Would Your Listeners Vote For You?

I’ve been thinking about how running a Presidential campaign is similar to being a radio personality. We are judged each day by listeners who vote for us by listening and against us by switching to the competition. We are running a never ending campaign for more listeners, more time, more engagement, more loyalty, more recall, and more ear space. 

In radio and Presidential politics you only have about two years to make an impact once you secure the position and you may be moving on to something else after four years. 

So what can we learn from dumpster fire of a Presidential election?

Actually, watching Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton provides great reminders to radio talent. Here are four that jump out at me.

Be Prepared. We all want to believe we have the talent and experience to “wing it.” We don’t. When the red light comes on you need to know what you want to say, what the intention or goal is for the break, and how you’re ideally going to execute it. It doesn’t need to be scripted, but preparing for each break will make your show smarter, sharper, funnier, and more listenable. Winging it leads to incoherent rambling, unnecessary diversions, and what I call “break degeneration.” That’s when a segment gets so far off track and meandering that even the hosts aren’t sure when or how to end it.

Embrace Showmanship. We are in show biz. We’re performers. Even candidates are performers on the “political stage.” This doesn’t mean you play someone you’re not. To cut through the clutter you need to be an enhanced version of you. The smarter, funnier, more clever and personable cousin of the person you are when you wake up in the morning. Yes, we’ve all been screaming about ‘authenticity’ for a few years. True authenticity can be inspiring, but more often it’s subdued and boring. Go ahead and be authentic to yourself, in your intentions and with your actions, just execute it with some gusto.

Be Empathetic. Do the show for your audience instead of for personal fame, local celebrity or a pay check. If you can emotionally connect with your listeners and demonstrate you “feel them” whether it’s through conversation, stories, life events, or personal vulnerability you will win them over. Empathy is the missing ingredient for both Presidential candidates. They’re not running for the highest office in the land for us, they’re doing it for themselves and the power that comes with it. It’s why so many people are voting against one of the candidates instead of for them. 

Avoid Personal Attacks. Trump is a one man insult machine (that’s a compliment.) It’s a skill he’s honed over many years. Hurtling insults and personal attacks is psychological warfare for him. He believes it gives him the upper hand, intimidates others and gives him power. I believe that he believes it makes him more likeable. It might to some. Even if it does, and I’d argue it doesn’t, you dear reader are not God’s gift to “insult assault” like Trump. For mere mortals, personal attacks generally bounce off the intended target and the negativity is reflected back onto you. It can make you look childish, unprepared, less intelligent, reactionary, unstable, immature and like a bully. It is perfectly acceptable and expected to characterize and criticize behaviour and actions, but avoid attacking and insulting people. 
These are just some of the radio lessons collected on the campaign trail. What have you learned? Use the comments below to share your takeaways. 

Radio Might Just Be Rocket Science

Over the course of the last few months, I’ve had the honor and responsibility to help launch new News-Talk radio shows on air in Vancouver and Winnipeg. Not that I’d know, but it seems a bit like launching a space shuttle. A huge team, lots of planning, excitement, adrenaline, nerves, back timing, countdowns, someone  is pushing a bunch of buttons, and there are always small adjustments along the way. (A gross over-generalization to be sure, but go with it.)

Below is a list of some of the adjustments that crept up through these experiences that are good reminders to all radio talent

• Improvisation rules apply. Don’t kill the premise of a discussion by dismissing it off hand. Add to it. Expand on it. Think “Yes, and…”
• When co-hosting it is okay to disagree, but it isn’t about “winning at all costs.” Respect each other, establish clear boundaries, and agree on the goal of each segment before diving in.
• Avoid personal attacks. This applies to co-workers and news makers. Characterize behavior and actions, not people.
• News is not a break from the show. News is what’s next on your show.
• Know the clock, respect the clock, and abide by the clock. They’re designed for maximum ratings impact and for clear separation of commercial competitors, repeat commercials and to minimize listener fatigue.
• Write and plan your teases into break. Avoid words and phrases like “after these commercials”, “we’ll be back”, “time to take a break”, “when we return.” Instead keep forward momentum with something like “coming up next…”
• Speaking of momentum, find ways to build momentum for each segment, each show and each day on the station. Build on stories, find the arc, explore new angles, and offer different perspectives.
• Be about something. Don’t just fill time.
• Avoid signing off at the end of your show as if there is nothing else worth listening to on the station.
• Root your on-air personality in authenticity, but remember it is show biz, so it should be an enhanced, more dynamic version of you.

