It wasn’t just WWCD. Quietly in some markets, loudly in others, music radio has been under siege. Like many media,it’s battling demographics and technology to stay alive, at the same time losing the institutional memory and talent that made it distinctive.

“Radio creates such a powerful connection,” says Randy Malloy, who as general manager was trying to save the station with Roger Vaughan.

“You don’t remember the newspaper article that you read when you had your first kiss or the TV show. It was a song. You remember that song. There’s such a hard-wired connection in our brains to music.”

Which is why people in the industry are worried that old-fashioned AM/FM radio may be drifting off into the ether, as it struggles to attract the young listeners who have been its bedrock for generations.

Sort of a long read but worth it if you have the time. Todd Leopold offers insight on the tension between Clear Channel and independent radio in ways that show both sides. I wish an article like this had been printed when WFNX was bought out.