News/talk radio has suffered from the lack of cume. This has been a problem for decades. There was a line of thought that was repeated often — the cume problems are because of AM radio, right? I’m not so sure.
Cume seems to be an issue for news/talk radio stations on FM as well. Why? There are many reasons. I’ll share them, and some solutions that you can adopt today.
Hosts need to wake up to a couple of facts. Cume creates long-term success for their show and the protection of their paycheck. The more people listening, the better. Without strong cume, our shows and stations are built upon time spent listening.
Whether you are in a PPM or diary-measured market, this has been the key to success for years. Banking on TSL is highly problematic. A change to the PPM panel where you lose a big listener can be devastating. Diaries getting into the hands of people who don’t use news/talk radio can kill a monthly report from Nielsen. I’m sure that every brand manager has stressed out over both of these real-life scenarios. I certainly have.
Legitimate Solutions
Talk about the things that the audience cares about. If there is a big news story, lead with it. If your hosts were not talking about the ramifications of the attempted assassinations of the president and the crowd at the White House Correspondents Dinner, they were losing more than just audience. They were losing credibility.
Being on Topic A is essential. Some days, Topic A could be many things in your market. Many local hosts believe that being local is the winning strategy. In many cases, that is true.
But if everyone on God’s green earth is talking about an issue that is beyond your community, you better be on it. The biggest story is the biggest story, whether that is in your backyard or on a rat-infested cruise ship off of Argentina. Make those big stories local. Your show’s fans are coming to you for your opinions and observations on the news of the day.
Local News and Station Imaging
Your local news must always be focused on the biggest story of the moment. There is a radio tradition about story rotation. In today’s fast-paced world, your listeners are probably tuning in for short periods throughout the day.
If your newscast is ignoring the biggest story, under the illusion that people are bored, basic radio data is being ignored. Leading with the biggest story is what is expected by our audience. Because of social media and other local news sites, you must be on it. We no longer have information exclusivity. News must be timely. Leading with the best is non-negotiable.
I have one thing I just hate: calling your city by a nickname. I have never heard someone at the grocery store refer to a city by a nickname. But I continually hear news people on TV and radio use these lame attempts at seeming local.
Station imaging is key. How many promos are in your station’s rotation? Are these promos focused on the listener? Or are they just patting the station on the back? Because I have a lot going on, I use one of the promo services for news and network show promos. I receive daily promos that I schedule immediately. I don’t hard-time individual show or news promos in the automation templates.
Due to our format’s reliance on time spent listening, a wide range of promos is necessary. I write stationality-style promos that are community-focused. Sometimes these are about real-life scenarios. I try to use humor or other emotional triggers to make them memorable.
These promos have a limited shelf life. But sometimes can be recycled months later. Using anecdotes connects with people. Obviously, we have either 15 or 30 seconds to accomplish this task, so being quick and to the point is key.
Station Liners and What Comes Out of the Speaker
I hate liners that don’t sell forward. Instead of “Clay and Buck weekdays at noon on [station name],” my liners say “Clay and Buck today at noon,” or “tomorrow at noon,” or “Monday at noon.” Everything sells forward. Station liners are either focused on a station attribute, the station attitude, or a special feature.
I promote weekend programming starting on Wednesday afternoon for Saturday programming and Thursday afternoon for Sunday. Currently, I have 47 liners in the rotation, with weekday programming liners in the rotation three times, separated so that those liners don’t come up too close to each other.
I can do a better job with attitude and attribute liners for the station. Refreshing these liners creates the illusion of making the station very active.
OK, you’re busy. You’re doing the tasks of three or more people. As an industry, we are focusing on multiple ways to distribute content, and sometimes that task hinders the most important thing: what is coming out of the speaker.
I don’t care where people are listening to your station or show, or how. No matter the era or the platform, what comes out of the speaker matters first and foremost.
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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.
