By Bill Jacobs

Bill Jacobs

It’s June, so what better time to think about…football? Not just football, but (and this is tough for a Michigan State graduate to admit) the player nearly everyone would consider the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Tom Brady just made news this week for wanting to trademark the term “Tom Terrific.”

New York fans are up in arms (what else is new?) given their love for the original “Tom Terrific,” Tom Seaver, but I’ll leave trademark law to the experts. What’s not debatable, is that Tom Brady is, well, terrific. And while he had a solid career at Michigan, it’s part of his legend that he wasn’t drafted until the 6^th round, with 198 other players drafted ahead of him. Many drafted in that position never play a game in the NFL. Instead, Brady became the GOAT.

This recent Brady news reminded me of an interview from last year during a Monday Night Football game. When asked how he (and his team) are still so good year after year after year he used the term “competitive stamina,” defined this way:

“It’s really up to us. There’s no way to talk yourself into it. You have to do it. I think we all have to make the commitment to doing it and being our best every day and bringing our competitive stamina to practice, to the meetings, and ultimately on Sunday.”

In the same interview, he told the story of how he spent the “bye week” not on a yacht relaxing or golfing every day, but re-watching the entire season game by game and did so “a couple of times.”

Competitive stamina.

In radio, it can be challenging keeping your competitive stamina going especially with shrinking staff, tight budgets and, of course, the barrage of new audio sources enticing your audience. Toss in things out of your control like diary or PPM placement, your signal, or your sales staff’s inability to get your lunch show sponsored, and it’s easy to lose that mental edge.

It’s true that Brady has other advantages most of us will never have – the odds are you don’t have a 20,000 square foot house with a supermodel wife to go home to along with a $20 million paycheck to motivate you.

But you do have something you probably aspired to for years – you’re programming a radio station, entertaining people, doing good for your community, and building a memorable brand in your market.

Managing your time, keeping your wits about you, and dealing with problems, all while trying to program a station to the best of your ability is a major challenge regardless of market size. But the great PDs – the Tom Brady’s of radio – know it’s the meticulous attention to detail that takes you from good to great and from great to exceptional.

Competitive stamina.

Find it within yourself to discover what it will take for you to optimize your competitive stamina. Perhaps it’s a hobby like fishing. Or yoga. Or watching Antiques Road Show. Or meditation. Or golf. Or religion. Whatever it takes for you as an individual to keep your stress levels in check so you can compete in every book, every week, every day, and every quarter hour, do it.

Maintain your competitive stamina and make you do the following:

• Stay focused. One of the numerous tasks I do every day is programming music logs for a client. It’s been a great experience because it’s re-opened a window on what it’s like doing scheduling a log every day while fitting in a myriad of other tasks. The music log is the most important thing there is – making sure your station is laser-focused every single quarter hour. However, it’s easy to mentally drift while you’re scheduling the same few hundred songs over and over again. Avoid the mindset of “cranking out a day.” Find the competitive stamina to look at every quarter hour and ensure each meets your station’s strategic goals and, if need be, close your door during the process. This is your playbook, your game plan, and everything revolves around it.
• Create an hourly clock where every strategic element is plotted out on a spreadsheet with the station’s goals in mind. Know what needs to be emphasized, determine how you’re going to present it and make sure everyone is on the same page. Every slot you have on a clock is a promotional opportunity. But you need a schematic to achieve your goals. Brady and Belichick have an hourly plan too – four quarters of 15:00. And playing every minute of every game.
• Make the streaming experience the best it can be. When was the last time you listened to your own stream? Given that this is the only way consultants can listen to your station, trust me when I tell you that at best it’s a choppy experience and at worst, it’s embarrassing. From jock breaks getting cut off, dead air, PSA after PSA, lower (or higher) levels for the commercials, etc., most streams need attention. Some of your listeners clearly prefer to listen to your station via the stream, whether it’s on a computer, on a phone, or on a smart speaker. If you want to be a winner, sound like one.
• Study your competition. When was the last time you listened to them, not for a few minutes here or there while you’re heading to Jimmy Johns for lunch, but for a few hours straight? How is their architecture? How are they trying to beat you and where are they most vulnerable to you? Brady re-watches game film at an epic level and he knows his competition inside and out. You should, too.
• Communicate these goals to the airstaff. Too often, they aren’t in synch with the station’s goals. Tom Brady, as great as he is, can’t block and can’t throw the ball to himself. He needs his “staff” to execute the plays and they all need to understand their roles and the team’s goals.
• Laser focus on being local. Too often, the only way you can figure out where a station is located is by catching the weather forecast. Are you integrating “localisms?” Are you referencing things that make your market unique and relatable? Is your station a part of its community – charities, schools, fundraisers, pet adoption, etc.? Brady is as embedded in the community as any athlete.
• Market your talent. It’s easy to get into the rut of “Skippy & Zippy in the morning, great Classic Rock all day” but what does that tell a listener about your show? Are they funny? Compassionate? Racy? Controversial? Do they interview famous people? Do they have a cool benchmark or two? The number one goal of an effective morning show promo showcasing the show’s talent while moving the audience to cume the tomorrow morning.

The pressures of being a Program Director are relentless. Your station can achieve GOAT status if you can remain focused, organized, and driven to win.

Whether he copyrights “Tom Terrific,” there’s little doubt that Tom Brady is indeed the GOAT. He’s done it simply by outworking everyone else. It achievable in radio programming.

Competitive stamina.