In this week’s Programming To Win column, Bob Quick talks about the interactivity of radio. Despite the now-essential Facebook page for every station, Quick notes that radio has been interactive with its listeners for decades, thanks to phone calls. However, with the decreased amount of DJ talk time allowed nowadays, is radio keeping its biggest fans off the air?
By Bob Quick
Bob Quick
It amazes me the number of radio shows I hear pushing listeners to their Facebook page to comment and discuss what they just talked about on the radio.
Hey, Facebook is a phenomenon, I get it. But those of us who were in radio before the Internet know that radio was the original “social media” outlet. It still comes down to one word…
PHONES
With voice tracking and decades of PD’s telling jocks to “keep the kids off the air,” I’m fearful that we’ve lost one of our best weapons in the fight to relate to our listeners…and maybe a weapon that had the power to give the feeling to our listeners that they aren’t the only ones listening. Crowdsourcing, anyone?
The absence of our biggest fans from our airwaves is disturbing. Bigger picture, in radio’s fight with our competitors from other electronic devices/mediums (SiriusXM, Pandora, iPods, streaming, etc.), it just may be giving the image that less folks are listening to the radio.
Contests are one thing. It’s easy to give something away to make the phones ring. And don’t tell me it has to be a good prize. I know a small market station that played a game called “Wheel of Meat” for years, and it seemed like the only “meat” on the wheel was a pack of hot dogs, and people still called in.
What I’m talking about are relatable topics of interest to our listeners.
Long ago I read a study that said less than one percent of your listeners will ever call you, for anything. At some points in my career I’ve also thought that same number represented the craziest percentage of the audience as well. (He said tongue firmly planted in cheek.)
Look, I’m not saying it’s easy. It takes real talent and a true understanding of your listener to get someone to dial the phone and be included in the conversation. There’s also a little training involved. You need to express what you expect from a caller. Most people won’t jump into a conversation without feeling comfortable.
If they like you and your show, they are comfortable with you but possibly not the process to call and get on the air. The phone number is important. If you want phones on the air you need to say it…a lot. You need to be respectful when you have someone on the air. That will go along way to getting new callers to feel comfortable enough to call. If you have a call screener, they need to be respectful as well. And it will take some time to train your audience. Don’t give up if you don’t have immediate success.
They key is a topic that has some passion behind it. It’s probably the reason why I enjoy talk radio and sports-talk so much. Those shows live on the passion of their audience.
Music stations have a more difficult time. But if we could do it while splicing reel-to-reel tape manually, the Vox Pro and Adobe Audition pros out there now should have no problems.
Maybe the technology is the problem. With the digital delivery systems we have today (Prophet, Audio Vault and the like), have we created a studio so easy…so user friendly, that we’ve become lazy?
Engage your audience like you do with those on Facebook and you’ll create “must listen” radio and an unbreakable bond with your listeners.
Bob Quick is an expert in making your station be great for the local listener and the local advertiser. He loves “phones” and talking on them. You can contact him on his phone at 706-358-9103 or at bob@quickradioconsulting.com. Bob Quick is Chief Consulting Officer at Quick Radio Consulting. He specializes in medium and small market stations, mentoring future top 10 market PD’s. He can be reached at (706) 358-9103 or at bob@quickradioconsulting.com.
