As a Hot AC programmer, you should be well acquainted with your market and which stations (hopefully yours) are leading in the market, and who is chasing you! There are obviously a few factors that come into play when analyzing the above statement. Do you compete with a mainstream Top 40 or AC? Is that Top 40 or AC in your cluster, where you are positioned in a flanking manner?
Whatever your situation is, the one thing it boils down to is…WHAT DO YOU OWN? Are you the station that plays more new music and leads all others in music discovery? Are you the LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL station that is everywhere your audience is? Do you have the heritage morning show in town, or the new kids in the market trying to develop that must listen to show in AM Drive?
With music, if you are up against the Top 40 or a mainstream AC, to effectively compete and hopefully win, you must own enough of your own records. Each station is going to play the obvious bangers…new Ed Sheeran, the new Miley Cyrus, but are you actively week in and week out searching and listening to songs below the top 30 in Mediabase that could connect with your audience and be not-so-secret weapons?
I would suggest finding records you can actively expose to your audience and make you different from the competition. Champion some newer artists, spend time on TikTok and SoundCloud—a couple of other avenues with music to help you stand out. If possible, create a mini show to spotlight your song choices. Maybe you expose five songs in the show, and through audience feedback, champion a couple from each show in regular meaningful rotations during the following week.
This is not just for new songs. If you are fortunate enough to have consistent research. Find recurrents and gold that are different from your competitor. Use a platoon system to get them into your music logs effectively.
When it comes to your morning show, if you are taking on a heritage show in the market, what benchmark features can you and your show create that connect with the audience with elements of localness to the bit or feature!
You need a balance between local and national content that leans more towards the local. Is there something the heritage show does that comes off as tired and stale? Get your Morning Show members out in the market where you know your audience lives. Have them incorporate relevant things regarding pets and kids, two big touchpoints for the Hot AC demo.
Depending on your station’s spot load per hour, can you find ways to float your clocks to create long stretches of commercial-free music for at least 40 minutes or more? One final thing I believe you can incorporate into your station presentation. How can you give the audience control of what gets played?
Maybe not only a sponsored free lunch for a different workplace each day, but let that office pick 30 minutes to an hour worth of songs. Consider mini countdowns that listeners get to host several times a day or week. During my time at SiriusXM, listeners constantly served up feedback on how much they love countdowns. Figure out a way to replicate the DSP experience as best you can and give the listener control.
Today, people have so many choices to get their music and be entertained, but the truth is, most people want their 15 minutes of fame. The competition for ears gets tougher every year, but waiting for label impact dates, having your Morning Show be more music, less talk, or having your other talent basically sound like an Entertainment Tonight reporter is not a way to own your position in the market.
As I stated above, people have choices. Figure out ways to OWN their choice so that you can be the number one preset on their radios.
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Jim Ryan is a Music Radio columnist for Barrett Media. In addition, he runs Jim Ryan Media LLC, a consulting company which assists major market radio brands and top talent including national radio personality Delilah. Prior to relaunching his consultancy in 2025, Jim spent 15 years with Audacy/CBS Radio, serving as SVP of Programming. Among his responsibilities included programming WNEW-FM and WCBS-FM. His career includes additional programming stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston. Jim was voted the #2 PD of 2024 in Barrett Media’s Top 20 series in the AC category. He can be reached by email at Jim@JimRyanMedia.com.
