“You can learn a lot by just watching”, said the great philosopher Yogi Berra.

My talented friend Lisa Barry recently watched and learned from a lady who does sign language in church.

Lisa shares, “In order to ‘sign’ a song about Passover, she has to start with Jerusalem, so she signs that first even though it’s not in the song yet.  THEN, she signs Jesus, which is her index finger sweeping across in front of her.  So the song makes sense with Jesus walking into Jerusalem – even though in the song Jerusalem comes second.

The fascinating part was when she said, with sign language, you have to start with the ‘what’ because otherwise, there’s no context to what you’re about to say.  You start with the ‘what’ and then you can give them the ‘who’ and ‘what’s happening.”

Sherwood Schwartz, the creator of many of the popular TV shows in the 60’s and 70’s including “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch”, told a remarkable story of ‘what’.

When he initially took the pilot for Gilligan’s Island to CBS it was rejected.  The execs told Sherwood that viewers would never understand why such an odd assortment of characters; a movie starlet in a long dress, an eccentric rich couple, a geeky scientist and a tomboy; were stranded on a desert island together. “I’ll show you”, Sherwood responded defiantly, and he went home and wrote the now famous theme song that explained the ‘what’ in only sixty seconds.

“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…”

Even the best stations in the format have to fight the assumption that everyone knows the ‘what’.  What does your station stand for?  What is its purpose and its vision?  How does ‘what’ you’re doing connect to the most important things in their life?

“…If the journey begins with the assumption that everybody here knows what we are doing, you will eventually have an audience of people who already know what you are doing… Where you consistently begin and what you consistently assume determine who consistently shows up.  Why?  Because your assumptions create the common ground for the journey.”
~Andy Stanley, “Deep and Wide”

We see them but we hardly think about them.  The 4-way stop.

What’s their purpose?  To stop all traffic?  Silly question, I know.  That seems hardly the intent, but…

…that’s what happens.

Everything stops.  No traffic flow.  No one moves.

Hmmm.

Every radio station has things on the air that PREVENT it from delivering the very thing that people come there for in the first place.  Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

Maybe it’s political – the boss has a radio show where he plays whatever music he wants.

Maybe it’s the teaching/preaching show that has always been on the air so no one brings it up.

Maybe it’s the kids’ show/the teen show/the rock show/the worship show/NASCAR/high school football that someone at some time decided to put on the air for reasons you’ll never know.

The problem with 4-way stops is that… inefficiency is designed IN. Traffic… all traffic… stops.

Flowers, candy, and cards.  Family time and reminiscing.  As we celebrate Mother’s Day, perhaps there are programming lessons we can learn from mom as well.

Be a good listener 

There is no shortage of subjective opinions about your station’s programming; from the boss, a listener or donor, the receptionist, the sales manager.  The opinions that are most valuable are the ones uncovered through objective research to understand the listeners’ needs and perspective.  Ask.  But you have to ask it the right way.

Live every moment

The most important programming element is the one that is on RIGHT NOW, not tomorrow, not next week.  “Be good now” is the best programming advice there is.  After all, the “nows” add up.

Be a good friend  

Friends make others feel welcome.  Friends don’t talk down to others.  Friends encourage.

Don’t be selfish 

The moment we think the station is all about us, we lose perspective.  Whether commercial or non-comm, your station ultimately exists to serve and bless others.

Flush 

Be vigilant about getting the bad stuff off your radio station and replacing it with good stuff.

Remember who you are

My mom used to say, “Remember who you are and what you represent.”  Your station’s brand – what your station stands for – is the primary reason people tune in.  The degree by which you elicit passion through your brand values will determine your success.

Thanks, Mom!

Dozens of decisions come your way every day.  Some are small and some are big, impacting the health and growth of your station.

Maybe there is wisdom to be found at the mall.  (There’s a sentence I thought I’d never say!)

The mall directory has some sections large enough to read the name of the stores: Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdales.  These are the anchor stores.

Other areas are much smaller with names readable only if you’re standing on your head.  (And I wasn’t!)

The anchor stores serve as the primary reason people go to the mall.  The smaller stores tend to be boutique in nature and add options to the mall experience.  If Mom is shopping for a new outfit at Nordstrom, Dad can catch up on some computer work as he’s gulping down a Venti Iced Skinny Hazelnut Macchiato, Sugar-Free Syrup, Extra Shot, Light Ice, No Whip at Starbucks.

