I have always considered myself an outsider when it comes to radio knowledge. At my core, I am a listener and consumer first. Yes, I’ve worked on some shows. Written some shows. Hell, even produced a show for a little while. Still, when it comes to the culture, history, and future of radio I am a total amateur. The medium, while one I truly love (with memories of setting my alarm for 1am to catch an underpowered broadcast of The Shadow), it isn’t one I feel qualified to comment on. With that in mind, I wanted to re-post this fantastic essay from Kristen Bowie, a woman that is wonderfully talented, knowledgeable, and passionate about radio. About connecting with people over the air. I hope her article makes you think about the future as much as it did I. - AD
For the Love of the Microphone.
There comes a time when you wonder…
“When is it appropriate to stop beating a dead horse?”
I don’t know if the radio industry will recover. For the record: I hope it does. I love the medium. I love that you are given the opportunity to create something out of thin air–literally. It’s essentially a blank canvas that you can paint in any way you want. I love the freedom of personality-driven radio. I love the connection with people who’ve identified with you as a person–because you were able to give a part of yourself in your show.
But the sad reality is that building an audience is no longer the most important thing in radio. Now, that could be up for some debate..those of you who’ve been on the programming side of the industry know that there’s a constant analyzing of the audience that goes on. That’s not what I’m talking about. Forget the consultants, forget the Program Directors blowing steam. There was a point in radio where the personalities (I make the distinction because there is a difference. Anyone can poorly announce songs. It takes another person altogether who can do a show.) were allowed to cultivate an audience…and that was the station’s foundation–where they made their money.
This industry has gotten so reactionary, that every six months someone’s rolling out a new morning show, firing the morning show that was just beginning to get its bearings, blowing out entire airstaff (successful airstaff, I might add..), or switching hosts every other week during a crucial daypart.
THIS MAKES LITTLE SENSE!
We’re all a little touchy in the business right now. There’s a lot (more than I could ever convey in this blog) of change going on right now…and it’s a little scary. That’s ok. We should all be able to collectively take a deep breath, put our best foot forward and continue on.
But there is NO way that radio will survive in it’s current path. When your company doesn’t care about the people they are expected by the Federal Communications Commission themselves to serve, there is a deeply rooted problem. There is no cultivating an audience anymore. There is a reactionary push to pull in the most cash in the shortest amount of time. Which is doing more harm, than good.
Here’s the thing– I’m a capitalist. I have a solid understanding of the business world, my family has deep roots within the Portland business community. I’ve gotten the schooling and I understand economics (if you know what stagflation is, we speak the same language). This is not proper business. Long term goals have gone out the window in the radio industry…it’s all short term. Anyone with any skills in business can tell you that it’s not safe to attempt to survive on short term goals. You’ll eventually crash and burn.
Cultivating an audience should be the first (and most important) goal of any radio station. Brand loyalty is important no matter what business you’re in. People don’t like change–unfortunately, we’re all creatures of habit. Instead of blowing out that new show that is struggling to find its foothold–here’s a novel idea, invest in your product. Just replacing them isn’t going to solve anything. Sure, it will give you a temporary bump in the ratings…but you’ll see after a short while that it was truly just temporary.
Portland has a ravenous, loyal group of people with nothing to listen to on terrestrial radio. People that are just waiting for something good to come along. I think it is coming along, but not in the traditional medium. The internet is the next evolutionary step for this thing called radio.
If you want to read more from Kristen (and I think you should), please pop on over to her blog: http://kristenbowie.com/ - AD
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