Number one with who counts -- LISTENERS!

Back on November 12, I posted a note about how radio listening is down for commercial stations but National Public Radio affiliates are actually growing nicely. Now comes word that the new Portable People Meter developed by my old company, Arbitron, shows something very interesting in Washington, DC, a major radio market.
The number one radio station between 7 PM and midnight in this big media center is not the local hit music station, not the news/talk or the urban/rap station. No, it is a listener-supported, non-commercial contemporary Christian music station, WGTS-FM.
How can that be? How can such a narrowly-targeted station beat all those other consulted, researched, promoted, fire-breathing monsters?
I'm not that familiar with WGTS, and it is definitely NOT the kind of station I would typically listen to, but after visiting their web site and listening just a few minutes to their stream, I think I have a good idea. Anyone listening or visiting the web site who falls into the group for whom the station is intended instantly feels like he or she belongs. They probably feel that this station "belongs" to them. Everything is inclusive, not excluding. The pieces fit together. Listeners are invited to be a part of what they are doing.
There is an open invitation for listeners and visitors to design a billboard for the station, using the theme "Why I believe in God." People are invited to send video of their kids' Christmas pageants to share with others. There's a chance to choose a gift from a catalog to send to a child in Asia for Christmas. Of course, there are blogs, a chance to follow station personalities on Twitter and other social sites, and a high-quality station stream that does not require some kind of exotic player--just Windows MediaPlayer--or demands that you register to listen (there's an optional opportunity to give your email address if you want to be on the station's distribution list).
Again, it's not my kind of station, but I can readily see why the PPM shows it to be doing so well. They are not trying to reach "listeners." They are trying to attract participants...members of a club that a large number of people would like to join. And they are not doing anything any other radio station couldn't do.

Don Keith
http://www.donkeith.com/
http://www.n4kc.com/

And the biggest advertiser on broadcast radio is...

Are you ready for this? The biggest-spending advertiser on broadcast radio nowadays is not Coca Cola. It's not beer or fast food or on-line dating services. And it's certainly not auto makers.

It is...TA DAH...radio!

Yes, the biggest advertiser on radio is radio. That's spending to promote so-called "HD radio."

So you tell me: how much do you know about HD radio? Did you plan to give them as gifts this Christmas?

Could you tell me three things that make a new HD radio a good purchase?

I didn't think so. Obviously money well spent.

Don N4KC

http://www.donkeith.com/

Creating a relationship with customers

I often cite a blog I follow that is written by media researcher Mark Ramsey. He quotes quite a few marketing "gurus" and their takes on the business of radio and other media. Some are better than others. Some are unrelated to rapid technological change or are only peripherally relatable to media.

But in one of Mark's most recent posts, he quotes from an interview he did with marketing consultant and author Tom Asacker, who, in a few sentences, may have given the most profound formula yet for a radio station intent on attracting a large audience:

"You can't create larger audiences by trying to create larger audiences. You can only create larger audiences by trying to get deeper with smaller audiences.

Think about how to get deeper and make more relevant, valuable connections with individuals in a culture or a subculture.

Don't think about audience size. Think about the depth of the relationship and how important it is and how valuable it is. The more you do that, the bigger the audience gets."

Amen!

I am convinced that the more choices people have for their entertainment, information and virtual companionship, the more they will gravitate toward those sources with which they can identify, feel a part of, while becoming a member of a community with similar likes and dislikes. It goes back, too, to my continual braying about how radio listeners, TV viewers, Internet surfers, book readers--all users of all media--are looking primarily for companionship. For a shared experience. A shared experience with someone with whom they feel comfortable.

It's as simple as a morning dee jay saying, "Gosh, I know how you feel after the (home team) lost the big game last night. Here's a song I pulled out of the stack, just for days like this. It made me feel better. I hope it does you, too."

Don Keith N4KC

http://www.donkeith.com/

http://www.n4kc.com/

God help radio and God help radio's customers

So I was traveling this week and got a free copy of USA TODAY on my hotel room doorknob (does anybody actually buy this paper?) Inside was a nice, colorful insert, urging me to give “the gift that fits.” (Here’s a link to the insert: http://ftp.media.radcity.net/ZMST/HD08.pdf)

The piece says I should give an HD Radio to someone special this Christmas, not a gift card, a necktie, or a “re-gift.” It claims there are 100 different HD Radios and gives me a long list of manufacturers and retail stores. There is even a bullet-point list of various types of HD Radios that exist: alarm clock, table top, and portables, to name a few.