Your station is like that.

Your station’s “anchors” are its overarching brand values, the unique mix of music, compelling air personalities, and key listener benefits.  (see Frost Advisories #122 and 146).  Your smaller “stores” are everything else.

Here’s the problem!  Under-performing stations tend to focus not on the anchors, but on the everything else.  And that focus changes perspective.

“Where focus goes, energy flows.  And where energy flows, whatever you’re focusing on grows.”
~Tony Robbins

If your radio station is struggling you may want to check your own “mall directory”.  What’s most important?  Why do people come there in the first place?  Perhaps the small stuff has become the big stuff because that’s where your focus has been.

Now, off to the mall for a Venti Iced Skinny Hazelnut Macchiato, Sugar-Free Syrup, Extra Shot, Light Ice, No Whip at Starbucks!

“How many different items are on the menu?”  It’s a question no one at a restaurant has ever asked.

And yet… “how many songs are on your playlist?” is routinely asked as though the answer might actually be significant.

The familiar and the unfamiliar; the all-time-favorites and the never-heard-of; each viewed simply as a quota, no one more important than another.  But, alas…

Everyone’s favorite music station is the one that plays their favorite music.

And that, my friends, is the fundamental challenge in growing Christian music stations to be market leaders.

A well-known researcher recently told me that he had never seen a format where so much of the music was unfamiliar – even to its fans.

So, what’s the better idea?

In a world of unfamiliar, successful program directors design familiarity into the brand.

That’s how six unknowns can get the loudest ovation of the night at the ballpark – the common ground of love of country connects six thousand fans in the stands to the six returning airmen on the field.  It’s how strangers become friends because they are both parents of kids on the same team.  It’s how neighbor meets neighbor as everyone pulls together to clean up after a storm.

“To move an audience, especially a diverse audience, from where they are to where you want them to be requires common ground…  Where you consistently begin and what you consistently assume determine who consistently shows up.  Why?  Because your assumptions create the common ground for the journey.”
~Andy Stanley, “Deep and Wide”

Familiarity is the fruit of common ground.  Common ground is the fruit of knowing your listener.

Knowing your listener is the fruit of putting your listeners’ perspective ahead of your own agenda.

The question isn’t “How many different items are on the menu?”

…the question is, “What do people love here?”

They say there are more “religious” radio stations than any other format category.   They also say those religious stations have fewer listeners than any other.   The reason for that is quite simple.

A radio station cannot grow unless it is designed to grow.  And that requires a different kind of thinking.  Strategic thinking.

A growth strategy is one that incorporates big picture concepts such as…

Why does the radio station exist?
Who are our listeners?
What do they desire and expect from our station?
Who and where are other people like them?

It’s ironic to me that most Christian radio stations aren’t strategic.   Ironic because our Christian faith may be the most strategic thing there is.

Our faith flows from the ultimate big picture.  There is a God.  He made everything.  He created us for a purpose.  He desires a relationship with us.   Jesus Christ is the focal point of that God-man relationship.

Most Christian radio stations ignore strategy and focus only on the day to day tactics – the songs, the contests, the liners, the deejays.   Oh, and reacting to complaints.

Your radio station can be transformed if you’ll answer two simple questions:

What do people want and expect from your station?

How consistently to do you that?

Congratulations!  In answering those two questions you’ve begun the journey of thinking strategically.

It’s the shortest title of any of the 304 Frost Advisories.

If only.

If only we didn’t have those limitations.  The budget.  The staffing.  The signal.

Limitations!  There are just 12 notes on a musical scale, only 100 yards on the field, just 90 feet between bases, and barely 24 seconds on a shot clock.

All art has boundaries.

“Embracing the limitation can actually drive creativity.”
~Phil Hansen

Embracing it can result in a mural made from nothing but postage stamps, 60 foot sculptures of four presidents chiseled into granite at Mt. Rushmore, or a TV sitcom with no music other than a bass guitar.

In the world of radio, the limitation is… time.

We sell time, we schedule time, and we even measure time spent listening.

But often the creative aren’t disciplined, and the disciplined aren’t creative.  The result is either three minutes of babbling… or nice, concise dullness.

