DAN O’DAY TALKS ABOUT RADIO

October, 1995:

I began the month by making my first trip to New Zealand, leaving L.A. on October 2 and arriving in Auckland on October 4. (It’s a 13-hour flight, and there’s a 20-hour time difference.) 

Brent Impey and Janine Bliss had arranged for me to speak at the I.B.A. (Independent Broadcasters Association) Convention. Both Brent & Janine suffered countless faxes from me as we arranged the itinerary. These days, people who foolishly invite me to visit their countries suffer endless emails.

When the O. J. Simpson story first broke, I was in Belgium. I am the only adult American not to have witnessed the slow-speed chase up the 405 Freeway…which runs less than a mile from my house.

In fact, I assume the exit O.J. took that day is the one I took at the end of this trip to get home from the airport.

Why do I mention this? The jury’s verdict was announced two minutes before I got off the plane in Auckland (6:00AM local time).

Being able to prove I was out of the country on both occasions, let the record show I cannot be blamed either for the murders or for the verdict.

"But The Client Insisted..."

A Loyal Reader writes:

Dan, could you offer something about battling salespeople who constantly offer spot ideas based on songs on our playlist? And they want to use that song in the background. They’re not buying my copyright infringement argument, so can you offer something I could use as ammunition?

If your salespeople have no objection to breaking the law and your station management requires you to do whatever the salespeople/advertisers want, even if it’s illegal, when you are forced to create a spot like that first hand the salesperson a form you’ve created that says:

“I have instructed (Your Name) to create a radio commercial for (Client Name) using the copyrighted song, (Song Name). I have been informed by (Your Name) that such usage without first obtaining a special license from the copyright holder exposes (Client), (Radio Station), and (Group Owner) to legal action by the copyright holder for copyright infringement, and I hereby agree to indemnify (Your Name) against any financial penalties and/or losses resulting from said infringement.”

You also could download my book about copyright infringement in radio commercials. It includes two pages you can print out and show to your clients.

But that still won’t stop salespeople who will break the law if someone offers them money…

LEAP OF FAITH RADIO PRODUCTION with Bobby Ocean

Unless you make it that way, writing is not hard. Nor is learning how to write more effectively.

There’s nothing much new in the language anyway. Most words are all old friends. I don’t know about you, but when I get around old friends, it seems like fun. Looking at our work with words this way, it doesn’t have to be such brain-wrenching work. Instead, we can play.

Just as in audio production, when time can be tight, it pays to work ahead. You’ve probably got a library of music and sound effects, maybe even a library of cool beds and transitions created in your less frantic time, when you have the space to be more leisure. Why not a folder of Phrases and Analogies, social reference and color words?

Make yourself a Reference Words file for your writing and fill it with your random incoming thoughts and expressions, overheard or inner-heard, that you find catchy or somehow compelling. That’ll come in handy.

Here’ a file example for Reference words. I mis-heard something on TV while walking through a room, but mentally wrote it down because it was catchy. “Elvis in your underwear…”

Next I found at least one use for it. In this case, it could be used to compare, as in “It’s something so-o-oo big…” Then I added more examples because with all that foundation work done the building practically began erecting itself:

(could work for trying to find the perfect gift…)

For mom, it’s Elvis in her underwear,
For dad, an even dozen power tools and a six-pack.
For her, something with a sparkle-rate pulsating in snych with her heart,
For yourself, it’s Beyonce borrowing your T-shirt – with you still in it.

Also, there is a “FROM (one extreme) TO (another) file and a LIKE (another extreme similarity) file.

So when I come across a cool as hell quote from say, Sir Francis Bacon, I’ll nab it for later, then sample from its essence and re-write like this:

[original quote: “Of time to come, may we all be disciples of time rather than its servants.”]

Re-imagined essence in a FROM-TO analogy:

“Independent people have an almost overwhelming array of choices in their lives — from the leveraged speculation of time to come, to the fractions of difference in its winners and losers…”

Re-imagined essence of Bacon quote in LIKE analogy:

“There are lessons to learn as we recalibrate our ecological course to green. After all, when we don’t learn from the past, we’ll just have to run through it again, like an inattentive student repeating a year of school.”

It’s Not Stealing If You re-write: “Reimagine” what you plunder. Go to the essence of the statement you want to convey, just BEFORE words, where the pure notion rests complete, with all its ideas of itself in orbit. From the raw, unspoken truth of the idea come unlimited means of means of expression. Choose one.

A Loyal Reader Writes:

I program the only rock station in a nine-station market of 450,000 people. There are no strong competing signals from other markets, so that gives us a monopoly on the format. We target the “family reunion” of 25 – 54, skewing male and, particularly at night, take a large 18 – 24 spillover.

So it’s a pretty wide swath we’re programming to…a mix of classic and new rock. As we see demographics shifting, we’ve made adjustments leaning toward playing more new music.

I’ve encouraged our jocks to relate to our male target demo in the way they’d relate to any guy they know, keeping in mind that these are men who are listening as part of their recreational “experience” — even if they’re in the office, we’re a part of their own internal “rebellion.”

We’re talking to guys who’ve grown up with Saturday Night Live, risqué stand-up routines and late night talk shows, and even prime time sitcoms where no subject is taboo anymore. Not to mention the weirdness they see online every day.

