I’ve heard that the most common New Year’s resolutions are about losing weight, quitting smoking, and getting more exercise.

I have an idea! What if we took those same resolutions to help give our radio stations a fresh start in the new year? They say it’s easier to disrupt a habit if you reframe it as a fresh start.*

Lose weight!

We know that eating junk food is unhealthy, but clogging up your radio station with junk can weigh you down, too. Junk programming is anything that doesn’t match your listeners’ needs and expectations or done with excellence. The discipline of losing weight isn’t much fun, but you’ll love it when you’re slim and trim and easier to listen to.

Quit smoking!

Smoking can be terribly addictive, but clogging up your radio station’s arteries with bad programming can be unhealthy, as well. “We’ve always done it that way,” is the mantra of the bad programming addict. Another is: “we can’t afford to research our listeners’ tastes,” but we know deep down in our capillaries that the station would be healthier if only good stuff was flowing through our programming veins.

Exercise more!

Many stations allow clutter to lower their energy and give them the blahs. Flabby areas of your programming can be avoided with regular discipline. Here is a simple formula! When you add a promotion, take another one away. When you add a feature, take another away. When you add a song, delete the weakest one in the library. With each discipline your radio station will become stronger and more finely tuned.

“What you are going to be tomorrow you are becoming today.”

John Maxwell

*More on this dandy idea in “The Illusion of Choice” by Richard Shotton