A Perfect Cultural Storm

Okay, I admit it: I am absolutely fascinated with the fascination over a worldwide cultural phenomenon called Dancing With the Stars. Until my friend Lou Vito told me his kid was going to be on the show, it barely registered on my pop-culture-o-meter. Big mistake. Any show that can smoke another worldwide phenomenon, House, with twice the ratings, had better darn well be on my—and all of our—radar.

And now I am kind of hooked—not only by the trials of everybody’s second-favorite-with-a-bullet snowboarder, but the sheer down-market genius of the thing. The concept is solid; the production values are amazing; the hosts are better than you’d think the show deserves, but they fit perfectly; and the whole thing takes on a larger-than-life aspect that is truly compelling.

When I was consulting KIIS-FM, the first thing I told them was, “You are in L frigging A. Own it.” In other words, people expect the output of the entertainment capital of the world to be awesome. (Are you listening, Mr. Leno?) DWTS delivers in spades.

I just hope Louie doesn’t get on American Idol. I have to draw the line somewhere.

This article first appeared in the Small Market Radio Newsletter, of which your faithful blogger is editor and publisher. He is also its circulation manager, and as such encourages you to subscribe thereto.

Is the Sinking Ship Half Empty or Half Full?

The mood in the halls of last week’s radio gathering was decidedly mixed. There is a frightful amount of fear in the ranks of those who focus on the myriad new threats to our business. Sure, the argument goes, in the past we’ve faced down a flurry of new-at-the-time media—think television, CB radio, 8-track tapes, CDs—but not all at once. Today it’s a veritable blizzard of new technologies and applications that can pop up literally overnight. . .and melt away just as quickly.

On the other hand, those whose mood rings glow violet-green (Google it) fall into one of two camps: those who don’t see the light of the train bearing down on our industry, and those who intend to catch a ride.

I’ll bet you didn’t jot down on your wish list, “I want to be in the radio business because I love getting my butt kicked by a bunch of competing media in a giant technology-driven Whac-A-Mole game.” Easier would be nice, but what are you going to do?

No, seriously, what are you going to do?

Many of our best and brightest have left the business—all too often the business left them, actually. Some are taking their skills and experience to other businesses, or at least are hedging their bets by spreading those qualities around.

At the NAB Radio Show, a certain kind of schism surfaced that we haven’t seen in some years, between those who get it and those who don’t. And, as so often is the case, the dividing line runs down the middle of the hallway between sales and programming.

In recent years, sales and management people have been able to keep up, at least superficially, by using product jargon more or less correctly—whether they understand what they’re saying. But with the onslaught of new threats and opportunities that programmers are first to understand and embrace, the other side of the hall is lagging behind.

Exhibit A: The difference between the programming and group heads sessions at the Radio Show. Let’s just say that how to navigate the current landscape has not fully trickled up.

Cut to small market broadcasters, who, as usual, were under-represented at The Show. . .but who have an understanding of the climate that is both clearer and fuzzier than their larger-market counterparts.

Huh?

While small market folks may be less wired into the trends being followed by large market folks, they know their own markets better. As such, they peer, like Max Headroom, 15 minutes into the future. We cannot afford to fall behind what our listeners and advertisers are doing and thinking; but it’s just as dangerous to get ahead of them.

For example, in some small markets it’s important that a radio station stream at least its local programming; in others, not so much. Ditto cellphone-ready websites, texting, Tweeting, and so on. And the operators of those stations by and large know what they need to know, and make it their business to know it.

So, as usual, a radio operator’s industry outlook is directly related to his or her field of vision. Those of us who manage our businesses with our checkbooks. . .know the spouses and families of our customers (and, for that matter, many of our listeners). . .are working for the betterment of the communities our stations serve. . .and have a strong streak of self-determinism. . .simply cannot be overcome by that onrushing train.

All hail small market radio!

This article first appeared in the Small Market Radio Newsletter, of which your faithful blogger is editor and publisher. He is also its circulation manager, and as such encourages you to subscribe thereto.

Acts, Not Words

In a paragon of timing, the NAB Executive Search Committee announced its pick for our new President/CEO just in time for the Fall Radio Show. The committee is to be congratulated for its low-key, no-drama, few-leaks process. . .whether the congratulations extend to its choice is an open question right now, a few short days after the announcement.

In the past I have added my voice to those of other industry leaders in calling for installing an actual broadcaster at the NAB helm, but I’m the first to admit it’s not that simple. (Not to mention the potential havoc wrought by the selection of a TV guy, perish the thought.) While it would be refreshing to feel actual understanding of our daily lives in the voice and words of our lobbyist-in-chief, as opposed to scripted platitudes, the true value of the person and the position is his persuasive advocacy of our industry with the powers that hold our well-being in their clammy little hands.

