{"id":99826,"date":"2025-08-27T14:24:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/99826\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T14:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T14:24:11","slug":"why-the-role-of-content-director-is-misunderstood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/99826\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the role of Content Director is misunderstood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that radio is facing challenging times. But Duncan Campbell is adamant that evolving and adapting is the way forward, not sitting back and criticising.<\/p>\n

ARN\u2019s former Chief Content Officer has shared his own perspective on radio, digital audio \u2013 and media in general \u2013 via a Substack<\/a> piece, in which he borrows a rather telling quote from Steve Jobs:<\/p>\n

\u201cI found that the best people, you know, are the ones that really understand the content, and they\u2019re a pain in the butt to manage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you put up with it because they\u2019re so great at the content, and that\u2019s what wins. It\u2019s not process. It\u2019s content\u201d<\/p>\n

In June this year \u2013 after fifteen years and 115 metro radio surveys \u2013 Campbell officially finished up<\/a> as CCO at ARN, transitioning to a consulting and advisory role.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And Campbell departed still confident that KIIS duo Kyle & Jackie O \u2013 who are on a much-publicised, ten year, $200 million contract \u2013 can turn their fortunes around in Melbourne, despite their disastrous entry into the market.<\/p>\n

Campbell says at times, the CD\u2019s role is misunderstood \u2013 even under-appreciated \u2013 by some who may not fully grasp the nuances of radio content and the pivotal role the CD plays in the success of any radio brand.<\/p>\n

The role of the CD, he says, is much more than merely an administrative one:<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine making a movie without a director or an orchestra playing without a conductor. The Content Director brings all the elements together from a content perspective, the Content Director keeps the brand on strategy, has a vision for brand and ensures that this vision is consistently delivered and the product is positioned correctly to keep listeners engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Campbell\u2019s view, part of the skill required of a CD is innate; it cannot be entirely learned. They must be a leader, strategist, psychologist, statistician, marketer, Music Director, creative, coach and teacher \u2013 all rolled into one.<\/p>\n

As Campbell points out, the rise of digital audio is transforming the way content is consumed<\/p>\n

\u201cContent Directors must now possess an understanding of digital platforms, streaming services and podcasts making the role of the Content Director more critical than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means creating content that is engaging not only on the traditional platforms, but in the digital space.<\/p>\n

Campbell is concerned that the people with the skills needed for this role are not being nurtured like they once were.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirty years ago, the talent pool for both on-air and off-air roles, particularly Content Directors, was deep, while today, that pool is a shallow shadow of its former self.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not to say there are no great Content Directors today, there are, but to steal and adapt a quote from the Netflix series House of Cards, \u2018Great radio talent is such an exotic bird in these woods that I appreciate it more whenever I see it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Campbell, that shallow talent pool \u2013 and the lack of importance placed on the CD role \u2013 is one of the biggest threats to our radio industry today.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhile I still have great confidence that radio will continue to be relevant it needs to keep evolving and adapting while not forgetting what made it so successful in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking ahead the industry needs you get serious about DAB, serious about the use of video, serious about digital audio and serious about creating brand verticals off their main FM brands.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s no secret that radio is facing challenging times. But Duncan Campbell is adamant that evolving and adapting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-99826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}