(By Gary Berkowitz) This past Saturday’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump clearly showed off radio’s weakness: the lack of resources to handle an emergency in off-hours. I saw the shooting happen firsthand on cable news. After a few minutes, I went to the car to see how radio was handling it.
Except for Detroit’s all-news station, the vast majority of radio was in regular programming. Not a word. That went on for hours. Some stations never ran any coverage.
To make sure it was just not here in Detroit, I asked a radio friend about his experience. Here is his response from another large market:
“Totally agree. I scanned local radio here. NOT ONE STATION had any mentions or coverage. The news station had a recorded Hannity show. It was an embarrassment for radio. Especially news/talk. Know where I got coverage?? The iHeart app where I listened to Fox News.”
We must do better. These are the times when our listenership needs to be informed. When we experience an event like this past Saturday, we must be there. Our listeners demand it.
One station that did it right was Renda Media’s WSHH, Pittsburgh. Perhaps the actions taken by Renda VP of Programming Steve Granato can act as the starting plan for you. I spoke with Steve and here are his step-by-step actions.
Steve was at home watching TV and immediately saw a scroll announcing the shooting. Since he already has an emergency plan in place, his first move was to open the recording app on his phone (which is there for such emergencies).
Steve recorded a quick :30 message alerting his listeners to the news. Since he has remote access to the station computers from home, he placed this message once in each stop set. These spots ran throughout the weekend.
The message directed his listeners to the stations Facebook page, which then directed listeners to their TV news partner, Channel 11 in Pittsburgh.
Throughout the weekend, Steve updated the Facebook page as more information unfolded. Thanks to the quick actions of Steve, Pittsburgh listeners now know that when something important happens, they can depend on Wish 99.7.
Unless you’re an all-news operation that is staffed 24/7, here are simple steps to have an emergency plan for your music station that may or may not be staffed:
1. Establish a relationship with a local TV station.
2. The PD or Operations Manager should subscribe to all news sources with notification enabled. This includes the traditional networks (ABC, NBC, CBS), local TV, Cable news (CNN, Fox etc.) and your local newspaper. This way, when something happens, you will know quickly.
3. Download a recording program on your phone in case you are not at the station when this happens. Minutes matter here.
4. Have access to the station’s computers pre-set up and ready to go on your phone. A simple, quick message about what happened is all you need to be effective. The goal here is to inform your listenership, not get in-depth with the story.
5. Be prepared to direct listeners to social media for more updates. Then keep it updated with developments.
How did your station do this past Saturday? Most radio stations failed the test. My suggestion; put a plan together. You never know when you will need it. Radio is 24/7. So are our listeners. Special thanks to Steve Granato at Renda Media for sharing this experience.
Gary Berkowitz is a programming consultant specializing in AC and Classic Hits formats. Reach Gary at [email protected] or (248) 737-3727. Read Gary’s Radio Ink archives here.
Nice work by an outlier in the industry. This will never change when the vast majority of radio operators remain in the debt service business instead of the radio business.
Big shout out to Programming VP Steve & the quick action taken to serve his listeners.
I do want to add that, for breaking news, you may need to look to teenagers. I’m a mom of two teens and I will often find out breaking news quicker through them than any other source — usually thanks to TikTok, YouTube or their friends. Whatever happens also quickly trends on X (Twitter), so that’s another good resource.
I agree with this action plan until step 5. Instead of directing listeners to your socials, direct them to your station’s website and keep it updated with the latest information. This traffic boost will increase your SEO, making it more visible to your audience for other news in your market. Yes, update your social media but drive traffic to your website for the payoff. The advertisers who pay to have a presence on your website will also appreciate it.