{"id":18409,"date":"2015-07-15T01:51:50","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T08:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?p=18409"},"modified":"2015-07-27T10:31:25","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T17:31:25","slug":"radio-imaging-directors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/radio-imaging-directors\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Ways Radio Program Directors Can Help Their Imaging Directors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obviously, these tips presume that at your radio station, the program director and the imaging director are not the same person.<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong>\u00a0 Don’t Write the Promos, Liners, etc.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Yeah, I know why you want to write them. It’s because:<\/span><\/p>\n

A)\u00a0 You’re a “hands on” program director. <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s a poor excuse. If you have time to write station liners, you’re neglecting some of the other duties that only the PD should be doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

B)\u00a0 It’s easier for you to write them than to figure out what you want and then explain it to the person who should write them. <\/span><\/p>\n

That’s true. <\/span><\/p>\n

So you’ve chosen the easy way, not the best way. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you can’t express your vision to your imaging director, either you don’t have a vision or you’re a poor communicator. <\/span><\/p>\n

Either way, that’s a problem for your station.<\/span><\/p>\n

C)\u00a0 It’s fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course it is. You sit around and brainstorm what you think are witty liners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe they’re witty, maybe not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe they’re witty but they don’t communicate what the listener needs to hear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe they’re witty but they’re impossible to perform and produce in the time frame allocated to your imaging messages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why should you have all the fun?<\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong>\u00a0 Give Them a Vision.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

PROGRAM DIRECTOR:\u00a0 “We need something for Wham-A-Rama.”<\/span><\/p>\n

IMAGING DIRECTOR:\u00a0 “What’s the feeling we’re trying to communicate?”<\/span><\/p>\n

PD:\u00a0 “Oh, you’ll come up with something.”<\/span><\/p>\n

ID:\u00a0 “What do we need to say?”<\/span><\/p>\n

PD:\u00a0 “Just make sure you get the sponsor names in there.”<\/span><\/p>\n

DISSOLVE TO:<\/span><\/p>\n

PD:\u00a0 “What the heck is this piece of garbage?? Why didn’t you include artist drops? And there should be listener reactions; it’s a contest, for crying out loud!”<\/span><\/p>\n

A program manager who tells the imaging director, “I can’t really tell you what I want, but I’ll know it when I hear it”<\/em> is either incompetent, lazy, or scared. <\/span><\/p>\n

Incompetent = not able to crystalize a vision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lazy = not disciplined enough to sit down and figure out what the message should be.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scared = afraid to try, for fear they won’t be able to come up with a helpful description for the producer.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’ll know it when I hear it” without any type of guidance or inspiration is the hallmark of an amateur.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.<\/strong>\u00a0 Give Them Time.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

If you need a 30-second promo 30 minutes from now, any producer can give you just that: a 30-second promo. <\/span><\/p>\n

Quality? <\/span><\/p>\n

Listenability? <\/span><\/p>\n

Understandability? <\/span><\/p>\n

Memorability? <\/span><\/p>\n

Any of those will be a pleasant surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0<\/strong> Figure Out What You Want the Promo to Accomplish, and Then Communicate That to Them.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

“We want to build anticipation so that when we finally announce that tickets are available, everyone rushes to their computers or their telephones or the sponsor locations to get them.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“The advertisers get 30 weekly promos as part of the package. We’re an edgy station, so make them edgy. Just be sure to mention the advertisers.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

“This goes between two songs. We want to make sure people know what station they’re listening to, and we want to do it in a way that reinforces our family image.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0<\/strong> Don’t Copy Other Radio Stations.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Here’s why….<\/span><\/p>\n

Wait, never mind. If I need to explain why you shouldn’t copy your station’s imaging from other stations, you won’t listen to me anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

6.<\/strong>\u00a0 Don’t Underestimate the Intelligence or Awareness of Your Audience.<\/strong> <\/span><\/h2>\n

“Great promo, but our audience wouldn’t ‘get’ it.”<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Unless you’re using insiders’ radio jargon, what makes you think the audience won’t understand?<\/span><\/p>\n

Someone please remind me what intelligence test we had to pass before we were allowed to become disc jockeys (and then program directors).<\/span><\/p>\n

You’re a Country station and you don’t think your listeners know who Kim Kardashian is? You’re engaging in Ostrich Programming. <\/span><\/p>\n

You might consider taking your head out of the sand.<\/span><\/p>\n

In truth, many radio programmers are less<\/em> aware of the culture at large because part of The Radio Disease is we tend to live radio 24\/7.<\/span><\/p>\n

7.<\/strong>\u00a0 Do Share with Them the Emotional Response You Want to Elicit.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The most important question is not, “What do we want to say?” <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s “What do we want them to feel?”<\/em> (Thanks, Chuck Blore<\/a><\/span>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

8.<\/strong>\u00a0 Treat Them Special.<\/strong> <\/span><\/h2>\n

With networking and satellites and syndication, often the imaging guy is the only truly local person whose work consistently is heard on your radio station.<\/span><\/p>\n

You want that person to be happy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t you?<\/span><\/p>\n

9.<\/strong>\u00a0 Give Them the Tools They Need.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

We radio people have a long and proud history of “making do” with what we have. <\/span><\/p>\n

But that’s part of the industry’s youthful stage, and radio now is a mature business. <\/span><\/p>\n

“There’s lots of free software out there. Use some of that. And your Kaypro 64 is a real workhorse.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In a mature, intensely competitive market, forcing your production people to create your station’s imaging with antiquated or amateur tools isn’t “making do”; it’s “making doo.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Not all tools, by the way, revolve around work stations. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

If your Imaging Director (or Production Director or Creative Services Director) spends more than 36 hours a week in the production studio, install a mini-refrigerator in that studio. <\/span><\/p>\n

She can stock it with her own refreshments, but every time she opens it during yet another marathon production session, she’ll silently thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n

10.<\/strong> Give Them Deadlines.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Give them deadlines not as a whip, but as a gauge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your Imaging Director is overworked. Every 10 minutes someone drops something new in his inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell him when each project is due, so he can prioritize his workload.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s discouraging to stay up half the night, trying to perfect a piece, only to be told the next day, “Oh, it was just an idea I had. Let’s put that one on the shelf and maybe one day we’ll look at it again.”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Recommended Resource for Radio Program Directors<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Program Director’s Radio Imaging Survival Guide<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Obviously, these tips presume that at your radio station, the program director and the imaging director are not the same person. 1.\u00a0 Don’t Write the Promos, Liners, etc. Yeah, I know why you want to write them. It’s because: A)\u00a0 You’re a “hands on” program director. That’s a poor excuse. If you have time to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"\n10 Ways Radio Program Directors Can Help Their Imaging Directors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"These days, often the imaging director is the only local person whose work regularly is heard on your radio station. 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