Perhaps, like you, my heart has been heavy this past week for the more than 1,000 iHeart Radio talents who are "on the beach." Given the state of radio, many may never find their way off that sand and back on the air. I was fortunate to be part of the iHeart family during what now seems like "the good times." One of my first jobs with them was doing a live weekend overnight show. That's right, kids. Live. Weekend. Overnights. Compared to 2020, where mainstream and CCM alike are grateful to have live talent on during weekday daylight hours. Christian radio, though often challenging, is in a healthy place compared to our mainstream counterparts. Especially those on the non-comm side.

For as long as I can recall, Christian radio has had a collective inferiority complex vs. mainstream radio. Our shared perception has been that mainstream stations are full of resources, money, talent, technology, prizes, and connections we could only dream of. Even the best in our format have felt like we're catching up to the other guys. By attempting to match or outdo them, maybe-finally-our stations and our format could be shown some respect. We could feel like we belong at the same table. As if somehow people would finally take Jesus seriously because our stations are taken seriously. (I totally get I'm painting with a broad brush here, and not all of this applies to each person reading. So keep reading with some Mrs. Lot-sized grains of salt.)

What is the most important trait of an air personality? I won't make you wait. It's being likable. Genuinely likable. A spirit of likability transcends everything else. And likable people are good-natured. A good nature is also the spirit of improvisation. Improv is ...

Raise your hand if you've seen this meme: Jesus probably wasn't talking about programming a radio station going into 2020 when he said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ...

For a medium based on music and personality, there's an awful lot of science involved in radio. You can take all kinds of data, calculations, and research to build spreadsheets, and then you try to fit all of it around stuff that is, at its heart, not all that ...

There's no point in being "live and local" if you aren't capitalizing on things you can only do when you're "live and local." I keep putting "live and local" in "quotation marks" because the phrase has been so beaten to death in radio, that calling it "cliché'" ...

At this writing, we are three weeks from Thanksgiving. Many of us programmers are taking fewer label calls, slowing down on our adds, and getting ready to go all-out with Christmas programming as soon as the wobbly cranberry sauce leftovers make their way into the ...

Andrew Peterson wrote these lyrics in his song, "You'll Find Your Way:" Hold on to the hope that's taken a hold of you And you'll find your way. Keep to the old roads. A new decade is almost here. Wow. It's kind of shocking to think about. New possibilities, new ...

Seinfeld reruns never get old. They are classics and rich with lessons in character development, show preparation and story structure for radio personalities and programmers. And good old George Costanza. Seinfeld's best friend is one of the most memorable and popular ...

You're alone in the studio with a microphone and a show to do. The end of your show feels like it's 50 years away, because it's one of those days where you really don't have much to share. Maybe you haven't been out living life, maybe your brain's neurons aren't firing ...

Radio personalities are either making an impact, or not. They're either true personalities or just announcers. There's nothing in between. But there's a problem. Almost all human beings want to be loved and accepted. And we want to be special. Nobody wants to be ...