Category: Commentaries

Happy New Year 1998

1/9/1998

Did you have a nice vacation?  Were your holidays happy?  What did you do?  Do you feel rested and refreshed?  Are you wearing one of the gifts you received?  You look so nice.

Okay, now that we’ve got all of the bullshit out of the way, welcome back, Jack.  Let’s go to work!

The first few weeks of the beginning of a year are extremely important in the continued success of your company…whether it’s radio or records.  We all come back from a holiday break refreshed and anxious to make a mark.  New Year’s resolutions have been made and each of us promised to change some part of our lives for the better.  We’re all new people with new goals and a new resolve to make things different.

For about a month.

It’s up to each of us, as managers, to instill that “new” spirit and make positive changes in how we do our business.  There is no better time than the beginning of a new year to invigorate your staff and make positive changes.  But you’ve got to have more than a list of New Year’s resolutions.  Over the years, how many resolutions have you kept?

That answer alone will tell you that there’s more to making positive, continued change than mere promises to do so.

Careful planning is imperative in making any meaningful changes.  That’s why so many resolutions don’t make it to the Ides of March.  They’re made on a whim.  Most resolutions concern what we want to do or change, but we haven’t developed a plan that will make that “want to” a reality.

Here are a few tips to motivate your staff for the coming year:

First of all, you should have a major staff meeting during the month of January.  Explain to everyone your major goals for the year.  Outline how you intend to accomplish those goals.  Make sure you have at least one major promotion or idea that has no name or outline.  Ask for input from your entire staff on this event.  Maybe give some kind of a prize to the person who picks the most innovative title for it.  This way, even the entry-level people on your staff feel involved.  The meeting will make everyone believe that you feel each member is important to the company’s success.  And you know what?  It’s true.

Identify your primary department heads.  You need two or three close confidants who should be involved in making and implementing the major decisions you’ll face over the coming year.  Outline specifically what you expect from them.  Most  important:  Give them the power to implement those decisions.  Delegation is the key ingredient in the success of any major executive.  You have the final word on all major decisions, but you must give your key department heads the power to move on their own so you won’t be bogged down by minutia.  Delegating the responsibility frees you to concentrate on the big picture and invigorates your key department heads to move your company in the direction you’ve set.  Delegation doesn’t decrease your power…it increases your ability to be a better manager.  It also allows your key department heads to grow with you.  Make sure, however, that you specifically outline the ares of responsibility for each.  Tell them exactly what you expect.  Also, let them tell you what they will need to accomplish your wishes.  Continue this involvement with regular meetings throughout the year.

Schedule meetings with each member of your staff.  Let each know, in writing, the time of your meeting at least a week in advance.  Tell them that the meeting will be about their job duties for the coming year.  Ask them to prepare to discuss what they want to accomplish in the coming year.  Again, in this meeting, be specific with your expectations.  Tell each what you want and need for them in order to accomplish your goals.  Discuss salary expectations.  This lets each person know what’s in store for the coming year.  Don’t make empty promises.  Share reality.  Your staff will respect you for it in the long run.

Give each employee at least one additional duty…something the person wasn’t responsible for last year.  Outline how this job is to be performed and underline the importance of the job, no matter how menial.  Remember, no task is too small in the overall operation.  No matter the firepower, an army can’t win wars unless food is delivered and garbage is removed.  In this meeting, also discuss the goals of each staff member.  Find out what is important to them and what they want to accomplish.  Ask questions about your operation.  listen to their answers.  They might be smarter than you think.  They might have great ideas.  Have you seen the movie, Good Will Hunting?  The janitor solved a problem that was beyond the knowledge of the PhDs.  Listen and you might learn.  At the very least, by listening, you’ll convince your staff members that you care about their input.

Make sure to follow-up with a memo.  Commit to writing each point of the meeting so both you and the staff member can refer to it in the future.  By asking each staff member to outline goals, the employee can be held responsible for not achieving those goals.  Conversely,each employee will have a memo from you with your expectations outlined.

To make positive change, you must institute positive changes.  You can’t get rid of bad habits unless you replace them with good habits.  A turn-around won’t happen just because you will it.  Careful planning and preparation can make your New Year’s resolutions last…and make 1998 a banner year for you and your company.

Happy New Year.

‘Twas The Week Before Christmas

 12/18/97

 

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the nation,

Record companies shut down and stopped calling stations.

Stock options were hung on the chimney with care,

In hopes a bull market soon would be there.

I was excited, Gary was calm,

We just had come back from a bite at The Palm.

When out in the atrium there came a loud moan,

Gary said, “What in the hell’s going on?”

We dashed through the doors and what did we see,

But reindeer and Santa crashed into the tree.

We rescued the S-Man and brushed off his face,

“I can’t make it,” he said, “you must go in my place.”

“Line up the elves,” Gary yelled, getting mad.

“Come Dina,” I shouted, “Get Stephanie and Brad.”

Michelle will coordinate, Art, come along,

And Kris will be happy to say we’re all wrong.

Tiff claims a window seat so she can say,

“Bye-bye” when she throws Jeffy out of the sleigh.

EMT Greg-boy will keep us alive,

And we’ll all hear Kristen as she backseat drives.

“Don’t worry,” said Gary, “We’ll let her rip.”

