As your listeners and your town get back to living post-pandemic how is that being reflected on your radio station? “Live and local” is often cited by many in our industry as a panacea for what’s ailing us. While there is nothing wrong with giving time checks and pronouncing the street names correctly, it doesn’t have the transformative power of creating shared community.

“Content that is perceived as helpful always addresses a felt need. Content that doesn’t address a felt need is perceive as irrelevant. Notice I said perceived. It may be the most relevant information an audience has ever heard. But if an audience doesn’t understand how content interfaces with their lives, it’s just not all that interesting.”

Andy Stanley, “Deep and Wide”

Not since 9-11 has our format had such an opportunity to convey the common experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has put listeners and non-listeners all in the same boat. For a format that plays mostly unfamiliar music to new listeners, what a huge opportunity to adopt common ground, the basis of any relationship.

How is your radio station conveying “Welcome back?”

How do your traffic reports and news updates reflect a sense of a return to normalcy?

What’s the content filter by which your talent can reflect where your listeners and your town are today?

What’s the promotion your station can do that celebrates getting our lives back after a year and a half?

P.S. I had another Frost Advisory written and ready to send and then I saw this sign in the Delta Sky Club. That’s transformational.