If you are in the radio industry, taking calculated risks is not on the drawing board right now. There are many reasons why.
Any loss of ratings and revenue is avoided. In professional sports, it is called tanking. Your favorite NFL team may be in the middle of the pack but is very competent. The team you love is playoff-adjacent. So, teams often tank for a season or two to rebuild.
Perhaps it is time to tank on your show and rebuild. How about tanking in your life and building up yourself? Is it your station that needs to tank?
So, if you are a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers — your team has been competitive for decades. In the last decade or so, the Steelers had a winning record and likely made the playoffs. Sadly, the Steelers are not ready for a Super Bowl run.
How about your show? Is it competitive? Is it a winner? I had a show host tell me a couple of years ago that he does not care about the ratings. He does a show for himself. If you are paid to host a news/talk radio show, you are in a treasured position. It is an honor to host a show. If you are not interested in your audience, why are you here?
Your Show Should Imitate Real Life
If you have been doing essentially the same show for the past several years, it is time to reassess. Is your show like the Pittsburgh Steelers? Is it better than most but not at the top of the pile? Long-term survival would indicate that thinking is a failing strategy. You don’t want someone at corporate to demand change and examine every moment on your broadcast.
Let’s talk about your life. Is it time to tank? I am not writing about destroying everything in your existence. We all have things to address. Many of these things are destructive to our personal and business lives. It could be drinking, gambling, a hobby, a bad relationship, a dysfunctional work situation.
Do you need to cut something out? I have a friend who was totally immersed in his hobby. It was a perfectly constructive endeavor that provided him with enjoyment. Well, his hobby became all-consuming. The pastime that was meant to take his focus off stress at work became a 24/7 obsession. He decided to take a break. He had a basement full of equipment, and sold it all. Later, he found that he had become a servant of his hobby.
Is there something in your life that dominates your existence? Do you need to simplify? Again, this is a very personal question. I don’t want to tell you what to do. You may need to take a step back on a few things. I know a talk show host who was the go-to guy in his community. He hosts a morning show and seemingly served on many boards and was the master of ceremonies for many events every year. Here was the problem: he woke up at 4 in the morning and got home at 9 every night. This dedication was bruising everything in his life. His marriage, family, and show had become damaged. This guy resigned from most of his commitments and limited himself to a handful of events each month.
Are you overextended? Is there balance in your life? Is it time to pull back from some commitments?
Time to Rebuild Your Station
What about your station? Does it need to tank and reinvent? Obviously, we as an industry have revenue challenges and need to be profitable. Your station may need a refresh. What is going on with your station’s imaging?
When is the last time that you updated the station’s sound? I was listening to a great news/talk radio station recently that was using a news theme from the ’90s. I like the ’90s like everyone else, but if your presentation sounds like 1990, change it. What about your station’s narrator? Is the imaging voice now wallpaper? You may want to evaluate it carefully.
I know that reimaging a station is a tremendous project. If you run a music station, a reimaging project can start with a dozen liners and a snappy new legal ID. News/talk radio is much more complicated and time-consuming. But if it needs to be done, this may be the moment.
Speaking of imaging, is it the writing? Is the imaging too predictable? It’s the Joe Blow Show on AM 950 KKWW. That doesn’t say anything, and your host should be able to say their own name. It is a pet peeve of mine when hosts are allergic to saying their name. Do you want new fans? Do you think that everyone listening knows the lineup of your station by memory?
PPM data says that the average person listens to 10 stations per week. Say your damn name and give your station’s address often. Introduce yourself to new friends. You would do that at a party, correct? If that is true, do you expect your listeners to know what they are listening to and who you are?
Embracing Change
We should always be questioning things. Your life, career, and news/talk radio station are in flux. I can guarantee one thing in life — change! It is human nature to fight change. We like things the same. You have that favorite restaurant. You love a certain singer or band.
Sometimes, we need to evaluate things in our lives. Simplifying may be the best way to make yourself happy and successful. Take a day to think through things. Take a day off and remove all distractions. Think about all the things in your life. Focus on what is working, look at what can be tweaked, and the things that need to be blown up.
Many of us in radio have sprinted into change. We have moved across the country. We start from scratch in new cities. And we have loaded our cars on trailers behind a U-Haul, arriving at an apartment that we have only seen on a website.
Don’t let your desire for stability interfere with your success.
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Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He currently serves as News/Talk Format Captain for Zimmer Communications. Prior to joining Zimmer, Peter held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.