We jumped in the sleigh and he cracked the whip.

“On Lazy, on Stupid…is that how it goes?”

“And Rudolph, you showboat, turn off your nose!”

“What’s in the bag?” Gary asked with a smile.

“Presents,” I answered, “for all those worthwhile.”

For Andrea and Danny, a Siamese Cat.

For Kilgo, a comparison with that of a gnat.

More money and power for cool Phill Costello.

And Father Palmese will be a rich fellow.

Curb’s crossing Country with our dear boy Ric,

A new watch for Blair…will that make him tic?

A lion for Boulos so he will be brave,

Chocolates for Lisa to help with her Crave.

A new staff and new hits for our man, Catania,

For Tipp and Reprise, another Platinum Enya.

One more big box set and a smash for Greg Thompson,

A partner for Darus so he won’t feel lonesome.

A new Island President so Joe has a boss,

More adds for Geslin, no matter the cost.

For Brenda, a baby, oops she’s got that already.

In ’98 Nancy will find her a steady.

Air conditioning for Ellis, the Mercury’s rising.

A way for Steve Leeds to stop the conniving.

For Michael, a virgin, and no, that’s not funny,

Look what’s for Stuey…the head of a bunny!

A turn that is worth it, for Ritchie-boy Bloom,

Get well to Becce, it can’t come too soon.

A computer that’s not Jive for our friend Jack Satter,

For Burt and the WORK Group, the rest of the platter.

For Karmen, our sister, an antique Whurlitzer,

And I’m going to get the coveted Pulitzer!

“That’s all well and good,” Gary laughed with much glee,

“But there’s one big question…what’s in it for me?”

I searched in the bag for any more riches,

But all I came up with was ashes and switches.

“You don’t have to worry,” through the wind Gary called,

“I don’t have a gift? Why I’ll just take them all.”

Gifts or no gifts, may I say on this date…

“Merry Christmas to all…and a great ’98!”

Chain Adds

12/5/1997

A chill wind is blowing through our industry, sending shivers of dread up the backs of record execs and programmers alike.  It’s as if Jack Frost slid under the insulation.  Heaters are on full blast, trying to ward off the cold.

It doesn’t matter. Jack’s not going away.

What two words are striking fear into our industry?  (Cue the tymps.)  Chain adds.

Knee-deep in the hoopla, voices are raised in concert, damning the thought…much less the practice…of the dreaded chain add.  No less an authority than Network 40’s own Greg Fry polled programmers in this week’s Hotline for their opinions.

So, what’s all the fuss about?

Like nuclear attacks, chain adds have been used effectively only once in the history of modern radio.  Also like the atomic bomb, chain adds were only used by a super-power.

In the ‘70s and early ‘80s, the giant RKO Broadcasting Company used chain adds effectively in programming its stations.  In its heyday, RKO owned the #1 Top 40 stations in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Memphis.  The chain also had exclusive consulting agreements with the #1 Top 40s in Chicago, Detroit, San Diego and New Haven.  Other major stations moved in and out of the consulting fold, but these were the mainstays.

That’s a lot of power.

Revisionist history has shrouded the reality of the situation.  I was fortunate enough (okay, and old enough, damn it) to work at RKO in the “Glory Days,” so let me tell you how it really was…way back when.

First of all, times were different.  In those days, a company could only own a total of 12 stations…an AM and an FM in each market.  Those numbers pale by current standards. There were other major differences.  Every RKO-owned or consulted Top 40 station was programmed exactly alike. I mean exactly.

Records weren’t the only things that were added chainwide.

With the exception of the call letters and city of license, each RKO station used the same jingle package.  Twice a year, we would custom-make jingle packages for the chain.

The top-of-the-hour IDs were the same.  “Ladies and gentlemen, you’re listening to…”

The same major promotions were used on each station. If a PD came up with a great idea, it was used throughout the company.

Chainwide record adds were one part of the total package. Under those circumstances, it wasn’t a big reach.

Here’s how chain adds worked:  Every Monday, each PD compiled all the local research from the individual markets and forwarded it to the Group PD in Los Angeles.  A conversation between PDs and the Group MD took place that afternoon.  Each PD provided a list of records they wanted to be considered as additions to the playlist.  Rotations were also discussed.

Tuesday morning, each PD received research from the other stations along with national research.  By mid-afternoon, each PD was called and told what records would be added to the chain.

These “chain adds” were taken from a consensus of the PDs. What’s important to note is that even though certain records were dictated as adds to the chain, individual records could be added to a station, depending on local research and the strength of the PD.

There is another important fact to consider:  Unless it was a superstar release that RKO got early, seldom were new records chosen as a chain add.  Most of the records added to the chain had worked through smaller markets gaining sales and compiling positive research.  A record had to be “worthy” to attain the status of a chain add.

Never was a record added to the chain for a promotion.  RKO figured, and rightfully so, that the stations were so powerful, any promotion would be offered to the company anyhow.  And promotions were always offered to RKO first.  What record company or artist would risk the wrath of the most powerful radio group in the word by offering a promotion to one of its competitors?

It’s something today’s companies should keep in mind.  If your programming is powerful, promotions will be offered because it’s in the best interest of both companies.  Adding a weak record for a promotion cheapens the strength of the stations.

