As many know, General Motors lost a bundle of money last year.  But reading on about this loss, one quote from the Vice-Chairman, Bob Lutz, could also apply to radio.
His quote:  "When Financial Eggheads took control of the company, GM stopped producting great designs."

Now apply that same principle to radio.  Where's the great radio today?

In the automotive business there are Ferrari's (And Audi R8's - and BMW M series and etc. etc.)  - and then there's Lada's.  I prefer the former to the latter and recognize  that the same is often true in radio.  There is some great radio in Canada - great performers - great public service work - great news people - great radio (legendary) stations (in both big and small markets)  - and a great amount of fun heard on the airwaves of those 'excellent' radio stations on a daily basis.    I prefer to look it like that rather than dwell on the fact that not every radio station is a Ferrari and thank god there aren't that many Lada's out there either.  

GM – make that the former Big 3 – failed to modernize physical plant, signed inefficient labour contracts and expected buyers to make choices based on habit, not build quality.  Hungrier, brighter competition buried traditional US automakers who remain buried today.

Any lessons for radio?  Well, the industry, unburdened by inflexible high cost labour, is always willing to spend on modern facilities and technology.  With concentrated ownership sharing overhead and production costs among numerous locations, they have worked to assure continued profitability.

However, I suspect that there is one similarity between broadcasters and failing US automakers.  Neither one respects its consumers.  The “fit and finish” of American cars has always been a problem and product design was never aimed at delivering excellence.

The fit and finish of today’s radio has declined.  Twenty-five years ago, would the market’s leading station have allowed tongue-tied interns to do rip and read newscasts, even late in the evening?  Would they have presented a syndicated show from Winnipeg in the lunch hour?

I believe that elimination of talent and programming for short-term profitability will be wrong in the long-term.  Suppose a house framer eliminated every second stud.  That would certainly reduce costs and raise profits.  However, continue down that road and there will be grave consequences.

There's great radio all over the place...granted it's some times harder to find than in the old days, but it's there. Like the car business, radio has evolved. Those who have found a way to work with the new technology and situations can still crank out good programming. The Lada's, as Marty put it, are probably the ones who sit in their offices and studios complaining about voicetracking and how that computer took my job. The fact that so many markets, like Edmonton and Calgary, are so saturated with radio either make you better...or not. I like to think that challenges like those make better broadcasters, better programming and ultimately better radio. It certainly makes it tougher for recent grads to break in, but also demands better performers. Find the stations with the same voices you heard 2 years ago and I'm willing to bet they're the winners and the Ferraris.

Quoted from Marc Stevenson

There's great radio all over the place....

Glad to hear that is the case.  Maybe I've grown a bit grumpy and remember only the good stuff from years ago.
What examples are there of great radio in the marketplaces of readers here?

KOOL in Victoria since Curtis Strange took over, sounds awesome (and they need to use syndication and lots of VTs to flesh out the day parts).  So I think that is a good example of a programmer thinking outside the box and using what resources he was given to maximize the sound.