'Greater Than The Sum Of Its Parts' - How Do You Fill The Hole?

Opposites Attract

Hit, stiff, power-new, power recurrent ... these are just some of the names programmers use to identify the jams they must use to fill the musical holes on their format clocks. Now wait a minute, would any PD worth his cume knowingly play a "stiff?" The answer is "yes" -- if his callout research told him it was something that ignited passion from his listeners. Until it develops one way or the other, you just have to make certain it's surrounded on either side with a hit. Programmers also use some of these terms to describe jams they feel strongly about. Sometimes we'll place a record in the "C stack" just for balance. After all, if you're a music station, filling the holes with the best music and offering your listeners balance and compelling content is what your job is all about. Naturally, and despite what some GMs think, it's easier said than done.

Format pundits often claim we are driving or have driven some of our most loyal listeners to satellite radio, the Internet or their iPods. One of the reasons so many listeners have moved away from terrestrial radio, say the pundits, is a lack of variety. Another is clutter (things that happen between even the most well-researched jams that are turning listeners off). Is it the air personalities? What they say? Or what they don't say? The whole is still equal to the sum of its parts ... and opposites still attract. We need to do some defensive programming. We just have to find and air some attractive opposites. For example, if your competition is playing a lot of ballads, you need to put some hit tunes with tempo on the air.

After we get the music right, there are other holes to fill. Obviously we have to look at the air talent. We need to examine the people or "players," and then fix the ones that are broken or in need of repair. If they can't be fixed, they must be replaced.

Develop Better Hiring Habits

Let's talk about replacement strategies. It's the middle of your day, Friday, and your star morning show just informs you that they will not be renewing. They're going to be moving on, perhaps to your competition across the street. It's not like you didn't see it coming. As the PD, you had several conversations with your GM and told him to be prepared to give up some bigger bucks or risk losing them. He threw you out of his office and admonished you that it was your job to convince them to stay at their present salary. You tried, failed and now the moment of truth is here. This announcement fills an already busy, remote-field weekend with mixed emotions. On one hand, you think it will be good for your station to have some fresh blood or perhaps a syndicated morning show. But then again, change always brings a little bit of fear. At least with the current show, you know what to expect. It's the devil you know -- good and bad.

Sometimes stations need to look no further than down the hall for new hires. But in the case of a morning show, that might be a stretch. The GM might want you to take one of the interns off the van and "put the streets on the air." In the case of a part-timer or weekender, the same applies. You could take a chance and hope that you're right, but if you're wrong, both of you could be unemployed.

What's the answer? I like the five-step hiring process. The first step is to define the opening. Often we have unrealistic expectations of the qualities and experience we want in a candidate. Setting goals too high or to low can be a problem. Sometimes it's cheaper to keep good employees than to find new ones. If you're the PD, make sure the person you're looking for isn't already in the building - perhaps down the hall at another format.

The second step is to announce the position. I recommend getting as much information as possible from each candidate, including photo, application, cover letter and reference.

The third step is to track details and notify. Once you start talking to potential candidates you need to keep detailed notes with each resume. If you interview a dozen people over a week, there's bound to be a blur. You can't possibly remember who said what. You should also notify each applicant that materials were received and reviewed. That's something that's often overlooked. As a professional courtesy, you should at least send a form letter or an e-mail acknowledging receipt and letting the applicants know when the position has been filled.

The fourth step is the BI - background check. You have to do a BI. There's simply too much at risk today. A lot of people don't do this. You listen to the audio or mp3, look at the resume and get excited. Sometimes the BI will reveal a problem. It may be a problem you can live with, but at least you know about it.

The fifth and final step is the art of the interview itself. You should ask yourself three questions. Does the person or people have the needed skills? Can they grow into the new responsibilities? And will they fit into your team? If the answer to all three of these questions is "yes," and the BI checks out, chances are you have found someone to fill the "hole."

Despite all the talk about the current talent void from ownership, I believe some of the most talented people Urban radio has ever had are on the air right now. The problem is there are not enough of them and most, if not all of them need guidance. They need a program director who will listen to their shows and help them to improve.

The capacity of the human mind to be creative is infinite. There is lot of new, young talent out there who just needs to be developed and given a chance to evolve. Talent development sessions are missing at many stations, and there are many reasons for that. The program director is too busy. He/she didn't come up as an air talent, so they don't know what or how to critique or instruct. If you're a programmer who never sat in the "air-chair," there are going to be some things you just don't know ... and the talent can sense this. Programmers who are experts at scheduling music, but absolute failures at developing talent, are going to have problems filling the "holes." If that description fits you, remember the whole is still the sum of its parts. The "hole-fillers" are out there. You just have to find them.

Researching the Holes

Something else you have to find for the filing process to be complete involves research. When you do audience research, you see a lot of answers to questions that say, "Yes." Yes, the voices are turning listeners off. And yes, there are things that boring, ill-prepared air personalities are both saying and not saying that bothers listeners. There are basic things they would like to hear (like the title and artist of the songs they're playing, for instance). They want their favorite air talent to tell them about the artists between songs. They want to know where the artists they play live ... and where they party. They want to know how they live and what they like. All we have to do is to begin to think like a listener and we will know right away what's wrong with our content. Then we need to revisit and then re-write the show prep manual to include or exclude the things we discover as a result of our research, and we're well on our way to solving one of our biggest problems.

You may work for a station that is part of a large group or conglomerate. Many of these stations have developed what I call the "studio envelope" concept. This is where the company houses all of its stations at one site to let them reduce the number of workers and share receptionists, management, studios, news and sales forces. One of the advantages to this type of set-up is that it allows for a great deal of sharing. For example, if an idea or a bit developed on the Rock or Top 40 station down the hall, that idea or joke could be shared and visa versa. Often this isn't done for a variety of reasons. But it could be and should be.

If each morning show within a format cluster would share just one idea a week, soon you would have dozens of ideas banked. I know that some of this type of sharing is going on right now on a few national conference calls, but there is not enough sharing with formats in the same building. If you couple the strongest talent with some of the best ideas and then provide some guidance, you could really fill a content "hole." Do it enough and you're ready to fill a large hole in a bigger market with yourself.

Word.