We often do our best work when there’s very little on the line.
I’ve hit that ceiling with a couple jobs I had early in my career. When I reached that point where I didn’t care whether the job ended tomorrow, I started doing my best work.
When you program out of fear, you don’t usually create anything memorable or the least bit interesting. Like watching NFL teams play “prevent defense,” it makes for a boring experience. And it often doesn’t work very well either.
But that’s the way much of the radio broadcasting industry has been run these past couple decades. We’ve become so risk-averse, we’re afraid to make mistakes. Don’t believe me? Tell me the last thing you heard someone or something on a radio station – yours or someone else’s – that motivated to talk about it with friends and colleagues in the business? I’m thinking it’s been awhile.
Innovation and risk are simply not encouraged to any great degree in a business that would rather stand pat than actually try something new and different. The result? No one is inspired – not the audience, not the advertisers, no our communities, and none of us.
Why am I telling you this? Because last week I received a comment to a blog post that I want more of you to see. I hope the author won’t mind.
The post was: “What Today’s Radio Personalities Can Learn From Wolfman Jack”
I wrote it after watching “American Graffiti” for the first time in years while on an airplane. And the scene where Richard Dreyfuss’ teenage character has a heart-to-heart in the air studio with Wolfman Jack. And it inspired me. It’s a nostalgic film and for many in radio, celebrating past radio stations and personalities has always been a popular pastime.
But that’s not how I saw it. In fact, the 10 takeaways I listed were rooted in modern times – today, to be exact. The way Wolfman comports himself on the air, with his fans, and all of us watching the film is magical.
That was the way Bob Rivers saw it, too. Bob’s one of the finest radio talents I’ve had the honor to work with (and I’ve been fortunate to cross paths many of the greats). Bob is a craftsman, a mentor, and truly one of the smartest, most innovative personalities I’ve encountered.
Here’s his comments to the Wolfman Jack post:
“This really moved me.
I’ve been lamenting the loss of the music radio big personality.
Nothing has changed about human nature, or the need for human intimate and immediate connections. Instead of a talent with a soul curating and discovering the cream of the crop, algorithms predict what you will like by spying on you through the rear view mirror.
Other industries have healthy evangelists promoting things they love for free. On YouTube a star product “DJ” can have huge followings. They are called ‘influencers’ and they get you excited about what’s cool very effectively.
But if I wanted to explore and promote groundbreaking songs and artists as an individual dj today I would be violated for copyright infringement on social media, or be a voice tracing board op playing the safest music a computer playlist can generate.
Surely radio is ready for a movement to compete once again on an artistic level of excellence. I see hot young people being themselves on Tik Tok every day. Those are your stars. Let them in the door. Give them a mission. Then step out of the way.
Cost isn’t the issue.”
No, it isn’t.
And as I thought about Bob’s comment, in context with similar missives I received that day, I started thinking about radio’s risk tolerance at a time when the industry is so in need of a new twist, innovation, or advancement that truly moves a needle that’s been stuck on zero for the longest time.
Radio might not be at that “What difference does it make?” stage…yet. But the price of experimentation and innovation isn’t particularly exorbitant, as Bob points out.
What would it take for broadcast ownership – especially in situations where their portfolios consist of a bundle of stations where there’s always one lagging the pack – to take a well-calculated risk? Too often, radio teams end up choosing a duplicated format in the market, one that is essentially taking up space, rather than contributing in any meaningful way. More often than not, it’s being “bonused” anyway, rather than pulling its own weight. And chances are, it will flip formats in a couple years to something else equally as banal and pedestrian.
What would it take to let creative, energetic young people in the door, as Bob suggests, and let them create a radio station – or better yet, a media entity that doesn’t sound like everything else taking up space from 88 to 108?
I have heard others suggest taking an HD2 and creating a true sandbox of a station – just to see if something new and different could actually connect with Generation Z – or even younger
listeners. But that’s not going to be enough to truly have impact in most markets.
What if it became standard operating procedure for the biggest owner of radio in a market to “sandbox” the worst performing station; to enjoy the luxury and freedom to open the door to innovation?
At let’s leave the four buzzkill words at the door:
“We can’t sell it.”
They have no place in our sandbox. We don’t even know how marketable it is until we get it on the air and see whether there’s truly a there there.
I remember vividly during my early days pioneering the Classic Rock format. When we signed on a new station, I’d spend the morning with the sales department, explaining the in’s and out’s of the nee format: its target audience, its core artists, its spirit of purpose, and why it could work.
And in every case, they hit me with this question:
“What does it sound like?”
