Is there a connection between Christmas and your station’s strategy? No, I didn’t say Christmas MUSIC. I said Christmas.

They say there are more “religious” radio stations in the United States than any other format category. They also say that those religious stations have fewer listeners than any other. Ouch!

Many Christian radio stations could best be described as “a bunch of stuff all on one station,” consisting of a little of this and a little of that with little connection to the WHY.

So, I’m driving down the road minding my own business and I decide to punch the radio button to listen to a mainstream AC playing Christmas music.

E-gad! I didn’t know Alvin and the Chipmunks had so many Christmas songs.

And then I heard the announcement that said something like, “We’ll be playing Christmas music until Christmas (right then I realized I should be taking notes) and then after Christmas we’ll go right back and play the best variety of the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and zeros.”

It wasn’t even December yet and they were already promoting the thing after the thing.

The further away something is the less relevant it will seem.

“Christmas isn’t going away, and we’re going to have this discussion every year.”

Two decades ago I remember saying those words to my talented friends Jim Hoge and Dean O’Neal at Z88.3 in Orlando. I remember saying that because we DO have that discussion every year. With every station.

Their situation was unique in that “The Z” was on a fast growth curve, and it was rare for a Christian station to abandon its regular format and play nothing but Christmas tunes. Besides, there was already a mainstream AC doing all Christmas and they were #1 in the market. (That AC program director was also a tall, skinny kid from west Texas with an ever so manly radio voice).

In the most recent research not ONE of the Z88.3 fans indicated they listened to the Mainstream AC for Christmas music. Quite a transformation, I’d say.

Obviously, Christmas music wasn’t the only reason for The Z’s remarkable growth, but clearly Jim and Dean seized an opportunity to transform the format’s biggest competitive disadvantage (playing generally unfamiliar music) into a competitive advantage.

This week’s Frost Advisory includes an interview about Christmas music programming I did a while back with Andrew Curran, President and COO of DMR/Interactive.

This week’s Frost Advisory is a departure from my regular thoughts on how to make your radio station really nifty. Instead I’d like to take this moment during Thanksgiving week to encourage you in the important work you’re doing at your station.

I’m told that the word ‘encouragement’ literally means to pour courage into. This word appears over 100 times in the New Testament. In fact, one of the descriptors for the Holy Spirit is Encourager (Acts 9:31).

“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.”

William Arthur Ward

The freeways in my town have electronic messages on signs that direct drivers to all kinds of things. The number of miles to a destination or intersection. Road hazards or accidents along the way. Amber alerts with car description and license plate number. (Good luck remembering that without writing it down).

Are you buckled up?

We work in a format that is inherently significant. And yet many stations sound more like a commodity, with little meaningful branding, content and personalities that help them stand out from the competition along the dial.

“Commodity is something that can be replaced, removed, exchanged for, or even ignored… for something that is better, faster, or cheaper. But community, that’s an entirely difference animal. A community is a sense of belonging. We all need it. We all need it now more than ever.”

Sangram Vajre

A couple of ideas on building community…

It’s baseball’s biggest stage. These games mean it all. The dream of every kid who’s ever hit a baseball in his back yard. And yet, at this penultimate moment in a millionaire player’s career they are willing to stop the game. And hold a cheap handwritten cardboard sign.

What in the name of Abner Doubleday is going on here?

“Major League Baseball, Stand Up To Cancer and MasterCard conducted a special in-game moment, with players, umpires, coaches and fans all pausing to hold up placards with the names of loved ones affected by cancer.”

MLB.com

We’ve all done it.

Waiting through the first part of a boring movie. You hope it will get better.

Sitting down at a restaurant. The waiter is slow to come over. Minutes tick by without giving your drink order. You hope it will get better.

In a world of instant gratification, a better choice is only a push of a button, a click of a mouse, or an “Alexa” voice command away.

“Everyone’s favorite radio station is the station that plays their favorite music.”

I cleverly put this sentence in quotes because it is the first thing I say when talking to a new station. After more than two decades in our format I can honestly say that NO ONE understands this fully at the beginning of the journey. However, all understand it later. If they are successful.

Why does this matter?

It matters because people love what is familiar, and what is familiar is what we love. And we work in a format that plays mostly unfamiliar music to the very people we’re trying to attract.

A few weeks ago we went to our first live concert in more than two years. Gosh, it was fun to be experiencing live music again.

The group is from Russia. Most of them don’t speak a word of English. Over 2,000 people packed the auditorium to hear them… a group that had NEVER had a hit record and hardly spoke the language.

What’s the deal?

If you want to get to know someone ask them about them.

If you want to build a relationship with someone ask them to tell you their story.

A successful radio station is one that builds a relationship with its listeners. The station understands who they are, what they care about, what connects them to others.

It’s called common ground.

It’s the basis of every affiliation in our lives. It starts with family. Then age and gender. It then branches out to school; then class (who was your first grade teacher?); then school groups. (I was a Thespian, don’tcha know!) Then friendships develop.