AM/FM radio accounts for 56% of all in-car audio time according to Edison Research’s Share of the Ear study for the second quarter of 2025. This is more than four times the share of SiriusXM and six times that of Spotify’s ad-free subscription service.

Every week at Radio Station Consultant we watch multiple new songs across radio formats to help us better advice our clients on new music adds. Here are a few of the songs we’re watching this week. Charli XCX "Always Everywhere" Hot AC/EDM, Brent Faiyaz "Wrong Faces" Top 40/Urban and more.

Teases are challenging, but when you get into the rhythm, they can be fun. The goal is to capture the listener's attention and create interest while giving them a hint of what to expect, and without giving away the outcome. An effective tease strategy is complicated, but there are 5 keys to a tease to help you write an effective and creative promo for segments.

Some aircheck sessions are like dental surgery: Painful and dreadful. Outdoor stores like REI should have an entire department selling gear to survive the aircheck. Air personalities and programmers would both stock up! Yet other sessions are like therapy: Insightful and helpful.

Out of this week's data here are a few of the songs that topped the lists nationally in the US and Canada along with a few random specific markets. The United States, Latin: Bad Bunny "DtMF" (Overall #1).

There’s a big difference between an audience and a community. An audience consumes. A community participates. An audience drifts away the second a better song, a hotter take, or a slicker algorithm shows up. A community sticks around because leaving feels like missing a family dinner. And if radio has one unfair advantage over streaming and podcasts, it is this: we are local, live, and connected.

Even in the hands of a professional, trained broadcaster tradio can be pretty cringe-worthy because there’s generally no producer to screen calls and only put the good ones live on the air. However, with affordable modern tools and equipment there are ways to modernize tradio to take advantage of it’s strengths and minimize the tune-out factor on air. Here’s how that can work.

Here are a few of the songs we’re watching this week. J Cole "Two Six" Rhythmic/Urban, Sombr "Homewrecker" Alternative/Hot AC, Gavin Adcock "Colorblind" Country and more! For more insight on how we choose these songs or to get a sneak peek at some of the data we track on 500+ new songs across radio formats, email me at Andy@RadioStationConsultant.com.

Out of this week's data here are a few of the songs that topped those lists nationally in the US and Canada along with a few random specific markets. Boston, Massachusetts, Rock/Alternative: Noah Kahan "The Great Divide" (Overall #1).

What makes a radio station truly successful? A winning station consistently delivers on these key fronts.