In order for them to get their heads around their new station, they needed to think of it as an existing product, a typical product on the shelves of the radio warehouse. And as I (patiently) explained to them, Classic Rock didn’t sound like anything else on the radio dial, precisely the point behind launching the new format in the first place.
The “next big thing” cannot sound like the “last big thing” – by definition and by design. 
When you let creative people jump in the sandbox, it might get messy, mushy, and even a little dirty. But until the powers that be make it a priority to innovate, experiment, and yes, roll the dice on something new, the industry will continue languish, wallow, and run in place with little to show for another year’s effort.
This is not to denigrate some of the fine work being done by radio’s digital denizens. Many are working hard to reinvigorate tired radio brands, making it more possible to truly meet audiences where they are. But it starts with the core product – the brand – the mothership. Show me a paint-by-numbers radio station and I’ll show yet another choice most consumers scan right by.
This isn’t about the money.
It is about the fear of getting a little sand in our shoes, our hair, and maybe even in our eyes. But none of those little inconveniences or even setbacks will kill
us. In fact, it might be fun to jump into that box of sand and start thinking about the possibilities. We might learn a little something the next time we get into a sandbox, whether it ends up being in Charlotte, Columbus or Clarksville.
The first step to trying anything new is the hardest one. Maybe that’s why everyone is waiting for somebody else to open up their sandboxes to innovators, inventors, and even a mad scientist or two. FM radio’s pioneers didn’t get it all right in the late 60’s and early 70’s. But in an environment where there was very little to lose, young, creative broadcasters approached their stations with a healthy dose of reckless abandon. You fill enough sandboxes with innovative, smart, and motivated people, and you’re likely to end up with something that can work.
Ideas are the currency of our business – any business. When you run out of them or worse – don’t really encourage them – you’re doomed to suffer with one mediocre quarter after another.
Earlier this week, Apple released its entrant in the metaverse wars, their $3,500 Vision Pro goggles to the usual clamoring and debating. Tech geeks, nerds, and pundits immediately started analyzing the product, its perceived pros and cons, its applications, and how it might/might not change the world.
You can’t even buy this new piece of hardware for at least six months, more opportunity for everyone to chime in about a new innovation they know precious little about. One thing is likely, however. On its actual release date, there will be lines around Apple Stores everywhere as consumers cannot wait tot get their hands on what might (or might not) be “the next big thing.”
Over in Cupertino, they’re very likely quietly smiling over this expected hubbub. After all, they’ve been to this rodeo before – many times. In fact, they all but own the rodeo. They know what it’s like to spend time in the sandbox, watching their best people create, debate, and hack their to success. This is their first major product launch in years, and they know just what to expect.
Who’s kicking themselves right about now? It would have to be the gang at Facebook…er, Meta. They had the inside track on this coming trend, but somehow managed to miss the moment. You might say the same thing about the invention of TikTok and other innovations the world’s biggest social media player has somehow whiffed on. It’s why the phrase “Innovate….or die” has become a mantra.
We could use a more innovative spirit in our radio sandbox. For too long, it has sat empty. Young kids have no desire to play or create there. There are more fun places to play.
In local radio market after radio market, we could change that.
It’s time to make some noise.
Enter sandbox.
Bob Rivers can be reached here.
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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A-Men!
A friend from when we worked together at Motown in the mid ’60s recently summed it up: “We were a bunch of teenagers who had never worked in a studio before solving each problem as it came up.”
Exactly, Bob. There was a day when the majority of programmers weren’t over 40. If we want young people to come to our party (and THAT’S debatable), we need to give them more than a seat at the table. We need to put them at the head of the table.
The right advice at the right time.
Allow the next generation to invent what they want to hear.
It will be late 60’s early 70’s FM time again, yet for their generation.
The greater the risk, the greater the reward. Ready, shoot, aim, shoot again.
J.B., thanks for the support and the kind words.
Anything can be sold. Sometimes homemade cookies help.
Indeed.
Of all the great stuff you’ve written, Fred, this is easily the most important.
We have become so bound up with fear – fear of a panelist/diary keeper tuning out, fear of missing the quarterly number, fear of not being #1 in-demo, and on and on it goes – that we do not even attempt to entertain (except within narrowly-defined windows of content and time frame).
We do not even think about how we can delight, surprise, and inspire. We think about our “why,” but never about our “how.” We think about this quarter; we do not think about five (or even two) years down the road.
And we sure as hell don’t invest in the right things anymore.