If you are lucky enough to have a radio show you have an amazing opportunity. Your voice will travel through air, into ears and across the Milky Way faster than a space shuttle. It is an awesome responsibility to entertain and inform the public. The impact you make is up to you. You’ve been given the keys to high performance machine, what are you going to do with it?

Tuning In To Your Audience

I am not a regular church goer. Last Sunday though, in the wake of shootings and protests and chaos in Minnesota, Baton Rouge, Dallas and elsewhere, my family decided maybe we needed a community, some perspective, or maybe we wanted someone, somewhere to tell us everything is going to be okay. Whatever the reason, we researched and found a church that held “social justice” as one of its pillars.

Perfect.

We were present, ready, and waiting.

And we waited.

Not a word was spoken about the senseless shootings, the racial divide, Black Lives Matter or anything. In truth, more was said about it during the MLB All Star Game’s Canadian National Anthem.

This church had a program, a plan, a scheduled service carefully mapped out likely weeks in advance. But they missed an opportunity to connect with the congregation in a moment. It reminded me of a news-talk radio station that fails to “play the hit” when a big story breaks, because guests have been booked and topics have been researched.

When big events happen, the most recent in Nice, France, people seek community, support, context and a sense of security. They seek it out on their radio and if they don’t immediately find what they need, they scan the dial.

Radio plays an important role in informing and connecting our communities, whether it is bad weather in the region or terror around the world. When big stories break, it is our responsibility to report facts, seek the truth, provide context, help when we can, and grieve, rally, and organize when needed. We can be a beacon of hope, a stage for disagreement, and a voice of calm in the face of the inexplicable.

When we fail to recognize that we don’t just lose listeners and revenue, we lose an important connection and leadership role in the community — one I believe we shouldn’t so quick to surrender. Who knows who or what may fill the void.

Oh, Canada!

I am moving to Canada. (This is me and the view from my new office.) —>

Let’s get the two most popular questions out of the way first.

No, I’m not hightailing north of the border in anticipation of a Trump presidency.

Yes, you can crash on my couch when YOU want to escape Trump’s empire.

Why Canada?

I have been consulting Corus Radio in Vancouver since January 2014. I’ve had the pleasure of coaching and strategizing alongside some brilliant radio leaders. I have worked closely with and been inspired by dedicated, committed and talented radio staffs. And have I rediscovered the excitement that radio can deliver when a company commits to success, invests in its future and wants to make a difference in people’s lives.

Last August, I was asked to serve as interim Program Director of News-Talk 980 CKNW and AM 730 All Traffic, All the Time. So, for 9-months I have been commuting between my family in California and my work in Canada. Three weeks a month or so in Vancouver with a weekend home and then one full week with the family each month. It wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t always easy. It took patience, sacrifice, and an exceeding amount of trust from all involved.

Now the “interim” has been removed from my title and my family is moving to British Columbia. I will continue to write blogs and create Radio Stuff Podcasts as time permits.

Radio is Radio, Right?

Sort of.

Radio is different in Canada than the U.S. though not so insanely so. Here are some of the nuances.

Language | Bottom line you will hear more adult language on radio in Canada. From bullshit to asshole and the treasure trove of curses in between. Not fuck. But most anything else. In the U.S. that sort of language is prohibited by the FCC from 6am to 10pm and most companies avoid it all together.

Governing Body | The governing body over radio in the U.S. is the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). Listeners can complain about stations to the FCC, but unless there is a deluge of complaints about a certain broadcast the complaint falls on deaf ears. In Canada, the governing body is the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission) and the broadcasters created a coalition called the CSBC (Canadian Standards Broadcast Council) which fields each listener complaint. The complaints are formally delivered the radio station and stations have a finite period of time to respond to each complaint. If the listener remains unsatisfied by the response, the CRTC can make a ruling on the matter.