So when the jocks’ material gets “blue” or “edgy,” I’m not usually upset by it. I ask myself, “Would I be embarrassed if my kids were listening?” and encourage the air staff to use that litmus test as well. So, most of the material is more double entendre-based than truly overt and smutty.

My ultimate test for material is, “Is it funny?” And if it happens to be edgy too, that’s fine. We know that the most successful rock radio personality shows are based on some pretty bawdy humor. But “intelligent” and “clever” are also encouraged!

However, I’ve had a lot of trouble convincing our sales team that the “edgy” approach isn’t harmful. This city is notoriously “conservative,” and I feel we do a lot of navel-gazing based on that.

My assertion is that it’s not OUR listener who’s conservative. Yes, we’ll get complaints from some people, but the majority need something compelling beyond the music to make us their medium and station of choice day after day. That to reach this demo, you need to cut through the Same Old Same Old and grab them and slap ’em around a little from time to time, “rattle the cage.”

The feedback from Sales seems to be that few clients are willing to get on board promotions that involve smart-mouthed promos or concepts that push the envelope. As I have no appreciable Promotions budget beyond what we can sell, I’ve been forced to dilute promos and content to keep the sponsors happy.

And I feel as a result that our promotions wind up with less of the cocky swagger than our programming has. Many of our contests and promotions sound less adventurous and devil-may-care than the rest of our morning or afternoon drive programs.

I’m not happy with the inconsistency. Our Creative Director has written some great stuff that gets nixed by clients and is starting to play it “safe.” And we’re talking station promos, not client product sells!

So, a few questions:

1) Is edgy humor useful and effective in relating to male demos?

2) Is it even necessary?

3) Should the emphasis be on tailoring our approach to the tastes of the clients or on educating our clients to how our approach will be effective in targeting their customer?

4) How concerned should a radio station targeting males 25 – 54 be about offending listeners outside of that target?

5) Can an approach that works well for 18 – 34 year olds backfire on the 35+ age group?

I suppose we don’t go “whole hog” on attitude because we feel our 35 – 54s wouldn’t be quite as tolerant as the younger listeners.

Also, it’s important to note that there are some clients — invariably, males in our target who listen to and love the station — who understand what we do and don’t fear a conservative backlash in buying into a station promotion. I feel if the Sales staff were more confident in how our approach can work for their clients, they’d do a better job of selling us to their prospects.

Any ideas on how to build their confidence on this issue?

My Reply:

1. It can be. But “male demos” is far too broad. What is edgy to young adult males can be offensive — or boring — to older male demos.

You’ve got a monopoly on the format and you’re aiming for a very broad target. You’d be foolish to needlessly sacrifice adult male segments for the sake of “edginess.”

Instead of edginess, focus on relevance to your listeners’ lifestyles.

2. Is it even necessary?

Certainly not in the circumstances you described. “Edginess” is used to differentiate a product within a crowded market. But you have a market monopoly; you’re the only game in town.

If you are the only rock signal in your market, then your music should be the “something compelling” that drives listenership. Music first, presentation second.

Yes, all your programming elements — music, jocks, production, imaging, news — should be top notch. But if you’ve got the only hamburger stand in town, you’re not likely to lose much sleep deciding what brand of ketchup to use.

3. Clients should have absolutely no input whatever regarding your station imaging. If you program to please your clients, you will lose your listeners. And when you lose your listeners, you will lose your clients.

You do, however, need to make sure you’re airing promos, liners and promotions that serve your station’s overall programming strategy and not simply airing stuff that entertains you, your staff, and your Creative Director. Most station imaging is terrible, and most of the terrible stuff is terrible because it’s aired for no good reason.

Your liners, promos, and contests all should reflect and enhance your station’s programming. If they do, then clients who don’t object to your regular programming won’t object to your imaging and promotions, either.

If your promos really do need to be “edgy” for anyone to pay attention to them, that can only be because what you’re saying isn’t worth listening to.

You don’t believe me?

Then try this: Once per hour, have whoever is on the air open the mic and say — without any sarcasm or dramatic overtone or music or effects — “We will give $1,000 to each person who comes to this station during the next 30 minutes.”

See if that message gets noticed.

Yeah, sure, you say. Offering a thousand bucks just for coming to the station will work. But the stuff we promote isn’t anywhere as exciting as that.

Exactly. $1,000 just for coming to the station is a compelling message. The more compelling the message, the less you need to rely on edginess and/or production tricks.

4. Not at all.

But, again, 25 – 54 is a very broad target. And what’s appropriately “edgy” for one end might well be inappropriate (or ineffective) for the other end.

5. Absolutely.

“The feedback from Sales seems to be that few clients are willing to get on board promotions that involve smart-mouthed promos or concepts that push the envelope.”

Advertisers certainly have the right not to associate themselves with promotions that they find offensive (or whose presentation they find offensive). But if they are not offended by your programming….And your promotions are congruent with your programming….Then they won’t be offended by your promotions.

If they love your promotions but are insulted by your promos, then your promos don’t accurately represent your promotions.

I’m disturbed by what seems to be a concentration on the style of your on-air promos at the expense of the substance of the promotions themselves. The more you focus on creating promotions that will thrill and delight your listeners, the less you need to worry about getting your listeners’ attention with outrageous, naughty or shocking promos.

Every radio market in the world is “conservative.” You don’t measure success by the number of criticisms your programming and promotions generate. You measure success by the number of people (the “right” people: your target audience) who respond favorably.