by Carl Magnusun
In a market so small it doesn?t warrant Arbitron rating a group of stations has hit on a digital strategy that is working exceptionally well. They use a single website for all 5 of their radio stations. Today we ask OM Brian Prawitz about his Roseburg, Oregon cluster and why www.541radio.com is proving so successful (541 is the area code for southern Oregon). Is it because the market is so small? Does it work because they are free from ratings pressures? Or have they hit on an online content strategy that listeners prefer?
Let?s dig in and let the debate begin.
RI: What was the logic behind putting all your stations onto a single site vs. keeping them separate?
Brian: I think the heart of the philosophy of having one site is that we have five radio stations (including one simulcast AM/FM) driving listeners to one place. We have approximately 80,000 listeners every week (out of approximately 100,000 people in our county). That?s a lot of local ears. Furthermore there isn't direct radio station competition in town so why not promote all our stations at once so we can more effectively compete against who we see as our real competition...the local/regional Newspapers and TV stations and pretty much the whole world when you are online.
RI: How is it working so far?
Brian: We've found that having a single online radio platform makes it easier for listeners to find us and gives them more choice in terms of content when they get there and they stay engaged longer. They get news and sports from our two AM's and music streams along with entertainment and pop culture updates from our Country and Hot AC stations. Then we have concert and community events, weather, social media, and contesting all right there.
RI: Easier to find, more content. How has that translated in terms of audience response?
Brian: Listener response has been really positive so far. We basically started from scratch 18 months ago. We took the old sites down, which no one complained about, and put up 541radio.com. We exceed the goals we set for the site after the first 6 months. Then just over the last 6 months our online listening has been up 50% and growth continues month over month.
RI: How are your advertisers taking to it?
Brian: They like it because they feel like they are advertising to the entire community in one shot. It's an easier decision to make. Additionally having the single site for all the listeners means the combined numbers for visits, impressions and TSL are much more attractive selling points.
RI: So response has been positive across the board for a non-typical online radio strategy. What would be your response if I played devil's advocate and suggested that your success is accidental and that putting all your stations onto one website is just being lazy?
Brian: If putting all my stations onto one website is lazy then so is running all my stations out of one building. Yes by putting all the stations onto one site we create some efficiencies but it's the same amount of work being contributed from the staffs of each station. We had a hunch that this method of offering up our stations would work well and we've been proven right. But that doesn't mean we're taking it easy. We're evolving the site all the time. We monitor other media sites and other radio station sites looking for good ideas, we monitor all the listener interaction and use data on 541radio.com and we do a lot of testing to see what listeners respond to best. We try new things and react to what our listeners want. That is why we are successful.
RI: OK, final question. You've had experience working in bigger markets like Seattle before settling into Roseburg, if you were back in a big market like Seattle or even Chicago or New York would you run your stations' online presence like you do with 541radio.com?
Brian: Wow. Tough question. I guess it would depend on the heritage of the station. If I was running some legacy brands I would be more cautious about dumping their sites in favor of a multi-station platform. If I was coming into some stations that weren't performing so well or weren't that established it would be an easier call to make.
Also it would depend on the philosophy of the ownership. If ownership's goal was to become the dominant online media company for the market then I would definitely push to consolidate brands and content into one platform that is easier for listeners to find and keeps them engaged longer with a variety of good content and music to choose from.
And then I could maybe see doing both...supporting the heritage station's website while also building up a platform type site that would draw content from all the stations I had. But then I would have to have the budget to support doing both well and the staff. Maybe if the market was bigger I?d have the resources to hire dedicated content people. And then on air do I promote the station site or the group site? Right now I wonder if I am saying my call letters enough because we promote 541radio.com so heavily. It's a tough call.
There are advantages and disadvantages no matter which direction you push. Brian has shown an online radio platform strategy can work in his market. Would it work in yours? Would you do it if you were running the show in a top 10 market? Why or why not?
Carl Magnuson is a blogger for Radioink.com and Co-Creator and Director of Sales, Social Radio LLC. He can be reached via e-mail at thevoiceofcarl@gmail.com
(8/17/2011 6:47:30 PM)
Sounds good in practice, but I'm not sure it works as well as is described in the article.
(8/17/2011 9:40:10 AM)
This is a great idea! In my opinion, one compelling streamlined site for the cluster is better than 4-5 sites that are sloppy and out of date. And the sum of all stations together make for a mighty impact. Good call!
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