Keith Hill, The UnConsultant, "The tighter the library, the more certain you can be of every song."

For decades, radio has proven to be resilient. With the growth of digital/social/mobile platforms during the last 10-15 years, what programming strategies have emerged and helped radio maintain its audio dominance?

Keith: Think of radio as the really gigantic fish and there are lots of little fish nipping at us all the time. What we have learned is our cume reach hasn’t been challenged; however, our time spent listening/time spent exposed has gotten shorter. That means in music radio we can tighten our libraries and play even better-testing product all the time. The key is generating tune-in occasions. Radio stations I work with are trying to drive the number of occasions and the length per occasion.

In our short-attention-span world, every format is evolving more into a CHR schema. I believe with the data of occasions and length per occasion, a station can be "tuned" to their P1 turnover, then adjusted to drive the length of each occasion.

At the same time, there are programming fundamentals that stand the test of time, which ones come to mind?

Keith: There have been some "old saw" platitudes that have been around for many years. "More Platter, Less Chatter," "Tighter is Righter." The songs you put in your music software need to be HITS! The tighter the library, the more certain you can be of every song. Talk is fine - it just needs to be compelling AND short and to the point.

What makes a radio station great regardless of format?

Keith: An excellent magnet morning show is a great place to start. If you have the kind of entertainment and FUN that draws cume from other formats, you can build a "destination" morning show. Folks coming from other radio stations to hear your morning show, regardless of music format, means you lead with big morning cume! It gives you the chance to get some conversions to the format, too. Also, the overall images from liners, jingles, promos, and air personalities need to BE THE MARKET! That means being VERY NEW YORK in NEW YORK. I think WCBS FM does that. Think of it this way: in Philly you want to be a cheese steak or Liberty Bell; in St. Louis, the Arch; in Orlando, an orange or palm tree. Sounding like the market you are in is important. Really good programmers know how to do that!

For formats reliant on new music, how do successful stations navigate the strong and weak music cycles from labels?

Keith: It’s a mistake to build clocks and leave them set. When the current music in your format is weaker, first you can simply slow down the pipeline of adds and movement; however, as the cycle remains down or weak, you need to consider replacing current clock positions with recurrents or recent gold. Rethink the turnovers of currents and/or percentage of currents in your mix. Local testing becomes more important and meaningful. Most know the charts are already polluted with the effects of deals with iHeart, Cumulus or Entercom. iHeart’s "On The Verge" records give the appearance on the charts that there is traction for some songs, when it’s artificially-inflated through a manufactured process.

You’ve said that 10 high testing songs makes for great radio. Is that still true when it’s 5 stars with 2 great songs each?

Keith: Yes, I have said I can get a good ratings book with 10 great songs. When I was a kid, it was with four or five Beatles songs at the same time. Big stars can pull the wagon for sure. Garth Brooks and Shania Twain did it for country years ago. In pop, I remember playing 4 or 5 Lady Gaga currents at the same time. Right now in Hot AC we are doing it with two songs by Shawn Mendes, two by the Jonas Brothers, two by Taylor Swift, and two by Ed Sheeran. The more stars you have, the stronger you are as a station. The more big songs you have, the stronger you are. I actually think it’s better being star-driven, rather than relying on big songs from otherwise unknown artists or "newbies."

With increasing fragmentation, how do stations make themselves an audience magnet that transcends format?

Keith: Destination morning shows and stationality that meaningfully matches the market were mentioned earlier. Along those lines, I’d also say FUN, market captivating promotions and IMPORTANT GOODWILL efforts are real difference-makers. Years ago, we’d suspend a box from a crane in a prominent location and then give clues on air. The "what’s in the box" promotions caught attention. When Jimmy Rabbit made the jump to a station in Houston, they turned old cars upside down and put banners on them, saying, "I’ve flipped for Johnny Rabbit."

I hear many promotions today that might drive one appointment, but that doesn’t really accomplish very much. Lastly, market goodwill can be extremely potent for radio. It can be "Coats For Kids," "Toy Hill" or "Hometown Heroes" (greeting returning servicemen and women from Iraq and Afghanistan.) Fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes can bring out the best in folks. Radio stations can be the megaphone to rally these goodwill efforts and events. A morning guy I work with was awarded a national award for a major charity promotion he spearheads at his station. When asked why he does it he answered, "For ratings, of course." He was kidding. In fact, the charity was very personal to him as his sister suffered from the disease for which the charity was raising money and creating awareness. This long-time radio pal of mine does big and small promotions year ‘round that help folks in his home area. Funny…he’s always #1 in his market.

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