My 5:25 flight out of Nashville was delayed until 6:30, according to the e-mail. Okay, I have more time for my meetings and can head out later than expected.

When I arrived at the airport the enormous departure sign in the concourse indicated that my flight was still scheduled for 5:25.

Ouch! I hadn’t planned for that! I had only twenty minutes to make it through security and get to gate C19, the farthest away!

I ran up to the gate only to see the sign “DELAYED”. Bemused by the contradiction and frustrated by the awkward cowboy boot run through the airport, the smiling lady at the Southwest counter responded, “Those signs are run by the airport. They are not coordinated with the gate.”

“But that is the purpose of the signs,” I responded, “to let people know the latest on when their flight departs.”

Ridiculous, I know! The sign didn’t do the very thing it was designed to do, and no one seemed to even mind. But how often does this happen at our radio stations?

I know of a station that wanted to do a daily fishing report, despite the fact that no one tuned to their station for that. The programming element was disconnected from the very purpose of the radio station.

Likely you’ve run across that with the Saturday night teen show, obituaries, radio dramas for children, or just songs that your listeners don’t like all that much.

What is your station designed to do? How is each feature on your station designed to enhance that experience and add value to your brand?

Successful radio stations are built through listener loyalty as demonstrated by more frequent listening occasions*. That happens only when a station consistently fulfills the listeners’ expectations.

Written from seat 26C. With my boots off!