Mr. Smith has a past, and being in the public eye for much of his career, that well-documented past includes some not-so-broadcaster-friendly views and actions. Credit our man for his adult, no-nonsense handling of that inconvenient truth: “Now, my politics are the interests of the National Association of Broadcasters, which translates into serving radio and television broadcasters and the American people.” I for one have no problem with Smith’s seismic shifts, as long as he can spin a credible tale that explains them. (Free advice: Use a variant of the time-honored “feel-felt-found” sales technique—“I understand how you feel [about this issue]; I felt the same way myself. But then I found. . .”)

We don’t yet know Mr. Smith’s mind and heart, but we do know those of the broadcasters who chose him. I trust them. I trust their choice. Welcome, Gordon Smith, to the most interesting neighborhood in which you’ll ever live.

This article first appeared in the Small Market Radio Newsletter, of which your faithful blogger is editor and publisher. He is also its circulation manager, and as such encourages you to subscribe thereto.

Dumbing Down

Throughout my career as a consultant, I have sat in meetings where management tried to wrest control of creativity from talent by using research to prove that, to coin a phrase, less is more.

Heretofore my favorite device for sucking the creative juices out of a radio show has been the little dials you distribute to a bunch of people in a room; as they listen to a recording of a show—usually a morning show—they are instructed to turn the dial up when they like what they hear, down when they don’t. The aggregate results are displayed as a line graph that snakes its way across a video screen while the recording plays, so you can tell precisely at what points the audience loses interest in the proceedings.

Some of the most awkward moments of my career have ensued when we’ve plopped talent in front of the screen, expecting a teachable moment to occur.

Now, as described in Bob Doll’s article on Page 9, the PPM data performs the same function on a grander scale. As Bob notes with a fair amount of understatement, the application of the PPM data is “a source of friction between management and talent.”

The problem with these applications is, we are using trailing data to inform the future. In other words, we expect an analysis of a spontaneous event—a live radio show—to result in better spontaneous events in the future.

Well, it doesn’t work that way. The analysis of spontaneity results in less spontaneity.

Radio is criticized for its blandness—for its lack of spontaneity—because it has been replaced by research-driven predictability. And it’s only getting worse, because each round of analysis destroys that much more spontaneity (a.k.a. creativity).

The cure, counterintuitive though it may be, is to take a deep breath and encourage risk-taking.

We like to vilify Mel Karmazin these days for abandoning his local radio roots, but let’s remember that he built his success by picking talent, cultivating it and giving it room to grow. You may not like his picks—Howard Stern and Opie and Anthony among them—but you cannot deny that his was a talent-based business model. It made for unpredictable radio that, whether you liked it, was far from bland.

Now look at your own stations. In and around the satellite and syndicated fare, you probably employ at least one live, local personality. And that personality probably drives you nuts with his or her—usually it’s a his—peculiar peccadilloes. And you probably long for research—whether using little dials or PPM data—to put him in his place.

Be careful what you wish for. Chances are, your station is a beacon light of creativity, thanks to your hard-to-handle friend—at least compared to the Station Everybody at Work Can Agree On Because It Plays 200 Easy Favorites Over and Over that Suck the Same for Everybody.

Congratulations. You are part of the solution.

This article first appeared in the Small Market Radio Newsletter, of which your faithful blogger is editor and publisher. He is also its circulation manager, and as such encourages you to subscribe thereto.

The Telephone Game

Perhaps you played it as a kid: Arrange a bunch of people in a circle. One person whispers a brief story to the person next to him. That person whispers the story to the other person next to him. . .and so on, around the circle. The story whispered back to its originator is usually unrecognizable.

Thanks to irresponsible media and the ease with which data can be passed along via the Internet, we are experiencing the ill effects of the biggest telephone game ever played. And it is killing us.

Why this topic? Why now? It was prompted by an email from a reader:

My father just called me to let me know our new [FCC] Diversity Chief was on the Glenn Beck Show tonight.  He feels the U.S. should model our radio after Venezuela and that the government should tax stations 100% of gross revenues and if they can't pay it, they would have to forfeit your license. He didn't think there should be private ownership of radio stations. I thought you might want to look into that for our next issue.

Tax stations 100% of their gross revenues? Look into it, indeed!

It turns out that Dad was not entirely accurate in his recollection. A segment of Beck’s show was about new FCC Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd; Lloyd did not appear. The discussion was between Beck and Media Research Center Director of Communications Seton Motley.

