Context > Content

One of the greatest, and often under-used, strengths of radio is our ability to connect in the moment. We teach a simple concept to the talent we work with, the 4M’s of content, as it is our belief that great content is centered around the Moment, Mood, Market and Music. We encourage personalities to think about creating content that is either relevant to the moment, reflective of the audience’s mood, connected to your market and/or demonstrates the shared experience with the music you’re playing. The 4M’s are in that order deliberately as being relevant to the moment and reflective of the audience’s mood are the most important. The underpinning sentiment is that Context > Content. The more your radio station or show is connected to what is happening in this very moment the more powerful your bond with the audience will be.

BBC Radio 1 in the UK never misses the chance to be in the moment and they proved it again this week. Over the weekend, England won in the first women’s European Championship as they beat Germany in front of a sold out Wembley. England’s win comes 56 years after the nation’s only men’s title which was over Germany at the 1966 Word Cup. It was emotional to see the players dancing and celebrating as the crowd sang their anthem “Sweet Caroline”. Queen Elizabeth II called England’s team an “inspiration for girls and women today, and future generations” in her congratulatory message. To say it was a significant moment is maybe selling it short.

BBC Radio 1 was quick to announce that in celebration they would be playing “Sweet Caroline” on the hour every hour, certainly a departure from the regular playlist but a great reflection of the Moment and Mood. In addition, the content on the station was one of shared celebration, other football anthems were curated into the playlist, the audience shared their pride filed reactions, and the station felt like part of the national conversation that was happening. They were “in the moment” and it was magical.

Here’s a clip from Greg James on Radio 1 the morning after the historic win…

Bravo BBC Radio 1! They proved that Context > Content.

Content that is of the moment is far more important than evergreen content, no matter how good that evergreen content is. Being in the moment, with interesting and compelling content treatment is the Holy Grail. Ideas infused with relevance will always trump ideas that are less of the moment. It’s why live matters for radio.

You should always be focused on informing, entertaining and reflecting on 'the moment.' The most successful stations understand that being part of the narrative around real-life events drives relevance and often the memorability of your station. Make a commitment to find interesting and surprising ways to reflect what is happening in the moment. You can achieve that through personality content, promotions, imaging, social content, events, marketing, or all the above. Questions to be asking yourself - what are you, as a personality, show, or station doing to inject yourself into the conversations the audience are already having? How will you best reflect the conversation happening now? How will you reflect the current mood of your audience?