Radio people can be so myopic.
A while ago, in response to my critique of a radio commercial, someone posted a comment on this blog:
“Why waste time on this subject? Nobody listens to radio commercials anyway.”
“Nobody listens to radio commercials” is the symptom, not the disease.
The disease is:
“Most radio commercials aren’t worthy of the attention of the radio audience….So most people don’t pay attention to most radio advertisements.”
Someone else responded to my statement that radio personalities should identify themselves frequently on-air:
“Nobody cares what the DJ’s name is in the first place.”
If you have a radio host (not just a robotic time/temp/backsell “announcer”), that person’s job is to establish a human connection with the listener.
Individual “names” are not a natural phenomenon; they are an invention of human beings. “Names” are a social tool used to help maintain and manage relationships.
When listeners form a bond with a particular radio host, they want to know that person’s name.
If listeners perceive the jock only as a disembodied voice and not as a person, then it probably doesn’t even occur to them that that voice has a name.
And that’s a symptom of bad programming…not the disease.
Comments on this entry are closed.
Dan,
I couldn’t agree more. And in order to treat the disease, we must look first to the cause. Too often, radio is being programmed by people that believe it is about making money first rather than build an audience and the advertisers will want to reach your audience. That mindset draws “the music is more important than the personality” way of thinking.
It was once said that a person may like 85% of what you play on the air, but will like 100% of what on their iPod. Couple that with multiple stations having the same format in one market, and you can clearly see that it is up to the personality to bring listeners to the station.
And now I’m done preaching to the choir. Unfortunately, much of the congregation doesn’t want to get the message.
If someone who reads your blog truly believes that “nobody listens to radio commercials”…they need to get out of this business!
Well said Matt!
That logic – the whole “nobody listens to ______ anymore.” reminds me of the many request calls I’ve answered over the years…
Caller: “That song sucks! Why are you playing that? Everybody I know hates that song!”
Me: “Just curious, and know that I want to keep you happy and listening, but by “everybody” how many people exactly?”
Caller: “Well, a bunch…”
Me: ” Again, indulge me. By a bunch, how many people are we talking about? An exact figure will help me decide if we should keep playing the song.”
Caller: “Uh, well…all my friends…”
Me: “Again, how many…?”
Caller: “Um…me. I don’t like the song.”
Me: “Well, what can I get on for you that you Do want to hear?”
Everything on the station is important, the DJ, the spots, the sweepers, the songs, etc. If anything isn’t important, it should be deleted. The way an announcer says what he says is important to his/her listeners. People tell me that they “ride home with me” every afternoon. They don’t notice that I’m only there (between the songs) about 5-6 times an hour, speaking about 10 seconds each time. Somehow, they ‘feel’ that I’m with them in their car. They want to know my name because they really do have a relationship with me. The ads are important, also, they make money for the station and, if done well, make the advertiser’s business and life better. The audience cares ‘what comes out of the speaker’ so it has to be great every day!
Embarrass the listener… lose the listener. Just sayin’.