For our first Programming To Win column of the new year, Robby Bridges reminds us that one of the oldest tricks in the book can still be effective: the analogy. Bridges applies three analogies to the radio world to teach us all a lesson about different ways to look at programming.
By Robby Bridges
Robby Bridges
I have a tradition each Christmas; begun the first December I was working in radio, 1993. My mom, a fabulous baker, makes a variety of cookies once a year and prepares them in decorative trays; I’ve always made a point to hand a few out myself to friends back home in Rhode Island and one of them is my first Program Director, John Morgan. John, over the years has been more of a life coach and sensei than ex-boss to me, but we worked together for nearly 8 years first in Providence and then in Boston. Despite changes in careers, our holiday tradition of exchanging cookies and catching up on life has continued on.
This Christmas Eve Day, as John and I caught up and reminisced a bit I mentioned how much I appreciated his use of the analogy; he has a marvelous way of making a point not only as a Program Director coaching talent but even in giving his thoughts on this or that we discuss and certainly in his current career as the man behind the wildly successful John Morgan Seminars. Seeing as I was in grade school when I began as his gofer, as I say John has been more than a boss but a teacher and even a parental figure. Funny I say this, as in his last visit he recalled when he landed his first PD gig; “what do you know about being a programmer?” he was asked and mentioned that as with a first year teacher or a new parent, there is no manual and the rules are the same: The PD is there as teacher, architect of the syllabus, part cheerleader/supporter and part disciplinarian, part coach and part friend. That is one of many brilliant analogies that have stuck with me in my career and I thought I’d share a choice few others.
The Pot Roast: Any programmer who has come on board at a radio station will run into an individual or perhaps even a whole department who will gently resist and change in the status quo as a new PD builds and/or carries on a station’s brand. Maybe it’s a veteran talent, maybe it’s a long time department head, maybe it’s something as simple as putting in a new format clock, there is always the reply from someone when a change occurs “But THIS is the way we’ve always done it”. While that is well and good in some instances, I’m reminded of this analogy to consider in making a change or redoubling efforts: A young couple sits down to dinner and the wife has a made a pot roast. The husband says “This is great and I appreciate your making dinner but why did you cut the ends off the pot roast? That’s my favorite part”. “Hmm, that’s way my mother always made it…I bet it has to do with better flavor I’ll call and ask”. The wife calls her mother and when asked why she’d taught her daughter to make a pot roast by slicing the ends off she said “Yeah probably flavor, that’s the way your grandmother always made it”. Surprised by this, the wife hangs up with mom and calls her grandmother and asks, “What’s the secret with slicing the ends off a pot roast?” The grandmother chuckles and says “oh I broke my good pan years ago and the never replaced it so the other one I had was always too small for the roast so I’d just cut the ends off”. Lesson? Long standing practices may not only be simply arbitrary but also wasteful.
The Actor’s Make Up: Radio talent are every bit as much performers/entertainers and TV hosts and film actors and if they are working at a successful radio station, there is a good deal of show business sparkle in the halls. This said, outside of public appearances and events, radio talent have the luxury of being casual. A major morning star can reach hundreds of thousands of listeners in sweat pants and a ball cap, much to Matt Lauer’s envy! Similarly, when Lady Gaga performs in a big city she’s playing an arena of say 15,000 people in full costume and make up; the hot shot night jock hosts a show in shorts that cumes five times that. The difference is when viewing a show on TV or seeing an actor or entertainer on a stage, a person is a part of a larger audience and the star of the show is wearing layers of make-up to fool the pixels of a screen or when on display on stage. Radio, conversely, is a one on one medium (second person singular as the great Dan Ingram famously has said). Just as a performer on a stage wears a great deal of make-up and projects their voice, where you to see them up close they’d likely wipe it off and speak to you in a conversational tone. If they did not, an average person’s reaction would likely be: “Wow, what a phony” or “Okay, guess they never come out of character”. As a matter of fact, were a talent, or any person for that matter, to wear a copious amount of make-up, flashy clothes and speak with dramatic effect they’d likely come across as cartoonish. And while radio talent are every bit as much celebrities to their large audiences they know, they need not wear any make-up or designer threads as people don’t see them when they are performing. But because radio is so personal a medium, they also need not “wear too much vocal make-up”. The radio performer’s audience is just as surprised to think their favorite host would wear a great deal of make-up for no reason as they are them speaking as though they are on a stage. Lesson: Conversational tone with a touch of pizzazz…let the actors make-up and yuck it up to a crowd, radio performers play to one at a time.
The Restaurant: People go to restaurants for many reasons: while they could do it themselves, they seek someone to cook and serve for them; they seek a menu they couldn’t create at home; they are looking for a fun experience either in the morning, afternoon, evening or late at night; they like an atmosphere; they are sharing time with friends or conversely might otherwise be alone and come for a little life. People select restaurants based on a menu serving food they like or want to try, a theme/presentation/ambience they enjoy and often for a host/server/chef they know/trust or perhaps even feel a friendship with. A great radio station ought to be just like that; serve up a menu of music or spoken word topic (i.e. news/talk of a given variety) and present with a unique style and flare with hosts who add a bit fun and make the whole experience more pleasurable without getting in the way of what the listener/restaurant diner has come for: the entrée. Serve your consumer a great entrée of what they’ve come for, be it “Today’s Best Music” or “The City’s Best Burgers,” create an atmosphere for serving them that is comfortable and unique either in a building or over the air and use a host who greets, embraces and pleases to keep them coming back be it a maître d or a an air talent. And be sure not have them wear a ton of make-up or mis-prepare pot roast.
Robby Bridges is host of the Ride Home Show on WEBE-FM Bridgeport, CT. He is also President of BBOR Productions, developing and marketing syndication, music and production pieces nationally. Previously Bridges has worked in various capacities at WCTK/Providence, Z100/New York, Q102/Philadelphia, WODS and Mix 98.5/Boston and elsewhere in New England. Robby can be reached at 203-333-9108 or bridges@bborproductions.com
