RADIO F O CUS
Volume 20, No. 205
Volume 20, No. 205
Volume 20, No. 205
A Publication of Programming and Marketing Trends/Issues
A Publication of Programming and Marketing Trends/Issues
Are
Are You
You Ready?
Ready?
Now
Now that
that the
the spring
spring book
book is
is starting,
starting, did
did you
you
take
the
time
to
make
sure
your
station
is
ready
take the time to make sure your station is ready
and
and did
did you
you take
take the
the necessary
necessary steps
steps to
to make
make sure
sure
you’re
staying
focused
throughout
the
book?
you’re staying focused throughout the book?
We
We are
are always
always surprised
surprised when
when we
we first
first start
start
working
working with
with aa new
new client
client how
how often
often the
the
“details”
in
many
areas
are
overlooked.
“details” in many areas are overlooked.
So
So that
that you’re
you’re ready,
ready, be
be sure
sure to
to go
go through
through this
this
list
and
make
sure
you
are
prepared.
list and make sure you are prepared.
Music
Music Scheduling
Scheduling
Are
Are the
the rotations
rotations of
of each
each category
category set
set up
up
correctly?
Are
they
the
spins
what
you
set
up
correctly? Are they the spins what you set up
originally
originally for
for each
each category?
category? Be
Be especially
especially sure
sure of
of
the
the Recurrents
Recurrents &
& Millennials
Millennials as
as many
many stations
stations
don’t
don’t take
take the
the time
time to
to move
move songs
songs on
on aa weekly
weekly
basis
basis when
when they
they do
do add
add or
or work
work with
with current
current
music.
music. It
It doesn’t
doesn’t take
take long
long to
to get
get way
way off
off base
base
(fewer
spins)
in
these
active
categories
if
you’re
(fewer spins) in these active categories if you’re
not
not careful
careful or
or if
if you’re
you’re trusting
trusting someone
someone else
else on
on
the
staff
to
make
it
happen.
the staff to make it happen.
Every
Every song
song coded
coded and
and coded
coded properly
properly
Take
Take the
the time
time to
to go
go through
through each
each category
category and
and
randomly
choose
ten
titles
for
each
randomly choose ten titles for each category
category
from
from all
all different
different places
places in
in the
the stack
stack of
of songs.
songs.
Scan
Scan the
the history
history of
of each
each of
of these
these titles.
titles. Rotating
Rotating
though
though multiple
multiple dayparts
dayparts and
and multiple
multiple hours
hours
correctly?
Vertical
and
Horizontal
correctly? Vertical and Horizontal rotations
rotations look
look
right?
right?
March 2010
March 2010
March 2010
Probably
Probably aa good
good time
time to
to run
run an
an audit
audit of
of the
the
system
and
clean
out
that
hold
category,
delete
system and clean out that hold category, delete
titles
titles you’ll
you’ll never
never play
play again.
again.
Examine
Examine every
every hour
hour of
of the
the next
next days
days music
music log.
log.
Check
Check each
each 15-20
15-20 minute
minute segment
segment for
for era,
era, tempo
tempo
and
and essence
essence balance.
balance. Nothing
Nothing is
is more
more important;
important;
take
the
amount
of
time
you
need
take the amount of time you need each
each day
day to
to
make
make the
the log
log great
great and
and deliver
deliver on
on your
your stations
stations
expectation.
expectation.
Audio
Audio
Have
Have you
you critically
critically listened
listened to
to the
the stations
stations audio?
audio?
Make
Make sure
sure it
it sounds
sounds as
as good
good as
as or
or better
better than
than
your
your competitors
competitors and
and compare
compare it
it to
to your
your direct
direct
competitors.
competitors. Most
Most likely
likely you
you haven’t
haven’t done
done this
this in
in
aa while.
while. By
By the
the way,
way, how
how does
does your
your audio
audio sound
sound
on
on the
the stream?
stream?
Positioning
Positioning
All
All of
of the
the imaging
imaging freshened?
freshened? More
More importantly
importantly
are
are you
you paying
paying close
close attention
attention to
to the
the message
message
you’re
sending
each
hour
through
the
imaging.
you’re sending each hour through the imaging.
Are
Are you
you happy
happy with
with how
how it’s
it’s balanced
balanced each
each hour?
hour?
Put
a
note
in
your
daily
planner
Put a note in your daily planner so
so that
that aa
reminder
reminder pops
pops every
every 22 weeks
weeks to
to remind
remind you
you to
to
re-freshen
re-freshen the
the imaging.
imaging. Add
Add 20
20 percent
percent new
new
imaging
imaging and
and remove
remove 20%.
20%. Does
Does your
your station
station
have
a
local
feel,
does
it
relate
to
have a local feel, does it relate to the
the target
target
through
through the
the writing
writing of
of your
your sweepers
sweepers and
and
promos?
What
makes
your
station
compelling?
promos? What makes your station compelling?