If I look hard enough, I finally see a few reasons listed for WHY I should give someone an HD Radio for a gift: more local stations, higher quality sound, and no subscription fee. That's it. Still, it seems the main reason is because 29 manufacturers make HD Radios and eleven retailers sell them.

I can’t help but ask several questions”

· What am I missing here? Why is the fact that people make and sell a product a reason why I should give it as a gift?
· Are the three value propositions offered on this piece enough to make that lucky giftee squeal with delight on Christmas morning? I’m trying to think who on my gift list is looking for “more local stations” or, for that matter, “higher quality sound” than they are getting already. Gosh, yes. My wife, my boss, my brother have all been telling me how much they would like more local radio stations! Thank you, broadcasters, for providing me the perfect gift!
· OK, so they want me to find “just the right HD Radio for your special someone” (honest, that’s what the copy says!). What is the point of this expensive print insert piece? Are they trying to drive me to a store or to a web site? It can't be that they want to give me any reasons why the HD Radio is such a spectacular gift. If they want to push me to the web site, they only list the URL once that I can find, and it is in a font and color I can hardly make out. And I don't see a compelling reason for me to "visit." How many people will actually go there to “print out a customized shopping list?”
· And finally, who are these guys trying to reach with this piece? Why USA TODAY? Of all possible placement or media, why USA TODAY?

Radio tells its customers that they are “marketing experts” who will help them sell their product or service. God help the radio industry and God help its customers!

Ubiquitous free broadband -- it's coming, and soon!

USA TODAY says it, so it has to be true:
Free broadband for America has inched closer to reality: The plan, after two years of debate, is finally on the calendar for a full vote by the Federal Communications Commission.
Assuming the plan is approved at the FCC's Dec. 18 meeting, one of the agency's last before President-elect Barack Obama takes office, free broadband could become reality within a year.

That means not only your laptop but your car, your utility meter, your refrigerator (!) will be able to connect to the Internet from just about anywhere. Think about it. You can start your car, have your house warming up, check the roast in the crock pot, set your DVR to record that show you forgot about, and...ready...work 20 meter CW on your home rig and big antenna...all from your desk or while having an after-work drink with your buds.

The possibilities boggle the mind of a guy like me who has been alive in seven decades. I remember when we had three (THREE!) TV channels. When the only broadcast radio we could hear at night was Chicago or St. Louis. When mail had no "e" in front of it. When ordering Christmas presents out of a catalog meant a paper catalog, a money order, and a trip to the post office sometime in October.

What other possibilities does ubiquitous, instantaneous connectivity promise? What is the potential impact on how people communicate, how they get their entertainment, how they use media, how they live their lives? When your thermostat on the wall at home, your locker at the gym, your car, and your dog all have IP addresses and are accessible from any computer or handheld communcation device (no longer just a "cell phone" or "PDA")?

Take a deep breath and hang on!

Don Keith N4KC

http://www.n4kc.com/

http://www.donkeith.com/

It Just Keeps Coming!

I don't make this stuff up. Really, I don't. Sometimes I have to question if there is any sanity left in the media world. Look, I know things are changing rapidly, and many who hold the keys to media outlets are just not equipped with the vision or forethought to handle that change. But considering the dollars and careers that are at stake, doesn't it seem that somebody would stand up, draw a line in the sand, and say, "Let's get creative! Let's do something so daring and...well...good that we can find a business model without selling our souls."
Here are a couple of items that have me grinding my teeth this morning:

Item #1: In a radio trade newsletter: (Talking about when stations belonging to America's #1 radio company, Clear Channel, were allowed by corporate to begin playing all-Christmas-music formats this year...some before Halloween!) Where does the Christmas music come from? Not the North Pole, but (if you’re a Clear Channel station) Cincinnati. That’s where the main server is located and most CC stations that are going all-Christmas get a Selector (music scheduling software) database with pre-programmed logs. I’m told that if the local PD (program director) wants to salt in some regional favorites, he or she needs to check with the Regional VP of programming.
Don's comments: Lord help us all. If you can't trust your local-market programming person to slide in a few local-interest Christmas songs in the most tepid, rigid, non-original musical format ever created, then why even give somebody the title? "Please, please, please, Mr. Regional Programming VP, can I play 'Christmas in Dixie' by Alabama since I'm in Alabama, which is in Dixie, and it's freakin' Christmas? I know it doesn't test well in LA, but..."
Wait. Is that Brenda Lee and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree?" Wow! I haven't heard that in, oh, twenty minutes. Turn it up! Sorry. I was overcome with sarcasm and mistook it as the spirit of Christmas.

