American Idle 4

Survival Training

This is the fourth part of our current series on unemployment. This time we take on the issue of how to survive being "idle" and what to do until you get back to work.

Primarily, we're going to look at surviving as a programmer following poor ratings, which can often result in termination. The very first thing we recommend is to take a full 24 hours before you make any decision, whether you've been terminated or just handed a poor ratings book. As a programmer, how you handle yourself during those challenging moments will be a deciding factor in your station's ultimate success and your continued employment.

Adopt A Thick Skin

The thick skin that comes from years of experience will serve you well. Getting handed a down book is a feeling endemic to our profession. It is even worse when the drop was unexpected. If it was the latest in a series of bad books, the handwriting was on the wall. I've often said, if you have two books (in the diary days) or three bad PPM books in-a-row, the GM is looking for your replacement. Even if they like you, and believe it was not your fault, they have no choice.

In this era of rolling average trends and monthly PPMs. you'd like to think there are no surprises. But somehow there always seems to be those last month anchors that come at you from nowhere. So okay, Mr. "Thickskin," who do you blame? Yourself? Never. So why then do we as an industry allow this phenomenon to take such an emotional toll? Why does a down book resonate so strongly in our halls of emotion? Well, for one thing, we may not always want to admit it, but we are passionate people. And with that passion comes emotion. It's that emotionally intense temperament that inspires us in time of victory. That same emotional programmer is likely to be more affected by the loss than anyone. A good manager knows he has to account for that in a PD or air talent.

But beyond the frail egos and heightened sensitivities of the programmer, there are specific signals that we sometimes unconsciously send. On the day the book is downloaded you've got the manager, sales manager, PD and research director (if there's still one of those guys left) all gathered together, hovering over the computer printer, waiting for the digits to drop. Do they realize what a grossly exaggerated message that sends to the rest of the staff?

What I used to do was go and get a sandwich or a breath of fresh air. Fortunately for me, I was privileged to program during the last few stations of my career in major markets with people who had been through the highs and lows of this business. It didn't make the bad news any easier to take, but we were better equipped to handle it. Usually after the sandwich, I would clear my schedule very quietly and allow myself the emotional space to really digest the numbers.

While dealing with the emotional trials of a down book can affect even the most battle-scarred veterans, it has a truly traumatic effect on new PDs, who really have no answers. Younger PDs, new to ratings wars. don't fully know what to expect. The other thing that complicates matters is that the format is new to a lot of markets, so there aren't traditional patterns established that you can anticipate. With no precedence, these down books explode in a PD's consciousness. There was a recent situation where a major-market programmer fought for months to keep his local morning show in place and finally was forced to terminate them and replace them with a syndicated morning show ... which tanked. The GM understood and empathized with him, but after the third down book in a row, the PD's run was over.

This is the part of our business that leads to a great deal of soul searching. As Urban formats go from being niche entities to mainstream moneymakers, a lot of pressure will come to maintain ratings and revenue. What's really bad is when you have a down book and your competition rises. What's a "mother" to do? Just know that you're not as infallible as you thought. As a PD you have to admit it yourself and to your staff. You may also have to admit that make you made some mistakes. But I've learned from experience, the only way to handle a bad book is with total honesty. A strong programmer has to have that open communication with his staff at all times. If you're brutally honest in a crisis like that all the time, the staff expects it then as well. By the same token, if you have that honest communication, you'll probably have a staff that acts like a team in good times and bad. You won't feel like you have shoulder that responsibility alone.

It isn't easy establishing that kind of totally honest approach. If you were wrong, admit it. Don't sugarcoat the repercussions of a bad book. Talk about them. Prepare yourself for the loss of revenue, the loss of prestige and the increased pressure from sales and management. It's going to be there. Accept it and attack it; don't hide or rationalize.

One other possibility that a down book brings is compromise. What a balancing act. Responsible programmers must adopt a bottom-line mentality. But the great ones concern themselves with the quality of what they offer as well. If you push your vision too far, you sacrifice ratings. Then ultimately, you have human sacrifices.

These human sacrifices mean loss of jobs. Often when the PD is fired, the new programmer comes in and makes other staff changes as well. I've seen whole staffs terminated. Then performance suffers when the remaining staffers are preoccupied with job security and economic worries in these tough times.

What can do you to keep them motivated? First, you must keep them calm. Employees who are apprehensive about losing their jobs tend to spend more time worrying than they do working. As their leader, you should tell your staffers how they're doing and tell them often.

Level with them. Share good and bad news. People will pull together when they realize they're all in the same boat. Don't use scare tactics. Don't resort to threatening and using fear as a motivator. At best, this will only get short-term results. Create teams. Assign groups of staffers to solve specific problems. People on teams will work harder to support each other and the station.

Focus on long-term goals. Encourage employees to visit other departments during slack periods. Urge staffers to watch, listen and ask questions so that they may learn more about the organization as a whole. The hidden payoff here is that those who learn more about your total operation will find themselves in a better position for advancement when the economic situation improves. And it will. We don't know exactly when, but it will improve.

The best advice I can recommend for those suffering through these tough times and looking to get re-employed is to remember this: A radio career is more rewarding than a radio gig. The difference is if you get blown out and discover you have no leads, no prospects and no confidence that anyone else will ever hire you, you probably have a job. Most people in radio have jobs. Think for a moment of the person you most admire. Odds are they have a career. Radio is not for everyone. It is show business ... a crazy business. One that takes too high a toll from your personal life unless you have the disease. And if you've got the disease, nothing else can cure it but that next gig.

Word.