The conversation and debate started by my column last Thursday created a greater stir than I expected.
The positive side of the article was that it prompted some (including Connoisseur CEO Jeff Warshaw, Bud Walters from Cromwell Media, and several Corporate PDs) to text or write me notes, messaging how their group or stations responded. I heard from several network operators who let me know that they reacted quickly.
Their pride in the actions their stations took was clearly evident. Such messages came from big and small groups alike. What was most interesting among the biggest of the groups was that messaging and a timeline for announcements and tributes were not uniform. Being “one size fits all” is what the biggest broadcast groups get bashed for, and that wasn’t the approach that was presented. This may have been one of those times when it should have been top-down-decision-making for the station brands.
It was clear to me that many talent, who are themselves brands, were quicker than some station brands. The talent activated more quickly, created special programs and messages at an accelerated pace, and they owned the moment on the air along with social media. Talent linked closely to the Country format were interviewed on TV, on podcasts, and in digital & print. Not everyone, station or talent, deserved to be lumped into the “Late to the Party” category that I put the majority of radio into. That doesn’t quell my disappointment.
The audience who loved Dolly is larger than any one format. In that moment, they wanted to be closer to her, feel a part of her family, and to grieve. My ire, raised to the point of authoring that article, was because of what the majority of the industry seems to have lost: the understanding that one of radio’s greatest benefits is that of immediacy.
Immediacy means NOW. Immediate. This has always been true, from getting a commercial on the air to playing a song out of format or rotation, because a monumental event had taken place, or an advertiser had an immediate need.
One program director bragged to me that their station was on the air playing All Dolly All The Time within three hours of her passing. That’s not immediate. Another told me that the morning show the next morning took calls from emotional listeners who shared their love of Dolly via the stories they told. A wonderful idea, but I know that this particular station was hours behind their competitor in playing Ms. Parton’s music. That’s not immediate.
When a major event happens, people turn to a trusted source, be it entertainment or news, to be told by the people they trust what it is that happened. When we don’t satisfy that need, we run the risk of losing audience to sources other than our own. Quite possibly outside of radio. It’s always easier to keep the audience you have than to try and attract a new audience. It’s also usually less expensive to play the game of satisfying listeners than reengaging them once they’ve departed.
Several comments that I received pointed to the elimination of decision-makers, content creators, and talent as being the reason behind the failures I called out. Some stated that there’s no one left to do the job of informing a market. That’s quite possibly true. There was no blame placed at the feet of Program Directors or Talent in those cases where the station staff is short-handed and/or there are few people in the building. The workforce in radio has been greatly downsized. We are, as some have said, in an advertising recession.
My frustration is that there’s little preparation for such situations. The technology exists on many levels for stations to be able to react in an immediate fashion. There needs to be a discussion and planning for the inevitable time of crisis and weather emergencies, because we know that there will be Acts of God that upend communities, news of importance to an audience, and when it occurs, there is a way to take action. The weakness uncovered is that many in our industry appear unprepared to handle a situation that may be much greater than one of cultural significance.
We’re approaching the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. While that attack went far beyond the scope of a single celebrity death, ask yourself this: “How would we handle reporting and informing an audience if such a tragic crisis were to take place today?”
