We are most certainly living in confusing times.
For example, we used to know who was rock n’ roll and who was country.
The Who, Ozzy Osbourne, and AC/DC were stone cold rock artists, while Jason Aldean, Garth Brooks, and Tammy Wynette were absolutely country.
But now the Rock Hall, already (in)famous for blurring lines, is about to induct Dolly Parton into their august membership community in spite of the artist’s own rejection of the idea. She has since reversed course, and will happily and memorably appear at the induction ceremony.
And look for her to join fellow Hall of Famers Annie Lennox, Carly Simon, and Pat Benatar on stage, backed by Duran Duran. Along with Eminem and Lionel Richie, the definition of “rock” gets fuzzier in Cleveland with each passing year.
To underscore Dolly’s bona fides in the Rock Hall, Louder recently published a video of her cover of “Stairway To Heaven,” a bluegrass meets gospel of the rock classic. Apparently, anything’s possible in 2022.
Beyond her accomplishments as a singer/songwriter, Dolly has also excelled at acting, including the iconic “9 To 5,” perhaps the most famous female empowerment movie of all time, and one that still resonates today. Co-starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and the late Dabney Coleman as the evil boss, it was released in 1980.
In the 4+ decades that have followed, the rules of the workplace have been greatly altered. Women have made progress since Dolly, Jane, and Lily got revenge on Franklin Hart, Jr. in “9 To 5.” Women in the workforce have broken lots of glass, often ascending to the corner office, the bench of the Supreme Court, and the office of the Vice President of the United States. Yet, the pay gap between men and women is still not entirely closed, reminding us there’s more work to be done.
When “9 to 5” hit the big screen, there was no doubt it signified the traditional workday for the vast majority of American workers, whether they made their living on a loading dock, behind a typewriter, or selling radio time. Whether you were white or blue collar, most people defined their work hours with great similarity.
Then along came the 2000s, where the shift started to take place. Thanks in no small part to the Internet enabling millions to set up home offices (or even working out of coffee shops), managing to get a great deal accomplished even if they actually didn’t set foot in the office.
And then COVID, solidifying use of a new acronym, WFH, that has been a game changer in the workforce – and in the radio industry. In the early months of the pandemic, there were strong indicators Americans were getting their day started later than usual. As s result, many morning shows stayed on the air until 11 a.m. to be more congruent with changing lifestyle patterns.
In the days when every rated market used the Arbitron diary, getting credit for listening at work became a smart and savvy tactic. Adult Contemporary stations, in particular, elevated at-work promotions to an art form, using direct mail and telemarketing contesting to achieve the goal of getting credit for the 9-t0-5 workday.
And Arbitron made it easier for respondents by allowing them to simply draw a
line down a diary page, signifying they were listening to the same station at work for long spans of time, often an eight hour workday.
In the 90’s, Edison Research released a breakthrough at-work study that turned radio’s conventional wisdom on its head. Among the findings – only 4% of American actually got to work at 9 a.m. and punched out at 5 p.m.
Edison also revealed that Classic Rockers were big at-work listeners. And it was that research that led Jacobs Media to successfully launch “The Workforce Payroll” promotion. For years, Classic Rock stations enjoyed great results in their midday and afternoon numbers, paying out cash to their fans for simply listening to the station at work.
Twenty years later, radio tacticians are dealing with a much different reality. Recently released data shows the so-called Great Resignation roars on, making us scratch our collective heads.
Last month, for example, more than 4.5 million Americans told their employers “I quit” – a record. This continues a trend that has raged on for months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While resignations are plentiful in every job sector, those working in manufacturing along with leisure and hospitality are leading the trend. And given what we know about broadcast radio listeners, job quitting is likely occurring among core radio listeners.
Of course, hiring is at a record level, as many workers now have the luxury of weighing their options. For employers, it’s the worst of times. More and more new hires are “ghosting” their new jobs. According to the Wall Street Journal, many don’t even call or show up for that first day on the job. Southwest Airlines reports 15% to 20% of newly hired workers simply go M.I.A. on Day One.
And we’re trying to get them to remember our “key word?!”
Despite this turbulence in the workforce, perhaps the most difficult challenge facing radio programmers who thrive on listener habit is the lack of patterns in hours folks are now working.
The New York Times’ Emma Goldberg suggests “9 to 5” has morphed into the “Triple Peak Day.” She reports that WFH for many has become more like 9 to 2 (with a lunch break in between),
followed by a work spurt in the 7 to 10 p.m. zone.
