-
Dr. Billy Ray McKim, Texas A&M: "If you want people to join our business, don't keep telling them about the good old days. Explain the problems radio is struggling with and challenge them to identify solutions."
February 21, 2019
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. Radio Rally Point was created by DMR/Interactive and All Access to shine a spotlight on the power of AM/FM radio. In this edition, DMR/Interactive Pres Andrew Curran catches up with Texas A&M University Associate Professor Dr. Billy Ray McKim.
-
Research consistently shows that as Americans gain full-time employment, radio becomes increasingly valuable. However, as a professor you see the future workforce in the classroom and on campus. What does your experience tell you about radio among P18-24?
McKim: I’m glad you’re describing them as 18-24, instead of Millennials or Gen Z. Until a couple years ago, I focused much of my research on better understanding differences between Millennials and Gen X. What I came to find is there are greater differences within the generations than between them. I believe categorizing them by generation leads us to generalizations that will come back to bite us, if it hasn’t already.
To your point, when I look at snapshots of data I’ve collected over the past several years, I see that people 18-24 listen to radio less than they watch traditional TV. However, once the data are put together to look at the trends across years, it appears that the percentage of 18-24-year-olds watching traditional TV is dropping much faster than radio. Overall, radio is holding relatively steady. The medium with the largest growth appears to be streaming audio and video on demand. And, of course, I better acknowledge the beast of social media that’s here to stay.
If radio is holding steady, is the glass half-full or half-empty?
McKim: Many, arguably most, people in the 18-24-year-old demo do not own a traditional AM/FM radio other than the one in their car. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t listening. In fact they may actually be greater consumers of audio programming than Americans who preceded them. It’s up to radio to continue winning their listening, which won’t happen if we’re trying to disguise ourselves as something that we’re not, notably an on-demand audio platform. Impostors get exposed, not rewarded.
Most Americans younger than 30 have been raised in a multi-tasking society. There is no need to stop browsing the web, writing a report, or crunching numbers to listen to audio content. They can search for information on the web, read a story, monitor social and text, all while listening to audio. They can’t listen to audio very well, while watching TV or a video. Nonetheless, I have noticed quite a few people under the age of 30 who turn on closed captioning and turn off sound. I don’t get it, but they aren’t isolated phenomena.
For generations, as Americans “age out of the demo,” there have always been people to replace them. Now, the competition (streaming on demand content) may be more familiar to the youngest of audio consumers. For radio to remain successful, we need to start paying greater attention to cultivating and training the younger demographic to know how to be good radio consumers. We cannot just assume they will be good listeners when they turn 25 and are working full-time.
Speaking of employment, how would you describe radio’s efforts to bring aspiring media professionals into our business?
McKim: Several times each year, I take students to small- and major-market radio clusters. As I did once again last week for CRS 50, I also take groups to industry conferences such as the NAB Radio Show, and to the Worldwide Radio Summit. Everyone is willing to share their stories with the students, which is awesome. I tell the students, “It’s better to learn from people who do this every day rather than a guy who used to do it.” It’s always great seeing the students get excited about a business that is so different than most other types of media.
There is a downside to this, though. I can’t think of a single time we’ve visited a radio cluster or attended a conference without having at least a couple people say, “It’s a great job, but don’t do it for the money -- there isn’t any in radio,” or “You need to pay your dues. You’ll get coffee and do a lot of work for free for a long …” Nothing sells food better than the server who tells everyone the food sucks, or the salesperson who talks about how terrible his or her product is.
Be honest. Radio is hard work, but sometimes we get too caught up in telling the war stories about how bad it was for us and by extension will be for them, instead of how great it is now. If you want people to get into the business, don’t focus on why their education is overrated or how they (usually Millennials) are entitled. Explain the problems radio is struggling with and challenge them to identify solutions.
Radio has always been a companion medium, whether it’s driving or listening at-work. However, listening to radio, while also consuming other media is a fairly new phenomenon. Are the implications you’re finding in your research good or bad for radio?
McKim: First, I want to acknowledge that I have a solid grasp on there only being 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour. I clarify that because many Americans are consuming more than 60 minutes of media per hour. As you said, radio has long been a companion medium, and it still is. Now, though, radio is also a companion to other media consumption. The number of Americans who have the radio on and a browser open, music streaming while on social, or playing a podcast while posting a blog, is substantial. Although there are still only 60 minutes in an hour, the assumption that a person can only consume one medium at a time and per minute is flawed.
Based on what you’re saying, radio remains vibrant, often in spite of itself. If you could distill PhD-level research into a couple of bullet points for the radio industry, what would they be?
McKim: Based on data collected from thousands of 18-24-year-old Americans, I can share these things:
- Americans -- especially 18-24 year-olds -- are listening to audio media: 91% listen when they are driving; 60% while they are working; 63% while they are getting ready for work or school; 78% while they are exercising; and 74% during their free time.
- Audio content is the most-consumed media in the U.S.
- Terrestrial radio is relevant with the 18-24-year-old demo.
- Pandora is not a major competitor in the 18-24 demo, but Spotify is – three out of four 18-24-year-old Americans who stream music on demand listen to Spotify.
- The limitations of measuring media consumption on a single medium at a time measure does not tell the full picture of radio’s success and strength.
- The most limiting factor for radio seems to be the transmitter, but advancements in technology will continue to provide opportunities for radio to thrive with some outside-the-box thinking.
- Live, local content with a connection to local listeners cannot be replaced by on-demand, podcasting or satellite. Each of those products has a large consumer base, and most are shared with radio. The radio industry knows what it’s good at, and the industry should keep doing it.
- Radio is not podcasting; podcasting is not a morning show minus the stopsets.
- Radio is not Pandora or Spotify; they don’t want to be creating local audio.
- Radio is part of every community; Pandora and Spotify are not.
- Radio has been part of the lives of Americans for generations; Pandora and Spotify have not.
There are millions of Americans listening to audio, including radio, every day. Radio should be sure to provide the content they are looking for. Know the product. Know the audience. Connect them.
Have a suggestion for someone you'd like to see featured in Radio Rally Point? Email your suggestion to DMR/Interactive.
Thanks for reading and working each day to drive radio forward.
-
-