It doesn’t take being in a big market for a radio station to make a big difference. That’s the message from Lenawee Broadcasting Company President Julie Koehn, who shared the blueprint and belief behind what drives her Michigan stations in their community.
Koehn appeared on the National Association of State Broadcasters Associations’ Broadcast Advocate podcast alongside Mississippi Association of Broadcasters President Amanda Fontaine.
Lenawee, which serves Adrian, MI, receives 56 radio signals from Detroit, Ann Arbor, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Jackson, and Lansing, yet has no local analog television station. Koehn stated, “Being hyperlocal is how we are competitive in an environment with so many signals in the market. So everything we do is focused on connection to the community. Whether it’s how we’re serving our advertising customers, whether it’s how we’re serving our listeners, whether it’s how we’re serving each other.”
About two years ago, a fire at an Adrian charity ruined supplies for its back-to-school drive. Koehn’s stations became a drop-off point for donations, and over about 16 hours across two days, the team broadcast from outside the station and raised $78,000 against an initial goal of $15,000. The money bought gift cards for every child, with leftover funds going toward renovations.
“We were just happy to be the catalyst to make it happen,” Koehn commented.
The stations give more than $1 million in cash and in-kind support to local nonprofits each year in a city of license of 20,000 people, Koehn said. They are also running a coat and blanket drive for Associated Charities, with pickup locations across the county and thousands of items collected.
Koehn remarked, “But we are cautious about how many times we go to the well so that people do trust us. And also transparency in where money and items go.”
The stations keep folders of spots and newscasts, monthly video logs, and an annual “report to the community” video that goes to local, state, and national officials.
Koehn noted, “Because as licensees, we’re obligated to serve our communities. So we make that a priority and we make documenting it a priority with video, with audio, with still photos and all those things.”
Asked what broadcasters should do first, Koehn pointed to local news. “That is so important to engaging your audience and being trusted, being a trusted voice in your community,” adding, “But look around because you’ll be able to see where the gaps are and create some fun promotional events on your stations to meet those needs.”
Koehn’s words echo a message delivered earlier this week by Hubbard Media that Connects Washington, DC President and General Manager Joel Oxley, retiring after nearly 35 years at WTOP, who challenged stations to double or even triple how local they sound after hearing little local content on a cross-country road trip.
