In the current issue of my Radio Programming Letter, I shared 10 Tips for PDs To Help Their Station Imaging Directors.
Knowing that some subscribers might disagree with some of my statements, I’ve created this post for them to respond.
RADIO PROGRAM DIRECTORS & STATION IMAGING
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Not a comment about imaging, but the story about Chuck Blore was GREAT!
I’m going to secretly tape your list of 10 rules to my PD’s desk.
Your Top 10 list of rules for PD’s to follow with their station imaging should be required reading for all PD’s!
I’ve forwarded the entire newsletter to my ops mgr who insists of writing all of our liners and then blames the prod dept when they sound like crap.
> Around 1960, Chuck Blore was
> brought to Minneapolis to program
> KDWB.
> KDWB was way down at the end of
> the dial — 63. And up until that
> time all of the radio stations
> were above 1100. People didn't
> even know that the other end of
> the dial existed.
A slight correction… In that era, WCCO-AM, at 830 (!!!), was the dominant force in Twin Cities radio. (I’ve heard that they sometimes pulled a 50 share.) Everyone knew where 830 was…altho I’m sure few people realized there were any stations below that.
I also am going to print it and fire it on my PD’s desk. Thanks Dan!
Dan, any advice for a frustrated producer? Everytime I write and produce a promo that even 2 seconds above the 30 second mark, the PD says “cut it down”. Even if it’s something I would consider my best work and it times in at 38 seconds, the PD says “cut it down”. There’s a hard and fast 30 second rule. Should I go with it, or fight for the right of spectacular promos regardless of lenth?
@ Bruce:
I suspect WCCO is the station that Chuck said wasn’t very happy about the whole thing….
There’s a hard and fast 30 second rule. Should I go with it, or fight for the right of spectacular promos regardless of lenth?
The PD has the right to make the rules. You need to pick your battles, and it doesn’t sound as though this should be one of them.
Thank you for this informative and instructional guide (and reminders).
And, do you need anyone to carry your luggage or tapes in Milan?
Ah, you know me from the old days. I gave up tapes (first cassette, then DAT). After a CD player in Norway ate my audio CD in the middle of a seminar last year, I switched to “audio direct from my laptop.” After all, nothing ever goes wrong with computers…
Re: luggage: I doubt I’ll need help until the end of my stay. All those soaps and little bottles of shampoo do add up, you know.
Great e- letter, found this one very helpful, Thanks heaps. I got my entire team to do the phone conference from Dave Fox as well, we loved it. I just read your book on website tips, some good advice in there, really appreciate what you do.
Speaking as a PD, I cannot agree with you… MORE!!! Fantastic, Dan. We all need to be reminded why we gathered a creative team in the first place! Rock on!
Many years ago, when you raised the issue of using “Listener Language,” and creating breaks from the listener’s perspective, you enouraged us to think twice about the words we used on the air.
I like how this piece offers us a similar opportunity to question how we really communicate with all station personnel involved with imaging — and how we “copy-writing lovers” spend our time.
Nice article! Although I would say that even cheap donationware like Reaper will do audio gymnastics nobody thought possible a decade ago. The best software in the world isn’t going to make you write better or produce better. The best software in the world is the one that will let you master this form of audio carpentry and make the best coffee table you can make. You might like a composite handled hammer, while I might like a wood handled hammer. Oh, and a mini-fridge in the studio? Great for making SFX, but PD’s need to think broadly … some days I’d be happy with some new light bulbs and a fan.
It is really a shame Dan that you even have to list them. Sad,Sad.
I have been a fan and user of your sage wisdom for many years. I think we have a client who is taking some of your advice out of context, but I would like to make sure before I respond.
Can you tell me when you first posted “Programming Letter #111?” Was it this week, 2 years ago, before dereg?
I have not seen your actual letter but I’m told the advice in the letter is that programmers should not interfere with Production people. Production folks should be given free reign to produce whatever they feel is appropriate given: the guidelines of the facts that need to be communicated, the vision for the production piece, the emotional response required, and a deadline. Other than that a programmer should have no involvement in Promo production. I’m getting this second hand, but is that about right?
Wondering, “Is it possible I said that?” I just doublechecked what I wrote and am relieved to see that the interpretation you were given is…Well, it’s not how I would interpret what I wrote.
The piece is available to any subscriber to my (free) Radio Programming Letter. It’s the current issue, so if you subscribe right now that’s the one you’ll automatically receive as your first issue.
Subscriptions: https://www.danoday.com/free
Your “10 Tips for PDs To Help Their Station Imaging Directors” article was right on the mark. It’s interesting, and a little bit sad, to see how many production people instantly relate to receiving similar treatment from their Program Directors. I’ve been working in professional radio since I graduated from college in 1975 and have never worked with a PD who had the ability to ‘let go’ and let me or anyone else at the station make the final decision over anything created within the building. Everything anyone does always seems to be in need of correction. Even the finest pieces of work have to be altered somehow even if it’s just a matter of moving an effect an eighteenth of a second later than where the producer put it.
People who create are of one kind of mind and people who administrate are of another. The creator seeks approval while the administrator seeks control. An Imaging Director may spend hours…even days…thinking of a catchy, unique way to present the given subject, refining and tweaking until everything’s perfect. Then the moment the administrator finishes listening to it, they’ll point out a fault and ask for it to be corrected. “Then”, they say, “it will be perfect”. So the creator ends up feeling frustrated while the administrator tells themself “good thing I’m here”. It’s not just limited to radio. How else can you explain, for example, the Pontiac Aztec?
Chuck Blore, and people like him, possess a rare quality. They have both a creative mind and an administrative mind. I think that if administrators could learn to let go and trust the creators to produce the great products that they’re capable of then we would hear a lot more creativity on the radio.
I read the rules and thankfully I have a PD who is fantastic! I don’t have a fridge in my studio, but like Dan said, pick your battles, or in my case prioritize your needs.