2017? You Said It!

All I can say about the past 12 months is: “Wow, so THAT happened.”

And, just like that, it's December.

But, what can YOU say about 2017? Well, actually, you've already done that.

Between our weekly "10 Questions" feature and here in "The 'Ville," so many people in this biz have graciously chimed in on lots of topics. Every year at this time – between Christmas parties, and counting down to the year-end break – I like to look back and reflect on the wisdom imparted by our loyal users. We've covered a bunch of different stories this year: Hurricanes, format trends, career changes and milestones, the occasional controversy, unprecedented tragedy, and – sadly – saying goodbye to friends.

My name is on the byline for "The 'Ville," but really, this is your space. You inspire the ideas, the passion, and the commentary. As I've said many times, when you read my words here, 99% of the time, it's a composite of all the people I've talked to about a given subject – and, I talk to a ton of people every week. Thanks for inspiring me on a daily and weekly basis; because of you, I can't wait to get to the office each day.

Here's a brief year-in-review from “The 'Ville”:

"Country is growing and expanding; it's a healthy movement, and it's necessary … It's gonna be a Stapleton, a Sam Hunt, a Jon Pardi with a fiddle lick – but you can't have 17 of those songs at once." - Capitol Nashville's Luke Bryan, when asked about where Country music is headed.

"I have no idea if this, or any of the other more Country-leaning songs that are having great success, portends any type of shift, but I am elated that our airwaves are showing the depth and breadth of Country music – we have always been at our best when we do that." - UMG Nashville Chairman Mike Dungan, commenting on an emerging traditional sound.

“The last few days have been difficult, to say the least, … A lot of survivor's guilt, a lot of wondering about why things unfolded the way they did. But, I'll say one thing – I am so grateful for the Country community. I was checking on listeners, they were checking on me… same with record reps. Just about every artist in my phone (including many who were not at the festival) reached out to me to ask if I was okay and if there was anything I needed. I'm thankful everyone in radio, records, and artist camps are accounted for." - KUZZ/Bakersfield PD Brent Michaels, who was in Las Vegas during the shootings on October 1st.

"It was one of those moments where I really, honestly thought, 'Would I rather face the wrath of our President, or the wrath of our audience?' I knew the rest of my day would have emails wondering why I didn’t ask for one, so I just went for it. If that doesn’t get us into the Radio Hall Of Fame, then I don’t know what will (laughing)." - Rick & Bubba's Rick Burgess, explaining why he asked President Trump for a station liner when Trump called their show.

"It’s funny – you don’t realize how much of a part you are in someone’s life until you’re not anymore. So, we really do have people that spend their day with us, that wake up with us in the morning, that rely on us for that information." - Former WGNE/Jacksonville APD/MD Ashley Wilson, talking about the station being knocked off the air for days, following Hurricane Irma.

"Long term planning for us is tomorrow … I'll tell my team: be warm, be comforting, don't worry about formatics. If something is important, do it. Here is some basic structure, but if you feel something is more important, don't hesitate to go away from it." - KILT/Houston PD Bruce Logan, on coaching his staff after Hurricane Harvey.

"We're here to keep you company – mostly, we're not here to panic anybody.'" - KKBQ/Houston PD Johnny Chiang, on his station's approach during Irma.

"Respect the ballad. It's emotional plutonium, and that always fuels outstanding ratings." - Hunt Media Solutions President Phil Hunt, on why Country radio shouldn't overlook ballads.

"Sometimes, it takes that little separation for you to realize what you’re doing really does matter. It gave me a fresh perspective to realize that radio is part of me – what I was made for – it’s my purpose, and that’s part of the plan.” - KDXY/Jonesboro, AR personality/Account Executive Christie Matthews, on leaving radio – then returning to it after 89 days.

"Every one of you in this room is in the coolest business in the world. Do you realize what we get to do for a living? We get to play music and talk to people, and we get to be the ones to set the mood for the day. We can actually change the world – everyone thinks you can’t, but we sure as hell can." - KUAD/Ft. Collins, CO MD, "Good Morning Guys" Co-host, and Country Radio Hall Of Fame member Brian Gary, accepting his HOF induction.

"Penalizing an artist because of something in their personal life would be like Pittsburgh radio pulling every Carrie Underwood song because they were playing the Predators in the Finals." - KBEB/Sacramento PD B-Dub, on supporting Lindsay Ell after a competitor cancelled her station visit because she was dating KBEB morning man Bobby Bones.

"She connected, because she was authentic, herself, and had a beautiful soul that shined through the radio." - Tim Roberts on CRHoF inductee Linda Lee, who passed away before the June induction ceremony.

"She died trying." - Jeff Young, Lee's husband, describing Lee's efforts to attend the ACM awards, honoring her as Broadcast Personality of the Year.

"It’s an opportunity for radio and television stations to program artificial intelligence in the home for your audience. The upside for radio is, because it’s the smart speaker and over 80% of Alexa users listen to music on these devices, this is a great opportunity to drive communications and TSL at home. In some ways, it creates another interaction that, before, we might have only done through a request line.” - Futuri's Daniel Anstandig, discussing Smart Speakers' potential role for radio.

“Everybody should be thinking about it and trying to figure out what’s the best way to harness this and make it work to our advantage. The key is developing Skills for Alexa, and the space is very reminiscent of where we were with apps back in 2008 when Apple opened up the app store. We look at this as being a fortuitous opportunity for your radio station on a big new platform.” - Jacobs Media President Fred Jacobs, on the growth of Smart Speakers.

“I think because marijuana has become more normalized in our culture, a lot of Country artists are singing about it more often than ever." - Logan Freedman, a data scientist at Addiction.com, commenting about Country music leading all other genres with the most drug references.

“This show is strong, because of the commitment to one amazing performance after another.” - WQDR/Raleigh PD Lisa McKay, commenting on the 2017 ACM Awards.

"It’s not a fun disease." - Westwood One's Tim Closson, on being diagnosed with Bladder cancer.

"I think it’s useful to know what it is and know how to use it, and maybe have it a part of that decision-making process, but it can’t be the end-all be-all at this point.” - Cumulus VP/Programming & Operations Greg Frey, previewing a CRS 2017 panel called "Dicing The Data."

"I came over here and assessed the situation, and I’ve tried to be really careful. You don’t want to change the personality of the radio station and damage that. It’s not like I was handed a broken toy. This is something that is performing at a very high level.” - Newly-arrived WIVK/Knoxville PD Nikki Thomas, on being only the 5th PD in the station's history.

"Everybody hates the new guys. It happens every time. Some people will not like our sound right away. They'll say, 'You guys don't do the weather right,' or whatever. We have to come in, introduce ourselves, and prove we want to be a part of the community. We need to demonstrate that we know what we're doing. We won't try to dazzle or overwhelm anybody – we'll just do the same, mediocre radio we've always done (laughing).” - WIVK/Knoxville "Tony And Kris" morning co-host Tony Randall, on succeeding longtime, and beloved morning hosts Andy and Alison.

"The goal is to open the station up to new listeners that are not familiar with it to say, ‘Hey, this is a great product that you should keep listening to.’ Our goal is to at least open the station up to new people, and then it’s our job with the music and the programming to have them stay.” - KKGO/Los Angeles PD Michael Levine, discussing the station's 2016 move to All Christmas Music one month before the holiday.

Looking Back To When We Looked Ahead