<<I am long retired from broadcasting, most of my time was spent in radio, with a little bit in television. Radio was, at one time, run by entrepreneurs who did wild and nutty thin<<

I worked in media, both TV and radio, too. I agree it was fun back then..and no longer.
But the landscape— with the internet, social media, etc—changed the economics of both industries radically. I hate the IHearts of the world as much as you probably do, but this is a chicken and egg thing…did the conglomerates cause the problem..or did the economics of the problem create the conglomerates. I infer you think the former—I think the latter.

When WE were there—our employers sold ads to businesses that paid for “reach” well beyond any reasonable targeted customers. Extraordinarily inefficient—but there was no alternative. Now advertisers don’t need to waste all that money—they can reach their targets DIRECTLY and far less costly via social media & other targeted methods.

In our era, if you were selling acne cream you had to pay to reach seniors and others. Today, for a fraction you can hit every teenager in targeted towns/counties. Soon you’ll be able to reach every 15-19 year who has paid to visit a dermatologist!

If you’re in the bridal business, you had to pay to reach happily long time married adults.Today you can easily target every single 21-38 year old at a small fraction.

And the heart and soul of radio sales—mom and pop local businesses are getting crushed by Amazon. Amazon trucks roll up and down my street every hour it seems. That’s business that would have gone to our local media.

The world has changed, I like you, miss the old days. But life goes on