RKO was extremely particular when it came to adding a record to the chain.  We wanted to be sure it wasn’t a mistake.  The track record for songs becoming a chain add was pretty substantial.  Most became hits.

Of course,  RKO’s status made it easier.  Such was RKO’s power that a record couldn’t make the top 10 on Billboard without being added to the chain.

Record companies lived and died by RKO’s chain adds.  If your record was added, you took the rest of the week off…sometimes the rest of the month!  If it wasn’t, you hemorrhaged for another seven days.

But times are different.  Stations aren’t programmed the same.  Individual markets call for specific programming needs.  Before chain adds can be effective, a radio group will have to program many of its stations in an identical fashion.  With companies owning hundreds of stations, considering cost effectiveness and streamlining…is this a concept whose time has come…again?

Until then, we have to consider the question:  Are chain adds good or bad?

It boils down to this:  If your record is added, chain adds are great.  If you don’t get the nod…chain adds suck!

Early Warning

10/31/1997

In an industry that spends hundreds of millions of dollars to identify a hit record, one thing is missing:

A chart that reflects reality.

Since Billboard’s first chart a thousand years ago, there hasn’t been a definitive chart based on parameters that the record industry and radio stations deemed important.

For 20 years, our industry found itself dependent upon R&R and a chart methodology that defied description.  In some cases, it still does.  R&R adds and subtracts stations from its list of reporters on nothing more than a whim.  Has anyone ever seen R&R’s criteria?  It only exists in the minds of those who decide what stations should be included or excluded.  Stations in tourist locales seem to be added because people working for R&R visit.  It’s a bad habit, but some still look at R&R to determine what stations really matter.

Has everyone gone mad?

To contend that R&R is responsive to the needs of the radio and record industries is a joke.  R&R is, has and always will be concerned only with what’s best for R&R…nothing more or less.

R&R does what R&R wants.  R&R doesn’t ask those in promotion or programming for input. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that the people who depend most on an accurate chart…those in promotion and programming..should be involved in the determination of what makes up the chart?

Evidently, not R&R.

But please, lest anyone believe I’m just picking on R&R, let’s talk about the people who run the Monitor.  What they’ve done with the Top 40,  Crossover and Urban charts in the past few months could be used as the definition of “oxymoron.”  Suffice it to say that it ain’t right.

Monitor is as bad as R&R when it comes to the panel.  If a station is monitored, it becomes a part of the panel.  But who determines what stations are monitored?

I give up.

We have stations in the Monitor panel that are responsible for selling maybe four copies of any song each year.  Others, that are in markets that sell thousands, aren’t included.

So record companies and programmers are at the mercy of two charts that do not seek input from the very industries they leech upon.

How can we stop the madness?

Glad you asked.  Network 40 will debut two new definitive charts on December 4…our Christmas present to you.

The Network 40 Impact chart will be comprised of the playlists of all monitored stations, plus those stations that have an “impact” on sales.  Inclusion will be based on market size and market share.  The decisions of what stations to include will be made by a Network 40 Advisory Panel.  This advisory panel will include 10 programmers, 10 heads  of promotion, two consultants and two independent record promoters.  For the first time in the history of our business, there will be a chart comprised of data from radio stations deemed important by the industry…not a trade magazine.

Who woulda thunk it?

Our aim is to get a correct representative sample of radio stations…stations the industry considers important…to compile a chart that is an accurate sample of what’s really going on.  This chart will take the best of both worlds…stations that are monitored combined with stations that impact sales.  It will be accurate because the industry will dictate its accuracy.

Want to know the criteria?  Here it is in black and white:  market size and ratings.  Want to  know the people who make the final decisions on what stations should be included?  We’ll publish the list of your peers who will comprise the Network 40 Advisory Panel.  How will those on the committee be selected?  By you…our reporters.

Forgive me, but this is so simple.  Why hasn’t it been done before?

A big concern for the record industry is that most records break out of major markets.  This makes stations in smaller markets unimportant when it comes to promotions and promotional dollars.  Network 40 wants to change this trend.

How?

By spotlighting stations in smaller markets that are aggressively programmed, we can make these stations and programmers more important to the industry at large.  Our goal is to prove that records can break out of smaller markets.  If the industry begins watching these “indicator” stations and sees a positive pattern, a more accurate appraisal of a record’s potential can be determined.

These “indicator” stations will be featured in an Early Warning Chart that will be tabulated and faxed to the industry each week on Monday night.  Programmers can see what records are working well on these smaller, aggressively programmed stations.  They’ll will be able to make better educated decisions on music day.  At the same time, record companies can look to the smaller markets to determine if new records have hit potential and make make promotional dollar decisions accordingly.

If the industry works together, we can make these new charts the definition of accuracy.  We all know that monitored airplay is a staple.  We also know that some stations that aren’t being monitored deserve recognition.  These new charts take care of that.  Programmers and promotion people will provide input into a system that reflects their reality…not a trade magazine.

Input and reality.  Isn’t that what it’s all about?

For the first time in history, Network 40 offers a chart system that you, the people in our industry, design and define.

Are you ready?

Mickey Mouse

10/24/1997

A funny thing happened last week.  They gave a convention in Orlando and nobody came.  Oh, there were many people in Orlando.  But at the convention?  Nah.  There were many places to run into a few people…as opposed to a few places to run into many people.

