When On The Dial first opened its doors to the broadcasting community earlier this year, the idea was pretty straightforward. We wanted to create a place where radio people could find the stories that matter to them, learn something about what’s happening in markets across the country, and maybe enjoy a little of the personality that made so many of us fall in love with this business in the first place. We knew there were already established publications covering radio, and we certainly understood that earning the trust of broadcasters wouldn’t happen simply because we launched another website. We had to give people a reason to visit, a reason to come back, and most importantly, a reason to believe that On The Dial was worth their time.
Thanks to you, we’re doing exactly that, and we couldn’t be more grateful.
The growth we’ve experienced since launching in April has been encouraging, particularly for a publication still finding its footing in a highly competitive media environment. We’ve welcomed new readers, developed relationships with broadcasters across the country, and watched our stories find their way into conversations involving programmers, General Managers, executives, personalities, consultants, engineers, and people who simply love radio.
What makes that growth particularly meaningful is knowing that you’re choosing to spend part of your day with us. In a world where information is available everywhere, that isn’t something we take lightly. We recognize that every visit represents an opportunity to earn your trust, and we understand that trust can disappear pretty quickly if a publication forgets why people started reading it.
Our Publisher, Steven Mills, has been clear about the direction he wants On The Dial to take. With more than three decades of broadcasting experience behind him, Steven understands that radio is more than a collection of ratings reports, personnel announcements, and ownership transactions. There are people behind those stories, decisions that affect entire communities, and programming strategies that deserve more explanation than a few paragraphs copied from a corporate announcement.
That’s been an important part of our approach from the beginning.
We want to tell you what’s happening, but we also want to explore why it matters. When a familiar personality leaves a station after twenty years, there’s usually a larger conversation worth having about the audience relationship that person developed. When an owner acquires another signal, there are questions about market strategy, programming opportunities, and what the transaction could mean for employees and listeners. And when a station changes formats, we believe there’s value in examining the competitive landscape and the thinking behind the decision rather than simply announcing that one collection of songs has replaced another.
We also believe there’s room for a little humor along the way. Anyone who has spent much time working in radio knows this can be a wonderfully entertaining business, even when things get a little crazy. We don’t intend to lose that personality simply because we’re covering the industry professionally.
As On The Dial continues growing, we’re also working to make the publication more useful to readers who want information beyond the day’s headlines.
One of the most significant improvements we’ve recently made involves our music charts section.
We’ve been updating and expanding that area to make it easier for programmers, music directors, personalities, record-label representatives, and music enthusiasts to follow what’s happening across the formats they care about. From Top 40 and Rhythmic to Country, Rock, Alternative, Adult Contemporary, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Christian music, our goal is to provide an organized destination where you can keep up with the records making an impact.
And we’re establishing a regular schedule to make that information more dependable.
Beginning now, our goal is to refresh the On The Dial music charts on or about every Tuesday, using the latest available chart information at the time of each update.
That means you’ll have a consistent opportunity each week to review what’s moving, what’s gaining momentum, and which artists are establishing themselves across the formats we cover. While individual chart providers may release their information on different schedules, we’ll work to keep our published rankings as current as possible and make the experience straightforward for anyone using them.
For programmers and music directors, we recognize that chart information is only one part of the decision-making process. Local research, market considerations, audience expectations, and format strategy remain important. But having a convenient place to review music activity can be helpful, especially when you’re balancing a long list of responsibilities and don’t have time to visit a dozen different websites.
For record labels, artists, and music professionals, we hope the improved charts area becomes another useful resource for understanding how music is performing across the radio landscape.
And for readers who simply enjoy following their favorite artists, we want the section to be easy to navigate, informative, and worth returning to each week.
You can explore On The Dial at https://onthedial.net.
We’re also continuing to develop our editorial coverage. Personnel changes, station launches, format adjustments, ownership developments, corporate strategy, syndication, and the personalities who have helped shape this industry will remain central to what we do. We intend to keep recognizing broadcasting’s history while paying close attention to the decisions that will determine its future.
That includes asking difficult questions when they’re warranted.