PPM | People meters in large markets is the standard in both the U.S. and Canada. Three distinct differences though. 1) Nielsen (in the U.S.) is a private, for-profit company that monopolizes broadcast ratings data. Numeris (in Canada) is a not-for-profit, member-owned tripartite industry organization. If you want ratings, you become a member.  If you are a member, you’re part owner. 2) In the U.S., radio stations are battling for quarter-hours. If a listener tunes in for five minutes in a quarter-hour it counts as 15 minutes of listening. In Canada, it’s minute-by-minute. Five minutes of listening is worth five minutes. 3) We also recently began receiving overnight ratings in Canada. So day-to-day you get a snap shot of listening patterns in the market. It was terrifying at first, but really quite useful. Knowledge is power.

Media Companies | In a very broad stroke, based on my observations and experience, media companies in the U.S. are grossly over-leveraged, cost-cutting from the front lines of content creation, investing in upper-management and are more fiscally focused than audience focused. Contrarily, in Canada, I see more fiscally responsible companies seeking strategic acquisitions, cost-cutting and efficiencies at senior management levels, investment in talent and technology and a stronger focus on the consumer experience. Extreme generalizations, I know, but it is my experience.

Listeners | Listeners to radio in Canada are different. The connection to the stations seems stronger and more personal, which means they feel like owners of the stations they listen to. That leads to lots of calls and emails for minor errors and great outrages each demanding returned phone calls, retractions, apologies, and retribution. It also leads to more passionate, dedicated listeners. I know listeners in the U.S. call stations too, but in my experience, for every call I received from a listener as a PD in the states, I get 10 in Canada.

Those are the main differences that come to mind today, I’ll add more over time.

Now off to get a Tim Horton’s coffee and a maple donut.

Navigating Change

Change is scary and uncomfortable for most people.

It just is.

Humans like to know they are safe and secure. We want to know we have enough money for food and someplace hospitable to rest our head at night. So, when pink slips start flying like they did at KGO last week in San Francisco or organizations are merged and realigned like Corus Entertainment last week in Canada, fear takes hold. It’s instinctual.

But resisting change is actually more lethal for entertainment and information industries like radio (see: music industry, Blockbuster Video, newspapers). There is hope and opportunity in change. You just have to be willing to see it and seize it.

Yes, what happened in San Francisco to KGO is tragic. It was a juggernaut of a radio station that has slowly and systematically been starved of resources and been a victim of benign neglect. The dedicated staffers who were sent packing after years of pouring their heart into a product deserve better. They tried to find a small part of a corporate beast they could love and quickly realized the beast was indscriminate. But now they are free. Unschackled. No longer beholden to a dream of yesterday’s KGO. There is life after KGO right Gil Gross??

Right Claudia Lamb?  (Article: KGO and the Death of Radio)

In Canada, a completely different scenario. Not one of downsizing and cost-cutting but of investing and growing. Eerily, employees feel similar. Corus just completed a $2.6B acquisition of Shaw Media and new corporate structures were unveiled. The questions came fast and furious; Why? Where’s this worked before? What’s it mean for me? How can this possibly work? When are they going to fire me? Don’t they know we’ve never done it this way before?

Fear. It’s contagious.

Keep in mind, change isn’t inherently good or bad. It’s just different. When companies change it often creates opportunities. New managers, new faces, new processes and procedures and fresh eyes on old problems. It doesn’t have to be scary. It should be exciting. Anytime you get to work for a leader who has bold vision and a sense of purpose and direction embrace it, champion it, and rejoice. The opposite is stagnation. The opposite is KGO.

It reminds me of a phrase I quickly learned while working at ESPN; “evolve or face extinction.” In the past week, we’ve seen this played out in both directions in dramatic fashion.

 

Be Better Than Bad TV News Banter

This happened Monday night on TV in Vancouver…

credit: Brick Tamland

Female Anchor: Did you guys see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on 60 Minutes last night?

