This one will get me in trouble.

But I’m okay with that.

Almost always the question we are discussing is not the question at all. Rather, it’s a glimpse into something more significant.

Example:

Other person: Why should we air traffic reports when people can get that info on their smart phone?

Me: If we eliminate everything people can get on their smart phones we’d have to get rid of our music. Then where are we?

I work with a radio station in a top market that is consistently ranked #1 where the traffic reporter is one of the highest rated personalities. Eh gad! He even has his own jingle.

Can listeners get that info on their smart phone? Certainly. But that doesn’t limit the station from having a programming element that is interesting, relevant, and preferable to their listeners.

(Don’t mistake: this is not about me urging you to do traffic reports. It’s a bigger discussion than that).

Profound statement: A radio station’s programming isn’t defined by just one element, followed by another element, followed by another element. No, a radio station is a mosaic of colors and emotions from laughter to tears, designed to touch the heart and the soul.

It’s called The Brand.

Too many stations are nothing more than a stack of attributes with no connection to a meaningful or preferable brand.

If the words that define your station are words that any station in the format can have simply by being on the air, then they aren’t unique and preferable.

But that’s a Frost Advisory for another time.