I’m often in discussions with PDs about freshening the sound, changing things up or being less predictable. These can be productive conversations, but if you don’t know the guardrails you can end up in a programming ditch subjectively running FROM things rather than running TO things.

Conversations about “changing things up” often end up replacing something familiar and popular with something that is neither familiar nor popular. Not good.

In the last couple of weeks Hurricanes Helene and Milton have upended lives and property in the southeast USA. Having lived in the Sunshine State for over three decades I know how Floridians can transform into amateur meteorologists binge watching The Weather Channel. It’s never a good thing when you see Jim Cantore standing in your front yard.

We can learn a lot from The Weather Channel…

Believe it or not we’re just a few weeks from radio stations flipping their programming upside down by playing some amount of Christmas music. The logical thinkers dip their proverbial toe into Christmas music like thoughtful grown-ups. Others jump in whole-heartedly like adolescents into a frigid lake.

Christmas music programming. Is it good or bad? Right or wrong? Harmony in the hallways?

The West Wing. It’s my favorite TV show ever. (Unless you consider Seinfeld, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, or The Beverly Hillbillies return to Hooterville).

They’ve just celebrated the 25th anniversary of The West Wing at the West Wing. The 25 best episodes, rated from Great to Perfect.

I met a new friend during the pandemic. His name is Marvin. He’s a very skilled general contractor who helped us remodel during COVID, a time that was a challenge for hiring folks if you remember.

We learned a lot from Marvin. As the homeowner I had a sense of things I would enjoy. But Marvin, being the professional with far more experience, was able to connect the dots and see beyond the emotion of the idea that we thought was neato.

It’s a question we don’t ask enough. Why do people tune in to our stations, either for the first time or the 500th time? And I’m not just talking about the music.

What point of view do they expect? What lifestyle do our stations reflect?

“What are people hiring you for?” Mark Ramsey asks.

I’m often quizzed about the most common challenge in making good programming decisions. My response? Understanding the difference between CORRELATION and CAUSATION. Particularly as it relates to reacting to ratings.

We added a new jingle package and our ratings went up!

We ran that new promotion and our ratings went down.

The turning of the calendar to September welcomes new seasons in our lives.

It could be college football season. Or pumpkin spice latte season. Or back to school season.

And, of course, there is the political season. One that can seemingly bring out the worst in us. Even with our friends.

I recently went to a concert by an artist I really enjoy. I walked away disappointed.

Compare that to the first concert I went to after COVID. This was a group I had never seen before and they performed only covers from another era. The show was an absolute blast.

You might be thinking that the difference was the music. Nope, both concerts featured music I know and enjoy.

I knew it would take me longer to get there but I really didn’t mind. The streets around my house would be lined with cars either moving at the posted 25 MPH speed limit, or not at all. But that was okay.

I knew Miss Shirley would be there at the crosswalk, the cheery octogenarian who last year tripped at a shopping mall and knocked out her front teeth. We didn’t see her for many months but every day the school children would ask, “How’s Miss Shirley?”