Begin With A Different Spin

We're approaching the halfway point of 2013 ... a perfect decompression time to glance back and then look ahead. If you're running as fast as you can and still struggling to keep up, welcome to the club. In a time-starved work world, we need to stop running in order to make the right leaps ahead. These days it feels like we're all running faster than ever, yet it seems we've not moving fast enough. Maybe it's time to slow down, see what we need to accomplish and then set new goals.

One of the things we've observed recently is that the so-called, cookie-cutter, "off-the-rack" Urban formats are not working that well. Maybe what they really need is a different spin.

Why would they need a different spin? For one thing, so far 2013 has been a wild year for our industries. Urban radio is now facing new format competitors that threaten to nibble away at our Time Spent Listening (TSL) and cume. There are still the obvious old ones. Many of the new audio forms can be downloaded right onto your cellphone or in your car. Digital is changing the way radio is delivered to listeners. At the same time, it is transforming the radio listener. Manufacturers are designing interactive experiences and new technology for their connected cars.

Subtraction Is Not Addition For some time now, studies have shown increasingly that one of the most irritating things that listeners have always complained about was the fact that their favorite station had too many commercials. When we further examined the research ...

As we slide deeper into the important Spring Arbitron ratings sweeps, one of the key questions we're hearing over and over again speaks to the fact that in many markets, Urban radio is in a confused state. Allegiances are being thrown about, and listener apathy toward ...

Urban Uncertainty When we stop to think about it, we all need and want to know if the job we're currently in represents a fresh start, a dead end or something in between. Here are some facts that may help us to sort things out. Recently there have been tremendous ...

Urban Funk In The Fast Lane Everyone in Urban radio agrees that things are not the same as they used to be. People are smarter, technologies are faster and competition is fiercer. It's really "life in the fast lane -- everything all the time." The road to better ratings ...

We're living in a time when one of the most important skills Urban radio programmers can develop is the ability to stay abreast of change. Trend-watching, information gathering and looking ahead are critical survival skills. One of those skills is part of a new concept ...

A lot of what inspires new listeners and encourages old listeners to continue to listen is reinvention. Reinvention is the art of relishing the idea of looking for a new way of doing something. It's presenting something fresh. Exercising our creative abilities is one of ...

While They're Trying To Figure Out The Answers ... Come Up With The Questions With all the demands on their time, it's easy for today's programmers to focus so much on not messing up that they wind up losing listeners because they're afraid to make the necessary changes ...

As we prepare for the 2013 Spring Arbitron sweeps, perhaps we should take time to reflect on the biggest challenges we face. This year promises to be a pivotal one in building the future of traditional local radio as we know it. That said, a few of you got so busy you ...

Relating to Audience Lifestyle With Genre-Based Sound Increasingly today, every market is becoming unique in terms of how stations have to niche themselves in order to hopefully maximize their P1 position and force a few more fickle fingers to their frequencies. It's ...