Between the BSM Summit and other conferences I have attended over the last four years, the idea that digital audiences are more loyal to the advertisers that support their favorite creators and shows has been hammered into my head countless times. That is a simplified version of reality. In the cases of people like Joe Rogan or Bill Simmons or Alex Cooper, the only way you are getting their content is digital. If you really love what they do, you will listen to the advertising that comes in the middle of their content.
If I am listening to the podcast replay of a radio show I like though, I do not want ads presented to me the same way. The whole reason I am coming to a digital platform to get a broadcast product is to get the content on-demand and uninterrupted. So, shouldn’t the sales staff rethink how it offers these digital products to advertisers?
The radio business is trying to stretch the boundaries of what it has been for so long by embracing digital platforms. A lot of stations have struggled to monetize that. While there are a lot of reasons an individual station may struggle to make money off of its digital content, the underlying factor is always the same: neglect.
The sales staff neglects to acknowledge that digital and broadcast entertainment are not the same things and are not consumed in the same ways. The content creators neglect to put the time and effort into creating something that audiences truly cannot get from them on the radio, and management neglects to give those creators a reason to do so.
Sure, sellers have to rethink and learn new strategies for selling these products, but that isn’t where it stops. Managers can create more value for those sellers and their clients by incentivizing talent and programmers to create something more interesting than just a show replay.
Do you remember Mayne Street? ESPN had a unique talent in Kenny Mayne, surrounded him with a bunch of other funny people, and let them create something cool and fun. The best part, from a business standpoint anyway, is they got Toyota to pay for it all.
Mayne Street was a comedy series – imagine Curb Your Enthusiasm with Kenny Mayne in the Larry David role. In fact, a lot of the supporting cast went on to have major roles on NBC’s Parks & Rec.
It wasn’t something you were going to get on ESPN. This lived on the company’s website and YouTube channel. It gave people a reason to seek out and spend time with ESPN’s digital content.
Your station can do something like this too.
Radio buildings are full of creative people. Where are your original series? Where is the experimentation? We aren’t putting steel in the ground in this business. There is no cost to trying out a new idea. If it doesn’t work, we can just throw it out and not do it again.
There are so many weapons of content creation at our disposal. The digital platforms are endless. Most stations have dug in with podcasts. How many have created content for video platforms like TikTok? How many have found a way to utilize Twitter Spaces and Spotify Live?
On top of that, good equipment is cheap. If you want to create a digital presence that lives side-by-side with what goes out over the air, you have never had more advantages than you do right now.
Create shows and products that give advertisers a reason to spend the money necessary for a level of exclusivity. If it’s video, put a short pre-roll at the front and then put a logo in the corner. If it’s audio, put a live read from the host at the top and at the back end.
The most important part though is making the creators partners in this. Pay them for the digital content the way you would for an endorsement. If you don’t give a person proper incentive to do something that requires extra work, it will show in the end product. It won’t be something of value to advertisers.
I am not telling you anything new when I say sports is an expensive format. You already know that the on-air product requires investment in order to create the kind of product that listeners connect with and advertisers want to spend money on. Why would we approach digital content any differently?
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