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Volume20,
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Spotload
Clarify with sales the station's spotload for each
daypart. Work with them to that they respect this
maximum number, whatever that is for your
station. Are you/they clear on live spots and
endorsement policies?
Web Site
Have you been able to unclutter the site? Is the
station brand prominent? Are the key usage
points easy to find? Listen live button,
artist/title
information,
key
station
promotion, morning show content. While
there is no getting around the sales banner ads,
don’t let them become the focus. Are you
checking the site daily, does everything work
properly? Are you running monthly stat reports
to see where your visitors are going or if any on
air strategies are creating web hits? If a new
listener comes to your site for the first time, what
do you want them to know?
Do you have Facebook, MySpace, YouTube,
widgets set up? If not, get on it. They’re free
from the sites.
Competitive review
Most of us look at our competitors on
MediaBase or BDS. That’s not enough. Get
away from the radio station for a day and
monitor all your key competitors. While you’re
at it, make more time to critically listen to your
station.
Your title is Program DIRECTOR, Direct
Make sure everyone on the staff knows their
roles and the stations goals.
Direct talent through air check sessions weekly,
direct morning talent, daily! This includes
anyone who is doing voice tracking for your
station.
Is your staff ready to perform each day?
March
M
arch 22010
010
Are you communicating “up” to your OM and
Market Manager? No surprises!
Do you have specific ratings goals?
Ratings
Is the market Arbitron SIP correct? Anyone of
your competitors not accurate?
The Anti-Creativity Checklist
Here's a question for you: If you had to come up
with a checklist that was guaranteed to stifle
imagination, innovation, and out-of-box
thinking...a checklist designed specifically for
people who want nothing to do with
change...what would it look like? So we don’t get
stuck in the “typical” top 10 lists, here are 14
ways to stop creativity from Youngme Moon at
the Harvard Business School.
1. Play it safe, listen to the inner voice.
“I’m not going out on the limb”
2. Know your limitations; don’t be afraid to
pigeonhole yourself
“Don’t ask me” “I’m not creative” “I’m not a big
idea guy”
3. Remind yourself: It’s just a job.
“I don’t get paid to come up with ideas”
“Nothing in it for me” When’s Lunch?”
4. Show you’re the smartest guy in the room.
Make skepticism your middle name.
“Here’s why that idea won’t work”
5. Be the tough guy, demand to see the data.
“There’s no evidence that will work” “Has this
been in a focus group?
6. Respect history, always give the past the
benefit of the doubt.
“We’ve always done it this way” “The industry
will never accept it”
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Volume20,
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7. Stop the madness before it gets started.
Crush early-stage ideas with your business
savvy.
“How are you gonna solve the (INSERT
POTENTIAL PROBLEM) issue “What’s the
ROI?
March
M
arch 22010
010
Leveraging Facebook Fan Pages
8. Been there, done that. Use experience as a
weapon.
“We tried that a few years ago” “You haven’t
been around long enough to know how things
work”
Many stations are active in social networking
whether it’s MySpace, Twitter, Facebook or
various other social networks. As social
networking continues to grow with both the
younger and upper demos, we often get
questions in the office as to how programming
or talent can maximize social networking
opportunities.
9. Keep your eyes closed, your mind too.
“I refuse to get caught up in a fad” “What’s this
silly talk about social networking?”
Communications Value founder Christine
Gallagher recently offered these tips to
businesses and professionals on using Facebook:
10. Assume there is no problem.
“It’s been a tough year, but we can blame the
economy”
1. The first way to leverage Fan Pages is to
set up your page for success.
11. Underestimate your customers.
“They are not ready for that” “They don’t need
that”
12. Be a mentor. Give sound advice to the
people who work for you.
“Keep your head down and do your job” “I got
where I am by not rocking the boat” “leave the
ideas to the idea people
You need an interesting or compelling title. A tip
in this area is to think about using keywords
related to your station or morning showsomething that you would like to be found for or
known for.
You also need to choose a quality, clear photo
for your page. Make sure you’ve filled out the
“Info Tab” on your page thoroughly with all
relevant information about your station or
morning show.
“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving
forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and
curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
- Walt Disney
13. Be suspicious of the “creative’s” in your
organization.
“They don’t understand business” “Who invited
them to the meeting?”
14. Finally, when all else fails, act like a
grown up.
“I don’t have time for this” “Do you have an
appointment” “Back to work people”
2. Leverage your Fan Pages by building your
Fan Base.
Be proactive about getting “Fans” especially
when your page is new. An easy way to invite
people is to use the “suggest to friends” link
underneath the picture you’ve posted on your
Fan Page.
monthly
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allie�Richards�Donovan Consulting,
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Volume 20, No. 205
Volume 20, No. 205
OO FC U
O SC U S
R ARDAIDOI F
March 2010
March 2010
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for everyone. Contributing writers:
Fans.
Dan Vallie � Jim Richards �
Harv Blain
Mike
Donovan �writers:
Contributing
Dan Vallie � Jim Richards �
Mike Donovan � Harv Blain
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