(By Gary Berkowitz) As we prepare to enter 2022, here are some programming points that will help you construct a “solid foundation” for your station (and higher ratings) in the new year.
The music library and what “variety” really means. There are two effective ways to build your music library. The first is by doing local research. That is the best way to get a feel from your listeners about the songs they like and don’t like as well as the songs they are most familiar with. If you cannot do local research, the next best tool are music panels. Subscribe to either Mediabase (www.mediabase.com) or BDS Radio (www.bdsradio.com) Choose 5 – 6 like stations in similar markets that are getting good ratings. You will quickly see the common songs and more important, the songs that you are playing (and they are not). Those should be the first to go. There are only so many hits. This exercise will help you focus the size and quality of your library and insure you are closer to playing “the hits.”
Every listener will tell you they want “variety” on their station. Programmers who are playing too many songs will tell you they do so to have a good variety. Variety is NOT determined by the number of songs you play, but by the types of music you play and the tempo of the music you play. Do not be “the station that plays a lot of BAD songs mixed in with the GOOD ones.” When it comes to variety “more” is not necessarily better.
“Companionship” is more important than “Content”. Sure, content is the buzzword these days but it takes a special something to be considered a “companion”. Yes, it’s great to have both but nothing causes more occurrences of listening on a daily basis than being a “companion” that the listener enjoys spending time with day after day. Content may get em sometimes. Be their companion, and they will always be with you.
Low Hanging Fruit
Why is so much radio content “low hanging fruit”? Radio seems to always go for the easy to find, not always compelling material. One of the PD’s I work with refers to bad content as “low hanging fruit”. If you’re going to do content it must not only be compelling, but of high interest to your demos and listeners. After all, can you imagine “The Today Show” doing “This Day in History”? Not gonna happen! Unless you have killer content, another song will serve you better.
P1 Relationships
Do you have a “relationship” with your P1 core? The #1 and most important element to getting consistently strong ratings. You can play all the right songs; have all the right sweepers and the best jingles in the market. If you’re missing that hard to describe link that bonds the listener to your station, the ratings will most likely not be there. This is where your personalities come into play. They are “The Secret Sauce” between the music.
Likability is important
In sales they say ”People buy from people they like.” In programming its ”People listen to people they like”. Is your station likable? Think about “content or companionship”.
Happy holidays and thank you for reading my columns this year in Radio Ink.
Gary Berkowitz specializes in ratings improvement for AC and Classic Hits radio stations in all size markets. He can be reached at (248) 737-3727 or [email protected].
That’s all excellent advice. But I can only speak on being on-air talent. Haven’t been on-air since 1990 but when I was crankin’ in SF Metro, I’d spend five hours a day reading current events and mostly writing and my next show’s bits that were also timed for the walkup to the post. I tried to have 2 elements in each major, hourly bit. They had to be informative to a mass audience and also mention a current or local issue of reference. I also strived for the bonus of a funny twist at the end. I always took home the next days msx log to research tie-ins with the artists/song facts. It was a tough grind 6 days a week but also fun and rewarding. If you can be more than a card reader where you’re at, go for it.