Mid-Year Message from Radio Ink Online Editor-in-Chief Cameron Coats

Like many, I like to take the Fourth of July holiday as an opportunity to look back and see exactly where I stand for the second half of the year. The road to radio in 2024 is once again bumpy, requiring continued resilience from everyone from executives to board chairs.

After a few months of silence, many of radio’s enemies—who would like to see the end of AM/FM as a means of free entertainment and public information—are back at the gates. Stations are still trying to regain financial footing after a difficult 2023. Questions and concerns remain about the future of many creative and business careers related to generative AI.

But no media company – audio, digital, visual or otherwise – is on a smooth road right now, which gives radio, in my opinion, a unique advantage. Being resilient is not new to us. Digital service providers, traditional television and younger media are being thrown into the fray when they were relatively comfortable.

Looking back on the year, I see much in radio that deserves to be celebrated. From a Baltimore morning show that stepped up to serve its grieving community the day the Key Bridge collapsed to an AM station that got college students excited about working in the industry, there were many victories along the way. State broadcasting associations fought to put radio in direct control of Capitol Hill and came away with widespread support. AM radio was applauded loudly by radio and television broadcasters on the main stage of the 2024 NAB Show.

There was plenty more good news out there, and you’ll find only a fraction of it in today’s email headlines.

Another positive coming? In a week from Monday, you will be entitled to Radio inkThe magazine’s bold new look in our annual Top 40 Most Powerful People in Radio edition – which will also bring exciting visual changes here on the digital side.

As always, thank you for reading and engaging with Radio ink every day. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend and season 3 of The bear.

New titles await you on Monday.

Cameron Coats is the online editor of Radio Ink.