(By Bill Duerden) For quite some time now, this is a question that has been swimming in my head. In my lifetime, I have heard folks (read, industry experts) declare the death of radio more times than I can count. The reasons have been many: the advent of TV, 8-track tapes, cassettes, CDs, iPods, and now, of course, the Internet and the new digital age. But, for the first time, I am starting to wonder if our industry is truly starting to walk down the Green Mile. It has nothing to do with any of the aforementioned technologies, but rather, ownership and the complete departure from the fundamentals of the medium.
Corporations took over broadcasting with the hopes of consolidating talent/expenses, developing clusters of audiences, which would be attractive to advertisers, and therefore amass buckets of revenue. But radio is losing its presence as this gold rush mentality ignored the very essence of what made it an ever-appealing medium: it is LOCAL! Evidence of this wayward thinking is seen in industry trades, including this very publication, with numerous articles reminding owners that radio is local. How many broadcast stars have given speeches to the same effect within the last year (Sean Hannity comes to mind)? Yes, radio is LOCAL, but, how many times do you hear folks in the community say, “Yeah, that’s MY radio station!”?
I spent 22 years with a large corporate broadcaster and I am now with independent JVC Broadcasting out of Long Island. I am based at our stand-alone Country station in Orlando, WOTW, better known as The Wolf. Every day, whether it is on-air or at a station event, we see the living proof that radio is local. Listeners have embraced this station with a passion I have not seen since the mid-90s. Whenever I wear my Wolf golf shirt in public, I am invariably stopped with the question, “Do you work there?” followed by the enthusiastic comment, “That’s my station!” The success of WOTW is its passionate listener base and is a shining example that radio is local, immediate, targeted, and connected.
Corporations turn a deaf ear to the basics of radio because it requires manpower, desire, and investment; all sorely missing from corporate culture. When was the last time you read a breaking story about a big change in radio that also described the effects of that change to communities and listeners? Somehow that doesn’t make the storyline because I’m guessing corporate executives don’t concern themselves with audience impact. Their focus is always on financial outcomes, shareholder profits, and economies of scale (expense cutting).
This past Presidential election taught us there are throngs of people that want to get connected and have their voice heard. Nothing connects, one community at a time, better than radio! On-air personalities have the unique opportunity to become engrained in day-to-day lives. People can share an opinion, a laugh, a crazy moment in their day, or just request their favorite song all through the medium of radio. Listeners relate to personalities and station content, not corporations.
So, I’ll steal a line from that radio star Axl Rose and ask, “Where do we go, Where do we go now?” Perhaps collectively, we can reconnect with our listeners, borrow a line from another radio icon, Brett Michaels and the boys of Poison, and ‘Give ‘em Something To Believe In.'”
Bill Duerden is Sales/New Media Director for JVC Broadcasting in Orlando and can be reached at [email protected]
Keep it local with a servant attitude (you are the servant and the listener is still the boss)and your station(s) will do extremely well.
Right On Bill! Radio needs to be local, or at least sound like they are local and talking to your community. Live or Voice Tracked, being Local is best for the listener. Big Corporations, what has it really done? Local personalities and the reputations the stations once has gone down, since corporation greed and those big corporations think more about the bottom line, and less for the listeners and costumers they had at one time before the before one or two companies buying everything up.
Bravo Bill! You make us all proud. Radio is your friend, your companion and your local outlet. When we stopped doing that we started to fail. It all comes full circle. Super serve your customer base and they will super serve you. Let’s get back to relationship building, that’s where we shine. Keep running through walls Bill!
Stations bought out by large corporations reminds me of the government and the FCC. The bigger they get, the less effective they’ve become – and the more complicated they’ve made our job. There were/are too many ” I don’t know a damn thing about radio, but by gosh, I’m going to cut personnel, costs, live broadcasting, news, community involvement and MAKE A BUNCH OF MONEY” owners still polluting the industry. Radio’s not dead … you are what you believe you are.
Even those who support localism for radio – and for all the correct reasons – they are still obliged to provide programming and ad content that is superior to the banalities that are being offered now.
I submit: There is no such thing as an unsophisticated market or audience.
There are, however, a preponderance of unsophisticated broadcasters.
Learn and get to Know and embrace your local city and community, Respect their interests and listen to what they have to say and make them feel like a part of your station. Be consistent and they will be loyal to you. Local wins every time!
To some extent, Radio has been its own worse enemy–touting everything they can do digitally and forgetting to focus on the sheer power of their amazing, ubiquitous medium and local-ism.
AMEN Paul!!!