The Relevance of Radio

Sorry. I fell asleep talking about radio with a couple friends. There really isn't much to discuss so I had a nice snooze dreaming about the "good ol' days". We all know today's radio, in general, sounds horrible. Well, let's clarify: Most stations sound horrible. We should give props to those owners that do care, and didn't buy the cookie cutter formula. Listening to major market talent is always fun, but not when they are reduced to reading liners. It's so bad you can virtually predict when the stop set starts. And so much voice tracking leaves little to be desired. Add to that short playlists, you may as well put in for favorite compilation CD and put it on replay shuffle (wait, that's what people are doing with their iPods!).

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

But even Sirius XM, under Mel's leadership, get's it. I have heard several jocks on various Sirius XM stations that TALK to the LISTENER! What a concept. Anyway, I took a break right after starting this blog. Quite frankly I got bored with the industry I love because there isn't much to write about. I would be rehashing what you are already reading elsewhere.

However, I got a message today from a radio friend. He said "I just told 3,000 people about your blog. Two wrote back and told me it hasn't been updated since August." That was my queue, you know, in life we wait for our queue to do something we've wanted to do. So, I'm back.

Which leads me to today's topic: The relevance of radio. However, there is a twist. I don't mean relevance to the listener. I mean relevance to us, in the industry. How relevant is radio to you?

Some of you know I was a moderator for Radio-Info when the founder Doug Fleming was alive. And I accepted a larger role when his parents regained their rightful control over the site. I was very interested in discussing radio with other "radiophiles". I was very interested in the daily news. I was very interested in hearing of format changes and personnel changes. Reading about rumors that became reality was fun. It created many great discussions and friendships were formed. I was very hyped about the industry. All I did was eat, drink and breath radio.

However, I'm not much interested anymore. I still check out the major radio sites such as AllAccess, Radio Ink, and Radio and Records from time to time. Every now and then I'll check up on some of the more prolific radio blogs, many of which I link to on this blog. But I don't really visit the message boards anymore; Not as often as reading what notable professionals have to say. There is just rarely anything new or exciting to discuss about terrestrial radio. For me, it's like watching a beached whale die. There isn't anything I personally can do to help fix it, get it floating again, or breath some life into it. Since most stations will only hire cheap talent and with some of the experiences I've had in radio, quite frankly, I'm picky about who I would work for too.

Terrestrial Radio as we know it now is becoming irrelevant to me. I still love it. I still want to take a station from 0 to 100 in 10 seconds. But I'm finding it harder and harder to find a quality position at a quality station. That's not to say they don't exist, because they do. But there are so few of them anymore, and generally speaking, when you know you have the best job out there, would you leave it? Only for a better one, and better jobs are getting harder to find too!

So what am I passionate about then, you wonder? Internet and Satellite Radio, New Media, Social Networks and my own Internet radio show. There is so much to discover on the Internet as far as radio is concerned. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of radio shows on the Internet. Many are done by newbies, and sound horrible. But there are good ones out there. Some are better than what you hear over-the-air! Satellite radio, or more specifically Sirius XM has some good talent. I had an opportunity to listen to a couple channels (the 80's Channel, Classic Rewind, Hair Nation and Lithium to name a few) and I heard some notable DJ's/Announcers doing a bang up job. I was listening to real radio! Yes, I admit the localism was missing but that was eclipsed by the good content.

But now, in major markets localism means "appearances" or "remotes" and that's it. And who goes to a remote to see the station staff anyway? They should be going to see the customer, not the announcer! And I'm sorry, but I don't listen to the radio for traffic updates. As a matter of fact, I think traffic clutters up the hour with useless information. On most stations, the weather is usually done by the TV weather guy/gal which I can get from the TV! Or, if I really need to know the weather, I will check Weather.com (don't tell me you don't). In smaller markets, there is either voice-tracking or syndication so that the localism is limited to poorly produced spots.

New Media and Social Networking will eventually replace radio as we know it. While I can romanticize about the golden days of radio, they have come and gone. It is time to accept the future and apply some of the newest tools to the industry we love in order for it to even survive it's evolution! "Radio" will continue to exist, just not as we know it now. It will be more "social". More "open source". It will be created by the listeners for the listeners.

In the coming blogs, I will review a different social network each week, it's pros and cons, and will reveal how radio can best use it to reach it's listeners. In the mean time, why not check out Radio Twit, my Radio Professionals Guid to Twitter. It's free. You can also check out my radio show at http://www.charlieprofitradio.com.