Seems like everyone is saving themselves for next year’s Network 40 Summer Games in Lake Tahoe.  (Hey, I bust you people for not promoting and cross-plugging…the least I can do is practice what I preach!)

Spending time with a group of people in the record and radio business can be trying… especially on a rainy weekend in Orlando.  The breadth of our conversation seems to be no wider than the moat at Disney World…and the depth about the same. Boys and girls, we need to all understand one thing:  The world (nor the topic of conversation) does not…and should not…revolve around you.

Radio programmers are particularly guilty of one-topic conversation.  Here’s a news flash:  Record promoters pretend to hang onto your every word and proclaim your ideas as fantastic.  It doesn’t mean the normal person wants to hear you pontificate about you or your radio station.  Remember, those record people are paid to be nice to you.  Do you really think you’re that great?  (If you answered yes to the previous question, you can stop reading right now…the rest of this Editorial won’t sink in.)  When you tell most people you work at a station in a big city, they think you’re pumping gas at the Exxon on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Here’s another tip worth remembering:  When someone asks if you’ve read any good books lately, they aren’t talking about the Summer Arbitron.

Anyhow, for what it’s worth, here are some observations from a Mickey Mouse convention:

Bill Richards can’t sing. Neither can his brother Dan.  Fortunately, A&M’s Amy Grant passed the audition.

Sean Ross is the only person who can make Michael Ellis look cool.

Two things our industry needs less of:  Cigars and Golf.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.  If you don’t play golf, please don’t start.  It’s difficult enough for those of us who are avid fans to get tee times.  We don’t need a bunch of wanabees clogging up the links.  And if you insist on playing, like at the Bill Richards Golf Tournament for the T.J. Martell Foundation, get some dressing tips.  But not from the sales people in the pro shops.  Those ugly paid outfits are only for idiots.  Don’t think that’s how it really works.  Shirts with collars.  And no jeans.  Also, you can’t play well, so play quickly.  You can take ten practice swings, study the distance, stall over your stance as long as you want, you’re still going to duff it only ten yards.  Hit the fucking ball!

Also, when you hit the perennial bad shot, don’t ask us what you’re doing wrong.  We don’t have enough time.  And we don’t care.  Take lessons.

Can’t we be ahead of the curve on the cigar thing?  I swear, there were ten of us who smoked cigars ten years ago…now, everyone is an aficionado.  Give it a rest.  Most of you don’t know one cigar from another…just because you paid $20 for a stick doesn’t mean a thing.  Please stop trying to impress us with your knowledge by showing us your collection.  You simply display your ignorance.

One of the hot topics of discussion was the changing ownership of stations. Programmers were moaning and groaning about how they were out of the loop, merely pawns on a chess board.  It’s reality.  Deal with it.  But instead of whining about major companies buying and selling stations without regard to your future, why haven’t you done something about it?  If you’re so smart, why didn’t you invest in the companies you accuse of controlling your destiny.  For example, had you purchased 500 shares of stock at the first of the year, your return would be as follows:  Emmis:  $8,000;  Chancellor:    $11,000;     Jacor:    $11,500;     Evergreens: $18,000;   SFX:   $25,000.  Put your money where your mouth is, or spend it on a good wine.

During the Top 40 panel discussion, PDs talked about “playing the hits” and tried to determine what constituted a hit.  Previous performance, sales and research were cited.    There was also talk of the need for a super group or two. Although this case could be made for other records, if this is what Top 40 needs, why isn’t everybody playing the Spice Girls?  The last three records were hits, the previous album sold nine million and the current single is uptempo.  If this doesn’t meet the criteria, could we be setting our standards a little too high?  Put it on…then let the audience tell you if it’s a hit.  I’m concerned that the biggest stumbling block for the future of Top 40 is PDs who think too much.  Take the advice of the panel:  Play The Hits.

Jump Ball:  Sean Ross and Michael Ellis.

Atlantic’s Danny Buch is one of the world’s best promotion people.  But keep him out of A&R.  He can’t sign the band he was leading.

Winner of the most talented, Most Beautiful and “the person who you would like to sit next to on an airplane” award:  Capitol’s Meredith Brooks.  (Check out next week’s issue.)

Best Speaker:  Arista’s Clive Davis.

Most boring panel:  Take your pick.

Who are the members of the “Cool Women Only Promotion Club?”

Winner of the “Damned if you go, damned if you don’t go” award:  Rick Stone.

Greg Thompson, Todd Cavanah and Dave Shakes got on an elevator.  Who refused to ride with them?

For everyone who thought the convention was boring.  I have two words for you:

Summer Games.

Inspiring Passion

10/17/1997

This week’s interview is with Jeff Smulyan, Emmis Broadcasting Chairman of the Board.  Make sure you check it out.  Jeff is one of the most successful broadcasters in our business.  He’s also intelligent and articulate.  Spend time with Jeff Smulyan and your topics of conversation will cross a broad spectrum.  If you’re lucky, he might even talk about radio.  In a world of corporate suits, he is a passionate person.

How about you?  What makes you tick?

The business of radio sometimes serves as a fog to dampen the passion we all possessed when we first started.  Remember the feeling?  Whether you were hitting a “post” on the weekend shift, answering request lines, doing research or driving the van, nothing excited you like radio.

