As the new year begins it’s easy to get bogged down in the multitude of details of programming a radio station; the politics, the personalities, and the to-do list that never seems to get to-done.  And yet, there are the more advanced concepts of focus and targeting, serving your core listener, developing the talent, connecting emotionally, and developing a meaningful brand.

But at its core good programming is relatively simple.
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi began every training camp with these words, “Gentlemen, this is a football!”, which underscores the importance of knowing the basics.

Here are the programming basics:

• Play the music your listeners love.
• Talk about things they are interested in.
• Don’t waste their time.

If you’re a GM make sure your PD is accountable in these areas.   If you’re a PD, use this to prioritize.

If you kick off 2016 by getting these things right, then you’re in a better position to begin working on the other stuff that can make your station remarkable!

Happy New Year!

I reckon’ the Christmas season brings out the best in our format.  More people tune in than at any other time of the year.  When done well, this can be a station’s much-discussed “next level”.

Over the last several weeks I have heard some amazing stories and songs.

I heard the story of a single mom of three kids who had work two jobs and clean houses at night to make ends meet.  Listeners generously gave her kids a Christmas they couldn’t afford for themselves and pulled together to have HER house cleaned, as well.  (A big deal.  Ask any female listener.)

Stories and songs.

I heard the story of a family on the verge of being evicted from their home due to the dad losing his job and mounting medical bills from one child’s injury from a car accident and another child’s epilepsy.  The station, its listeners and clients stepped in to make up the difference on their overdue bills so they wouldn’t lose their home, and blessed them with a Christmas tree and gifts for all the kids.

Stories and songs.

Perhaps most the most amazing I heard was told by the daughter of a Vietnam vet that had a leg amputation.  Wayne pitched in with a wheel chair.  Sheri offered up a wheel chair ramp, and another donated a motorized scooter.  But the most amazing thing to hear was the generosity of a company that made prosthetics offering this Vietnam vet the ability to walk again.

Stories and songs.

Our format can be so much more than the ubiquitous 52 minute music sweeps, the best mix of this and that, and traffic and weather together on the 10s.

So, for the coming New Year, it is my hope that those in our format adopt this New Year’s Resolution:  To create radio stations that matter.

After all…

It doesn’t matter what we say if what we say doesn’t matter.

So, what do you think about Donald Trump?

My guess is your response is something other than tepid.  Love him or hate him but you can’t ignore him.

“He identifies what the base feels and thinks, and then gives it expression.” Kathleen Parker.

This particular political writer’s comment was in the context of a criticism, but there is something to be said for giving expression to what your base feels and thinks.

When was the last time your station got the kind of response Donald Trump is getting?  In other words, when was the last time your station gave expression to what your listeners feel and think that it resulted in a standing ovation?

My talented friends at The Fish in Atlanta recently granted a Christmas Wish to Dee, “a victim of a marriage gone wrong.  She escaped with three kids and nothing more than the clothes on her back” read my friend Taylor Scott.  The station had over a hundred thousand views within the first few hours on Facebook and YouTube.  That, my friends, is a social media standing ovation!

Why?  Because it tapped into what their audience feels and thinks.  Compassion and lending a helping hand are core values reflected by the station.

Who’d da thunk it?  Maybe Christian radio can learn a thing or two from Donald Trump.

Dentists have the highest suicide rate of any in the medical profession, I’m told.  Reckon’ it’s because they seldom get to see a patient leave feeling better than when they came in.  In other words, the dentist doesn’t get to directly witness the benefit of his work.

My friend Chris has been in the concert production business a long, long time.  Recently he told me that those in his crew that are most likely to become dissatisfied with their work are those that never get to see the show.

Then he told me about the trouble seats; the ones held back in case someone has a problem.  Maybe there is an obstructed view.  Maybe there is a loud, obnoxious smoker (not that that would ever happen at a Christian music concert).  These seats are deliberately left open so they can move people in case of trouble.  When the time is right my friend Chris gives those unused trouble seats to his crew so they get to see the show.

