For me, "forward thinking" has always been pretty straightforward. How do you not only grow your audience today, but how do you turn them into long-term listeners. Back when I was in CHR, it meant skewing younger at night, having events at the high schools, and other methods of appealing to the young audience so that when they grow up (and more importantly into the demo), you've got them. KTAR seems to be skewing older and more conservative. Something which certainly appeals to the folks moving into "active adult" communities, but what happens as that core audience continues to age and shrink?
On top of that, even if you think radio is as strong as ever, you can't deny that it's changing. I've heard complaints from some "older" air talent friends (and I've made some myself) that all management cares about is your social media presence. How often are you posting? How many IG followers do you have? Can you do a good Facebook Live? The "why can't I just do my radio show" question is answered with "because that's not enough anymore." More and more people on the younger end of the demo are getting their content from places other than traditional radio. How does radio compete in that space? Forward thinking means taking into consideration where your audience will be in 5 or 10 years from now. Forward thinking means strategizing what you can do to appeal to the next group of people that will age into the 25-54 demo over the next 5 years. How will they be consuming their media, and how can you meet them where they are?
As for the upcoming election, wherever you fall on the political spectrum you have to consider the possibility that Trump might lose. If that happens, KTAR will be left with a good chunk of their programming dedicated to a guy who isn't President. That, and weekends filled with shows about planning for your retirement aren't going to appeal to that younger demo that will soon be their demo.