But, if you’re not careful, success can poison your passion. The more successful you become, the more you move up the corporate ladder. You become involved in meetings, overall planning sessions, research and problem-solving…all important aspects of your job, but light-years away from what first got you interested in the business.

It doesn’t have to be that way.  If you are as great as you believe you are, find a way to create new and different ways to stoke the flame that was once the roaring fire of your passion.  Some are simple…others more complex.  But you can find a way.

First, you must schedule time for those things that really get you off.  Define the aspects of your job that really make you the happiest and most creative.  Make time for those things, no matter what they are.

Was it being on the air?  When is the last time you pulled a shift?  Do one…no matter how bad you are.  Put yourself on the all-night show one time.  Not only will it stoke your passion, but it’s a great way to find out if all your genius formatic rules actually work.  If you’re really brave, have the jocks listen and hot-line you if you screw up.

When is the last time you were behind the wheel of the station van?  Go out and drive it.  The direct interplay you get from listeners will bring a new feeling to your job…plus, you might learn something from this interaction to make your station sound better.

You should schedule a dinner with your air staff at least once each month.  Get them… and you…out of the station where the atmosphere is more causal.  You’ll be able to find out things about them that can help you in your job…and vice versa.  It’s important that those who ultimately control your destiny see you as someone other than the person who sits behind a desk and doles out criticism.

Creating a truly unique promotion is one of the most exciting aspects of programming.  There’s  nothing like coming up with an idea, putting it together and watching it work to perfection.  Those ideas are hard to come by in sales meetings.  Schedule time each week for brainstorming sessions.  Topics shouldn’t be specific, but general in scope.  If you stumble upon a great idea, then get specific on the details.

One of the greatest opportunities afforded a programmer is the chance to make a difference.  You have, at your disposal, a medium that can reach masses, influence perceptions and change minds.  One of the most rewarding experiences you can imagine is to put together a program on your station that has never been done before…one that will make a real difference in the lives of your listeners.

If you’re content to pay lip service to this concept by joining ongoing activities like Rock The Vote or the March of Dimes Walkathon (both worthy events), so be it.  But you’ll never know the feeling from watching your own conception become a reality.

In my career, I was lucky enough to program many successful major-market stations.  During those tenures, we invented and produced some of the most exciting promotions in history.

But the most rewarding experience I achieved in radio was a promotion that made a difference.  At KFRC San Francisco, we staged the first concert to benefit the veterans of the Vietnam War.  Long before rallies become en vogue, we did ours.  It was longer, more time consuming and more exhausting than any event I’ve ever been associated with.  It taxed the limits of everyone’s patience.

But in the end, it was worth it.  The money we raised was substantial…yet paled by later endeavors. The publicity for the cause we stimulated was welcomed…though a mere drop in the bucket of what came later.

The handshakes, hugs and pride in the faces of those we touched has stayed with me to this day.

Emmis has done the same thing with the “One Nation” concept on Hot 97 New York and Power 106 Los Angeles. Here is a promotion that was conceived not to make money…not to increase the audience…but to make a difference.  I had a conversation with Emmis-N.Y. Director of Programming Steve Smith, the night after the first broadcast.  I don’t think he had been asleep.  He showed me the chill bumps on his arms when he shared the vision.  I got the same feeling just from listening.

“Last night, I think we really made a difference,” Steve said.

His passion was evident.

You have the same opportunity to make a difference…if not in the lives of your audience, at least in your life…and the lives of those working with you.  But you must be bold.

PDs are accused of having inflated egos.  As a group, we are a strange bunch, prone to pontificate on just how cool we are.  Besides, it’s easy to believe the bullshit when a record promoter keeps telling us how great we are.  Those of you programming can take the opportunity to make a difference, or you can go to another sales meeting.  Your choice.

Come on, show us something.

Power Players

10/10/1997

The feature in this week’s magazine gives you an accurate picture of exactly “who owns what” in the radio industry today.  We list the top 20 broadcast companies in terms of station ownership.  It is exact and extremely up-to-the-minute.

Unfortunately, it will be out of date within the next minute.

Radio stations are being bought, sold and traded faster than cattle at a Chicago auction.  For those with the billions to play, it is a wonderful game.  For the rest who depend on radio as a living, it’s becoming an increasingly dangerous field in which to play.

I’ve written Editorials before on the approach used by most companies when looking at prospective properties.  Programming…and more important…programming ability…is seldom a consideration.  How can programmers continue to function effectively, given today’s requirements…or lack thereof?

All programmers, whether in larger or small markets, must recognize the landscape and modify their habits.  It doesn’t take a 180–just some spit and shine.  Programming is still important.  You just have to work harder to make sure you get credit for the recipe and when the pie is cut, nobody eats your piece.  No matter what companies look for when making purchase decisions, once the purchase has been made, programming is key.  No company wants to purchase a radio station, only to see it deteriorate because of internal inadequacies.

Too often, forces over which you have no say-so, change your professional life.  You could be living with a healthy share of the market, yet be bought by another company that changes the format of your station because it doesn’t fit their vision for the market.  How do you get thrown into fertilizer and come out smelling like a rose?

Programmers today must adjust.

Nobody is asking that a PD go through a personality change.  (Some would say that’s impossible since PDs don’t have personalities to begin with.)  But a little knowledge of the business outside of programming will go a long way.

