I’ve heard Alex Trebek, the most famous host of “Jeopardy,” say that the show’s biggest problem was convincing people that a question could also be the answer.

So… let me ask a question….

What’s our format’s biggest problem?

I’m a small town boy. And grateful for it.

For one I was able to get into radio at a remarkably young age. Before my face cleared up, don’t cha know. I doubt a radio station in Dallas or Chicago or New York would have let me hang around at the age of 15.

I also grew up in the same small town where my mom and dad both grew up. I spent a dozen years of my life in the home my grandfather built in 1939. I went to the same high school both my parents went to. Even had some of the same teachers they had.

Why is this the topic of another Frost Advisory?

A couple of weeks ago I shared the upside of being wrong.

“The good thing about being wrong is that you don’t have to be wrong anymore. When you learn a better solution you can leave the old concepts behind.”

I promised then to share some things about programming that I’ve been wrong about. But I don’t have to be wrong anymore.

This weekend I saw a display at a sporting goods store in Texas designed to move inventory RIGHT HERE/RIGHT NOW. If not, the merchandise would be out of date.

Or to be blunt, the merchandise would be worthless if it sat on the shelf.

This Frost Advisory is intended for programmers and air talent that are far beyond the basics. It is for those who understand why their radio station exists, who they are talking to, and how to develop content that is meaningful and enhances the station’s appeal.

Once you get that stuff, how do you, as an air talent or program director who coaches talent, take it to the next level?

There is a predictable process the growing stations go through. I said GROWING stations.

It’s actually rather freeing. We don’t have to be right all the time.

I knew a general manager that insisted that there had to be a specific numbers of songs in the active library. Not one more, not one less. The program director and I found this was a peculiar topic for drawing a line in the sand, particularly since they did regular music testing and the listeners’ preferences determined that.

We did a little detective work and discovered that he had read an article in Billboard in the 1980s where some consultant had unpacked his snake oil in 5 easy steps to success, or some such foolishness.

Our minds crave simplicity.

The doctor says to take a pill. We eagerly agree because it’s simple. Until he tells us that the pill will cause us to lose our hair. Ouch! Now it becomes more complicated and not such a great idea.

“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

Making decisions based strictly on data rarely works out.

Let’s take ratings, as an example. Making programming decisions based solely upon ratings is like driving with a GPS that shows only where you’ve been. It’s like driving your car while looking in the rear view mirror.

(Ratings can’t illuminate the three most important factors to making good programming decisions. See Frost Advisory #664)

Titles are funny. For some reason we assume if someone has a title that means that they know how to do the job.

I’ve known organizations that would be transformed if only one simple thing happened – that the one person with a particular expertise was the one person who made the decision in that particular area.

I’ve known far too many programmers that didn’t know how to program, managers that didn’t know how to manage, and engineers that didn’t know how to… whatever it is they do.

Jimmy Buffett wasn’t a one hit wonder, but almost.

Did you know that he never had a #1 hit on Billboard, and had only one song, “Margaritaville,” that even reached the top 10.

And yet the idea of “Margaritaville” inspired restaurants and resorts, a Broadway musical and retirement communities turning Buffett’s alleged desire for the simplicity of island life into a multimillion brand. He’s on the list of Forbes’ America’s Richest Celebrities with a net worth of one billion dollars.

What’s my point?