The New Year is upon us. This is that time of year that we resolve to lose weight, exercise more, sleep more, spend more time with our families, read more books, and so on. You “get it.” It’s the start of another trip around the sun, and a new calendar pops up on our phones, so it’s the perfect time to make promises to ourselves that have a 50-50 chance of being acted upon.
I would like to see those of us in radio, and any part of the audio business, make some resolutions ourselves for this new year. Let’s resolve to get over our inferiority complex about radio and stop apologizing for a mass appeal medium that has a greater aggregated reach than any other medium. While the level of competition continues to grow every year, and it will continue to do so, let’s acknowledge that we are ubiquitous and can be heard anywhere at any time.
Let’s agree to stop discounting the value of content. Better programming, aka content, always seems to attract the bigger audience. We should resolve to be respectful of the music we air, the talk content we present, the personalities who connect with an audience, the news people that provide information, the producers who put it all together and the production people who produce great commercials and imaging for our stations. When you have a special connection between your station and the audience, do not put it into jeopardy. It’s too hard to attract a new audience.
My resolution is to encourage my radio clients to find the money to put research in their 2025 budget. Technology today makes it easier and more affordable to execute. If you have the ability to ask the audience what they want to hear, then why wouldn’t you be interactive with them. The most successful radio stations year-in-and-year-out are those that combine art & science.
Let’s make a New Year’s Resolution to respect salespeople, to satisfy our advertisers, to help them sell their products and services, to be creative and come up with new ideas that generate revenue for the station and the company. Let’s resolve to air fewer commercials, even if we have to charge more for them, so that our client’s messages are not lost in what’s become the “yellow pages of radio.” Beg if you have to. Excessive commercial loads are the most damaging part of today’s radio.
Make a New Year’s resolution to develop promotions for your audience and for your advertisers. Plan to connect to the community you serve and be prepared to be everywhere and be seen everywhere. It’s more and more difficult as the size of staffs are reduced. Outsource if you have that opportunity. Resolve to stop doing promotions for the sake of doing promotions and focus instead on satisfying your listeners.
Resolve to acknowledge the value that your Technical department brings to your station. I learned early in my career that if you cannot hear the station, you can’t listen to the station. Present a great listening experience, be it on-air or on-line, and strive to have an audio sound that competes with your streaming competitors. Resolve to improve the environment in which your audience listens.
Make a New Year’s Resolution to be more thoughtful, kinder, respectful, collaborative and understanding than in years past. We’re all part of the same human race. Show some empathy. Afterall, many of these New Year’s Resolutions are easier than losing weight, stopping smoking, and working out. Make the resolution to be better at everything you do … and work around those that present obstacles.
Happy New Year.
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