As we have done the past couple years, our final posts to wrap-up 2011 are our version of a “Best of.” But this year, we’re not making these calls based on OUR opinion of what resonated with you – instead, we’ve turned to the metrics. The blogs that wrap-up the year generated the most traffic and comments.
We start with an entry about how radio has lost its bragging rights, the need to “walk the walk,” and some thoughts about the Merlin Media sign-ons. This one generated a LOT of comments.
We hope you’ve got your shopping all done, and we wish you the best for wonderful holidays.
So much in radio has changed, but you know that.
As we watch the recent staffing cutbacks by both Clear Channel and Cumulus, it has to send out a message that in spite of all the rampant consolidation, something must have gone very wrong. This is evidenced by the seeming necessity to cut budgets and staff, the biggest activity these companies are initiating. And of course, it translates not to better, more innovative radio, but a loss of jobs that leads to something called more efficient operations.
And what message does it send to Wall Street or Main Street when they read these stories on Google News? That radio isn’t what it used to be. That radio is going through hard times. That radio has lost its fastball. That radio has become a second (or third) rate entertainment and information outlet.
But we know that’s not entirely true. There are some incredible radio stories – big and small – that are often overshadowed by the negative news, or worse, the bragging, bodacious, bloviated behavior that has sadly become part of the radio playbook.
Many of these positive stories have been covered in this blog and the radio trades. The incredible WTOP accomplishments – expanding their content to many different and exciting platforms beyond AM and FM. A regular guy DJ like WCSX’s Steve Kostan being inducted in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame. Preston & Steve’s “Camp Out For Hunger” campaign – just one of many incredible community efforts on MMR. We could make a long list of radio’s wonderful achievements and it would make up a week’s worth of blog posts.
Unfortunately to the outside world, a lot of this greatness is being overshadowed by the tired bragging and bombastic, outlandish claims made by some radio owners, managers, and programmers. That style may have been effective in the ‘80s when the WWF ruled, but today, it comes off as positively stupid and sophomoric. Like Donald Trump in business or Terrell Owens on the gridiron, these tactics are tired, lame, and only denigrate those who make them – as well as the rest of our business.
Case in point: the Randy Michaels’ Merlin Media assault on radio that we witnessed earlier this year. Week after week in the trades, those same tired and taunting tactics were published with great glee and excitement.
“Randy’s back” and look at all the outrageous things he’s saying and doing.
- There was the “fresh” war of words that Merlin waged with CBS, culminating in this statement: “There are hundreds of other businesses in Chicago using the word “fresh” in their marketing. We don’t plan to be one of them. We hope this clears up any concern you may have about us using the name you don’t want anymore. We don’t want it either.”
- Or Walt Sabo’s comment when he got the Merlin COO job: “No other mass media company has our ability to innovate and then captivate a significant share of audience and revenue.”
- And finally, there was the message from Michaels to Mason and CBS in late September: “I think CBS has overreacted. I don’t think we are targeting them. When you look at WBBM or WCBS, the audience is incredibly old. My gosh, if you took The Bears out of WBBM, they don’t have many people under 60. I have no interest in the audience that listens to BBM. I think they will continue to listen to BBM.”
And not so many days later, Merlin scrapped their initial approaches in both Chicago and New York and now sound more like the traditional WBBM in format and style. True, FM News 101.1 is still more about the Kardashians than Afghanistan, but the big concession to the traditional CBS/Westinghouse all-news format has been made. Merlin would probably like a few thousand of those “old” WBBM partisans after all.
This isn’t to say that Merlin won’t eventually find some level of success with spoken word on FM, despite the fact that its initial format architecture was dumped.
But the problem is that their attempts to be innovative are secondary to the outrageous claims, the bragging, the tricks, the stealth tactics, the hype – because that’s also what agencies see and hear. And that’s the stuff that reinforces the notion that radio is a bunch of dated wind bags that make lots of noise but fall short on delivering a modern, innovative product.
As a radio executive client of ours said to me the other day when discussing Merlin’s still-births in New York and Chicago, “I have one bit of advice for these guys – SHUT UP.”
And in fact, isn’t that the point? Radio needs to stop boasting, bragging, and making bodacious claims. It needs to shut up and grow up.
Do it on the field. Do it during the games. Put it on the air. Create truly great brands that people care about, provide unparalleled service to our audiences and your communities, and get great ratings – and let those accomplishments speak for themselves.
Radio would do itself a favor by not making noise about what it’s going to do or its improved EBITDA, and focusing on providing great, unduplicated entertainment, information, and service that consumers care about.
Then maybe we’ll have something to brag about.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I live in Chicago. I am not in the radio business. I do listen to radio for a lot of the day. Mostly talk (WBBM, WGN, NPR either local or online) or classical music (WFMT, BBC R3, other online).
From time to time, I sample what is being transmitted on 101.1 FM. I find it not worth my time. It makes what was on that frequency 25 years ago sound pretty good. Anyone remember the News and Information Service?
I’m sure there is a place for another spoken word station in Chicago. The analysis of the competition they face, however, should go beyond WBBM.
1. WGN has outdone WBBM on some local breaking news, partially because, at least in the past, they had a lot of listeners who would call in when something happened.
2. WLS and WIND. I do not listen to them regularly, but they are factors.
3. WBEZ. I know that many in the radio business ignore noncommercial stations. This is a mistake. Based on their fundraising results (and ratings) WBEZ is a competitor. There is nothing else in radio which is anything like Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
4. Online. With the proliferation of the IPhone, people can listen to radio from almost anywhere.
There are some good people working at 101.1. They need to have leadership which gives them a chance. Based on his destruction of WGN and the track record of “FM News” to date, Mr. Michaels has demonstrated that he is not equipped to provide that leadership.
Nudnik, you are no nudnik, and I’m suspending my “no names” policy for your comment because I think you make some importnat points. (If someone wants to call bullshit on that, go for it.) I truly believe that as we wrote in this blog, and as the events of the past week or two in radio remind us, the industry would be much better walking the walk, making their products, contents, and brands better – and talking less. Consumers don’t care about the threats, the innuendoes, the “head games,” or the bravado. To them, it’s just about who’s playing a great song, who’s making them laugh, who’s providing great information, who’s servicing their communities. Thanks for the comment.