Air Personalities ... The PDs Job Is Never Ending

The job of an OM or PD is a mystery to many air personalities. A lot of the air staff think, "They're on the phone all the time, take daily long lunches, play solitaire for extended periods of time on the computer, primarily listen to music, or their main function is to police the personalities."

Constantly Adjusting ...

I bet this sounds familiar because much of what PDs do consists of constant adjustments to the daily, weekly, and upcoming plans. There is a lot of mental juggling going on. Ratings and pleasing the audience are continuous. Competition for consumers is fierce. Stations are up against other stations, the Internet, smart phones, social media, cable and network TV, on-demand content providers (Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu), computer games, and a host of other things that are being invented as I write this.

Guiding ...

The airways are the frontline for any station and the personalities are the major asset when it comes to delivering a balanced product to the listener. The PD sits behind the steering wheel and drives everything that that affects the programming journey towards ratings and profit. The mission is to oversee a successful plan from every angle; many times, they are not being aloof, just in a state of solution.

It Never Stops ...

Air personalities need to understand they are a part of a comprehensive, ongoing campaign to keep a station or cluster headed in the right direction. So, when your PD says "no" to one of your ideas, it's a reflection of a vast amount of mental data swirling around. Usually this is when the negative thoughts of, "What does he/she do all day?" come into play. PDs are in a 24-hour / seven days-a-week state of planning.

What PDs Might Be Dealing With:

• Checking the daily commercial and technical discrepancy sheets.
• Analyzing music or perceptual research.
• Evaluating goals, opportunities, and strategies to maximize efforts to maintain or improve ratings. (Some have budgets for Perceptual research and those with Media Monitors in PPM markets can really dig in and micro-analyze.)
• Making sure promotions are on target for active and passive listeners.
• Checking on the current live liners and promos; they might need refreshing.
• Maybe there was a glitch in the computer system causing problems with the relays for the commercial breaks in the syndicated morning show. The PD will need his engineer, the traffic department, and the technical person at the origin for the syndicated feed.
• Working on the next big promotion and how sales can tie in client.
• Maybe there is a value-added client promotion the Sales Manager wants a plan for.
• Setting up a plan with the Promotions Department for seasonal and holiday promotions.
• Making sure the in-house Internship program is functioning properly.
• Checking with the Webmaster to ensure the station's website is memorable and up to date. Sometimes the PD is the Webmaster.
• Double-checking on the weekend special programming features; are they being downloaded properly and did the correct week air over the weekend?
• Adding or subtracting things for next year's programming budget.
• Massaging tomorrow's music log because the MD has been slacking off a bit lately.
• Dealing with air staff issues; the midday person has a cold, the afternoon personality is upset with the Production Director, and the GM thinks the new evening personality needs to spruce up their appearance at paid remotes.
• The consultant is flying in and wants to be chauffeured around.
• Music needs to be selected for the upcoming auditorium test.
• Problems an air personality had to handle at a client remote because the salesperson was not there.
• One of the listeners has a complaint about a song and needs to vent.
• The Market Manager wants you to meet with someone concerning a project with the Chamber of Commerce.
• Need to meet with the MD and revise music rotations.
• Planning individual meetings with the air staff to critique their airchecks.
• Need to have the Promotions Department revise the street team schedule.
• Plan a strategic meeting for the upcoming TV commercials and billboard blitz.
• The digital and social media strategies need to be sharpened; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.

Personalities Learn Your Role...

The programming job is a revolving door of problem solving and planning. The moral of the story is to stay in your lane as an air personality and concentrate on your specific duties. If you have a question or want a better understanding of something, ask your PD. If they find out you are interested in how things work, he/she might start using you as sounding board for some things.