Male Co-Anchors: No. Nah.

Female Anchor: (visibly shocked)

{Awkward silence}

Female Anchor: Well, anyway…

I know point out bad banter on TV is like pointing at rain drops in Seattle, but there are important takeaways for radio anchors and hosts hidden inside this gem.

Be Prepared. As someone who works in and talks about news for a living it is imperative you take time to watch/read/listen to the things that your listeners are talking about that day. Not only does it make you more credible and authentic, it allows you to develop an opinion about it, reflect interests of listeners back to them, and it reinforces you commitment you have for your job and the product to you co-workers. Your team needs to be able to trust that you’re up to speed and able to carry a conversation or, in this case, what would likely have amounted to a 15 second banter.

Never Kill A Bit. With due respect to Nancy Reagan – don’t say “no.” Saying ‘no” always kills the bit or the banter. It stops conversation cold. It makes everyone on set look bad. Even if you haven’t watched/read/or listened — find a way to say yes and keep the conversation going. “Boy, everybody is talking about it today. What did you take away from it?”

Don’t Assume. Before you make assumptions that a co-worker must been up to speed on a story or event, take a minute off air to ask, “Is it okay if I ask you about…”

The main idea here is work harder to put you and your co-workers in a position to win every minute of every show even if it’s 15 seconds of banter at the end of the show.

Man Meets Morning Host

Man Meets a Radio Morning Host
True story. Names changed.

Man: Aren’t you Jim in the Morning?

Jim: That’s me!

Man: I listened to you once. You’re funny.

Jim: (confused) Once?

Man: Yeah, maybe twice.

Jim: (curious) If you listened and I was funny why don’t you listen more often?

Al Mac’s Diner-Restaurant, 135 President Avenue, Fall River, MA. Al Mac’s closed for business on July 23, 2012. On the National Register of Historic Places.

Man: Oh, Bill & Jill down the dial do the news quiz every morning at 7:40a. And I listen to that. If I get to the Main Street Bridge before they start the quiz I know I have time to stop at the diner and grab a cup of coffee before work. If it starts before I reach the bridge I know I need to go straight to the office.

Jim: Well, that makes sense.

It sure does. Benchmark segments are brand extensions of your show. They help listeners navigate their day as much as it provides predictable, dependable anchors for your show.

Verbal and Vocal

I’ve been telling all the talent I work with that 2016 will be about context, context, context and concerning ourselves with the verbal and the vocal. The verbal and the vocal? Yes. A little something I picked up while chatting with David Lloyd, author of “How to Make Great Radio.”

“Verbal is the words. Vocal is how they are delivered,” explains Lloyd in Episode 121 of the Radio Stuff podcast. “Listen to great presenters and the way they speak, the way they use their voice, the way they pause, the way the words come out of their mouth.”

He’s right, you know? The great presenters or on-air talent have a way with words and know just how to deliver a line or tell a story to engage the listener and make them care.

Lloyd continues, “Words are so critically important. When you’re doing a coaching session with a presenter you can see their eyes roll as they say, ‘Ah, for goodness sakes it’s only a word.’ But words are all we have. Words are what set one radio station apart from another. You know you can play the same records as your competitor in the same order, but what sets you apart is your imaging and the words you use. I think to focus on those is critically important.”

It’s not just a radio thing. How any business talks with its customers is critically important.

“I was in a shopping centre last week and I came out of the toilet and there is a big sign and it says ‘Let’s Go Shopping!’ and an arrow,” shared Lloyd. “And I thought, ‘Wow, someone has thought about that.’ Because they could’ve had a sign saying ‘Shops.’ But they said ‘Let’s Go Shopping!’ The emotional response to a sign that signs ‘Let’s Go Shopping!’ compared to a sign that says ‘Shops’ — you can’t compare the two.”

Yes, thinking about what you are going to say and how you are going to say it takes time. But, it’s a thousand little decisions about the words you use and the intonation you choose that sets you apart.