In today’s radio station, programmers are asked to do much more than run Selector and make sure the jock schedule is accurate.  With all eyes on the revenue,  PDs must not only help increase the bottom line, but be able to take credit for doing so.

Not only are you in competition with other radio stations in your market, when you’re owned by a large company, you are also in competition with others at your own station.  The more “help” you can offer to your GM, the more important you become in the eyes of the company.

Become more knowledgeable of the other factors that are an important part of the job.  Be able to conduct yourself in an informative manner when discussing budgets and the financial problems that arise.  It’s all well and good to have a healthy rating share…it’s made even better if you know the difference between P&L.

When I first began working for RKO, budgets were “given” to the PDs.  We didn’t have input in determining the figure.  One day, all of that changed and the PDs were asked to sit in on P&L discussions.  When I sat down in the conference room, I jokingly said I didn’t know anything about P&L.

The chief engineer made a prophetic statement.  “You see those guys over there?” he said, pointing to the sales managers on the other side of the table, “They’re P. We’re L.”

It hasn’t changed since then.

Fortunately, early in my career, I worked for Gary Stevens, who made me take the time to learn the business side of radio.  He taught me to understand that if you know the process, you can then use it to your advantage…rather than having it take advantage of you.

If you understand what is going on, you can adjust your programming budget to suit the GM’s needs.  Find ways to cut costs within your budget before your manager demands across-the-board cost-cutting measures that put you at a disadvantage.

Want to increase your chances of landing and keeping a job in the future?  Enroll in a business course at your local college.  You don’t have the time?  Make some!

Nobody’s saying that you have to dress in a suit, carry a briefcase and know how to operate a spread-sheet.  You’re still the program director…still required to focus on programming the station successfully.  But before you start whining and saying you didn’t get into radio to become a suit, let me ask you a question:  “When did extra knowledge become detrimental to your worth as a program director?”

These days, large conglomerates own radio stations.  Often, the people hired to oversee the radio divisions of these companies aren’t broadcasters.  They’re businessmen who happen to be in broadcasting.  Your job will require that you spend time with these businessmen.  Inevitably, your worth will be judged, in great part, by what they think of you.

These businessmen aren’t like promotion people.  They aren’t interested in how cool you are…what records you broke…when you’ll be recognized as the genius you pretend to be.

These businessmen will be impressed by your knowledge of business…in addition to programming.  It’s hard to impress people if you’re ignorant of the subject being discussed.

So, what am I trying to say?  Become well-rounded.  Look beyond your immediate job responsibilities for ways to show your worth to your company and the people who run it.  Express a desire to be apart of the process rather than just a product of it.

But remember, no matter how you look in a suit…you’re still the PD.  You still have to run Selector and make out the jock schedule.

Real Time (Part Two)

10/3/1997

Last week I wrote an Editorial based on facts pulled from the book, “Real Time,” by Regis McKenna.  The premise of the book is that today’s consumers aren’t like yesterday’s…that in today’s world, keeping the customer satisfied is a never-ending battle.

The premise…and many specifics in the book…are directly relatable to radio.

Today’s audience is harder to satisfy.  Many other entertainment entities are vying for the listeners’ time.  Radio has to be better than ever…just to stay even.

In many instances, that isn’t the case.

As I’ve stated many times before, we have to be more than just “music” stations.  Music isn’t exclusive any more.  Although there are more formats than ever before, many of these “different” radio stations share the same music.  To pin your hopes of market domination only on your musical stance is a futile proposition.

The pure focus on “music only” gets more diluted when you factor in the economic realities of today’s radio conglomerates.  In the fourth quarter of last year, Chancellor Media increased the commercial load on all of their stations by one minute per hour.  Although the company dropped the extra minute after the first of the year, several companies have delivered the same edict this month.  To increase revenue, more companies will add at least a minute of commercial time to every hour for this fourth quarter-and don’t be surprised if the increase continues through next year.

As companies add commercials to increase profits, “more music” will no longer be an operable phrase.  Stations will have to provide entertainment outside the framework of music.  Programmers will have to work harder to “keep the customer satisfied.”  In order to accomplish this goal, we’re going to have to redefine our standards of operation.

McKenna tells the story of Paul MacCready the designer of the Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered airplane to fly across the English Channel.

How did MacCready succeed where many others before him failed?  He entered a competition because needed money…not because he was trying to design a new plane.  All MacCready wanted to do was cross the Channel to win $50,000.  He put together a balsa wood contraption that literally fell apart as it flew…making it lighter.  When it fell completely apart, hopefully, it would have crossed the Channel.

He did.  He won.  That’s it.

MacCready said the lesson he learned was, “Someone else always determines how we think.”  In their design attempts, other competitors had all gone by the book without ever asking the question, “Why are we stuck on these rules?”

That question is one programmers must begin asking themselves.  Forget the rules…the whole game has changed.  We must begin a new evaluation of our philosophies based on a whole new set of priorities.

One of the rules we’re stuck on in Top 40 is that an abundance of teens is a bad thing.  Not true.  In Almost every other form of advertising, products use young people as a selling point.  “Look young, think young, be young,” is the American Holy Grail.