Beck started the discussion by paraphrasing Lloyd’s position—based not on recent statements while in his current job but passages from his 2006 book, Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America.

While Beck, in setting up the segment, said that Lloyd would have each station pay 100% of its gross—kicking off a lengthy diatribe—Motley later set the record straight(er) by saying, “That’s not exactly right. That’s an estimated total of what the operating costs are, for somebody like Premiere Broadcasting, who syndicates several large talk show hosts. That’s just an extrapolation of the fine we’ve been discussing, which is dollar for dollar for the annual operating costs.” Huh?

I’m not saying we don’t have concerns with the whole idea of a “diversity chief” within an already-misguided Commission. But with all respect to our reader—a good friend of this publication—and his dad, the email in question is a great example of a malady afflicting our land today.

It started with the estimable Mr. Beck, who didn’t have his facts straight. . .exacerbated by Dad, and doubtless many others, who heard the wrong information wrong and innocently passed it along. This is the telephone game writ large and at its most dangerous. (Our reader, in a follow-up email, noted that his dad is 81, so he can be excused. . .but I guarantee you that similar distortions have been spread by others far younger.)

Admittedly I am in extremis, having made some good-sized gaffes in this all-too-public arena. But how else to explain the ability of, say, the RIAA to perpetrate believable but baseless blather in the performance tax battle? Or the groups who would have us believe that the Portable People Meter is a racist tool?

But we who represent the Fifth Estate should be in extremis, too. Just as we take pains to ensure accurate reporting on the air, we must do so in everything else we do and say as well.

Truth is not-so-slowly being replaced by what Stephen Colbert calls “truthiness”: things that seem true but are not. We have the power to counter truthiness. Let’s use it.

This article first appeared in the Small Market Radio Newsletter, of which your faithful blogger is editor and publisher. He is also its circulation manager, and as such encourages you to subscribe thereto.

Objects in Mirror Are Closer than They Appear

Not-So-Confidential Memo to Arbitron:

I know you guys are busy beating back the geniuses who are perpetrating the anti-PPM fraud, while at the same time making much-needed advances in diary methodology. I know you have a lot to focus on in the road ahead, but it’s a good idea to glance in the rear view mirror from time to time.

See that cloud of dust in the distance? See how it’s closer than the last time you checked? Guess who’s coming to the party? Guess who’s winning the PR battle, not having to worry about the PPM cacophony overwhelming their message? Yes, it’s They Who Must Not Be Named.

There are some who would like nothing better than to see our resident ratings giant brought to its knees. There a many who welcome formidable competition, and there is much to be said for that argument: better data, faster delivery, lower cost.

But the other side of the issue has merit, too: especially now, do we need confusing, conflicting radio performance data?

AIG and Bernie Madoff aside, I believe in a free market, and I believe competition is a good thing.

And the need for affordable universal health care aside, I believe in survival of the fittest.

That’s why this gentle wake-up call to the denizens of Columbia, MD: Beware that dust-cloud approaching quickly from behind. Not only might it just overtake you, but it might also, er, cloud radio’s story at just the wrong time.

Where Are Radio’s Cheerleaders?

Southwest Airlines was a different company when Herb ran it.

Wal-Mart was a different company when Sam ran it.

Radio was a different business* when radio people ran it.

With incredible respect to the broadcasters in boardrooms and on selection committees, we have lost focus and direction. . .because we have lost the clear, omnipresent leadership of yore.

When Herb ran Southwest, you would see him everywhere—taking tickets, handing out boarding cards, serving coffee.

When Sam ran Wal-Mart, you would see his plane at the local airport and the man himself leading associate rallies and saying to customers (who mostly thought he was just other retiree greeter), “How may I help you?”

When radio people helmed our industry* associations, they gave us a very personal, public, omnipresent face. They may not have served popcorn at remotes, but they were in touch with the community in ways that inspired, informed—and exemplified.

Yes, Southwest, Wal-Mart and radio are different businesses today, and all the king’s Herbs, Sams, Eddies and Garys can’t have stopped the trends of time.

Nor am I advocating a return to those golden days of yesteryear. We have to face the realities of today and tomorrow, and we need leaders who are of today and tomorrow.

But those leaders will serve us best if they are also of our industry. As individual operators, we need a big dose of what we’re lacking right now: visibility, inspiration, cheerleading. That’s the leadership we need. I hope we deserve it.

*A word about wording: I am sensitive to those who want to call radio something other than an “industry” or a “business.” “Craft” falls short and “profession” has a limited application. When we settle on a better word, I’ll use it.