When you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, or… you never get to see the results of what you’re doing… you can lose perspective about your value to the overall mission.

If you have people on your team that never “get to see the show”, here are some ideas:

1. Ask them to answer the phones during a pledge drive.  They’ll hear stories of the impact of your station directly from your listeners.
2. Reserve some “trouble seats” at your next concert and let your people experience the impact of the music that your listeners feel every day.
3. Have them call listeners and ask how the station can help or pray for them.  They’ll be astounded by what they hear.
4. Suggest they spend an hour in the on-air studio so they can witness first hand the impact of your station’s programming.

*Inspired by a conversation with my friend Chris Farnsworth at KSBJ in Houston.

Every Christmas for the last several years I’ve thrown a few coins into the Salvation Army bucket down the street at the Piggly Wiggly.  But not this year.  Nope.  They’ve changed their bell ringer.  The guy standing outside the store ringing the bell is going to be different this season, so I’ve decided not to give.

Ludicrous, isn’t it?  Obviously no one would stop donating to the Salvation Army because Bernie replaced Barry at the bucket.

Then why do we hear these kind of complaints?

You’ve change programs!

You’ve changed the disc jockeys!

You cancelled Adventures in Odyssey!

You did this ONE thing that I don’t like…  So I’m not going to donate to your station anymore… ever… ever!

What they are basically saying is… you’ve changed the bell ringer.  And that bell ringer is the very small filter through which they perceive your station.

But that’s not you.

I know what the Salvation Army stands for.  I believe in their cause of helping those who can’t help themselves.  My understanding of the vision and purpose of their ministry is far more important to me than who stands outside Winn-Dixie ringing a bell.

TOMS shoes is an example of a company that succeeded more because of their story than their product.

“For every pair I sell, I’m going to give a pair of new shoes to a child in need… The giving component of TOMS makes our shoes more than a product.  They’re a part of a story, a mission, and a movement anyone can join.”  Blake Mycoskie, “Start Something that Matters”.

Needless to say, no one has ever stopped buying TOMS simply because they discontinued the plaid ones.

This Christmas season as you hear those complaints about your station’s bell ringer, consider that maybe your bigger story isn’t being told.

Two sections over at Dodger Stadium a stranger waves at me.   We seemingly have nothing in common other than the red St. Louis Cardinals jerseys we wear.  But in a sea of Dodger blue we see each other.

The loudest ovation at a recent Houston Rockets’ game wasn’t for the players on the court but for the six airmen honored during half time.  They didn’t cheer because they were basketball fans; they cheered because they were Americans.

The deeper the connection the louder the applause.

“We buy what we buy to remind ourselves – and tell the world around us – who we are.  We even choose our service providers based on how closely they mirror the way we would run their company.  We’re attracted to reflections of ourselves.  A salesperson points out this reflection, “That’s you, isn’t it?” and then gives the intellect the facts it needs to justify the purchase.  Win the heart and the mind will follow.”  Roy Williams

Facebook knows this.  They simply create ways for us to see a reflection of ourselves (a few years younger perhaps) and we’ll gladly share it with the world without even being asked.

Facebook knows that the more we see ourselves the more we’ll engage.

If someone was to tune in to your station right now what would they hear that is a reflection of themselves?  Would it be in the words you choose?  The perspective on life you share?  That you focus on things that really matter?

Facebook knows it.   Maybe we should too.   The more your listeners see themselves the more they’ll engage

When they asked Michelangelo how he made his statue of David he is reported to have said, “It was easy.  I just took away everything that didn’t look like David.”

That profound simplicity is one way to approach programming your radio station.

If people come to your station for encouragement just take away the stuff that isn’t.  Then while you’re at it… just take away songs listeners don’t love; just take away everything that isn’t relevant and meaningful to their lives; just take away everything that isn’t friendly and welcoming.

“…anticipate and answer your customer’s unspoken questions.  Don’t blather on about the things you wish they cared about – even if those are the things the customer really ought to care about – until you’ve first answered the question that’s on their mind.”  Roy Williams

That involves knowing why they tune to your station in the first place.

