The other day I was driving into Atlanta, listening to the traffic report on the local NPR station. Apparently, there was a major accident directly ahead of me that had the 3 right lanes closed. The announcer was very clear in pointing out 3 right lanes were still closed. I should have gotten off at the next exit and started taking the back roads. But prior experience compelled me to stay the course.
Traffic was actually moving pretty well, so I was soon at the location where the accident was ?still? being cleared. All lanes were open. No emergency vehicles, no wrecked cars?nothing. Moments later, yet another traffic report alerted me to the 3 phantom lane closures.
From experience, I?d come to start assuming that what I hear in radio traffic reports probably happened 20-30 minutes ago. I?m sure there was an accident. I?m sure 3 lanes were closed. But it was old news. All of us in that area knew it, but the radio station didn?t. Radio wasn?t giving the latest information. They were giving the illusion they have the latest information.
Here was yet another example of something radio used to be valued for and do so well?live, useful, accurate information. Infinitely faster than newspaper and television. A lifeline in a world with no phones in cars. But there?s a new media in town. And people do have phones in their cars?really smart ones.
Take an inventory of all the information your station does or could disseminate:
? Weather
? Traffic
? Breaking News
? School Closings
? Album Releases
? Concert Info (including parking)
? Local Festival or Even Info (including parking!)
? Artist News
? In-town Celebrity Sightings
? Significant Deals from your Advertisers
This is all really valuable stuff to your listeners. Are you going to make them wait until the end of an 8-song supersweep to get it, on the outside chance they?ll catch and comprehend it during the jock?s 7-second ?information break?? And will the jock have the most current info, or will they be reading off a card written last night? Or is there a jock at all?
If you don?t embrace the immediacy of information at the same speed and accuracy that smartphone users can now collect and share it amongst themselves, your reputation as an information source will continue its slide into irrelevancy. People will get the info somewhere else. The only good news is you won?t be alone; the 30-minute network evening newscasts will slide into irrelevancy right along with you.
Takeaway: I don?t care if your religion dictates you play the Adele song 10 times in a row?the world doesn?t stop, and your station had better be posting and tweeting accurate information live and instantly so that your brand remains a go-to source for it.
Mike Stiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.
Find him on Facebook or on Twitter @mikestiles
Links:
Adele: www.adele.tv
Vitrue: www.vitrue.com
Sketchworks: www.sketchworkscomedy.com
Stiles Files: www.mikestiles.com/stilesfiles
Stiles Facebook: www.facebook.com/mike.stiles
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