“The Era of Copycat Radio Is Over. You Must Create the Alternative Show Of The Future For 2026”

Create the show of the future. Now!
People don’t want the same sounding radio no matter what these gatekeeper consultants and programmers tell you.
Broaden your scope of what’s creative — especially in Black radio.

Stop mimicking what you hear on all these stations.

1. What’s the alternative to entertainment “news” about who slept with who or which rapper got arrested today?

2. How many prank phone calls can you do?

3. How many silly characters that sound like you — with no good writing — can you keep recycling?

4. How many “War of the Roses” dating bits do we have to sit through?

Most of it is feels ratchet, vile, and non-substantive.

Some Program directors don’t know how to help talent be creative.
Back in the 80s and 90s, the top-40 “morning zoo” was nothing but zingers, stupid characters, ringing bells, and five-person laugh tracks on every half-funny joke. What I know now is this: all those people on the show didn’t make it funny. it worked back then, but not now. It was too fake.

Fast-forward to now — syndication wiped out thousands of talented Black radio personalities.
There are only a handful of live Black morning shows left.
Urban radio has been decimated. The farming system that use to cultivate talent is no more.

So where do you go when the industry you love stops loving creatives?

You take it to the internet and build the show of the future.

There are no excuses now.
We don’t need more shows doing what everybody else is doing.
We don’t need more fake hip-hop radio voices.
We don’t need more shows imitating other shows.

Nothing is original anymore — and real conversations are rare.

Audiences have checked out.
Whatever YouTube channel they were listening to before they hopped in the car automatically picks up through Bluetooth, and they don’t bother turning on the radio. Appointment listening is gone. The cell phone is everybody’s best friend now — and you can’t compete with bestie.

The industry leaned so far left trying to sound alike for ratings that they left nothing for the imagination.
Kids don’t even know who the morning DJ is unless that DJ is out in the streets touching the people.

Think about it. People should be consuming the most immediate form of communication in the world which is Radio. Nothing is faster than radio. Radio is speed personified in getting information to the masses. So why aren't people still using it. Sounds like this would be a good article to dive into.

Here’s what I recommend:

Sit in a quiet room with blank paper and your favorite pens.
Use your imagination.
Come up with the opposite of what everybody else is doing.

Be original.
If everybody else is doing the same thing, why are you doing it?

Be innovative.
Come up with a feature better than a prank call. That had its time. It was new back then. But in 2025? Come on.

In 2026, I want to do a full brain-dump brainstorming session on brand-new features that make your show worth listening to. let's come up with some ideas that fit your personality.

Your real problem might be that you’re waiting on people to approve your idea.
Stop waiting.
Try it.
Test it.
Create it.

We must become originators again. This is a commandment. 

Copycat personality radio is dead.
Substance-driven conversations and meaningful features are what people are craving now.