3-4-2013
Listeners used to set their day around the schedule on the radio. Now radio bases its day on the schedule of the listener. But are we doing things backward?
Yes, we need to give listeners what they want. We?ve learned a lot about the habits of the listeners and have made smart adjustments to be more effective and efficient. But we need to do that in ways that lead them to come back to radio done right. Are we bending over backward when we shouldn?t be, and letting the listeners lead our business away from doing things the right way?
Radio was always an appointment product, whether it?s ?News on the Fives,? ?Top 3 at 10,? ?Twofer Tuesday,? or contests that had listeners sitting by the phone and dialing until their fingers were sore. Can that approach still work? I think it can ? and now more than ever, because now we know what, when, and how to do it with the greatest impact.
We?ve spent hours laboring over the PPM clock, we?ve analyzed the listenership minute by minute, we can tear apart the research and know more about our listeners? habits than we?d ever imagined possible. And what have we learned? Listeners leave when we play commercials.
Wow, what a revelation! Is there anyone out there who didn?t know that back in ?73, ?83, or ?93? We didn?t need PPM to tell us what we already knew.
So, after all that research, what?s happened to the basics? The audience still wants the music, the talent, the promotions, and the contests, but we?re not giving them all those things anymore. And that?s because we have ?talk confusion.? Talent, promotions, and contests are all talk ? but they shouldn?t be confused with commercials. If they are, we risk walking away from what the listeners want and expect from us. We do have to be creative, and make the content entertaining and interesting, but not let?s eliminate three of the four reasons people listen to radio.
Unlike the music, the talent, promotions, and contests not only identify the station creatively, they can be the tools that drive the audience to the station, and with a real payoff for the listeners. That said, the talent has to deliver information that is respectful and warrants the listeners? time. The promotions need to engage the listener and provide opportunities not available anywhere else. And the contests should be clever and provide product that the listener yearns for and gets a kick out of winning. There?s nothing better than winning a contest on a radio station; it hooks you and connects you to the station like nothing else.
Let the talent get creative with the live reads, endorsements, and servicing the advertiser. We know that stations with strong talent will yield stronger revenues. Talent persuade listeners to buy the advertisers? product, and that?s what advertisers really want. Why would we eliminate it?
We can?t rely on the music alone ? not when three to five stations in each market are playing the same songs. And with so many outlets beyond radio to choose from, the music formats are saturated. Why not offer something that isn?t offered anywhere else? If there are 10 bakeries on the same street and only one offers coffee, I?m going to guess that the one offering coffee will have the most customers.
So let?s reverse the flow and give the listeners what they really want. And that?s music, talent, promotions, and contests ? a station they can build their day around.
Lisa Miller is the President of Miller Broadcast Management in Chicago. She's also one of Radio Ink's Most Influential Women in Radio. Miller can be reached at Lisa@millerbroadcast.com or 312-454-1111.
(3/4/2013 10:57:31 AM)
You're out of line, Kevin. (Just so's you know.) :)
Lisa is up against it, too. She, like other teachers and trainers, is given Spam and told to make Chateaubriand - for two.
(3/4/2013 8:01:07 AM)
I agree with one thing on commercials...they are, in many cases, truly becoming not listenable. Copy that is given me is anywhere from :05 to :10 seconds too long routinely...which forces me to read every spot rapid fire, take out breaths, time squeeze...and it's all the same trite, overused crap. Can't we go back to having real copy specialists for spots...if we can't have more air talent?
(3/4/2013 12:47:22 AM)
While I have no argument with Lisa's admonition to let the talent be creative etc., I have to wonder: What talent? Where? When? How?
Would this be the talent that is V/T'ed across numerous stations? Would this be the talent that was hired for a buck and a quarter an hour to replace the seasoned pro? Will this be happening at both ends of a 40-minute sweep?
The practice of generating huge piles of commercial garbage and dumping it in the same location might require some attention.
Making the commercials actually listenable would be a first step. That is, presuming people can be found who could do that sort of thing.
Unfortunately, Lisa is stuck in the same bind as everybody else - she is obliged to work with the traditions, material and people provided.
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