Good radio is good radio - that's all

Let’s be clear: good radio is good radio.

It doesn’t matter if it was made today, yesterday, a week ago or a year ago - as long as it’s relevant to me on the day it comes through my speakers, I’m satisfied. This is how the overwhelming majority of listeners feel.

Live can be, and often is, very special when utilized - there’s nothing like the ability to be in-the-moment, reacting to things in real time such as listener engagement or a good old-fashioned phone-in or comp.

But when this doesn’t happen, does it *really* need to be live?

Why hire someone to sit twiddling their thumbs waiting for the end of “another 5 in a row” when they could be more flexible, preparing and presenting quality content in their own time?

Flexibility also means you’re more likely to attract the best talent.

Liveness and reactiveness are often moulded into a single concept. The former isn’t necessary to achieve the latter which is a key radio strength that mustn’t be lost if our great medium is to remain relevant.

Dare I suggest an up-to-the-minute VT link allows for better preparation and quality control. Not to mention the ability to record and drop it in from virtually anywhere at any time.

Just as good radio is good radio, lazy radio is lazy radio (and more lazy radio happens to be live).

The need to be live might just be for the presenter’s own enjoyment when the listening experience is what really matters.

So before rushing to attack "lazy" voice-tracking, remember, it’s not the tech that is responsible for what you hear!