It's A New Game With New Rules

... But The Same Goals

We don't need to tell you that Urban radio's constantly changing. It's always a new game with new rules. One of the new rules we want to focus on this time is don't be boring. The other is stop lying to your listeners. Telling your audience that your station plays a better variety of music and then not following through on that claim could be responsible for some of Urban radio's lackluster ratings performance lately, especially in those major markets that recently converted from Arbitron's diary to the PPM. Delivering on that promise as defined by individual market needs, without over-focusing on the format rival's programming strategies, can still pay off.

Some Urban programmers are guilty of being too conservative. They're waiting for potential new hit records, some by established artists, to develop along with strong passion scores in their callout before they add them. As a result, they're playing only part of what they're being given. They're niching the music too much, developing side formats and risking genre burn-out as a result. You run into trouble when all the songs start to sound alike. Right now, many mainstream Urban stations and some Urban ACs, are guilty of sounding the same -- record after record. Urban radio has lied to its audience, feeling it can fix any problem simply by saying or pretending it doesn't exist

If your liners and stagers are going to brag about variety, you better play a better variety. It all goes back to playing the jams the audience wants to hear. This new audience is an impatient audience with lots more choices than ever before. Listeners today use the radio differently at different times of the day ... and it should be programmed accordingly. Repetition is one of the biggest negatives. Play too much of one type of music when the audience, especially the "music freaks" expect freshness and variety, and you exacerbate the problem.

Target Formatting

There is another new game that's already quietly making a difference in some markets called target formatting. It's a combination or series of little things that, when done right, can create a sharp listener focus and make a huge difference this fall. Target formatting can mean the difference between a P1 and a P2. One of the tricks or illusions involves changing the perception of our stations and stepping outside the format boundaries occasionally. The other trick is about increasing your audience share by scheduling the right crossover music at the right times.

For Urban Adult stations, it means playing some rap songs that are extremely familiar, a.k.a. crossover adult party songs. These are songs that would be a hit at any party. They're part of the new strategic thinking about music

There has been a shift in the core of Urban radio's library over the past few years. We've been moving away from some artists who have been found by everybody's research and overplayed. There is a new theory that hip-hop is replacing rock with a younger male audience. It happens with every generation. In markets such as Chicago, Washington, Charleston, Houston, Baltimore, Kansas City, Dallas and Memphis, the latest Arbitron trends show that in many cases, the Urban or Urban AC station is not only the format leader, but also the market leader.

If we've learned anything about market leaders in the last few years, it is that a well-programmed Urban or Urban AC station (with a competitive signal) can become the new market leader despite the rivalry from format similar stations who may have better signals, more research and deeper pockets.

How do you combat these things? You combat them by offsetting their advantages with effective target formatting. It has to do with maintaining the proper balance between consistency and freshness. We can't hope to capture and keep an adult audience with nothing but oldies and ballads -- even if they're the right oldies. There must be balance, freshness and variety. Balance in tempo, demographic appeal and freshness. It's a proven fact that the Urban audiences are trendsetters, so sameness will not work over the long haul.

If you're going to move from being a strong alternative or P2 station to become the favorite station, target formatting needs to be a part of the plan.

Hipness, Positioning & Mind Share

A hipness factor is part of the new game with new rules. The hipness factor must grow from "occasionally hip" to "always hip." The hipness factor should be delivered on a consistent basis -- in the liners, the contests, the way the air personalities handle callers, etc. The hipness factor is very much like the difference between a bank shot and a slam-dunk. They both go in and the score is the same, but true fans of the game want to see a little style and flair, and this is what the hipness factor provides.

Now, the hipness factor itself cannot repair a floundering format. You still have to have the right music, and constantly adjust your rotations so that your station always sounds fresh. And you need the right positioning.

Positioning is a key part of target formatting. Here is where great hip copy -- that is geared to the audience -- comes in. A positioning statement is a like a promise to your target audience ... one which you can never violate if you expect to occupy mind share. Occupying mind share can translate directly into higher numbers. These positioning statements should offer a unique benefit to the listener. They serve as a point of reference, not just "#1 for hip-hop and R&B." That statement, like the music it surrounds, has to be changed, updated and produced with different approaches for it to continue to be effective.

Find Some New Hits

Finally, sometimes you may have to disregard a series of music test scores and follow your gut. Keep in mind, just because a test group said that a song is familiar, or they liked it in a callout, doesn't mean they want to hear it over and over. At the other extreme is the notion that songs could be put into a power rotation out of the box. But wait -- what about the familiarity precept that says that listeners always want to hear songs and artists that they recognize?

That answer is it still has to be balanced properly. Too much unfamiliar music sends the wrong message to the target audience. Who are they? They are people in the outside world, listening to traditional Urban and Urban AC stations. When you put a fresh new jam in a power stack on a station that has high cume, you can, by simply playing that song every four hours, make it familiar to your audience. Sometimes this is what you have to do. You have to make your own hits. Fall is a good time to do this. You still introduce new music first on the night show and then let it spread to other dayparts.

By finding your own hits and target formatting, you can win the new games with new rules. And you accomplish three other important things: You maintain freshness and flavor ...and pick up new cume that becomes attracted to your station. When winter comes, you will have picked up a younger, hipper audience that will grow with you. That means you will be way ahead in developing the "growing-shedding theory."

Word!