Radio Owners Need to Admit to Poor Quality Ads
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It's official. RAB has admitted that the radio industry provides less than quality commercials for clients. It's amazing to read radio industry trade magazine "comments from readers" on this issue. More than a few articles focus on the inability of Mercury Radio Awards judges to find a winner in the "Radio Station Produced" category. This reflects on how radio advertising is providing poor creative and lackluster production. It's also a reason for radio's weaker players to whine that RAB should not point to negatives.
This moaning about how radio should be supported at all cost to insure an industry cohesiveness is foolish. To those executives who don't want to hear truth and, instead, are appeased when all they hear is the constant BS that had been passed by the RAB: You will be the first ones who exit as we reach the next phase of consolidation.
Back around 1999 during the last year of the Cleveland radio industry "March of Dimes Air Awards," I wrote how John Gorman and myself, both AIR judges, were evaluting a major market's submissions for radio station produced commercials. We found a constant laugh in what was submitted. Neither Gorman nor I felt that the submissions should have made it on the air, much less have been considered for any awards. Poor quality production, poor vocals, and poor writing were the common traits in the group. These were examples of what not to do when producing a radio commercial.
That we have managers who still bellyache about RAB supporting radio (regardless of the quality of product), demonstrates that mediocrity is now accepted as the norm in the radio industry. This thinking is an extension of everybody graduates from kindergarten, and everyone in the class gets a trophy. It's not how the competetive world operates.
Kudos to RAB. Jeff Haley may not like the message, and he's responding with the fact judges have found nothing that meets their expectations of quality. He's telling the radio industry it needs to improve. (Quite a turn-a-round from this May 20 RAB Press Release where Haley's quoted: "Our outstanding judges have worked hard to identify and recognize the most innovative Radio spots this year, and they have come up with an impressive list of finalists....")
As this episode unfolds there's another arm growing on this beast, courtesy of Rod Schwarts, Grace Broadcast Sales. Rod has opened a radio sales exec web site: Radio Sales Café. I like the concept, and wish him success. One current topic is "Radio Station-Produced Entries for 2009 Radio Mercury Awards - POST YOURS HERE!" A few rejected entries are posted. Please, take time and listen. It helps drive home this point: The judges were right.
Ironically, a few days before this 2x4 hit, Audio Graphics featured commentary titled "The Need to Improve Radio Industry's Product." It speaks of a missing theater of the mind in today's radio commercials. What's listed at Radio Sales Café exemplifies this lack of theater. While listening to them, I spent an unreasonable amount of time asking myself "what is this ad selling?" These commercials sound like words on a page being "read" to me by an announcer (I know this is a subjective call).
Radio is left with many hard-working professionals. Unfortunately, there are not enough to produce quality programming and production because stations no longer have their own PDs and production directors. (It must be emphasized that those remaining are not the "survivors." They are the left-overs; people willing to try and do more on far less than what their pay grade calls for.)
A quality production director for one station in a major market - should be making a minimum of $80,000 a year. Want to guess what they make in the real world? I don't have a clue, but am willing to be corrected by saying it's not close to that, plus these people produce for more than one station.
Production directors need to have talent. Yet, few get to hone this talent. The radio industry farm team was dismantled, and we have nobody in the wings who can be great because of (in part) the unreasonable workload.
What's left are people who don't quite have the talent to know what their talent is worth. They're not quite developed, in either understanding the power great creative holds over the masses, or in assessing their value to generate revenue per station.
To the owners and managers who are bellyaching about needing an organization that "supports" radio, please wise up. You just got one, and its telling you what needs to be done.
And, please quit using your own ear to defend commercials. Despite claims, what's being produced is not very good. You won't correct that problem until admitting it exists.
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From: Kevin Childs
Audio Service America
Back in the 50's...60's and even the 70's, radio actually had creative people who took great pains to make each spot or program a bit special. Yes, you may point out that the 'spot template' books were often used by many stations; but overall...we cared about how the station sounded. Radio seems to have forgotten that the listener hears everything, and reacts to the total sound...including the spot breaks. Perhaps when Every job in radio but the executives' is eliminated; they'll wake up, and become the creative force they used to be.
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