‘Fixing Radio Means Taking A Chance Or Two’
RAMP Guest Editorial by Tim Moore, Pres./CEO of the Maine Association Of Broadcasters.
“Despite the stats from the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) showing that radio listening still commands a huge following—that over 80% of adults listen each week (dwarfing most of the other, ‘cooler’ digital platforms), it seems a bit, well, misleading. Their conclusion is that radio is still thriving.
It is not — and the industry has only itself to blame. The good news is that there is a path back to dominance, if only industry leaders will wake up and take action.
Recent stories in the mainstream news abound of layoffs, shrinking staff and budgets, increased voice tracking and diminishing resources. For the ones recently let go, they are acutely aware that finding programming and on-air roles in our industry are suddenly remote. Many are being forced to choose new careers, some at the stage of their lives when starting over means only entry-level jobs are realistic.
But hasn’t radio been declared dead before?
Television was supposed to vaporize radio. Instead, radio reinvented itself. Gone were the orchestras and serial dramas. In their place, the disc jockey arrived with a stack of 45’s and the soundtrack of a new generation was unleashed.
The threats continued: 8-track tapes, then cassettes and CDs. All were supposedly the death knell for broadcast radio. Satellite radio marched in with yet another threat.
None of the above eroded the primary advantage that radio had — and still has — but this time around, it seems different.
The unique advantage that radio once exclusively enjoyed is now being overtly torpedoed by some of our largest radio companies: LOCALISM. Local personalities. Local news and weather and traffic. Local involvement in charities and organizations. And perhaps overlooked, local account reps who engage with local businesses to make local economies thrive.
So, what happened?
I won’t dispute the figures provided by the RAB, but just ask a group of teenagers if they listen to radio — and many will respond with a blank stare.
Advertising is the lifeblood of an industry that has no subscription fee (another advantage we have). That said, the migration of advertising dollars is lopsided towards 25-54 year olds. This has been the case for DECADES — and the chickens are finally coming home to roost.
Radio has an audience problem with younger demos because it has a product appeal problem with the very future of our (or any) industry. We’ve ignored them for so long that their tastes, their ideas and their music no longer appear on our airwaves. Is it any wonder that their usage and loyalty have vanished?
Time for a little story that may be instructive. After Scott Shannon took News York City by storm with Z100 in the ’80s, a subsequent Program Director decided to skew the station to attract older demos. The introduction of rock titles onto the #1 Top 40 station in the nation was intended to grow the audience. It tanked.
Then, in walked Tom Poleman (now the top programming officer at iHeartMedia). He ditched the rock titles and brought the station back by skewing younger. Yes, YOUNGER.
I remember reading an article on the turnaround in Radio & Records, the industry’s trade magazine decades ago. I was shocked but heartened to hear something said out loud — that no one wanted to admit. Poleman adjusted the station to appeal to 12-24 year-olds!
Wait! Nobody wants to have the ‘teen station!’ How can you sell advertising? Well, Poleman was savvy enough to know that if you capture the young trend-setters, most everyone else will follow.
Z100 was back. Not only did the station rise to number one in teens, but also Adults 18-34—and yes, even Adults 25-54. So, what’s the lesson here?
Sure, the landscape has changed — ‘linear’ media like radio has now been joined by podcasts, on demand video and social media.
The solution will take guts, imagination — and a willingness to experiment — using a full-power station in a major market — not a weak signal or HD2 station that cannot be heard.
Some ideas:
> Hire social media influencers with a built-in current following. These are your new personalities.
> SLASH commercial loads. If podcasts can make money from very limited commercial interruption (critical), then radio can, too. Many radio stations have commercial breaks that contain a dozen units (or more) and last almost ten minutes. Who will tolerate that? How do advertisers see value or results by being the 11th commercial in the set? Audiences will do anything to escape abusively long commercial pods — even pay a subscription fee (see Spotify).
> Programming should be entirely controlled by young people who know what THEY like. No consultants. No research. No dictates from corporate (other than keeping the license) Remember that Elvis, The Beatles and most others were championed by a DJ who had some measure of autonomy, not by a focus group or research project.
> Music? Content in general? TOTALLY up to the demo — or even crowd-sourced. Talk sets or full-length talk programs may betray ‘conventional wisdom’ about what young people will tolerate — or love. However, the point is that it is up to THEM.
> If ‘news’ still exists, it will sound a lot more like gossip. So be it.
> It’s likely that jingles, BS liners and stupid promotions will go away. Career radio professionals will probably hate it. No ‘production values.’ No slick anything. Tik Tok is a template for what works — and much of existing radio is a case study in what does not.
> The station will live on the air, but don’t be surprised if the initial gravitation of meaningful numbers comes from the station’s stream.
The sad part of it all is that only a VERY small number of individual people have the power to make this happen. It almost HAS to bubble up from one of the giants — and with Mr. Poleman at the helm of the nation’s largest radio company, iHeartMedia may make the most sense.
As a former Senior VP of Programming for iHeart, I could rail against the recent layoffs (since they happened to me a few short years ago). However, the company has to receive some measure of credit for investments in digital, the iHeartRadio app, podcasts and live events. Much of their financial turmoil stems from long before Bob Pittman took over. Crushing debt that was inherited by the current leaders creates difficult decisions, I know.
That said, iHeartMedia — or one of the other massive broadcasters could roll the dice with a full-signal, major market station that may not be billing nearly as much as it used to. Squeezing expenses only go so far. It’s time to focus on the top line — and the bottom line will take care of itself.
Ditch the short-term thinking, embrace the local — and let’s get back the younger generation. Radio was the ‘original’ social media, after all. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen if done right.
Make radio relevant — and indispensable to a new generation — as it was for us, and the future will be bright indeed.”
• Tim Moore is a broadcasting veteran with nearly 50 years of experience in radio, from on-air to programming and management. A former Senior VP Of Programming for iHeartMedia-New Hampshire, Moore has also worked for Citadel Broadcasting, Cumulus Broadcasting, Fuller-Jeffrey Broadcasting, Barnstable Broadcasting and ABC in Washington,D,C. A member of the Maine Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Moore is currently the President/CEO of the Maine Association of Broadcasters. He can be contacted at tmoore@mab.org.
