On last week’s show I shared what an exhausting emotional week it was for me and several dozen of my teammates. As you’ve heard, Salem sold its seven Contemporary Christian music stations to EMF in one fell swoop. A huge industry story for sure but very personal to me and my teammates impacted.

My relationship with Salem goes back 24 years when I was invited into the team to launch The Fish stations in Chicago, Cleveland, and Sacramento.

Since then I have partnered with almost every one of their music stations, more recently with The Fish in Atlanta and Portland, and KLTY in Dallas-Fort Worth. Remarkable successes to be sure.

I’ve learned something through this process… such as what really matters in our format. Candidly, it is not what most stations focus on.

At KLTY’s going away party in Dallas I witnessed hundreds of people stand in line to get the talent to autograph their commemorative tee shirt for 40 years. Not once did I hear people thank them for playing Christian music, at least not generically.

No, they shared how much KLTY had played a part in their lives, their marriages, their children’s lives. They talked about healing. They talked about loss, depression, recovery. They talked about life. They talked about TRANSFORMATION, not generic attributes.

From The Fish Atlanta…

“We heard so much from listeners who felt like they were losing friends they had grown up with… The local presence of The Fish was real. We developed friendship with our listeners we’ll treasure forever.”

Fish alumni Parks Stamper as quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“She is a reminder that what we do matters.”

A Fish Atlanta listener’s social post to Beth Bacall

“I know it may be weird to mourn a radio station, but I am. The Fish began broadcasting in mid 2000 and this 8th grade girl was instantly a fan… Every member of The Fish team felt like family, and I can’t say I’ve ever experienced that from a radio station before or since.”

A listener’s social post

My cousin Dan shared how a charity in his hometown of Austin, Texas, asked a few folks to create their fantasy book cover as an auction item. Dan chose “Life, Love & Music” as symbols that would highlight the chapters of his life.

For my friends at the former Salem stations this question is very real. How will your radio station be remembered?

People love your radio station because they love something else. In fact, Christian radio is the only music format where people are drawn to it because they love something else. If you learn what that is you’ll unlock the secret to your station’s greatest opportunity for growth.

And that is how you’ll be remembered.