I know the radio industry is not a democracy. I also know that improvement, in the true sense of the word, won't come from within radio as long as the status quo resides in its executive suites. There's hope, however, following this win by President-elect Obama.
There was more than the election of a president happening in America on Tuesday. There was a verification of disgust against the policies of those in charge. There was also a voiced disgust in the approach to implementing now-in-doubt policies. Both of these concepts can be carried over to what the radio industry is facing today.
The elections on Tuesday showed a substantial shift, nationally, to a "status quo isn't working" mentality. Change is needed. That is why there is hope for radio to improve. Its leaders are also under pressure from growing doubt within radio industry ranks. When enough force is exerted, something's got to give.
The change is not minor. If the radio industry wants to provide substantiative programming and be able to charge advertisers enough to support that programming, what's ahead is a massive shift in radio's product lists - of which there are two.
On the product list for listeners is a need to give back the airwaves to the public, or at least personalities that represent the public. I'm not speaking of a return to yesterday, either. Programming needs are different today, and needed elements won't come from the minds of a forty-something male (which is too often the case). An on-air social network where listeners are allowed to have definitive say in progam content, in real time, is not impossible with the right software. In today's world, it could be a Saturday night program extraordinaire if given the chance.
Cut the commercial load and alter the way a commercial is defined. After being involved in broadcasting nearly forty years - radio and television - I've yet to see the written rule saying commercials need to come in sets or clusters or need to be a set length of time. "The next five songs are here at (station) because (sponsor name) is paying the bill... (sponsor web site) has your info on (product/service)" - into music. Direct? Yes. Tacky? To older folks possibly, but not to younger demos. It's simply stating fact, which youth are not opposed to hearing. (Hype? That's a different story.)
Finally, on that product list for listeners' needs should be an entry for sincerity in caring about the community. There's no voice tracker in the world that can fake that. A sincere caring can only be generated through camaraderie formed between the program director and air staff and their interaction in the community.
That's only half of the change that the radio industry must undergo if it wants to have a chance at recapturing lost ground. Possibly the most important half concerns what's delivered to advertisers. There's a difference between what advertisers, agencies, and sales reps need to justify spending an advertising buck and what radio is willing to offer them. PPM is only a small piece of the accountability quagmire. PPM is still a statistical extrapolation of a much-improved data gathering system using a "sample" of the population. It's not truly accountable.
So much is being done with the "accounting" of a campaign today - across multiple media - that an advertiser will, at the least, check other options out before handing money for an unaccountable radio campaign.
Also, some very valid questions are being raised about the effectiveness of radio advertising, given the amount spent on presenting the HD Radio campaign and its non-existent response rate. And, if you've heard the latest holiday campaign, things are only going to go downhill.
One more thing - aesthetics plays a part, as in the quality of commercials that are being aired. With 70% of ads being local, a vast majority of all ads heard by the public are poorly produced, written, and voiced. That doesn't leave too great an image in a media buyer's mind of what they'll get with that "free production" offered by your station. Another example of what not to do is to produce an online presentation like this:
This proves Clear Channel has no clue about how to effectively use the internet.
To end our advertiser product list update, let's turn to electronic invoicing. How deeply is your station involved? How simple have you made it for a client/agency to place the buy, receive an affidavit of performance, and pay the bill? Spend time on either Google AdWords, Yahoo! Marketing, or MSN AdCenter to see how efficient their methodology is. All these systems are similar, and all are competitors to local radio.
If ever there was a time when the radio industry should do a wholesale house cleaning, it's now. Even if existing radio group CEOs keep their jobs, if they just agree to place their companies on a course that delivers more of what listeners and advertisers are requesting, you'll find swift improvement in revenue.
The whole media market is changing, and everything within traditional media must change if it wants to remain relative and profitable.
For advertisers, a weakening impression has been the only thing offered by radio for too long. For listeners, there's been a steady decline in the quality of programs and the localization of content.
As we move into 2009, with a new administration changing America, radio must find the courage to change too.
Tuesday, we proved that it is possible.
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