During the recent Morning Show Bootcamp gathering in Austin, I had the honor of moderating The Radio Roundtable, exploring radio’s inferiority complex, today’s business realities, and embracing roles beyond traditional one-dimensional positions.
Joining me onstage were iHeart SVP/Programming Jill Strada, Audacy national personality Katie Neal, Programming Consultant and longtime programmer Jim Ryan, EVP Programming & Audience at Hubbard Radio Greg Strassell, and Audacy Chief Programming Officer Jeff Sottolano.
The years of experience this group possesses, the real-life scenarios they’ve seen, and their impact on the industry, as well as individuals in the room, brought an attentive audience to the edge of their seats. It was noted that media’s financial crisis is real. To that “warning light” flashing on the dashboard, we all have to think about self-preservation. The session included a frank discussion on increasing value in an effort to build job security.
There is an approach to saving your job that needs to begin long before you’re ever faced with the uncomfortable meeting that includes an HR rep and a folder containing your exit package. It starts by visibly increasing your value internally, and that comes from using your skills and talent in a way that benefits your station. You do not want to be the person on the wrong end of budget cuts. You want someone in the budget meeting to raise their hand and say, “We cannot afford to lose that person.” This is true for all roles in media today. It’s much more than radio. It includes traditional and new media platforms.
Air talent increase their value when they make appearances for a charity, a marketing event where a large crowd is present, or one they’re not asked to make. My rule has always been that if the station gets paid, then the talent should get paid. When there’s no revenue for the station attached to an event, and you’re there to grow an audience or help the community, then be there.
It’s a fine line to walk as to what talent should or shouldn’t do for free, but in this era that’s been described as an advertising recession, sellers and talent need to work together and be focused on building a stable of advertisers as well as building an audience. The sales rep who sells the ad campaign, walks the ad messaging through from concept to production to finished product, fares better than the proverbial “order taker.” They’re focused on selling cars, air conditioners, medicines, meals, services, and goods. They’re also creating a relationship with the advertiser. Talent should do likewise.
Going on a “Ride Along” with a sales rep who is trying to close an order or score a big renewal is a positive. It shows that you’re all about helping the company, the cluster, or the station generate more revenue. Endorsements, providing you have no concern or conflict with the advertiser or product you’re endorsing, are a great way to increase your real and perceived value. Participating in promotion meetings, lending your voice and image to promotion and marketing, and in general being clearly “user-friendly” are all part of heightening and creating an obstacle to being eliminated or phased out. If nothing else, it creates a conversation about your worth, versus being an expense line that’s easily eliminated.
The unfortunate reality of where we are today is that none of these suggested steps make any individual in any position irreplaceable. They help to make a decision harder on the decider, but sometimes even that is out of their hands. To that end, then why do all of those things that I’m suggesting if they don’t prevent job elimination?
Because they will help you in your next job, or enable you to expand the job opportunities you might consider, and they definitely provide for a great reputation. The suggested approach expands your skill set and that increases your opportunity for the future.
