come down on the research, it is clear broadcast radio has a job to do.
Originally published by Jacobs Media
