Programming Is Tough ... Winning Even Tougher

...Even With Stars On The Staff

As we move deeper into 2010, it's time to reflect on some of the biggest challenges facing us. It's obvious that programming is tough and winning is getting even tougher. This will be a pivotal year toward building the future of not only Urban-formatted stations, but also, traditional local radio as we know it.

In addition to getting the music right, one of the things that used to help seasoned programmers win was to have at least two or three local stars on the staff. Now, those one or two of those "stars" may be syndicated. Local morning shows have been hit particularly hard. Local morning shows have always been a staple of Urban radio. The audience gets up to it. Their clock radio is set to it. It has personalities who they listen for to give them the local information and entertainment they're looking for.

The problem is, in a weak economy, even winning local morning shows that had become fixtures, have been cut in half or eliminated. Top management felt the cost of keeping these "thick" morning shows up and running was just too high. The new management mantra is not "you get what you pay for," but "it's far better and safer to keep what you don't spend."

Not only are local morning shows going away, so are other local dayparts along with the opportunity to develop new talent. Most programmers used to develop talent on the overnight shows and on the weekends. A lot of those opportunities have been taken away for the same budgetary reasons. Stations are now voicetracking, using syndicated shows or just scheduling music on the weekend or on the overnight shows. They're not even trying to train new people.

That's not only part of Urban radio's new challenge, it's part of every format's challenge. Even the small markets don't have staffs anymore. A lot of the smaller market stations are basically running off their automated computer system.

The reasons for this shift are largely financial. Large broadcast companies, which needed to raise capital, would first cut expenses as far as they could, then they would sell assets. If you're a programmer caught in the middle and told to win without the tools, it can be devastating.

PPM has made programming even tougher in some markets. I know of a well-run station with a big signal that was in the top three for the last 12 years. Arbitron dropped the meter on the market and they sank to 12th. PPM not only affects programming; it also affect sales. Many sales executives have also been busy retrofitting their clients and buyers because of the new currency.

There are also Urban success stories. There are stations that made some adjustments for PPM and came right back. We want to examine some of the reasons for their return and look at some of the things that brought them back.

Imaging Secrets - Why They're Important

Urban-formatted stations have an opportunity to score by refining their imaging. Before you do that, though, it's important to hit the streets and learn who your listeners are. Don't make any assumptions. A lot of times programmers look at imaging the station as a secondary "problem." Nothing could be further from the truth. Next to the music, imaging is the most important thing we have going.

I know some of you are going to say that after the music comes the personalities -- but you'd be wrong. The imaging and imaging voice guys are heard far more often that the air personalities, so it's important to find a voice that doesn't grate ... and then give that voice something to say. You have to write copy that connects with the audience. What's the best way to determine what copy you should write?

You have to take some time to find out what your audience is all about, what they're talking about, what their vernacular and interests are and most important ... how far is too far? Then use that research to develop your custom imaging for your station. The worst thing you can do is copy another station's imaging or become a cookie-cutter, which unfortunately is what a lot of young Urban programmers are doing today.

Ideally, Urban stations should blend humor with straight liners. There are three basic types of imaging -- shotguns, positioners and sweepers. Shotguns are quick bursts. Positioners sell your music, and sweepers are used for comedy or novelty.

Sweepers should be updated frequently - more than positioners ... and the positioners must be updated more than shotguns. Personally, I recommend to the stations I consult that they have not less than 30 shotguns, 20 positioners, 15 sweepers and at least 10 music launchers along with five legal IDs, six morning show promos and two signature station promos rotating at any given time.

Research & Spin Maintenance

One problem that refuses to go away is our inability to obtain reliable samples and more passionate listeners with our callout research, much of which is being done on-line.. Because of changes in society, callout results are often extremely slow and this pace may only get worse, causing results to be less reliable.

So if callout research is not available because of cost and online callout is not reliable, what should we do? Many programmers use national charts to help determine the jams they will play. As a result, many are projecting songs into power rotations based on those charts instead of real, valid research. Many top-10 tracks are just "turntable hits" based simply on the amount of spins they get. Because callout has been either severely cut back, eliminated or reduced to online, and because many labels are releasing records too quickly for most stations to absorb, the problem is exacerbated.

Labels continue playing the chart game and jamming stations for spins. So now spin maintenance is part of the new game. It's often almost as important as getting the add. With programmers jumping on songs based on national ranks, we run the risk of the national charts deluding us into believing songs are huge hits that are really not.

If you're a programmer or music director who plays that game and moves songs up in rotation for any reasons other than feeling that it will build or maintain audience, you're taking a huge risk. That's not only hurting your station, it's hurting the format.

Demographic Challenges

With shifting demographics balance is becoming even more important as terrestrial radio becomes an aging medium. With the agency focus over the last two decades being towards the 25-54-year-old listeners, unfortunately there has come a concurrent decline in younger age tuning. This has led to a change in how radio is perceived by younger listeners. Remember now, under PPM, Arbitron now surveys teens and sub-teens 6-12 years old.

No longer is radio the top source for new music choice. With the explosion of satellite radio, downloading, mp3s and the Internet, it has become relatively easy for consumers to build their own radio stations on their personal listening devices. This fundamental change in technology will continue to erode radio's natural ability to lure new listeners.

There is some hope, however, that agencies may be beginning to see the need to expand their reach of advertising into younger demos. This may lead many radio clusters to consider a younger-end option or adjustment among their choices of radio offerings. These younger-based formats, which include Urban, will have to be less rigid and more adventurous to be successful, as today's young people have so many choices on where they spend their entertainment time.

In short, youth-based radio will have to become compelling again. This leads to still another problem, which is overcoming the 18-34 male sample, cell phone-only difficulty. Arbitron has had the problem for years. Their 18-34 ethnic samples invariably fall short of their proportion of the population. The solutions vary from weighting the numbers (meaning they assign greater value to them) to sample balancing to increasing panel sizes. It is important to note here that one PPM in-tab equals approximately three in-tab diaries. Thus a new minimum in-tab requirement should be a systems adjustment that reflects the PPM equivalency of diary samples. Arbitron has to bring overall daily sample sizes in better alignment with their target objectives.

Responding To Complaints

Naturally there are listener complaints for even the best-run stations. Some of them we can do something about. Others we can't. One of the biggest complaints we hear from listeners in today's format-tight world is our inability to keep the entertainment momentum moving forward. The day of boring "10 in a row" jukebox radio should be over. Listeners are hip to the fact that the price they pay for "10 in a row" is often "15 in a row" (as in 15 commercials in a row). Now obviously, we're exaggerating about the number of commercials, but you get the idea. Today's listeners simply won't go for that any more. They've got too many other choices

We may be surprised, but we shouldn't be. Every situation hits critical mass sooner or later. For us that moment has now become sooner rather than later. The small percentage declines in Time Spent Listening will increase and become greater until we do something to stop the bleeding. It's not going to stop on its own.

Urban programmers can be more successful if they know the expectations and needs of their audience and reflect them on the air. We have to continue to deliver on the expectations of the format by playing the jams and representing a variety of music styles within the genre.

If programming or winning was easy, everybody would be a winner. No matter how successful (or lucky) we have been, we have to realize that with everyone wearing seven hats these days we're going to miss some classes. Are we prepared to attend the make-up classes necessary in order to keep up? Some of those make-up classes and answers are buried in these editorials. Read them and pay attention. They can help you get grade you want.

Word.