By: Jay Trachman
How do you know when you’re doing well? Is it when you’ve just had what you thought was your worst show ever, and the sales manager walks in, slaps you on the back and says, “Soundin’ great today, Joe — just great!”? Not likely. In my experience, he’s probably saying it because either a) he thinks you need some cheering up — salesmen love to do that — or b) he says that to everyone he sees.
Is it when you get a listener phone call, or two, or three, and they all say, “I always listen to you — you’re the best DJ in town!” I don’t think so. They’re usually setting you up for a request. Listeners, like salesmen and managers, often have their own agenda. Moreover, listener calls can be extremely deceptive, because you rarely hear from the ones who are bored by what you’re doing.
I do give the caller some credence however, when they mention something I’ve done, or something about my style, and say that it “brightens my day,” or “always cheers me up,” or best of all, “You always sound like you’re talking just to me.” It counts when he or she demonstrates that they understand what you’re about. Something besides the music you’re playing has reached them emotionally.
You can be misled, in the other direction, by a call from someone who’s offended by something you said, for their own narrow reasons. It’s part of our nature as performers that when we get a strong negative reaction from the audience, we tend to believe it more readily than when we get a strong positive. I believe, if you’re doing humor or an occasional opinion, and you don’t offend someone once in a while, you’re not doing your job. You can’t please everybody, and if you try, you usually sterilize yourself. Remember, the most successful radio performers all offend lots of people. Their willingness to do so is an important part of their success. (Even if it occasionally gets them fired.)
How about the ratings? Are they an accurate gauge of how well you’re doing? They should be; they can be. But a lot of factors go into ratings. No matter how well you’re doing, if you’re on a station with a previously weak image, and they haven’t been doing any off-the-air promotion, it’s not likely anyone could do well enough score big in the ratings.
If you have signal problems or other technical negatives, the ratings may not reflect your efforts. If you’re on an adult-oriented station which has been a loser in the past, or has recently changed formats, my experience is that even if you’re doing everything right, including promotions, it’s going to take several books, or years, to break your potential listeners’ old habits and come to you.
It’s always dangerous to ignore ratings numbers… You never hear the market leader complaining about the accuracy of a survey. But if you’re putting plenty of effort into your show, both in preparation and in execution, and getting good guidance, then perhaps weak ratings can be a reflection of something other than your work.
Consultant John Lund once pointed out, “Don’t take broad consumer research reports too seriously, at least until you have had a chance to check them out against your own findings or experience. That’s the recommendation of a research firm which points out that some questions can make the answers a self-fulfilling prophecy, because of the way the inquiries are worded.”
So, how do you know when you’re doing well? I don’t think there is any one totally reliable guide. Yes, it helps if the GM and the PD both think you’re on target. If you get stroking phone calls, that’s at the least a nice ego boost and at best a fair indication that something you’re doing is reaching its target. If your ratings are good in survey after survey, that’s a really good sign. If your on-air promotions are appealing, if they’re fun for the listeners who can’t phone in… If you get emotionally involved with your callers… These things take emotional effort, and it’s part of what we each have to do, in order to be our best.
But in a world where so many other people so often have their own agendas, and ratings reflect so much more than your air-work alone, I believe the most reliable guide is this: if you know you’ve put in your best effort, if you’re tired after you’ve finished prepping and delivering a show, if you listen to your skimmer tape on the way home and it sounds pretty much the way you wanted it to sound — in my opinion — that’s the best indication of all.
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.
