Two things came together recently that sent my mind into “Pondering & Examination” mode.
The first: I spoke to state broadcast groups from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky at the Tri-State Radio Show in Covington, KY, on “The Advantages of Locally Owned Radio Stations.” The second: a response to a Radio Ink column I authored about format changes and unrealistic expectations of broadcasters.
Together, they fed the creation of this week’s column.
Presenting during the Tri-State Radio Show luncheon allowed me to share the story of two locally and family-owned stations. One is in a major market, and the other is in a small market. They’re also both successful in their own way, financially and operationally. They’re both radio stations where people want to work. I shared how they operate in a way that takes advantage of the lack of market connectivity by some of the larger broadcast groups.
It was presented as a learning moment. A case study, if you will.
The social media follower who took exception to what I wrote in the aforementioned Radio Ink column noted that broadcasters should know how to manage their expectations, take actions that are logical, and remain true to their strategy. It was also noted that broadcasters don’t do what they need to do, and the encouragement for them to do what’s right falls on deaf ears. The follower pointed to the major broadcast groups that are often at the center of the news and stories we hear and read about. Of course, the writer is right… in many cases.
Not all cases. You cannot judge all of radio by looking at the headline makers.
What was missed is that there are a lot of radio stations in America, and many owners of varying sizes. There are many levels of broadcasting. How the various companies operate also varies. To start with, there are more radio stations in the USA than in any other nation. We have 15,000 licensed radio stations in America. China is next with 3,000 stations. By comparison, our neighbor to the south, Mexico, has 1,600 radio stations. To the north, Canada has roughly 1,000 radio stations.
It’s impossible for one size to fit all.
We should not allow how the biggest of the broadcast groups operate to shape our opinions of all operators. The biggest are doing what they believe is right for them. While sharing at the conference the advantages of locally owned radio stations, I specifically noted that the biggest companies focus on scale, which means uniformity versus individuality, as a way to share practices, content, and reduce the cost of doing business. That is in no way to say that it’s wrong, but rather that scale is an advantage that the largest groups have as a way to compete and operate.
How those companies go about their operation also varies somewhat significantly.
When you have scale, you can have shared expenses and multitask across multiple markets. There is less pressure on each individual station performing at the highest level. A large cluster with multiple stations can better afford to have parts of a cluster that underperform in ratings and revenue. That doesn’t mean corporate will be happy with them.
What remains is that local operators, be they owners across multiple markets or in an individual market, have an advantage that larger remote groups don’t have naturally. The larger groups have to work at localizing their content and ensuring that their talent engages in their markets. A commonality among locally owned stations is their commitment to their communities, a focus on serving and entertaining their audience, and working with their advertisers to ensure success.
A local operator has fewer opportunities to lay off expenses or cover up inferior content or a poor sales effort. They have to perform at a higher level because they have no safety net. The money the local owner spends is their own … and not someone else’s. The content they create will be judged against that of the competition, regardless of who owns it. That’s where network and syndicated programming can be the great equalizer, but what you do with such content is dependent of how much time you invest in it to make it sound local.
The best and smartest radio operators know that what we sell isn’t “air” or “advertising.”
We sell cars, appliances, clothes, food, services, and so on. We sell the wares and services of our advertisers. Those among us who excel at sales are committed to getting their clients a return on their advertising investment. They know how to harness the brand of their talent and use it to be everywhere and be seen everywhere. Unlike those groups who have eschewed on-location broadcasts, they still sell remotes and appearances. They understand the value of being everywhere and being seen everywhere.
There seems to be a greater level of success when there is greater participation by the station team in everything from promotional meetings to community events. The smaller groups and individually owned stations seem to do better at embracing the tactics that keep a radio station connected to a market. Although I have witnessed examples of such market connectivity from larger group operators. It’s another one of those things that are not uniform across all markets and within companies.
The many levels of broadcasting should be viewed as something much more complex than comparing our industry to any one group or any one operator. While there are similarities market to market, there’s nothing identical about the operators and their approaches. If you think there’s no one in radio today who’s focused on building their audience and driving revenue, you’re looking in the wrong direction.
There are. On many levels.
