Four Big Wishes For The New Year

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(By John Shomby) As we make our plans for 2025, I have four very specific wishes for our industry. These are not unrealistic, but they are hopes for industry leaders to take some big steps to get radio on the road to being solidly back in the media conversation.

Wish #1 – Break The Old Rules and Make Some New Ones

We’ve all been following the same programming rules for as long as I can remember (and this memory goes back a few decades!). How about working on a new set of rules that are more in line with the times? How about no rules?

Find new ways for revenue opportunities that are equal to, or better than, the results of a full commercial load. We keep talking about this but it’s time to do something about these excessively long commercial breaks. I wish for someone to step up and make the commitment to try!

Look at better forms of conducting your music research. Are 7-second hooks still what works? Can we honestly answer that either way? With technological advances, it’s time to get to work to find better, more reliable systems.

Look at some of those long-standing radio “rules” and turn them upside down and inside out!

Wish #2 – Eliminate Fear and Take Some Risks

We may not want to admit it but a lot of us are working more out of fear for our jobs, presently, than looking for creative ways to get better. The result of this is the inertia that seems to permeate our business. (Those RIFs certainly don’t help)

Encourage and reward experimentation within your staff. Let them know that mistakes will happen but to learn from them and move on. 

Give your people full responsibility and, along with that, accountability. One of my managers referred to this as “your ball, your bat, your butt”. Your people should not ever be penalized for bad decisions made above them BUT let them know you trust their judgement and hold them responsible for that. Watch the magic happen.

Allow open, honest conversation within your staff always. Don’t keep secrets. Make them part of the process and listen to each opinion as useful input to a decision.

#3 – Invest In Your People Sincerely

There are organizations who value their people and there are those who merely “say” they do. The difference? Implementation versus lip service. Too many quotes on walls about values and not enough action.

Set up ACTIVE in-house, online training programs to enable the possibility of internal promotion for BOTH genders. This would include a definite succession plan with all management and that includes men AND women in your building. There aren’t enough – if any – concrete programs that can prepare an employee, no matter the gender, for a move up. That needs to change!

Support all independent learning activities for your employees. Whether it be working toward a degree or expanding on what they already know, you should be there to assist them psychologically and financially, if possible.

More important than ever, you should prioritize the work/life balance to get the most productivity and longevity out of your staff.

#4 – Move from Top Down to Bottom-Up Mentality

We are doing so much more with less that we are starting to burn out our most productive employees. My wish is that we begin to look at ways to invest wisely in growing a local staff at the expense of some redundant upper-level management. Do we really need regional programming executives and format captains? Do we really need air personalities on everywhere in multiple markets and multiple dayparts?

Should we not be able to train and then, trust our local management and staff to handle responsibilities efficiently and with confidence? We will never be back to a full local staff but let’s reapportion the talent and let them do their job.

We are at a crossroads with our industry. We must make this business attractive for possible future broadcasters AND, most of all,  for our current employees. We can only wish!

Based in Nashville, TN, John Shomby is the owner and CEO of Country’s Radio Coach. He is focused on coaching and mentoring artists, radio programmers, and on-air talent to help them grow and develop inside the radio station and the industry. Reach John at [email protected] and 757-323-1460. Read John’s Radio Ink archives here.

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