We don’t believe supporting radio means pretending every decision made within the industry is a good one. Sometimes a programming change deserves praise. Sometimes a management decision deserves closer examination. And sometimes a broadcaster who has spent years serving a community deserves more recognition than the brief announcement that follows a departure.
Our responsibility is to approach those stories fairly, do the work necessary to understand them, and provide coverage that respects both the facts and the people involved.
We won’t always get everything perfect. No publication does, and we’re certainly not going to pretend otherwise. But we are committed to improving, listening, correcting mistakes when necessary, and making On The Dial a publication that broadcasters can feel good about visiting.
And that brings me to something I’d really like to ask of you.
Tell us what you think.
We genuinely want to hear from the people reading our stories.
What do you enjoy most about On The Dial? Are there features you’d like to see more often? Are we covering the markets, companies, formats, and personalities that matter to you? Are there areas where our reporting could be stronger, our website easier to use, or our presentation more helpful?
And just as importantly, what don’t you like?
We’re not interested in creating an echo chamber where everybody tells us how wonderful we are. Constructive criticism can be one of the most valuable things a publication receives, particularly when it comes from people who understand the industry and care enough to offer suggestions.
If there’s something we’re missing, tell us. If there’s a broadcaster whose accomplishments deserve recognition, we’d like to know. If there’s a station doing something particularly innovative, an industry issue that needs closer examination, or a story developing in your market, we’d appreciate the opportunity to hear about it.
We want to make this publication better, and we believe some of the best ideas will come from the people who read it.
There’s another group of people we want to thank, and that’s the broadcasters, station representatives, public relations professionals, and industry contacts who have shared information with us since our launch. Your willingness to communicate with a growing publication has helped us develop our coverage and establish relationships that we hope will continue for many years.
We know that trust has to be earned. When you send us a story, offer background, or take the time to answer a question, you’re helping us do our job. We appreciate that, and we want you to know that your contributions matter.
I also want to recognize the people who have shared our articles on social media, forwarded our stories to colleagues, and encouraged others to visit the website. That kind of support is especially important for an independent publication building its audience, and it’s helped introduce On The Dial to readers who might not otherwise have discovered us.
Every share helps. Every recommendation matters. And every new reader gives us another reason to keep improving.
Radio has been through enormous changes over the past several years, and there are undoubtedly more ahead. Ownership structures continue evolving, technology is changing the way audiences consume audio, and broadcasters are working to develop new business models while protecting the value of their existing operations.
Those are important stories, and we intend to keep covering them.
But we also want to remember the people who make this industry what it is. The personalities who wake up their communities every morning, the programmers who spend countless hours getting the music right, the engineers who keep the signals operating, the salespeople who support local businesses, and the managers trying to make good decisions in a challenging economic environment all deserve a place in the conversation.
On The Dial belongs in that conversation, and we’re grateful you’ve given us the opportunity to be part of it.
As we move forward, you’ll continue seeing improvements to our coverage, our music charts, and the overall experience of visiting the site. Some changes will be immediately noticeable, while others will happen gradually as we learn what works best for our readers.
What won’t change is our appreciation for the people who have helped us get this far.
We set out to build something worthwhile for the broadcasting community, and the response we’ve received has given us plenty of encouragement to keep going. We still have work to do, and there are certainly things we can improve, but that’s part of the fun of building something that you genuinely care about.
So from everyone associated with On The Dial, thank you for reading, thank you for sharing, thank you for trusting us with your broadcasting news, and thank you for growing alongside us.
Keep sending your stories. Keep offering your suggestions. Keep telling us what we’re doing well and where we can do better. We want to hear from you, because the publication we’re building should reflect the interests and needs of the people who make radio such an extraordinary business.
And don’t forget to check back on or about Tuesday for the latest updates to our expanded music charts.
We appreciate you being here, and we’re looking forward to everything still ahead.
Thank you for choosing On The Dial. We’re glad you’re part of the family.
Joseph “JoJo” Collins
Senior Midwest Editor
On The Dial
https://onthedial.net
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