A Loyal Reader Writes:
“I’d love it if you could address one subject that you hit in a previous PD Grad School. I totally agree with what you have to say regarding how often you give your name.
“We’re live 24/7, very personality oriented. But our owner believes the jocks should never I.D. themselves more than twice an hour.
“Your remark {at PD Grad School} about the ‘arrogance’ factor was beautiful and logical. Maybe if he reads it here….”
An air personality who gives his name only once or twice an hour is like the host of a party who introduces himself only to the very first guests to arrive: Somehow it’s assumed that everyone else who arrives later knows who you are.
That’s arrogant.
And rude.
And foolish.
I’ve attended more than one conference session that began with someone standing up in front of the room and beginning the session without identifying himself.
Apparently he knows who he is, so we must know, too.
It’s the humble radio person who gives his name frequently.
It’s the thoughtful radio person who gives his name frequently.
A good radio personality establishes rapport with the audience.
A good radio personality develops a personal relationship with the listeners.
A good radio personality is a human being, not an announcer.
And human beings have names.
Giving your name frequently actually increases your listeners’ comfort.
A woman awakens in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown. She doesn’t remember any of the events that led to her being hospitalized; the last thing she recalls is sitting in her living room, watching “The X Factor.”
When she speaks, her first words are a question.
Not, “What happened?”
Not, “How long have you been sitting there?” or “What is your name, Nurse?”
Her first words: “Where am I?”
Giving your name (and the station name) answers that question.
Of course, there are different ways of telling listeners who you are. The most common is simply to say, “I’m (ED JOCK).”
You say it casually, matter-of-factly, on your way from the previous element to your next thought.
Or a pre-recorded bumper using someone else’s voice.
Or a jingle.
Or liners recorded by listeners.
Of course, I’m talking about radio personalities — not bland, personality-free announcers who never bring any of themselves to the microphone, who never say anything worth listening to.
If all you ever do is back-announce the songs, announce the time, and read the liner cards….
If you never bring any of your own humanity to the party….
Then saying your name once per day is once too often.
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Common sense is alive & well at DanODay.com!
I had a radio guy tell me once, however, that the “name” he preferred air personalities to use was their own name. Not a pseudonym. It could be a “nickname” like “Radio Ray” but “Ray” had to be the jock’s authentic name. He reasoned that using a pseudonym or a professional air name was not being genuine with the listener. He assumed that the jock would be 2 different people under 2 different names. I countered with the reason pseudonyms are used are for privacy concerns. I don’t prefer to pay for an unlisted number (which I think is pretty impersonal) so I use a pseudonym on the air & have for years. Yet I’m the same person no matter who people call me. Is there some new way of thinking in the radio business that now jocks have to use their real names to connect with their audience or is this guy being a bit over the top?
There is another reason why some owners don’t want the jocks to give their names too often. They want to be able to fire them whenever they want without fear of listeners being angry. True story… I knew at least two owners of small town radio stations who had this philosophy. One even insisted that the jocks on certain air shifts had to use the name of the jock who originally had that shift. So for 30 or more years they had the same name deejay in mornings even though the voice of the deejay would change constantly. The town was small enough that ratings weren’t a factor so the owner could pretend to be a genius all day long.
I have seen this from both sides, being a morning announcer for many many years and more recently in my career and owner. I for one have never, even in my on air days, understood an announcer who needed to say his own name more than once or twice and hour. I see your point about the host, but if I come back the next day and the next and the next, getting a formal introduction each time I walk in the door is redundant. The latest trend among announcers that I don’t really care for is them giving their Facebook address ever few minutes.
I like hearing the call letters or slogan into and out of every stopset. I like the first thing I hear when the mic is cracked is the call letters and slogan. Count me as one who thinks that top and bottom of the hour is fine, unless the format is for people who are soooo old that they cannot remember a name for more than 29 minutes!
