by Jay Trachman
Shortly before the Imus thing distracted us, I got in one of those endless conversations with a few colleagues, about the sterility of most “terrestrial” stations these days. At one point, I commented, rather depressively, on how we first lost our function as an entertainment center to TV, followed by our credibility as a primary news source, and today, we’re even giving up our claim to being the medium of immediacy.
Someone else said I was being too negative; that there are plenty of stations where jocks are still hooked into the “here & now,” where personalities do topical material, where listeners count on them to keep them linked to the real world. And they’re right. But that’s not what one usually hears when you turn on the radio and dial around — especially outside the large markets. And most especially, after 9:00 a.m.
Another friend suggested that this is partly the fault of the jocks themselves, for knuckling under to stifling formatic rules, and accepting the “no creativity” orders of managers and consultants. In part, I have to agree with him. Paul is the kind of person whom, I believe, no matter what he did, he’d always be stretching the limits, testing the waters. That’s one mark of a creative mind. I compliment myself by believing I was the same way on the air.
On the other hand, as a businessman, I can’t recommend to you that you break company rules on a regular basis, intentionally. For one thing, nine times out of ten, the boss knows more about it than you do. He or she understands the reasons for the rules, and the consequences to the business if they aren’t observed. True, a good manager should take the time to explain them to his or her people, but in practice there are many reasons why this often doesn’t happen.
There is an answer here: As a consultant, I tell my clients — both management and talent — that they ought to have permission to “break” formatic rules, with good reason. If there’s a “bit” you have to do right then and there, and it’s valuable and won’t work anyplace else, I think you ought to be able to just do it. Just do it, that is, knowing that you may be called on the carpet, and had better have a pretty good explanation for why you broke format. It ought not happen too often. But if your case is good, you ought to get compliments and recognition for it, not lectures on “the rules.”
This is closely related to that “living in the real world” concept which I wrote about last week. If there’s breaking news that could affect your listener’s life, or that you are absolutely certain he/she wants to know about this minute, I think a jock has to have the courage to make a decision to get it on the air — even if that means interrupting a “guaranteed ten-in-a-row.” The format is the set of rules for executing the program. It is not the program.
And maybe that’s the heart of the matter. We in programming have become so enchanted with rules. Make (or steal) the right set of them, execute them flawlessly, and we promise you’ll be #1 in the ratings. Well, as my friend Paul pointed out, it doesn’t always work. Winning stations understand that the rules are a framework, and occasionally, it pays to toss this framework aside and let some real human contact take over, even if only for a few moments.
Often rules are based on faulty or incomplete information. “We know this station succeeded by doing thus and so. Let’s do the same thing and we’ll be winners, too!” If it were that simple, every station would be syndicated by now.
For example: “If you want to get in-office listening, you have to play continuous music through the work day — the more songs in a row, the better, and no chatter!” That might sound reasonable in a market where there were four stations all doing personality radio all day long (if such a market exists), and doing it poorly. But what about 21st century America where there are already twelve stations doing continuous music through the workaday, and doing it well?
There’s a deeper problem built-in. If you make an all-encompassing set of rules and tell your jocks to abide by them at all costs, then you’re inclined to hire jocks who can do that easily… as opposed to rebels like Paul and me, who just naturally look for ways to stretch them. And when the earthquake strikes or a mass murderer turns up, those people simply don’t understand how to deal with it. Worse, many of them don’t even realize that there is something to deal with.
That’s where your sterile radio is coming from: managers who are afraid to take a chance (because it might cost them money), hiring people who don’t need to take chances.
I don’t think this vicious cycle will end until more programmers and managers discover that there’s money to be made in breaking the rules; that creative talent can be a big moneymaker; that in order to survive at all, “terrestrial” radio has to be more than a jukebox. Every manager seeks out the perfect set of rules for his employees to operate under. But radio works best when it reflects the lives of its listeners. And life doesn’t always follow the rules.
Jay Trachman is publisher of “One to One,” a weekly information and humor service for broadcasters. Jay can be reached at: phone (559) 448 0700, fax (559) 448 0761, e-mail at 121@att.net, or www.121online.net. Reprinted with permission.
