Radio, as we all know, is facing a ton of challenges, with competition from streaming and Spotify to podcasts and beyond. According to one industry veteran, one answer to the endless pull on listeners is providing dynamic on-air personalities they can't find anywhere else.

It's not a common perspective these days, with younger demos who bother to tune in often complaining about all those people on the radio who are constantly interrupting their music. Maybe it's a lost cause, but this industry veteran believes what I always have: anyone can play the music. It's what happens between the songs that separates your station from the competition.

"Radio has to focus on specific attributes that lead listeners to a specific station versus a pay service. Being “Free” isn’t enough. Radio has had many opportunities to lower its commercial load in an effort to attract bigger ratings. That… hasn’t happened. So, the pressure is on to create content that’s so great that someone will sit through long commercial breaks to hear what’s next. Which leads us back to talent. Be they local or syndicated, live or voice-tracked, they need to be great."

The Importance of Having Great On-Air Personalities