The Changing Urban World

Growing Content Can Yield Limitless Upside

As the endless summer of 2006 sails on, it's time for a look at some of the things that can make a difference this summer and beyond. This week's editorial is dedicated to the air-personalities, part-time or full-time. If you're an on-the-air programmer, you have even less time to prepare, so you really need to read this editorial.

Those of you who have been reading these editorials regularly know that I am a big proponent of keeping up with the changes, and summer is a pivotal time to stop, do some maintenance, and take a look at some things that may have snuck up on you.

During the summer months, I always like to reflect on the state of our industry and anticipate what I believe to be the biggest challenges facing us in the months ahead.

We are in the midst of a dramatic change. Audiences are in motion. Audio entertainment alternatives are competing for our listeners' attention and growing acceptance for these alternatives continue to take their toll. So how do we prepare to combat these forces? By creating original and unique content. That means going beyond the music. No, it doesn't mean taking the music for granted. It means that if you can put some compelling things between the right songs, you can really score.

Compelling content has become almost a cliché lately. It usually means doing something unique and different. And that's exactly what this editorial is about. It means creating stuff that no one else has. It means viewing radio as a source for different compelling programming. You want to avoid having your new listeners tune to your station and think there's nothing new, that they've heard it all before. Let's face it, you're going to repeat your power and sub-power songs every two or three hours, outside of morning drive. Now, if your air-personalities say the exact same things and read the same tired liners between songs, your audience will get bored and tune out, meaning you could instantly go from a P1 to a P3.

Recent focus group studies show the urban audience is still impatient and that when content on their favorite urban or urban AC station is presented in a bland or boring way, audiences can't even remember where they've heard it. It doesn't stick. It doesn't get remembered or written down in a diary.

Today's urban audiences want it real. They do not want to hear "And now another 30 minutes of continuous jams from your number one for hip-hop and R&B." They want to be made to feel they're in the room with a personality that really knows how to "rock the mike." To win the ratings race takes personalities as compelling as the music they play. Unfortunately, other than the syndicated drivetime shows, not many stations offer "true players" who are really on top of their game. And syndication and voicetracking are some of the reasons players with potential never get a chance to shine. Where are they going to go to develop? But, that's another chapter in the book of Boulding.

Show Prep Rules & Connecting To The Audience

You can hear it when a jock isn't connected to the topic or subject -- when it sounds fake or manufactured. In all my air-check sessions, the first question is usually: "Is this something that really matters or is of interest to the audience? Would you talk about this off the air with your friends? Or is this simply something manufactured to fill a break?"

I have worked with air-talent in all size markets. The goal is the same -- to grow and keep an audience. There are three show prep rules that I use.

1. Prepare each break no matter how small. Even if you only have twelve seconds of intro time, plan it and use it to create forward motion.

2. Make it Matter. Talk about something that is going to interest the audience that is there to hear the music. What do they want to hear? They want to know about the artist whose intro you're talking over. Are they on tour? Are they back in the studio guesting on another's artist's song? Did they get married, divorced, hooked-up

or locked up?

3. Make it interesting. Find a brief, interesting way to phrase what you're going to say and deliver in a way that makes it stand out.

Then "polish it" by making sure that that your show prep is never boring. Part of being a strong air personality is finding a way to make what you say interesting and connected.

Not everybody can do it, but for those who can, using real life experiences as show prep is one effective and compelling way to keep your show sounding exciting and interesting. When topics come from life, they work. And show prep happens 24 hours a day. Not just an hour before your show starts.

Show Prep Is News

News items can certainly be great sources of prep material. The trick is to put your own spin on it. Why? Because everybody has access to the same newspapers, magazines, and late night television. While you might locate a quirky story nobody else has heard, what frequently happens is that every jock in town picks the same item from the same source and if you're not first, you are no longer unique. If the audience has already read the story in the paper, seen it on television, or heard about it on the way to work, it's important to ask what you're doing that makes the story different. And if the answer is nothing, if you have nothing real to add, your listeners are likely to say, "Oh, I've heard that before." and instantly tune out. And even if you are first, the fact the paper or magazine covered what happened the day before or the week or month before and you have become the station and the air-personality that covers yesterday's news. The trick is to strike a balance, put your own spin on it and make it funny.

One of the best that ever did it was Tom Joyner. I remember Joyner coming into the studio with three newspapers and a highlighter. People would wait to hear how Joyner was going to handle a story. He was always hip, always funny and had a style that would allow him to get away with things others might get nailed for.

Creating great content is a risky, difficult business, which is why so few do it at all and even fewer do it well. But if you want to stand out -- it you want your station to stand out -- you have to do it. Remember, a handful of hits make all the risks worthwhile. Urban radio will have to awaken to new market realities. Investment, trial, failure, success, starting over. They're all part of what we do. Going forward, there will be even less free lunches and even fewer second chances. The big scores will go to those who have the vision to see the future and take some risks. In our changing urban world, the bar has just been raised ... again.

Word.