So… go do that.  And take everything else away.

We radio folk love to connect the dots.  Even dots that don’t connect.

The CHR in town plays 21 currents and their share went up.  Let’s do that!

They have a red-headed female on middays and they won Station of the Year!  We should do that, too!

We have new jingles!  That must be why our cume went up!   (Consider the illogical correlation of non-listeners’ behavior being affected by something they don’t hear).

I commonly hear otherwise smart radio folks confuse correlation with causation.

The GM loves that new one hour Saturday morning fishing show and the station’’s ratings go up.  Better prepare yourself for his next brilliant programming idea!

The more emotionally invested in a concept or feature the less likely we are to discern its causality.  Just because two things occur together does not mean that one caused the other, even if it seems to make sense.

Need to prove something you already believe?  All you need are two graphs and two events.

“People are drawn to black and white opinions because they are simple, not because they are true.  Truth demands serious effort and thought.”  Donald Miller

We’re never successful because of all the things we do.  Often we’re successful in spite of them.

“I feel like I’ve known her all my life.”

Those are actual words I overheard a listener say in describing a remarkable air talent.  Not that she was a good deejay; not that she really liked the way she did traffic and weather together.  Just… that she knew her.

Your station is ultimately about building relationships.  (For some, that may be a new idea!)

“We resist being influenced by people we don’t know or don’t trust. We are open to the influence of those whom we trust or whom we perceive have our best interests at heart.” Andy Stanley

There are only three voices that should ever be heard on your radio station.

Friend

Family

Visitor

Unfortunately many radio stations are overrun with voices of strangers.  We don’t know who they are, we don’t connect with what they’re saying, and worse, they don’t even sound like someone I’d want to hang around.

“Never underestimate the power of being likable.” Andy Andrews

Here’s a simple little idea that can transform a show.  Identify every voice as either friend, family, or visitor.

Friend is someone you like.  Family is someone you’re inexorably connected to.  Visitor is someone you welcome and help make feel at home.

I work with a guy named Bill whose specific job is to give traffic updates, a mundane task at most stations.  But he’s so much more than just a traffic reporter.  He’s a friend, relating traffic conditions to the listener’s lifestyle and commute, and he’s been on the air in their hometown for more than 30 years.  (By the way, we’ve built things into his traffic reports that only friends would say.  That’s called role development).

When you intentionally create a radio station where every listener feels welcome, there are no strangers.

This Frost Advisory inspired by my friends Mike Moran, Mike Blakemore, Ty McFarland, and Bill Ingram.

My cousin recently shared how a charity in his hometown of Austin, Texas, “had the clever idea of sending out a blank ‘book’ and asked a few folks to create their fantasy book cover as an auction item.  I loved the provocative experiment and wound up buying this cover back as a desktop catalyst for all sorts of reflective exercises.”

Cuzin’ Dan chose “Life, Love & Music” and selected “the photographic symbols that might highlight life chapters… love, loss, travel, art & music, friends, family and unique life experiences encouraged thoughtful and honest reflection.”

What would the “book cover” be for your radio station?  For some, compiling the station of the year entry gives perspective on the most significant things accomplished during the year.  The blood drive, the reuniting of families at Christmas, caring for widows and orphans, or helping single moms get a free oil change leap out as obviously far more memorable and meaningful than “27 percent more variety” liners, song to song segues, or that your station was the first to play Hercules and the Chicken Fat People’s latest song.

But where do we spend most of our time?

“It takes mental discipline to favor macro success over micro failure.” Jeff Luhnow, Houston Astros general manager

The second guessing and tinkering in reaction to erratic weekly and monthly ratings obscures our ability to focus on the real purpose of the station and those things that we would be proudest to put on the station’s “book” cover.  Nothing legendary has ever come out of a discussion about weekly ratings.

Cuzin’ Dan concludes, “There’s no time like the present to accept the past, celebrate the life learning moments and pledge to make the most of the precious time we have left. We owe that opportunity to no one but ourselves.  But, in making the effort, we’ll positively impact all around us.”