The news cycle over the last four weeks has been spinning faster than anything we’ve seen since early 2021. President Biden’s decision to step out of the Presidential race this past weekend set off alerts for news bulletins, text messaging, social media direct messages, and a spate of emails from digital periodicals.
Reports and messages interrupted the lives of many. Opinions from pundits, journalists, and the general public interrupted their weekends to assess the situation and either report the news or listen/watch the news.
The announcement of the President’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris ratcheted up the news to an even higher level. The almost immediate cries for the President to resign his office, and the accusations of a “coverup” of his health status, pushed the average American to seek news beyond what is their normal need for information.
The President of the United States deciding to step away from reelection isn’t just national news: it is global news. These historic moments are few and far between. Whatever the future holds will be studied and analyzed in years to come, but in media, this is our present.
Rahm Emmanuel, the onetime advisor to President Obama, former White House Chief of Staff, and former Mayor of Chicago, is often credited for the statement, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Winston Churchill is the most acknowledged originator of the statement which was, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” The two nearly identical statements bear a message for media. The word good is the one to be emphasized, specifically for radio.
The news-hungry consumer has many options available to them, but it is radio that has an opportunity to engage to a greater extent those who are current listeners and to entice those who have abandoned the medium to return for news and commentary.
The same importance and urgency that’s put upon auto manufacturers to keep radio in the car should be put upon your own programming and product lines – which is to provide credibility and satisfy the audiences’ ability to depend on your station for news and information. The opportunity to reinforce your brand, deliver more frequent reports, compete with social media for immediacy, and make advance plans on how and when to deliver the biggest stories, including having staffers on-call.
These are actionable suggestions from longtime McVay Media News Consultant Holland Cooke:
Be known for knowing what JUST happened, and as the source for what happens next.
Your news network has never been a more valuable asset. Use it to invite occasions of listening, “for a quick [name of network] update, every half-hour, throughout your busy day.” Say that around 15 and 45.
After I recommended that a client station add its network’s half-hour headlines, our promos crowed that, “We’ve doubled down on Fox News,” explaining the times to keep coming back.
Hosts: IF EVER there was a time to make “callers” the show, it’s now. On-hour/half-hour newscasts are facts. Fill in-between with callers’ feelingsand you’ll own this story. Windy monologues risk relinquishing dialogue to social media.
Music stations: Identify your News/Talk cluster-mate as owning this story. Point to them for frequent news updates.
Sales: Work the phones NOW. A bank, insurance agency, or other advertiser can sound blue chip by title-sponsoring network newscasts.
Cooke said, “No other President has left a race for reelection this close to election day. But the Brits just accomplished a whole election in less time. What’s next? Suspense is gold.”
The opportunity to reignite News and News/Talk radio audiences is now. The immediacy of radio is a benefit that’s often touted by media leadership, but it has to be real and credible. That means interrupting programming, including paid programming. Do you, and does your company, have the stomach it takes to win?
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