by Jay Trachman
Saying the basics won’t make you a winner. You can yell them, scream them, speak them “up and bright” three times in every break, and still lose your tail in the ratings. Should we do the basics (station name/frequency, your name, slogan and in the a.m., time and temp) heavily? Probably. It’s crucial that everyone listening, and most importantly, every new listener who likes you, knows exactly what he or she has. But the fact is, unless one is motivated to remember them, the basics probably won’t stick. We tend to remember those things which are important to us personally, far better than the things which we’ve merely heard over and over again.
For example, if you don’t have a watch on, your ears may be attuned to every time check. But if you don’t care about the time, you probably won’t even hear them. Similarly, if you’ve just done a bit which knocked my socks off, and I’m listening for the first time, I want to know who’s doing such a good job for me, and when you say your name, I’ll be paying attention. If I don’t like what I’m hearing, I may be gone before you get to it, no matter how often you do basics.
There’s a bunch of things we do, all for good reason, which won’t, in themselves, make you or the station winners…
Playing the most music tops my list. Sure — many listeners tune in mainly to hear your songs; on some stations, most. But there has to be a point of diminishing returns. If one station is playing “thirty minutes of uninterrupted music” and another offers ten in a row and you offer twelve in a row — who really cares? “The most music allowed by law” works when your competition is jabbering away after every record. When you’ve got two or three stations all playing roughly similar music in a continuous format, I deeply doubt that most listeners care about such subtleties as ten in a row versus twelve.
Continuous music is a very viable format which can attract lots of listeners. Especially if there aren’t any good personalities on the dial. But “the most music” of several similar stations? I doubt it.
Running the biggest contests, or even the “most exciting” contests won’t make you a winner. First of all, very few listeners, percentage-wise, will ever participate, and even among those who do, few have any real hope of winning the “grand prize.” That’s why it’s absolutely essential that every event be “fun to listen to.”
Secondly, contests, by their nature, are extraordinary occurrences. That’s not what your station is about, and it’s not why most people listen. Even when they’re so exciting that they do draw in new listeners, these people will only continue to listen after the contest is over if the other things you do are filling their needs.
If you’ve ever worked on more than one station in a market, you know that the true contest-junkies, who do tune in for the special events, are loyal to contests, not to stations. The minute yours is done, they’re someplace else. And unless the “game” was fun enough or outrageous enough to cause “buzz,” your station has probably wasted a ton of money or trade.
All the things mentioned above are important. But they’re not what makes a jock or a station a winner. So, what does? In my opinion, two things: uniqueness and substance.
Positioning theory teaches us that you’ve got to define yourself to your target audience so that you are the sole purveyor of whatever it is you do. And that niche you create must be different enough from what everyone else is selling so that even the casual new listener can perceive it.
On a more personal level, this country is full of clone-jocks from coast to coast all using the same clichés, the same phony inflections, the same source material and the same pacing. If you want to make your mark, you’ve got to be the sole source, once again, for whatever it is that you do best. Which normally is, “being yourself.”
Substance means that today’s consumer demands some “steak,” along with the “sizzle.” If you promise something, you’d better deliver. Whether that be “the most music” or “real people” or the most up-to-date information, I may listen once based on your marketing pitch. But if you don’t deliver something I regard as worthwhile, something emotionally satisfying, I’m gone.
I’d also like to think that “substance” means putting out something more than a lot of songs in a row, or fifteen minutes of news every hour, or even jokes three times an hour. I believe it includes having some personal depth — Sharing some real feelings, some honest responses, some of yourself with a listener, so that he or she knows you’re more than just a good reader.
Slogans and basics and special events are all important to what radio stations and DJs do: satisfying current listeners and attracting new ones. But stations today substitute these mechanical functions for what radio really needs in order to be successful: human beings, with something worthwhile to offer that can only be gotten from one station — yours.
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.
