Nobody hates radio.

I thought I should say that up front, because a lot of commentary about radio starts with the assumption that there are mobs of people trashing radio as, I don't know, an old-people medium, dead as a doornail, the past. There are a handful of pundits saying things like that, but, let's face it, "hate" is a little extreme. Hate would require people to pe passionate about the issue.

And passion is not a word I'd use when considering the public's opinion of radio. If you're not in the business, chances are pretty good you don't actively think about radio at all. It's just... there. It's a utility. It's there when you get in the car, it's there in the background when you go to pick up a sandwich for lunch, it's there when you're in the driveway with the hood popped, checking the belts on your Dodge. You put it on, you get a few songs, or someone talking about Trump or football, or -- grrrrr! -- commercials, you go on with your day.

Hey, big radio companies! You want to seize on an opportunity, right? I got one for you right here. News. Wait, come back. I know, it costs money and all that. There are lots of places to get news. Facebook is monopolizing news. Got it. But hear me out. You ...

The news this week of the launch of yet another self-proclaimed attempt by a startup to become "the Netflix of podcasts" drew the same response from practically every pundit that I had: Is there really a market for subscription podcasting? I'll leave the specifics and ...

If there's an industry that's more steeped in nostalgia than radio, it's hard to imagine it. Okay, maybe baseball, but that's it. Radio people have always been a little obsessed with the Good Old Days, swapping stories and complaining that today's radio isn't worthy of ...

They're closing Bedrock. That's Flintstones Bedrock City, to be precise, a small theme park and RV camp near the Grand Canyon, there since 1972. I saw reports about the closing and there was a line about a Phoenix TV station calling it a "must stop for kids" as recently ...

The reaction to Spotify buying podcast producer Gimlet Media and podcasting platform Anchor this week has been a combination of astonishment at the price for Gimlet, concern that Spotify is trying to dominate the podcast space, pride that podcasting is drawing real ...

The Oscar nominations last week reminded me once again, as I mentioned in the closing of last week's column, that I've never won an award. That's not a complaint. I've never really been in a position to win an award. They don't give Pulitzers for writing this kind of ...

Human brains tend to put everything into convenient, recognizable boxes. The first reaction most people have to something that doesn't fit into those boxes is resistance, or confusion, or some combination thereof. Or it's a thrill. But it's not what we perceive as ...

Writing about the radio business for over 20 years means that you end up repeatedly banging your head against the wall over the same topics, because, let's be honest, a lot of it hasn't changed in decades and there's only so much new stuff you can find in a generally ...

I'm in Terminal 3 of McCarran International Airport awaiting my flight home after CES 2019 while Elvis singing "Do the Clam" plays on the Terminal PA. Three days is all I can take of the Strip, so after over five days, I'm... lets call it tired and leave out the psychosis ...