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A Wish List for 2015
December 8, 2014
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. Much of what we do in radio programming focuses on how to keep people tuned in to a station: reducing irritants and negatives within our control. Those were the right things to do when the principal battle that we were fighting in radio was the battle for share. When we were relatively well assured of a certain amount of consumers' time each day being spent with our station or one of our competitors, the right thing to do was often to make sure our station gave consumers fewer reasons to tune away. With more and more options appearing every day, the relative simplicity of radio is attractive to some consumers. And, for those listeners, business as usual is probably just fine. But, for the at-risk consumers - those attracted to lower commercial loads (or modest costs for a commercial-free experience) on streaming alternatives - radio needs to evolve and at a more rapid pace. Being in competition strictly with other radio stations is not an option. If we compete strictly on share, we'll soon find ourselves with slices of a very small pie. We've become accustomed to seeing the changes in the Nielsen TV rankings where shows distributed on basic cable beat broadcast network shows. Emmy nominations, once dominated by broadcast network shows, are dominated now by premium cable channels (the very same channels that are launching plans to bypass cable) - and significant attention is being gathered by shows delivered by a streaming-only service.
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Much of what we do in radio programming focuses on how to keep people tuned in to a station: reducing irritants andnegatives within our control. Those were the right things to do when the principal battle that we were fighting in radio was the battle for share. When we were relatively well assured of a certain amount of consumers’ time each day being spent with our station or one of our competitors, the right thing to do was often to make sure our station gave consumers fewer reasons to tune away.Â
With more and more options appearing every day, the relative simplicity of radio is attractive to some consumers. And, for those listeners, business as usual is probably just fine. But, for the at-risk consumers – those attracted to lower commercial loads (or modest costs for a commercial-free experience) on streaming alternatives – radio needs to evolve and at a more rapid pace.Â
Being in competition strictly with other radio stations is not an option. If we compete strictly on share, we’ll soon find ourselves with slices of a very small pie. We’ve become accustomed to seeing the changes in the Nielsen TV rankings where shows distributed on basic cable beat broadcast network shows. Emmy nominations, once dominated by broadcast network shows, are dominated now by premium cable channels (the very same channels that are launching plans to bypass cable) – and significant attention is being gathered by shows delivered by a streaming-only service.Â
As we’re making plans on how to deploy budget and resources for 2015, what are we planning that will captivate consumers’ attention? What will move the meter (pun intended) in ratings points (and along with it, of course, share)? While proven tactics (and even newer, highly-specific PPM tactics) help in the short term, over the long haul we need tactics to engage listeners and grab tune-in – as opposed to reducing tune-out.Â
Here’s our wish list for radio in 2015:
- News and talk stations that make people feel smarter
- Talk talent who make entertaining their primary mission
- Morning shows (and talent in other dayparts) who are legitimately, laugh-out-loud funny (we’ve got many, but we need many more)
- Non-duplicable content on all stations (taking available information or content and synthesizing something completely new with it)
- New talent (dare we say it, YOUNG talent?)
- Bigger entertainment values
- Thinking about new formats in terms that go beyond a new playlist
- Making “Local” mean something really special
- Ensuring content and promotions and imaging are really about the listener
- More risk-taking
What’s on your list?Â
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