It's The Content!

No matter the format, it's the content.
One of the stations we listened to as a kid was WLS in Chicago. One of the DJ's we admired was Dick Biondi. He seemed so cool...so outrageous and a little bit rebellious just like the music we listened to at the time. WLS was a huge success at top 40 radio and a giant in the format in the 60's.

One day I tuned in and Biondi wasn't there anymore. The rumor we heard was he was fired for telling an off color joke on the air.  That story turned out to be untrue according to the History of WLS Radio. WLS and Dick Biondi were so popular in Chicago that their marketing department had sold out all the avails and then some. According to Biondi, he went in to the General Sales Manager to complain. A fist fight broke out.  The log was so jammed with commercials he could only play six tunes and hour while the competition was playing 20. He knew there was no way he could compete. He knew the music (the content) was most important to us. Biondi was right. We kept listening even after he was gone. I think the same is true for the public radio news fan. It's the content that matters.

There were three things at work. Music that spoke to our generation. An announcer who was able to present the music in a way that enhanced the experience. On Top Of Old Pizza may seem hokey today. It was new in the early sixties. Dick Biondi's style was new and radical. Put these two key elements together and you get a true sense of community. It was a shared experience. A sense of tribe.