The celebration of our nation’s 246st birthday is a powerful lesson of focus, common ground, and emotion.

Over the last several decades in my other life, I’ve served as a semi-professional public address announcer for major league spring training and minor league baseball. That’s lots and lots and lots of dizzy bat races, seventh inning stretches, and National Anthem performances.

Do you know what I enjoy most? It’s when my voice is the cue for veterans and active service members to rise and be acknowledged for their sacrifice for our country. There is no applause that is louder.

What does that mean for your radio station?

A recent conversation with a program director new to the format reminded me of an idea that I wished I had understood two decades ago coming from a world of mainstream radio.  

People don’t tune to your station because of what YOU are, they tune to your station because of who THEY are.

“Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself.”

Donald Miller, “Blue Like Jazz”

Sir Paul McCartney has just had his 80th birthday! And he celebrated by doing what he loves; touring and playing music like he’s done for more than 60 of those 80 years.

If it seems curious that a Frost Advisory would be about a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer becoming an octogenarian, stick with me.

In my travels I’ve found almost all discussions about programming revolve around things close to us; the music and deejays, the promotions and contests, the clocks and service elements. While these elements are important to the station’s design, they are not transformative. Why? Because those things are all about us. And the closer things are to us the more important they seem. To us.

The great brands (and stations) go beyond the nuts and bolts of design and reach into their listeners’ lives.

As a follow up to this year’s Momentum, my friend Joe Paulo shared a video with every member of the newly formed Hope Media Group communicating the vision for the organization moving forward “while the ink is literally still drying on the merger.”

Joe cited the perspective of ten years ago when no one could have imagined a merger between then KSBJ-centered ministries in Houston and the WAY-FM ministries of Nashville and Colorado Springs.

While citing specific metrics the organization will be using to measure growth and impact, Joe was careful to qualify, “It’s going to be in ways that we don’t even know today because we get to create…”

Memorial Day is often considered the official kick off to summer. But more importantly it is a time set aside to remember those who gave their lives for our country.

Perhaps this time of remembrance is a good time for us to reflect on how we hope our stations will be remembered.

I climbed inside in my rental car, threw my toys in the back seat and looked around for the key as I had done dozens of times before. I looked on the dashboard, between the seats, and above the sun visor but found no key. I looked on the floorboard, in the glove compartment, and in the side pockets.  No key.  

So with another traveling inconvenience “hrmph” I grabbed my stuff and headed back to the rental car office to give the innocent desk agent a piece of my mind.  “May I help you?.” “Yes,” I said, “I’ve just walked all the way out to my rental car and there is no key.” She looked at my contract and said, “Mr. Frost, your car is KEY-LESS.”

If your radio station went off the air would anyone care?

Recently, a station I work with had some signal problems. The PD told me they were inundated with listeners saying the signal was staticky and difficult to pick up.

I remember being in the control room at KRBC in Abilene, Texas, when a West Texas lightning strike hit our tower. The general manager stuck his head in the studio and said to me, “I want you to announce that we’re off the air.” He could be a little goofy but at least he knew whether we were on the air.

Did you see it too?

Hundreds of millionaire professionals willingly gave up a tool of their trade and replaced it with something that on any other day, in any other circumstance, would subject them to ridicule and harassment from their co-workers.

They wore pink.

This week I’ve had the unique opportunity to introduce a program director to our format whose background is exclusively in mainstream radio. That was me 23 years ago.

If I only knew then what I know now.

“People are really not coming to see us as much as they are coming to see and hear what we represent to the audience.”

Carole King