Whenever I speak with friends or colleagues, the topic of “what’s wrong with radio” constantly comes up. Everyone has different theories and many of them are valid. Upon further reflection, I feel that it all boils down to one word.
No.
In nearly three decades of working in spoken word media, “no” is the one word I’ve heard more than any other. It explains so many of the past, present and future problems with an industry trying to survive in a crowded content space.
No.
It’s a word that has been said about every facet of the business. For those of you that have worked in radio, tell me if any of these phrases are familiar.
NO, YOU CAN’T TALK ABOUT THIS
The recent memo Cumulus reportedly sent out censoring their talk hosts from opinions on the 2020 election did not surprise me in the least.
Companies are infamous for knee-jerk reactions to quell potential controversy. Don’t get me wrong, there is ALWAYS a line and some of the mandates that companies hand out are justified.
Many are just over the top and end up doing more harm than good.
I recall one time as a young Program Director, my morning show host took a very hard stance against affirmative action policies that the local university had been adhering to. Within an hour after his show ended, the station’s General Manger stormed into my office with a sheet of paper in his hand.
“I need you to sign this,” he said.
The document was an edict that, as PD, I would have to enforce a strict policy that matters of race could never be discussed on the station again. I would be solely responsible for said policy and that any violation by any host on the station would result in my immediate termination.
“Hey, why don’t we talk about it first,” I said. “Don’t you think this is an overreaction to this morning’s show?”
The GM went on to explain, in no uncertain terms, that I could either sign this document or clear out my office. Since my rent was coming due, I signed it.
The next thing I did was start calling anyone and everyone to see if they were hiring. I wanted out. A short time later, I landed a new gig.
Radio has lost a slew of talent to different content channels because they didn’t want to be censored or overly controlled. It’s understandable why companies would want to avoid controversy. Far too often, the cost of doing so has been worse than the controversy itself.
NO, WE CAN’T SELL THAT
Yes, the pandemic has hurt many businesses, radio being no exception. The reality is ad revenues for radio have been on the decline since 2006. While digital services jumping into the competition pool has been a big reason for this, so has radio’s stubbornness.
It was shocking at times sitting in sales meetings with fellow Program Directors and hearing how often they would shoot down a revenue idea. Often the phrase that was used was “We’re not doing that; it would be a ratings killer!” Many former colleagues would try to protect ratings points like they were their own children. The irony was, they often did so at their own peril.
Radio is a revenue, not a ratings business. People lose their jobs for reasons related to the all-mighty dollar; not because their AQH shares went down because of Neilson’s nonsense.
While I was never one to roll over and rubber stamp any idea that an account exec would bring to the table, I always did my best to find a solution. I grew up in a family of salespeople. I understood what life was like cold-calling and living on a commission-only basis. You don’t sell, you don’t eat. I would never tell a DOS, GSM, or AE ‘no’ without trying to come up with an alternative that would work. There is ALWAYS a middle ground that can be found. Working on compromises with the sales staff was an opportunity for mutual education. I’d have a chance to explain to the salesperson WHY their idea wouldn’t work for the brand. The salesperson, in turn, could explain to me their client’s needs and how I should align my thinking.
NO, WE CAN’T SPEND THE MONEY
I’ve found far too many radio execs that are comfortable playing defense rather than offense. Quite honestly, I can’t blame them. Companies have made it a capital crime for GM’s who can’t properly justify an expense. In doing so, they’ve created an atmosphere that isn’t about winning, it’s about simply not failing.
I remember in one market; we had the opportunity to make a bid for the broadcast rights to a popular local sports team. Getting them would have been an absolute game changer for us. At the time, the station we were bidding against had been paying $4 million a year in rights fees. When we put our proposal together, our counter to that was to offer no rights fee at all.
When we were finishing our proposal, the GM looked at me and our sales managers and said with a laugh, “It will be a fucking miracle if this works.”
Feeling like I had to speak up, I countered, “Aren’t you afraid we’re going to get laughed out of the room when we propose this?”
“Hey,” the GM responded, “I’d rather be laughed out of the room than ask (our company) for $4 million a year!”
Our presentation was an absolute embarrassment. The Team President looked offended afterwards and insinuated that we were wasting his time. It was a bad look for us and left the impression that we were low rent in front of a multi-billion-dollar company. We didn’t get the radio rights and continued to struggle to gain traction in a competitive talk market.
But hey, we didn’t have to ask for any money.
NO, WE CAN NEVER DO THAT!
Innovation has been sorely lacking from the radio space for far too long.
I’ve written columns in the past that radio needed to embrace technology, not ratings. As streaming services continue to haul in billions of dollars, I’ve pleaded for radio to put a value on their content and to not be afraid of the paywall. These progressive, forward-thinking ideas have generally been rejected.
Much of this is because many radio fears failure.
This ultra-conservative approach has not only stymied the industry’s growth, but its ability to be creative.
While a good deal of progress has been made in the digital space, radio has embraced new ideas at a snail’s pace compared to other content providers.
Facebook built a company worth over $700 billion and did so living under the mantra to “move fast and break things.”
Amazon has a trillion-dollar empire and got there by “treating every day like day 1.”
Apple is a $2 trillion dollar company whose bedrock is coming out with the coolest new tech toys every year. Radio’s mantra? “Hey, we’re surviving!”