Why are teens a bad thing where Top 40 radio is concerned?  Because the sales manager doesn’t know his head from his ass.

Teens drive older demos.  Whether it’s music, clothes, cars or a lifestyle, most parents are led by their teenagers.  Research proves that teens are responsible for the majority of purchases in the home.  They might not have the buying power, but Washington lobbyists should be so powerful.

A sales manager checks the book and sees a bunch of teens with substantial older demos.  He says, “Hey, if we get rid of our teens, we can increase our older demos.”

Wrong.  How many Top 40 stations have abandoned their teens only to see their older demos plunge?  Top 40 teens drive the older demos.  Once a Top 40 abandons the teens, the station becomes another A/C with increased competition.  How many successful Top 40s have made the move to A/C?  I’m waiting.

Not only are Top 40s guilty of abandoning their teens, but a lot pay no attention to their best customers…may of whom are teens.  Today’s listeners want instant feedback…constant attention.  They want to feel their wants and needs are being attended to.  So, what do we do?  We don’t answer our request lines.

Are you people insane?

Other businesses bend over backwards to find out what their clients want.  In radio, we often choose to ignore a direct line into our listeners’ psyche.  Boston Chicken uses a real time customer feedback system found on in-store kiosks.  A touchscreen computer sits beside store exits.  Boston Chicken hopes customers will complete a 30-second survey of their opinions so they can better serve their customers’ needs.  The premise being that the freshest information is the most valuable.

Why aren’t you doing this with request lines?  Why ignore a golden opportunity to instantly tap into your listeners?  Request lines can provide a wealth of “instant” information.  Not only can you determine what listeners want to hear, but you can find out who is listening, what they like, what they don’t like and what they would like.  All without a kiosk.

It is a small investment in time and money to access information that is definitively important to your future.  It’s also the easiest way to keep the customer satisfied.  Everyone wants to believe their opinion counts.  No one wants to call their favorite station and hear the phone ring for hours.  It gives the impression that no one is listening.

A programmer who doesn’t pay attention will get the same impression.

Real Time

9/26/1997

You must read “Real Time” by Regis McKenna.  It is the most boring tome I’ve ever read…except for “Inside The Third Reich”…yet it contains some of the most interesting facts available.  Getting through the book is like digging for diamonds…you’re going to have to sift through miles of rock and mud, but you’ll find some gems.

Regis McKenna is an intellect and a computer whiz…the book is published by the Harvard Business School Press.  If that’s not enough to scare you off…let me continue.

This book is about a lot of things…but mostly about how businesses will have to deal with a new set of guidelines that won’t be set up internally, but will be dictated by consumers.  This Editorial is made up of quotes and ideas taken from the book.

“Right here.  Right now.  Tailored to me.  Dished up the way I like it.  If the new consumers posted their expectations on a billboard, that’s what you would read.”  According to the data calculated by Mr. McKenna, the new age of consumers will radically alter the way we do business in the future.  In fact, it’s happening already.

In order to adjust to an ever-changing world, we must think outside the framework of our current “business as usual” outlook.  We must prepare today or be left out tomorrow.

Ed Artzt, chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, shocked the advertising community by saying, “From where we stand today, we can’t be sure that ad-supported TV programming will have a future in the world being created…a world of video on demand, pay per view and subscription television.  Consumers will choose among hundreds of shows and pay-per-view movies…they’ll have dozens of home shopping channels…hours of interactive video games.  And for many of these…maybe most…there will be no advertising at all. If advertising is no longer needed to pay most of the cost of home entertainment, then advertisers like us will have a hard time achieving the reach and frequency we need to support our brands.”

Brand loyalty based on advertising is becoming a thing of the past.  Today’s customer wants one thing…and one thing only…service.  The new customer is never satisfied.

With all of the information at our fingertips today, the customer relies less and less on advertising as a means to choose what to purchase.  In the not-too-distant future, we will have all the information needed to make an informative choice of what to buy…and where to buy it at the cheapest price.  All of that information…from a paint brush to a car…will be available on the Internet.  Choice gives the customer power.  And choices are growing every day.

How does this relate to you?  Marketing…and your ideas of marketing must change.  You must begin to think outside the box.

PepsiCo supplies an excellent illustration of the shades of interactivity to come.  In the summer of 1996, the company offered the young consumers of its Mountain Dew soft drink electronic beepers, ordinarily priced at around $60, for $29.95 plus six moths of free air time worth $135.  For the six months of the promotion, Mountain Dew paged the 50,000 teenage and Generation X participants once a week and gave them a toll-free number to call.  Over the telephone connection, these young people could listen to interviews with heroes of so-called extreme sports, such as bungee jumping and sky surfing, that are featured in Mountain Dew’s TV commercials.  They could also learn about opportunities to win discounts and prizes from 20 companies whose buyers overlap heavily with Mountain Dew’s so-called “Dew Dudes.”

The idea was to offer customers a product to fit their lifestyle and make them part of a really cool network.  Not only did the beepers give Mountain Dew access to a segment of the consumer marketplace exceedingly difficult to reach through conventional media, but the PepsiCo marketing managers envisaged using the beepers in the future to ask customers their opinions of the product, its advertising and of possible promotions and product ideas.  They foresaw interactive communications initiated with beepers…combined with responses and suggestions made at the PepsiCo web site on the Internet…creating an enormous, nonstop electronic focus group at a remarkably low cost.