The “Suits” are afraid that if you become a personality, they will have to pay you MORE as your popularity grows. John Pellegrini is right; they want to be able to fire you without a fuss from the audience. In the mid 70’s, this nonsense began that it wasn’t your “show”, you could use your name, “I’m Jay Jay on W____” or “You’re rocking with Jay Jay at W___”. If you said “You’re listening to the Jay Jay SHOW on W___”, you got your knuckles rapped. Now in 2011, I listened to a good friend from the past still doing air work, he gets to speak EIGHT SECONDS per break, say his name twice per hour and I’m sorry folks, but THAT’S NOT RADIO. You might as well go back to fully automated with one unidentified voice. Then again, please don’t give anybody THAT idea for lame lifeless programing again!
I’ve been saying my name too often, then, according to some; not only in my breaks (four per hour), but also in IDs, sweepers and jingles. Dang straight I want them to know who I am. If I do a hilarious bit or share a story with them, I don’t want them recalling “some DJ”. Since the call letters and/or slogan air 8-1o times per hour, I don’t think I’m hurting the station. I’m been fighting dull radio my entire career, and I’ll keep fighting, even though it seems I’m likely to lose.
If you’ve got the kind of TSL where your audience is glued to their speaker , listening singularly and intently for hours at a time, then perhaps you don’t need to say your name more than once or twice an hour. However, after 30 years on the air, and as a PD and morning host, one of the deadliest and pervasive misconceptions I’ve ever encountered in radio is this: the belief that having a stick in the ground automatically means everyone is listening and knows everything you’re doing as well as you do. Especially in morning drive, your audience can turnover several times within the course of only a half-hour. Just because you (the jock) have been sitting there for 4 hours, you can’t assume everyone has been listening to you right along. (As for “name recognition”, one year into my current airshift, some listeners were still referring to me by the name of the previous morning guy…)
Repetition is the key for positioning, promotion, & identification because radio is (let’s face it: largely…)background noise for other activities. Not only does your message have to be heard multiple times, but it has to be recognized over the activities of an office or driving. Also remember that people in radio employment (or ownership) listen to radio differently than your average audience member. Just about the time we broadcasters are getting sick of hearing something on the air, is just about the time our audience is – almost- starting to get it.
If you have a strong personality and actually have content to deliver, your name is an afterthought. The focus should be on the average non-radio listener. We want them to have an enjoyable, memorable, experience listening to the station. and to address your radio analogy..(yikes) I’ve been to tons of fun parties, talking to very interesting people and never did catch their name… and ya know what? I’m ok with that. I had fun and remembered the party fondly (radio station).
Perhaps the party analogy isn’t sufficient. In my opinion, giving your name is as much a part of your imaging as your numbers. While content and giving the listener a nice experience is certainly a big part of the equation, we also want them to know -who- that experience was with, and where they heard it, because we want them to come back and listen again.
And listen for longer.
And hear the commercials.
And spend money with the advertisers, so that the advertisers spend money with the radio stations.
So we all keep our jobs…
A namecheck can be a great way to get laughs. “Hi, my name is (JOCK). I have done for radio what the Jolly Green Giant did for niblets.
Aren’t we all taught that the way to win is to create a personal connection with our listeners? Seems hard to be very personal if your listener doesn’t even know your name.
This isn’t about a “formal introduction” every time. This is more about briefly and succintly letting people know who’s talking to them.
I will posit that any owner/manager who says a jock can identify themselves too much is an owner/manager who doesn’t value the talent who works in their buildings (assuming they have live, local jocks; satellite station owners really shouldn’t have a dog in this fight as they don’t control any of their own programming).
I’m not concerned that listeners can’t remember my name for 29 minutes; I’m more concerned about the *new* listeners who tuned in 5, 10, 15 minutes ago and didn’t hear me introduce myself 29 minutes ago. Those listeners who heard me intro myself 29 minutes ago may not even be around the next time I say my name. To think listeners have nothing better to do than sit around, glued to their radio for a half-hour or hour at a time…or that they’ve committed our jock schedule to memory…is arrogant.
You like hearing the calls or slogan into every stopset? That’s fine. I actually agree with you that that’s good, solid, basic programming. But why can’t the jock also identify themselves? It’s not going to hurt the station if he/she does it, and may very well help create a bond with listeners.
Then again, I guess none of that matters when all your content is piped in from 1000 miles away and your listeners have about as much “personal connection” with your jocks as they do with their nearest ATM.