As technology and society evolve, shouldn’t radio’s rules of programming evolve with them? That is Richard Harker’s argument in this week’s Programming To Win column. Harker discusses how listeners don’t think in “formats” in 2011, that hit songs come and go faster nowadays and much more.
Richard Harker
By Richard Harker
Radio people all understand that adapting to radio’s digital future requires change. Now we have station web sites, social media, streaming, mobile apps, and the like to worry about.
Overlooked in the digital discussions, however, is how digital is changing listener expectations and what that means to programmers.
Yesterday’s listener didn’t have many audio entertainment options. She listened to a handful of AM and FM stations, could play a CD, and now and then maybe watch an MTV music video.
Today’s listener has a seemingly infinite number of options from streaming stations to on-demand services, iPods, satellite, VEVO, social networks, and maybe a couple of HD stations in addition to the same dozen or so AM and FM stations.
As a result of this explosion of options, today’s listener has much higher expectations than yesterday’s listener. On top of that, she has much less patience for a radio station that falls short of her expectations.
While most radio people realize this conceptually, too few programmers seem to fully understand the implications for day to day programming decisions.
Ask yourself: If today’s listener is profoundly different from yesterday’s listener, shouldn’t the way we program a radio station change?
For example, how has the role of air talent changed? How valuable are jocks? If we have air talent, how much should they talk, and what should they talk about?
What about the music? Are the old format “lanes” valid anymore? Do we need to rethink the songs we play and the libraries we create?
What about rotations? Should we spin songs differently today than we did for yesterday’s listener?
Where does research fit into all this? Do we still need to test our music? Should research be interpreted differently today?
Our approach in addressing these issues has a much more profound impact on the success of a radio station today than worrying about a station fan page on Facebook, or the number of station tweets per day. Yet, there is very little discussion on how to adapt programming to today’s listener.
If today’s listener has little patience with things that annoy her, what does it say about clutter?
It means that unless it is interesting, unless it is compelling, she is going to find something else to listen to. The best radio people have always programmed like every second counts, but now it really does.
Between PPM and a growing number of options, a radio station can’t expect to hold on to a listener unless it offers the very best all the time.
What does that mean in practical terms?
Harker Research regularly evaluates on-air product using Real Time Analyzers, where listeners continuously rate what they are listening to.
We’ve found that in today’s attention-deficient driven environment, listeners pay attention to the radio for about three minutes. That’s it.
Something new and interesting has to happen at least every three minutes to hold a listener. And three minutes is only if the material is good.
So programming to today’s listener requires that we think in three minute increments. Get in, get it done, get out. That has to be today’s programming mantra.
When the only competition was the station across the street, nine and ten minute spot-sets were possible because everybody did it, but today’s listener isn’t going to sit through long sets.
Radio can’t continue to load up on commercial minutes, units, and jock talk when today’s listeners can stream products with a fraction of the clutter.
Radio’s approach to music also has to adapt to today’s listener.
Yesterday’s listeners grew up with radio organized around music formats. Stations stayed within a format “lane” playing only songs that fit the format.
This rather cloistered arrangement meant that yesterday’s listener heard a pretty small body of similarly sounding songs. Because of this, yesterday’s listener accepted predictability and repetition as inevitable and perhaps even felt comforted by it.
Formats have all but disappeared for today’s listener. The ability to hear millions of songs with the click of a mouse has expanded the musical horizon of today’s listener.
Today’s listener downloads a little country, some pop, maybe hard rock, and maybe even a little international, for no other reason than she liked each song at the time and it cost virtually nothing.
Programming her own music she effortlessly segues between country, pop, and rock songs without giving any thought to whether they “fit.”
This means that when she tunes to a radio station, she isn’t looking for a format. She’s looking for songs she wants to hear.
Surprise and variety now share the stage with familiarity and comfort. She wants to hear something familiar, but at the same time wants to hear something different.
This even has implications for rotations and how songs move on and off the playlist.
When a listener could only hear a new song on one or two radio stations, we might power a song for weeks. However, today’s multimedia exposure to music means that today’s listener will grow tired of music much faster.
Today, a listener might first hear about a new song from friends on a social website, listen to it on Rhapsody, and then see the video on YouTube—all before radio adds it.
As a result of multimedia exposure, the velocity of a new hit is greater today. Radio is often the last place today’s listener hears about new music.
Music research today is more about measuring the trajectory of a song rather than determining the right moment to add a song.
We can no longer power a top testing song for eight or ten weeks even if it keeps testing. Today’s hits are far more perishable. At the speed of digital, a radio hit can quickly become yesterday’s news.
What we test has to change too. With today’s listeners exposed to a much wider range of songs, music tests have to test a wider range of music, songs that stretch the boundaries of a format.
Marketing and promotion also has to change to appeal to today’s listener.
A radio station has to be nimble enough to jump on pop cultural phenomena as they appear and grow.
Radio virtually ignored Rebecca Black’s “Friday” even as it surpassed 50 million views on YouTube and Black scored interviews on network morning and late night shows.
Novelty songs show up on YouTube with growing frequency and a radio station needs to be able to spot the next Rebecca Black as it catches the attention of listeners, not after.
Radio has to be ready for the next planking, Twilight series, flash mobs, or whatever catches on with listeners if it is to remain culturally relevant for radio listeners.
Finding the next “thing” has to be everyone’s job 24/7 to catch opportunities as they are building. By the time the regularly scheduled weekly promotions meeting is held, many of these promotional opportunities have come and gone.
Digital is changing the way radio is delivered to listeners, but that isn’t the most important impact on broadcast radio. The most important impact is how digital is transforming the radio listener.
Are you programming to today’s listener, or still programming to yesterday’s listener?
Richard Harker is President of Harker Research, a company providing a wide range of research services to radio stations in North America and Europe. Twenty-years of research experience combined with Richard’s 15 years as a programmer and general manager helps Harker Research provide practical actionable solutions to ratings problems. Visit www.harkerresearch or contact Richard at (919) 954-8300.
