How To Be In Without Being Way Out

It Don't Cume Easy

This editorial is all about cume and how to be "in" -- meaning tuned in, without being way out -- meaning how do you avoid losing some of those who are not trendsetters? Under PPM, cume is the ultimate goal for Urban formats. Increasing top-of-mind awareness increases cume. It's important to have marketing efforts that drive cume to the station. Building cume means getting some new people to listen to your station. This is nothing new. What may be new is the fact that for many Urban stations, the passion that drives that cume is fading. In order to build cume this spring Urban radio has to do the very best possible job it can to make sure there are no wasted words, wrong songs or fuzzy features that may sound good, but don't connect.

Especially important and necessary for those markets currently being measured by Arbitron's PPM is a clear understanding of exactly how this passive measurement works. The PPM "listens for" and stores an inaudible code extracted from the station's output together with a time stamp that permits proper crediting of delayed listening. In addition, the PPM contains a motion detector to verify that the respondent is, in fact, carrying it around throughout the day. Also, recent studies show undocking times differ by employment status. You tend to undock 45 minutes earlier if you're employed. All of this information requires a clear vision and must be given enough time to be studied and digested by those of us whose jobs depend on it.

The problem is time. Who has time to do everything you know you need to do? And when you have to make a choice, what are the things that absolutely have to be done? Well, scheduling comes to the top of most lists. You have to take time to schedule the talent, the music and contests. Very few Urban programmers can find enough time to listen to and fully research new music. As a result, for many listeners and despite our best efforts, Urban formats have become unbelievably boring. Boring translates into cume crises and lost listeners. A few years from now, when our libraries are fried and our digits are dropping, we're going to be in trouble. There is also a confidence problem. We see it in focus groups. As fragmentation continues Urban stations have to become not only a new music source, but also mood-setters.

In setting a mood, is it better to be early on a hit or late on a stiff? Depends on who you ask. All music formats are guilty to some extent of adding, but not playing songs. If you add a record, you've got to play it four five to six times a day before you attempt to do callout on it. Otherwise, why bother? A lot of programmers we've spoken to lately say that the problem is compounded by the fact that they have now have syndicated shows whose music they don't control or influence. The solution is that regardless of whatever else may be going on at your station, you need to realize that records that are under-played for whatever reason are not going to do well in callout research.

There are two specific areas that Urban programmers need to address. First you have to play a desirable mix of hit jams. Second, once you have a handle on the ideal mix, you have to play the right songs. It doesn't help to play the ideal percentage of currents, for example, if you're playing the wrong currents.

When we asked several PDs in various-sized markets if they had heard any outstanding potentially cume-building records lately, most said, "Let me check my callout and get back to you." That's a cop-out. Now I believe in research as a tool as much as anybody. But effective research is the balance of science and emotion. This Spring, winning programmers should balance callout usage with good ears and gut. Let your research determine a song's rotation weeks after it has become familiar. A realistic look at today's Urban radio world includes the same basics we've used for a long time. There's no new way of going about it. We just have to do it better.

Everything should start emotionally and creatively. Then we use research to see if it confirms our gut instincts. One of the reasons Urban radio gets so stale is because people keep researching past behavior. What we mean by that is any pure researcher in any field except marketing would never ask a series of strategic questions like: "What do they like? What don't they like? Why do they use radio?" For this type of research, I would prefer forward-looking questions, such as "Would you listen often, sometimes or never to a station that played the following titles?" And then roll the list.

Let's Talk Testing

Experience has shown there are risks that can occur and literally destroy the validity of your music tests. We want to show you how to avoid these pitfalls.

The first risk is not allowing enough time to do the test properly. Programmers all want quick answers. But if shortcuts are taken in hook selection and preparation, recruiting and scheduling, there are going to be problems. As a general rule, you have to allow at least five weeks for a project to go from start to finish. If your demo or screening requirements are particularly stringent, add another week or two.

Targeted Cume Building Research

I still get requests for this information from both new, first-time programmers as well as veterans. Targeted cume research will tell you where you are in terms of your audience's demands for your product and what you have to do to hit your goals of cume, ratings shares, demo targets and product awareness. But when all else is equal in a competitive battle, it's the station that has the best information about the audience's needs ... and then does the best job of meeting those needs that will win the cume battle.

As important as research is in 2009, even the very best research will not guarantee results for your station. There are many stations that spend a lot of time and money on research and still see their cumes collapse. Why? Because some PDs are better than others at making research work for them. They aren't necessarily smarter or more experienced --just more strategic.

For example it's always the little things. Here are a couple secrets, especially for PPM markets: You should always pre-promote what's coming up going into a stopset, giving music or artist information or pre-selling a few of the upcoming songs. And you should never come out of a break with new music. First, it's a mistake to come out with an unfamiliar song and second, it's going to be two of three more records before you're able to back-announce that new music and by then that audience might be gone.

Be wary of consultants who have moved over from another format. These "aliens from another format" may have some knowledge and experience, but they are not familiar with the uniqueness of the Urban audience. Don't be intimidated by researchers who have had little or no first-hand experience in Urban formats.

Statistics & Sample Size

As a programmer you need to know a little about the laws of statistics. Sample size is critical. To produce reliable results you need large enough sample size to provide statistically accurate information. The larger the sample size, the more reliable. Unfortunately, for a lot of PDs and MDs in small and medium markets, the sample sizes needed for statistical accuracy are not proportionate to market size. This means that a station in Fayetteville would need just as many respondents as a station in Philly in a quantitative study. That's why most small-to-medium markets can't afford effective quantitative studies.

Now we're not saying that if you happen to be in a small or medium market that your research is not valuable or accurate ... just that once you understand the law of statistics, you can make the necessary adjustments. This is even more reason for you to use your gut instincts and market experience to help make your decisions. As a programmer, you don't necessarily have to understand linear algebra to use research, but it is extremely important that you operate under and understand the laws of statistics. I'll share another secret with you: The ballpark number for a reliable random sample for quantitative studies in any market over 10,000 is at least 600 respondents.

Dayparting is vital in building cume. Knowing when to expose a new record is extremely important. For most Urban stations, nights are the most active listening period to break and establish new music. Programming nights properly helps you to keep the base audience -- the 12-24 year-olds -- locked into your station. So how do you remain in without being too way out? By concentrating on all the things we mentioned above ... and by knowing the difference between meditating and concentrating.

Word.