Although this marketing is unproven, it is a foreshadowing of future strategies.

The possibilities are unlimited.  But, they are also unimagined…so far.  Unless you think beyond your normal focus, these ideas of marketing and promotion will never occur to you.  This also applies to your staff.  Challenge them to come up with the unimagined.

Get ready to take a lot of heat.  Anytime you make suggestions that fall out of the norm, expect to be laughed at.  Understand that most of the time you’re dealing with the ignorant.  Those who fight hardest for the status quo are those with the smallest degree of imagination.  But you really have no choice.  If you don’t change…if you don’t evolve…you will disappear.

Only one-third of the companies on the Fortune 500 list in 1950 still survive today.  More  than half of the top 20 computer companies in the Unites States were not in business 20 years ago.

Today, market forces move so rapidly, and the warning signs of change are so subtle, that more often than not, we fail to see them or their effects…before it’s too late.

Unless you’re an Oldies station, don’t become a thing of the past.  Buy the book, heed some of the advice.

Instead of letting things happen to you…make things happen.

How Much?

9/19/1997

This entire radio business is getting curiouser and curiouser.

Time was, one company could own only 12 stations total.  That’s a dozen.  In the entire country.  No more.  And that one company couldn’t own a TV channel, radio station and newspaper in the same city.  And most of the owners of these stations insisted on turning a profit.

The owners had to reapply for their license to operate every three years.  And the application was a bitch.  Operators had to speak with real people about their perceived concerns in the city of license.  Then the owners had to respond to those problems by promising to schedule programs that dealt with the areas of concern.

If you wanted to sell your radio station…fahgeddaboutit.

A proposed new owner was put under more scrutiny than last year’s campaign contributors to the DNC. Strict regulations required owners and sellers to go through a myriad of paperwork and approval from the Federal Communications Commission.  Normal transactions could take a year to close and, if any problems developed, that time frame could multiply.  And while the station was closing, the new owners could have nothing to do with the station.  No input whatsoever.

Did I also mention that you had to own and operate a station for a minimum of three years before you could sell it?  Did I also mention that the FCC had to approve the purchase and the buyer?

It was easier to sell a nuclear weapon to a Third World country than it was  to get rid of a radio station a few years ago.

Now?  fahgeddaboutit.

Radio station sales and purchases rival the commodities market in trading.  Twelve stations total?  Ha!  Twelve stations in the same market is more common.  Wait three years before selling?  How about three weeks…maybe.  Operate these stations at a profit?  Secondary, my dear Watson.

Radio stations today have an inflated value.  The value is so inflated that the hot air that flies this balloon is going to pop it.

When?

Who knows?

Today, stations can continue to increase in value because there are companies willing to pay more than the stations originally cost.  As long as that pyramid scheme continues, radio stations will continue to soar…and we’ll all wake up in the same bed tomorrow morning.

Soon, however, that scenario is going to change.

Today, several companies are in the market to purchase radio stations.  If I own a radio station, even five or six, there is a buyer out there willing to take them off my hands.  The money I  make depends on how badly another company wants my stations.

There are a few radio companies bidding on controlling the marketplace.  These companies are able to continue their spending spree because banks are willing to finance more stations.  There’s always a buyer out there willing to inflate the actual value.

But buyers dwindle when the numbers increase.  With Capstar and Chancellor threatening to buy up to 1,200 stations and other companies increasing their totals daily,  soon the inflated value of a radio station is going to come crashing down.  There won’t be any available stations for the conglomerates…and those major companies will have to begin running all their stations to make money.

Please don’t get me wrong.  I’m sure there isn’t an operator out there who tries to lose money.  What I’m saying is that operating is sometimes secondary to selling.

So, what happens after stations consolidate manager, traffic systems, bookkeeping and engineering?  The cuts go deeper.

Why wouldn’t a company syndicate many of their air shifts in every market?  Capstar is already considering this proposition.  Depending on the number of stations in a chain, this move could cut back drastically on bodies and salaries, no to mention the additional overhead of insurance and other benefits.

Jacor has taken this idea one step beyond and is considering the feasibility of buying stations on the 102.7 frequency and syndicating KIIS across California…and possibly even further.

Book the fact that in the very near future, morning shows are going to be widely syndicated within broadcast companies.  It is the wave of the future and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.  And don’t be surprised if the syndication goes further.  If mornings can be syndicated, why not other dayparts?

As radio fights for advertising dollars, single-station dominance will take a back seat to market penetration.  If, by sheer numbers, a company can offer an advertiser a great CPM, why worry about one specific talent generating audience in a given city?

In tomorrow’s marketplace, it’s all about numbers…and we’re not talking Arbitron.

Time was, talent was a valuable commodity in our business.  Unfortunately, in the eyes of some broadcasting companies, talent is not even a consideration.  In a Network 40 Hotline column a few weeks ago, we asked four of the biggest radio station brokers what part programming success played in station purchases.  All four said programming success and talent was insignificant.  Stations are bought and sold depending on how each fits within the companies’ overall plans.

So, if you’re talented, where do you fit in radio’s future?  Hope you’re the one chosen to program the chain or the jock who’ll be syndicated.  In the future, it ain’t how good, it’s how much.