The whole key to Content is one simple thought – “tethering” the Subject to the Listener.  You have to meet her or him where they live.

Just recently, I watched an old “Andy Griffith Show” rerun about a Mayberry High School reunion.  It touched everything I felt about my own reunion, how it reawakens old feelings, puts things in perspective, etc.  (Andy saw his High School girlfriend, wondered why they drifted apart, then realized why when they got into an argument over staying in Mayberry as a “big fish is a small pond” instead of her moving to Chicago to compete in a larger arena.)

Over the years of watching what are now classic sitcoms, two names keep coming up: Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell.  Name any big show in that era – Andy Griffith, M*A*S*H, Mary Tyler Moore show, etc. – and they wrote episodes for it.  They had the knack of writing something very particular to each character, but framed by what the viewer had in common with them.

That’s your challenge, too.  If you need help, get some coaching.  This is an Art, not just a technique.

It’s a big challenge for a Programmer.  You want people to listen, so you play their favorite songs.  But if all you are is a playlist, you’re not even competing in the radio world.  You’re competing with entities like Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes music, etc.  (Even my cable TV network has dozens of music channels.)

What every station should want is effortless flow and momentum, but still having (or taking) time to DO something.  “More music” can often mean “less Personality.”  That’s a death trap.

But on the other hand, “No restrictions,” the opposite side of the coin, is a trap of a different kind.  Great personalities have to be as good as the best song you play, too.

Music. Personality.  You don’t want one without the other – in ANY daypart.

It’s easy to wonder why radio stations sometimes decay, or never really become top stations.  This needn’t happen.  Bill Young, PD of KILT in Houston for many years, was a major influence on me and countless others who worked for him.

Before it became okay to own a zillion stations, Bill had an AM and an FM that were both hugely successful for one reason: he filled the hallways with the most talented people he could find.  Then he let them do what they do: create great radio, great Production, great Promotions, and come up with great ideas that challenged the “We’ve always done it this way” prison.

My friend “Brother Jon” Rivers, a great Top 40 jock who then became probably the best-known personality and Programmer in Contemporary Christian radio at KLTY in Dallas, put it this way: “If you hire enough really talented people, you eventually reach ‘critical mass,’ where the station EXPLODES – in a good way.  It gets so good in every area that success is just a byproduct.”  That’s the Big Goal.

If your station isn’t this way, I would recommend doing everything you can to change it.  Hire the brightest minds.  If budget is a challenge, hire young, less experienced people and let them grow under this umbrella.

I’m not one of those “everything was better in the old days” people, but in radio, that certainly can sometimes be true.  ALWAYS look for the creative “spark” when you make a hire.

Anyone who’s done a team show knows that it’s very similar to a marriage. As a matter of fact, I know many air talents who refer to their partner as “my work wife” (or husband).

You spend a lot of time together. (If you don’t, you won’t be very good.)
You’re working toward shared goals.
You want it to last. (Especially now, “movement” isn’t nearly the same as it was 20 years ago. A new job is pretty hard to find when one company owns multiple stations. If you divorce one station, you probably divorce all the stations in that cluster, or maybe even all the stations in that company.)

So, remember this: If you “cheat” on a team show, it may bring on a divorce. Here’s how I define “cheating” in the radio context:
Hold your ego in check. If you don’t, resentment sets in.
If you habitually talk over a partner, resentment sets in.
If you don’t share the credit, resentment sets in.

And remember that nobody goes to a party to hear someone fight with his wife.

– – – – – – –
Tommy Kramer
Talent Coach
214-632-3090 (iPhone)
e-mail: coachtommykramer@gmail.com
Member, Texas Radio Hall of Fame
© 2021 by Tommy Kramer. All rights reserved.

One of the main things I watch out for as a coach is when someone’s ego gets overblown.  Here’s why…

The Beatles squabbled often, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr grew to resent how John Lennon and Paul McCartney were making a LOT more money than they were – when often, George, in particular, contributed lyrics or musical ideas that played a big part in fleshing out a song that John or Paul “wrote.”

Many groups, like U2 for example, learned from this, and simply listed “U2” as the writers of their songs.  Problem solved.

As a team show, or as a radio station. a COLLECTIVE ego, where you have pride as a whole, as a TEAM – but not one person’s ego dominating everything – always works best.