I don’t like to brag but I was third chair Sousaphone player in high school band. I could puff out my cheeks right along with the best in a three county radius. My West Texas public school education learned me a lot about good music.

But enough about me. I wonder what we could learn by comparing the design of a radio station to that of a great song.

Let’s start at the beginning. Perhaps you’d like to take notes.

Programming consists of two distinct elements – music, and the stuff that isn’t music. (Well, now! THAT’S some fancy talk!)

For almost a year now life has been very different for most of us. Many aren’t commuting to work resulting in morning and afternoon drive radio listening being very different. Some are homeschooling their kids through no choice of their own. Many have experienced restaurants at minimal capacity, social connections significantly limited, and churches closed. (I’m a part of a new church launch that was shut down longer than we were open.)

Are we grateful for our listeners? Are we grateful they still make us a part of their daily lives?

“Gratitude unexpressed is perceived as ingratitude.”

Andy Stanley

For the last twenty years I’ve spent enough time on airplanes and in rental cars that they’ve awarded me me special status. I get to board before the family of 17 heading off to Walt Disney World, a can of Fresca delivered with my licorice chewies, and I get assigned cars with fancy GPS systems that tell me, “You’re going the wrong way!”

So, what do those companies think of me when I’m hardly traveling at all?

We can all remember the first time someone said, “I love you.” (We can also painfully remember when someone didn’t).

We are created to be known. From the early playground experiences of “Mommy, mommy, look at me,” to the moment you discovered the pretty girl knew your name.

Take a look at your high school yearbook. I dare you. It’s embarrassing to think about how we used to think.

How could we possible have… thought that was cool… dressed like that… worn our hair like that?

In my not-so-effortless transition from thinking that programming a radio station was about 1) playing cool songs I like, and 2) evaluating talent on the basis of “he’s got a good voice and runs a tight board,” to embracing things like strategy, branding, and actually mattering to people, one of the first books I came across was Al Reis and Jack Trout’s “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.” (Do yourself a favor and read it.)

One of the concepts shared was “The Law of Sacrifice.”

On last week’s show I shared despite the fact that vanilla ice cream ranks as most people’s favorite there are NO vanilla ice cream stores. In other words “favorite” is not the only consideration. “Interesting” matters, too. Surprise and delight matters.

In my opinion one of the biggest challenges of Christian radio is the tendency to do the same old things the same old way. I know stations that don’t sound significantly different than they did ten years ago and yet the world has changed around them. Never has this been more obvious due to the pandemic.

“If you leave a white post alone it will soon be a black post. If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution. Briefly, if you want the old white post you must have a new white post.”

G. K. Chesterton

So what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? Most surveys point to the good ole reliable vanilla. But when you peak under the cone you’ll see that vanilla is favored in part because it goes with so many different toppings and condiments.

I believe that there is no format like CCM whose success is more dependent on the ability to create an emotional dynamic range from laughter to tears, celebration to introspection, and angst to joyfulness. Some might describe that as the human condition.

Givers and takers.

When you think about the people that have had the greatest influence on your life I reckon’ you’d say they were GIVERS.

“The human spirit senses and feeds on a giving spirit… Think about what Jesus taught – half the time people didn’t know what he was talking about, but they listened attentively. Jesus was giving – feeding them. Not taking. It is at a spirit (heart) level – he wasn’t just giving information.”

John Maxwell

I wonder, then, why many Christian radio stations are perceived to be TAKERS, always asking their listeners to give them something. There are some general managers whose voice is NEVER heard unless they have their hand out.

The most common New Year’s resolutions are about losing weight, quitting smoking, and getting more exercise. This is still the case even as we head for what we hope will be a post-pandemic 2021.

What if we took those same resolutions and applied them to our radio stations?

In this pandemic Christian music radio stations have never had more in common with those who don’t yet listen. Why is this important?

Successful formats are based upon consensus. Consensus is a result of common ground through familiarity.

No familiarity? No consensus. No format.

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”

Simon Sinek

Every year Google compiles a list of the most searched for words of the year. In 2020 people search for WHY.

Have you ever met anyone that has their own statue? Interesting thought, isn’t it?

I’ve had the privilege of meeting several. I met Ronald Reagan when he was running for president in the ’70s. In my baseball life I’ve met Stan Musial, Jack Buck, and Mike Schmidt.

What makes someone so special that they are worthy of a statue?

Is it talent? Or personality? Maybe just right place at the right time?