“You hear a lot of radio and think you’ve just thrown up the fader, you have not given any thought whatsoever to how you’re going to frame it.” Lloyd suggests, “If you are going to talk about “X” how are you going to describe it? What are the words you’re going to throw in there? You don’t need to write a script, but just to have thought about the colors, the textures, and the conversation you’re about to have with your listener.”

Along these same lines there is a great TED Talk by Julien Treasure about how to get people to hear what you have to say and it also reflects this theme of the verbal and vocal. It’s worth 10 minutes of your time.

My Favorite Blog Posts of 2015

As a guy who has been blogging over the course of the last five years it is heartening to see stats rise from 1,500 views in 2010 to over 33,000 in 2015. But, and I presume my fellow bloggers will concur, the most popular blog posts arent neccessarily the ones the writer loves, adores or sweated over. So I give you my favorite posts of the year, even if they didn’t get the attention I wished they did.

It’s Time For Your SNL Moment – Love it or hate it Saturday Night Live’s 40^thanniversary show can serve as inspiration for your next radio event.

Curse of Subjective Adjectives – This is a phenomenal blog post; it’s fun, insightful, sensational, great, super, terrific, and awesome. Depending on who you are.

Airchecks. Dreaded Airchecks. – One of the issues that I hear from talent quite a bit is how airchecks suck. They dread them. Talent feel like they’ve been slimed by negativity afterwards when they just want some support, strategy and a plan to improve. They know what sucked. How do you fix it?

Secrets to Podcasting Success – In May 2014, Anna Sale launched the podcast “Death, Sex & Money” from the studios of WNYC. In the 10 months that has followed, Anna’s podcast has hit #1 on iTunes and she’s learned a ton about producing a successful podcast. Lucky for us she shared her revelations at Radiodays Europe and with the Radio Stuff Podcast.

What Do You Do With An Idea? – In recent weeks, clients have been sharing with me the anxieties associated with following their gut or executing on an idea.

Inside Radio Stuff #100 – How I landed the interview with Jonathon Brandmeier and how it all came together.

Broadcast Interview Scruples – The relationship between a broadcaster and an interview subject has triggered my curiosity. Let me tell you why.

Cirque du Radio – I was at the show Kooza last night and saw this awesome assembly of remarkable talent. It’s a really, really talented troupe. A couple things struck me as it relates to radio

The Future of Radio is the Past

In the Golden Age of radio, the 1930’s and 1940’s, radio actors created theater of the mind. Each night a different character in a different radio drama from Sherlock Holmes to the Shadow. Foley artists brought the shows to life. Game shows were launched. And news was the backbone bone of a growing entertainment industry. It was new, exciting and fun. Ideas were being dreamed and hatched daily and the industry was evolving even through the war years.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s Rock-n-Roll took hold of radio and shook it up. The DJs are still legendary today for having the guts to introduce listeners to music most decried as sinful, distasteful, and obscene. Not only did the great DJs of Rock-n-Roll find new artists and spin their records, many become concert promoters in their town bring big acts to cities across North America: Elvis, the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and hundreds more. It was new, exciting and fun. Ideas were being dreamed and hatched daily and the industry was evolving.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, FM radio exploded. Despite having been patented in1933, FM radio didn’t exceed AM listening until 1978. Many AM juggernauts had FM sister-stations that station owner’s didn’t want to mess with. So, they let employees who were interested play around with it. Budgets were non-existent, no one told them what they couldn’t do and they re-invigorated radio for another 35 years or more. It was new, exciting and fun. Ideas were being dreamed and hatched daily and the industry was evolving.

In the 2010s, Podcasting is exploding. Some are great, some are horrific. Some are theater of the mind mysteries, while others are based in news, music discovery, current events or something else otherwise indescribable. These podcast hosts are their own promoters, appearing on each other’s shows, creating events, selling partnerships and evolving what is possible in the audio space. It is new, exciting and fun. Ideas are being dreamed and hatched daily and the industry is evolving.

The future of radio (spoiler: there will be a future of radio) is in our hands. By the 2020’s, it is paramount that the industry discovers what’s new, exciting and fun. We need ideas dreamed up and hatched daily in order for the industry to keep evolving.