In Search of Content Creators

(By Mike McVay) The industry recently mourned the loss of a legendary Programmer, Consultant, and former Owner. George Johns, a Partner in The Johns Company with his brother Reg, as well as Co-Founder and CEO of Fairwest, passed away last week.

He was an early innovator of the AC format. George was well known for developing talent that became legends and for having created the Classy format and spreading it across North America. Johns was also very involved with Jack McCoy in creating bigger-than-life promotions that used direct mail as a way to build an audience. He was brilliant.

Radio Ink honored him at the time of his passing by noting his many accomplishments. They shared my high praise for him I posted on social media.

George was an amazing person. One of the last colorful content creators in our business. He was my competitor who later befriended me. In the days long before the Internet – before you could stream a radio station, I would fly into San Diego and stay at one of the two hotels by the airport to listen to Classy and focus on what he was doing. Not only to learn but to compete with his stations.

I wrote down the songs that played, the way the talent approached breaks, analyzed the production and imaging, and the way his stations developed and created amazing promotions. I learned much by observing him at his best. He was always a personality-first consultant. I admire what George accomplished in his stellar career. 

The passing of George sent my brain into overdrive. Who is there in today’s radio, or more importantly on the horizon, to take his place? I recently wrote a column titled “Program Directors on the Brink of Extinction” for this publication.

It is clear to me that with corporate mandates being what they are, individuality isn’t being promoted or supported as it once was. A large part of that is because of the scale needed to operate in this tough financial climate. I’ve been a part of some of those decisions in the past – mainly money-driven. It’s not a choice that I or any creative wants to make, but is sometimes necessary.

I’m not pointing at content creators as the root cause of what I perceive as a weakness. I’m pointing at those unwilling to embrace the truly creative and provide them with tools. It seems these days leadership is focused more on contraction than expansion. I’m putting a spotlight on those who prioritize cost reduction more than revenue generation through sales. Those two approaches can and should work together. I am frustrated by those who are unwilling to push creativity across multiple platforms.

Radio has a big voice, but it isn’t big enough to stand on only Over the Air, or OTA, in this highly competitive media market. Creatives should be encouraged to share their content across multiple platforms to give it greater exposure.

My concern about finding replacements? Many of today’s innovators are not found in radio. They’re creating videos, podcasts, and films for social media and streaming. Those innovators are available to radio, but someone has to first be open to hiring them to develop content, and then empower, support, and encourage them to be creative. Of course, there are creative Program Directors, Content Directors, Brand Managers (whatever the title) in radio. Sadly, there’s only a handful that you can point to who are doing something truly innovative. 

We should be encouraging our content creators to use every part of the cow. The objective is to maximize the content that’s available to you. That starts with research in knowing who your audience is, what their “likes” and “dislikes” are, and how your radio station’s content is used. Radio content creators need to know that there is a difference between the content you post on Instagram or Facebook versus what is used OTA, on a Podcast, or as interstitial programming. 

We should continually look for additional content creators outside of radio. A person who doesn’t know “the rules” won’t be limited by them. Use the experience that a non-radio creative brings to the table as a guide to maximize the digital and social media platforms available to you. Radio is no longer the center of the audio universe, but remains an important part of it. We still need mass media to drive niche media. This is why it is important to promote your many audio platforms over the air and in any external marketing that you might present. 

We need to provide an environment where people can create. You can’t create if you’re not given alone or quiet time to think, reflect, and imagine. You can’t create if every ideation session begins with boundaries that cannot be tested. It’s difficult to create when the parameters are defined with negatives. It makes it seem as if it is better to do nothing and avoid the risk of getting into trouble than to try something and run the risk of failure. When it comes to creativity, failure gets a bad name. Failure is valuable as a learning experience if the one who failed truly learned from it. 

It hurts my heart when I ponder whether a creative like the late George Johns could be successful today or not. I’d like to think he could, but the opportunity to find somewhere to do it would be limited in today’s radio world. We need to go in search of creatives – and let them create.

Mike McVay is President of McVay Media and can be reached at [email protected]. Read Mike’s Radio Ink archives here.