With you all the way on this, Steve. As an industry, we’ve lost sight of some important priorities, especially when it comes to the entertainment factor. It would be wonderful to jumpstart that muscle memory. Thanks for checking in on this one, Steve.
“Cost isn’t the issue”.
I seem to recall my paycheck for the weekend air shift if I could pay for the gas and grab a bag of burgers on the way home (and splurge on a stale candy bar from the stations vending machine)….it was profitable.
The weekends there was leftover food in the refrigerator from a birthday party were a bonus.
I was on the radio!
A lot of nodding (gray/bald) heads, Jerry.
As you stated:
“Let creative, energetic young people in the door…”
OK, I’m good with that.
However…
I would also argue that there are probably programmers already in the building who—
If given:
—an underperforming station
—a clean slate
—no pushback from their VP’s of Prosaic Programming
Would fill a format hole that listeners wanted…
Or didn’t even know they wanted.
BTW:
The programmer would still need to do his/her regular and repetitive logs for the main station(s)
Eventually, that rote behavior will become the catalyst for inspired innovation.
Point well taken about old programmers in the building (or in the wild) capable of doing more than schedule Twofer Tuesdays.
But I do believe the industry was a better place when the PDs were almost all sub-40, albeit it with more control than programmers have today.
Hmmmm…very provocative, but I must be mistaken. I thought we were talking about an industry whose sole reason for existence is to make money for its owners and shareholders. Is there some other reason that commercial radio exists? Because when you listen, its hard to find anything that might resemble something that isn’t intended to generate the largest possible ratings, which is intended to result in the largest possible earnings. “We can’t sell it” really means “If we can’t sell it, what’s the effing point?” I see stories about stations that raise money for nonprofits, but if those initiatives don’t generate significant income for the station, would they still happen? Would a station still fundraise for the Children’s Miracle Network if they didn’t have giant sponsors for it or use it to market themselves to a wider audience? Is that work nothing more than fodder for proof of performance promos?
Bob said “Those are your stars. Let them in the door. Give them a mission. Then step out of the way.” If that mission is to generate net revenue, you can kiss the sandbox goodbye.
Abby, you’re not wrong. Commercial radio is just that – a commercial enterprise that must make a profit. Of that, there is no doubt.
But that doesn’t mean every activity a station embarks on must have a set ROI or it won’t be done. Many commercial stations are involved in community activities, charity support, and emergency coverage that do not have a direct profit result. While some appreciate and seek out sponsorships, hundreds of thousands – and in some cases, millions of dollars are raised in the process. No other radio platform performs at this level.
While I admire the public radio mission like you do, the fact is almost all of their efforts are designed to increase station fundraising. That’s their charge, they’re good at it, but it rarely benefits local or national charities. Commercial radio stations, by and large, devote considerable air time and human resources to charitable fundraising.
Regarding the programming angle to my post, I am not thinking that innovation and content risk-taking is throwing good money after bad. I truly believe that if more radio broadcasters committed to programming something other than the “same old same old,” it would not only bring new dollars to the medium, it would turn a profit. Yup, that’s the goal.
Thanks, as always, for the provocative comment.
Before the internet, before YouTube, before social media … before all of that, the radio DJ was the original ‘influencer’.
People will always gravitate towards tastemakers & curators of entertainment (honestly because we’re inherently lazy but shhhhh). Radio has forgotten that but needs to learn again.
Ed, your last sentence: 100%
All great ideas! Abby Goldstein did bring us back to reality though. More than ever the job here is to bring revenue through the door. In the day the talk station would bring in guest hosts to see how they could do. Music stations had specialty programs on the weekend that covered stuff that wasn’t important enough for the weekday but sometimes these hosts and ideas were great enough to make it to the mainstream programming. That won’t happen now with syndicated dollar a holler paid programming on talkers and the syndicated and/or jockless programming on the weekends and overnights. Someone in an important role took their nighttime jock off the air because “no one listens”. Put something that people want to listen to and you might be surprised. Wider playlists, specialty programs (remember the “midnight album tracker”?). The streamers and influencers can do what they want (without rules)-so it’s going to take a special group of folks to do this on “mainstream” radio-but it ain’t a bad idea to follow Bob Rivers’ idea and put something exciting on the air -and leave ’em alone. I’ve worked with some of the best in the business-and the best talent usually needs more assurance and support than direction.
Dave, please see my reply to Abby.
Careful, Icarus!
I’ve used words similar to those on several occasions to people in high towers, and they not so politely removed me from the building and the business.
Change is painful. Better to repeat the same mistakes ad nauseum…right?
Right! Thanks for the warnning.