Secret Lovers?

It's true. Many radio executives secretly love Satellite Radio. Are you going to deny having an XM or Sirius subscription? Okay, maybe many of you haven't signed up yet. I did say "yet". I'm quite positive many radio executives have a secret love affair with Satellite Radio. You are ashamed to admit that you either have it, or want it. You might even get around the subscription issue by tuning in to XM via AOL. Am I right? [all replies will be held in the strictest of confidence]

But some of you are saying to me right now, "Why would I pay for radio, when I can get it free over the air?" Have you listened to your station(s) lately? I have to wonder just who you are programming to. You have heard radio listenership is declining. Do you not get it? On most of your stations the number of songs you have in rotation is at a bare minimum. I don't know about you, but I get tired of hearing the same song every time I turn the radio on. If I want to hear the same song over and over, I'll buy the cd (or download the mp3). What really irks me is when I hear a song I don't want to hear, so I change the dial, and hear that same song on another station! And consolidation was supposed to encourage more "variety". Well, where's the beef? And in many cases, the "talent" you have in place is not talented (you fired the talented jocks for making too much money). These are reasons why I have a subscription to both XM and Sirius. I am not ashamed to admit my love affair with Satellite Radio. It fulfills a need I have as a man: A need for "variety" in my music.

The NAB and many programmers speak out against the XM and Sirius merger citing that Satellite Radio has a competitive advantage. What is that advantage exactly? All the conglomerates that the NAB panders to is making every terrestrial station in a given format sound the same no matter what market you are in. How does XM or Sirius have the advantage on that? Plus, you have to pay for XM and Sirius. Your terrestrial stations are free (of course, you get what you pay for, right?). What you fail to understand is that every form of entertainment has a competitive advantage over terrestrial radio right now, especially when reaching the younger demos. One thing, as the General Manager of a station, that I would tell many of my potential advertisers is that they have to think outside of the box when thinking about their competition. Take for example a donut shop. Their competition isn't only another donut shop. It's competition is also every other fast food place open for breakfast, it's every other coffee shop (whether or not they sell donuts), it's also the ice cream shop, and it's also the grocery store! Anywhere food is sold, the donut shop has competition.

And so it is with radio. Anywhere people can get entertainment and/or news, there is competition. That includes, TV, the newspaper, the movies, books, the Internet, iPods and other mp3 players, cds, cassettes, concerts, the high school play and even the guy in the subway strumming his guitar singing his version of Stairway to Heaven. As a side note, have you ever noticed that people don't stop and listen when those guys in the subway are singing "the hits", but you'll find a crowd around someone singing original, or less known music. Think about it.

Getting back on topic, competition for the consumer abounds everywhere. We are just lucky, that people have diverse tastes and need to stimulate the various senses. But terrestrial radio is losing out because it's catering to the least common denominator. Satellite Radio is filling a void!

Why are you afraid of something you may have even romanticized about as a kid; remember thinking how cool it would be to hear your favorite station anywhere in the Country or even the world! I used to think that, especially when we were traveling. But back then it wasn't possible (except for DXing, but that's a different issue), and so I did enjoy listening to all the various stations and their unique personalities across the Country. However now, it's not possible to listen to local variety because so many terrestrial stations (owned by just a few groups) are all sounding the same. The problem is, you are programming them so poorly I would prefer to listen to Satellite because there is more variety; more variety of formats, and more variety of songs within the formats. I actually get to listen to my all time favorite station on the Internet, CHOM-FM in Montreal.

Stop fighting the XM and Sirius merger. It will actually be healthy for competition (yes, because it will force you to broaden your playlists) and be better for the consumer too. Focus on your own content to bring listeners back. Stop blaming everything else for your loss of listeners and please stop pandering to the record labels playing what they want you to play, just so they can sell records. Play what your listeners want to hear (hey, there's a concept!). That is what will get more people listening. Radio listenership has declined because radio stopped listening to it's audience. (Like you haven't heard that one before) And I don't think a focus group can be considered "the audience". They are more like rats in a lab experiment that will do or say what they think you want them to so they can get their treats.

But like I said, you get what you pay for, and you didn't pay anything to read what I have to say about it! So, go about your business and keep telling yourself everything is all right in "radioland". I'll still have my Satellite subscriptions and Internet radio getting my need for variety fulfilled.

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