What if we embraced creativity and discipline as two sides of the same coin?  “Necessity is the mother of invention”, Plato said.  Or was it Frank Zappa?

All musicians want to jam.  All hits are three minutes.

So, what is more important?

Trying to keep listeners from tuning away… or attracting people to tune in?

Many would say the former.  Almost all discussions inside the radio station – where to place the spot sets, traffic reports, and contests – focus on this.  And for good reason.  After all, listeners are already listening.  It’s easier to get blood out of a turnip then to have to plant another crop.

But what does the data say?

“A major new study… reveals that nearly two-thirds of radio station listening occasions consist of listeners ‘turning on’ a station and end with them ‘turning off’ a station, as opposed to ‘switching in’ from and ‘switching out’ to other stations. “*

“Coleman Insights and Media Monitors… found that 62.7% of all occasions are Turn On-Turn Offs.”  (It’s even higher – 77.9% – in the Christian format.)

“These findings are about the strongest reinforcement of the value of brand-building for radio stations that I can imagine,” commented Coleman Insights president/chief operating officer Warren Kurtzman, who co-authored the study.  “The ability of a radio station to generate listening occasions through Turning On is dependent on having a strong brand, which is based on having high awareness, a clearly-defined position, association with multiple product attributes and eliciting passion from the audience.“

I wonder what would happen if you spent 62.7% of your time creating a radio station that is relevant, meaningful, and entertaining enough to have raving fans, and the rest of your time eliminating obstacles for longer listening.

“In the share of every station there are two numbers, the number to the left of the decimal point and the number to the right (e.g. 6.0, 6.3, etc.).  The number to the left is affected by the big things that a station does, like what it is known for and the big benefits the listener gets from the station.  The number to the right is based on the tweaks and minor modifications that the station does to the music, the commercial sequencing, etc.

You can make a mediocre station only slightly better by working on the number to the right all the time.  You can make a mediocre station great by working on the number to the left of the decimal.”
~Michael O’Shea

*“The Components of Tuning Occasions – Switching vs. Turning” study… an analysis of nearly 37 million listening occasions by Coleman Insights and Media Monitors.

We didn’t sweat like the other kids, and that made everyone else really envious.  You see, we were the first classroom in the school to have air conditioning.  That’s about all I remember about being in the sixth grade.

What do people remember about your radio station?  What is memorable gives light to what is meaningful. What is meaningful (thinking) is what they care about (feeling).  What they care about determines how much they’ll care about your station.

Do you know what your listeners care about?  Or maybe a better question is… do you use those things to design your station?

“Trying to control what other people think is a trap.  At the same time that we can be thrilled by the possibility of flying without a net and of blazing a new trail, we have to avoid the temptation to become the audience, to will them into following us.  Not only is it exhausting, it’s counterproductive.  (Success) happens because you’ve made something worth buying, because you’ve outlined something worth believing in.”
~Seth Godin

Our format is, or can be, about things people already care about… and… this is really important, they would still care about those things even if your station wasn’t around.

“Lots of people are trying to sell what people don’t want.  Don’t be one of them.”
~Roy Williams

The knee-jerk reaction is to come up with STUFF!  We pay far less attention to whether that STUFF makes a difference.

“In the share of every station there are two numbers, the number to the left of the decimal point and the number to the right (e.g. 6.0, 6.3, etc.).  The number to the left is affected by the big things that a station does, like what it is known for and the big benefits the listener gets from the station.  The number to the right is based on the tweaks and minor modifications that the station does to the music, the commercial sequencing, etc.  You can make a mediocre station only slightly better by working on the number to the right all the time.  You can make a mediocre station great by working on the number to the left of the decimal.”
~Michael O’Shea

I first stumbled over this thing called STRATEGY when programming a Smooth Jazz station in Dallas in the late 80s.  After twenty years in the business, well, I knew how to make the station sound slick and smooth and all that stuff, but until I met Alan Mason I didn’t know how to make a station matter.

I’ve come to learn that EVERYONE lives in the world of TACTICAL.  The tactical approach is “what things can we do?”  That’s the world of Jack in the Box, Radio Shack, and probably your station.

The world of STRATEGY is a different kind of thinking.  That’s the world of Apple, Starbucks, and Tom’s Shoes.  That’s the world that asks, “will this stuff make a difference?”