February 25, 2022: Here We Grow Again!
The world of music, radio, and entertainment sometimes changes rapidly.
Thirty-six months ago, the conventional wisdom was that radio was finished and streaming was the future.
Today, music listeners find themselves in a varied, multifaceted landscape.
Yes, online listening - from Youtube to Spotify - continues to be a significant market force. At the same time, sales of physical recordings including vinyl, CD’s, and cassettes are surging like never before. (Vinyl had its best year ever in 2021, and CD sales increased for the first time in 17 years. Sales of cassettes doubled during the pandemic.)
And radio, against all odds, continues to drive a shockingly high degree of listenership. (Over 80% of Americans ages 12+ are reached by radio every single week.)
To borrow a phrase, rumors of radio’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated.
With changes in a marketplace come new opportunities. Shifting cost structures and other economic realities mean that Call Radio is now able to grow into providing nationwide FM coverage as well as pioneering new, exciting approaches online.
In keeping with this, our programming - whether you listen online or via terrestrial radio - has enjoyed a complete overhaul and relaunch as of January 2022. We’re getting rave reviews from our listeners, and we can’t wait for you to join us.
Here at Call Radio, we firmly believe the best is yet to come, and that we are growing towards that future every single day.
Today, in a digital, on demand world, teens listen to whatever music they choose, whenever, wherever, and however they want without the limitations of FM reception and time schedules. The radio dial is now infinite. Teens today spend only about 10% of their time listening to music from FM radio and the other 90% through streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, Apple, YouTube, and digital downloads. Half of all people under the age of 35 live in households without a radio. Smartphones outnumber radios and people purchase cars based on connectivity. We think the trend towards digital is going to accelerate with new advances like 5G networks arriving this year with up to 100 times the current data rates and devices that are 90% more efficient and can run far longer before needing recharging.
Call Radio’s annual operating budget is $200,000. 82% of our resources are consumed directly by Call Radio’s tradition FM signals to which teens invest only 10% of their total music listening time.
The bottom line of my history, culture, technology, and economics lesson is that we still believe that teens and young adults become the best version of themselves when they are connected in a relationship with God and part of a community of others who share that connection in common. However, FM radio is no longer the most effective tool for our mission. We have no plans to slow down at Call Radio. The chorus of a well-known song says “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”