Item #2: (From another media trade newsletter) Consultant: Make radio like Wal-Mart: Media consultant Jack Myers says that for the next 24-36 months, radio needs to run its business for advertisers. He suggests stations dramatically cut prices for :30s and strike multi-year, low-rate ad deals. "Radio needs to become the Wal-Mart of the media industry."
Don's take: Let me get this straight:

1. “Run your station for advertisers,” not listeners? Remember them? Listeners? Some of you in the radio biz used to have them! Does this loon not understand that if somebody would just run a station for LISTENERS for a change then advertisers would flock to them like job-seekers to Obama's transition team?

2. Could he have used a more inappropriate metaphor than Wal-Mart? Yes, everybody goes there, but nobody is proud of it.

3. But the biggest tragedy of all is this nut case is saying, “Cheapen your product!” “Present yourself as the cheapest!” “Establish the value of what audience you have left to sell as somewhere between a 1984 Yugo and a can of store-brand pork ‘n’ beans.” So how are you going to come back next year when you need to show 10% or 12% greater revenue to impress some analyst on Wall Street and say, “You know last year when we told you we were Wal-Mart. Well, now, with even less audience and a more fuzzy target, we are Saks, so pay up or you don’t get any of our air.”
Finally, this one doesn't make me mad but scares me when I think about how radio--my old medium and one I think could still be the most personal, the most effective in reaching people--will ignore the implications. It is a simple factoid: Just one year ago, under one-third of online households had watched online video. Today, that number has risen to more than six out of ten.
Don's thoughts: OK, "watching video online" covers a lot of territory, from a full-blown, first-run Hollywood movie to a funny :10-second blip on YouTube. I'm shocked the number is not vastly higher. The implication is, though, that people want stuff to move online. If they are watching some guy get hit in the crotch with a Roman candle on YouTube, they are not watching "Grey's Anatomy." The big networks are getting it, putting entire episodes of their shows online for people to watch at will and developing other compelling content that will bring viewers to their websites. Some still don't know how to make a buck on that but something tells me they will figure it out.
But radio? Video is the Devil. They are afraid of it. They play music off a hard drive and voice-track the "personality." How do they get that to move and dance and shine all glittery-like?
I don't know, but somebody better figure it out. And fast.
(Corollary: WGN-TV is now telecasting each night an hour of "The Bob and Tom Show," a syndicated morning radio program that is heard on quite a few radio stations around the country. These guys have been around forever and have had good ratings. I've never understood their popularity but I'm not in their target. Like so many shows, though, it's all about "the show" and not the listener or what's going on in his or her life. Let's give OUR take on wacky stuff in the news. What goofy thing can we get the intern to do? What did Bob and Tom or the other cast members do over the weekend that was semi-funny? Who can we get to call in and make a fool of themselves to qualify for a couple of concert tickets?
I invite you to watch their "show" weeknights at 11 PM CST and tell me if this is the way to get radio on video. Two old guys, an old sports guy, and a news gal, each hugging their microphones, talking in deep voices (even the news gal), reading off-the-wall wire copy if it contains anything salacious or has to do with body parts or toilet functions, and telling penis jokes. I swear nothing moves but their mouths!)
OK, I'm going to go lie down for a while.

Don Keith N4KC
www.donkeith.com
www.n4kc.com

XM/Sirius Down to Two Years Left?

I continue to hear complaints from subscribers who lost their favorite channels in the recent Sirius/XM merger. Inevitable, but that is not the reason the new entity is not long for this world...er...space surrounding this world.

Mike Elgan, a columnist for Datamation, a respected IT pub, recently wrote: “I hate to say it, but somebody has to: Satellite radio will come crashing down to Earth within the next two years.” He concedes that satellite radio has gotten better, with smaller receivers and new features. His reason for such a dire prediction is simply that the world is moving too fast for satellite radio to keep up.

“The ugly truth is that satellite is simply an obsolete way to deliver sound,” he says. "Satellite radio is already living on borrowed time – and borrowed money – and simply will not and cannot survive.”

He maintains that such technology as MP3-compatible cars and in-dash mobile broadband will eliminate the need for satellite radio. The big reason, though, is purely financial. He questions whether Sirius XM will be able to refinance its staggering $1 billion debt in 2009, considering what is going on in the economy.

Some broadcasters are already popping open the champagne. They may want to consider that they face the same hurdles before they celebrate so long and hardy that they wake up with a hangover...and no business.

Don Keith N4KC

http://www.n4kc.com/

http://www.donkeith.com/