What does that say about afternoon drive, a period when kids arrive home from school, and as a result, at-work productivity goes on hold. But after dinner, there’s that “third peak” – returning email, getting ready for tomorrow, and cleaning up loose ends from the day. It is reminiscent of how and when many of us did our homework after dinner. And is it another opportunity for the radio to be on in the background?
In the meantime, some companies (none that I know of in radio BTW) are becoming increasingly concerned about the “work:life” balance, a condition that has become more prevalent among Gen Z’s, working its way up to older generations.
In Goldberg’s story, Microsoft researcher Javier Hernandez points out that while workers have become more flexible in mixing their home and work lives, many are also more miserable over their jobs.
That phenomenon is playing out on a new TV series on Apple TV+, aptly named “Severance.” It is a dystopian story of powerful corporations and the people who make them go, And it highlights the question of whether it’s possible to separate our work and home lives.
The diabolical company in the center of this at-work dilemma, Lumon, is a place you most definitely don’t want to work. However, their troubled employees all appear to work 9 to 5 days.
Much of Goldberg’s story about the new working protocols is anecdotal – there’s very little research showing a “third peak,” or even the bifurcated 9 to 2 block.
But it doesn’t have to be that way for you, your station, and your audience. Your email database can shed much light on what they’re doing, when they’re doing it, and where it all takes place. Whether their office is the extra bedroom, a Starbucks, or their car is all knowable information that can help PDs and salespeople understand new possibilities.
Is there an opportunity for listen-at-work promotions in this unstable, rapidly changing work environment? And what about those in your audience pool who aren’t working with no intention of return to their old jobs – or any job? They’re listeners, too, ostensibly with even more time on their hands to enjoy a show or play a contest.
The fact your database is mostly made up of your core listeners is actually a plus. When you understand what your P1s are doing, you’ve gained valuable insight into how to best communicate and market to them, whether it’s making modifications in airshifts, contest placement, or the exposure of new music.
If there’s a new “9 to 5” for your audience, it’s something you can easily find out. My “gut” is that it differs by brand, and certainly format. It would seem logical that an NPR fan is working differently than someone who loves Country, Hip-Hop or Sports Radio.
Assuming they’re not retired, job hopping, or “ghosting” their employer.
Welcome to another “Manic Monday.”
Learn more about your audience in our free webinar, unveiling the key findings from Techsurvey 2022. We’ll address some of the big, existential questions impacting radio, along with action steps to help your station take on the rest of the year. Info and registration 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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Fred, is the automobile radio’s new workplace? Meaning, the listening experience in the car should be the focal point as we adapt and welcome audiences back to traditional workspaces. I’ll hang up and listen.
BTW, Dolly covering “Stairway” is like William Shatner covering “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” 🙂
Let’s do these in reverse order:
I like Dolly, but yeah, it’s like a Sinatra cover of a Beatles song. Or maybe your Shatner line says it all.
As for radio in the car (or wherever), we’re being challenged in ALL locations. But given that the car is still #1 AND most everybody (under 25) has that mental muscle memory of getting in the car, turning the key, and turning on the radio. The fact it was on “autoplay” helped make it our soundtrack on four wheels. It’s the location we need to protect.
Fred –
I was not aware until recent days that Dolly Parton had “reversed course” and is now going to be “happily” inducted into the “Rock Hall” in my former hometown Cleveland Ohio. So their name should now change to the “Pop Music Hall of Fame”. Let ’em all in, who really cares? I kind of side with Todd Rundgren who just couldn’t bring himself to accept appearing at an induction ceremony into the “Hall of Fame” because “fame” is not why he became a musician. Do I sound like an old man: “get off my lawn!”?
I would point out that during most of the months of June through August when it’s still daylight until about 9pm, “PM Drive” now extends by a few hours. Try making a left hand turn in front of two lanes of traffic at 8:30pm in June on your way to the Supermarket – all of which are now open until 12m if not 24 HRs!
In closing, I’d say radio’s strength is “having the last word” to the consumer while they’re on the way to conduct commerce
Gary A. Weiss
Radio One/Raleigh-Durham
The whole Rock Hall thing is like the Kardashian’s. We’d like to ignore it because we know we shouldn’t take it seriously. And yet, we engage with every years inductees because its always controversial and gives us something to talk about.
I love the “last word” angle. I always think of radio as a “windshield medium.” We see the stores and businesses we heard about on the radio.
Hope you’re doing well, Gary.
Twenty years of schoolin’
And they put you on the day shift – Bob Dylan
In my observation, there are a more cars on the road in the mid-days than in the morning drive anymore. Afternoons also seem busier than mornings, maybe mimicking the concert/baseball game paradigm that people arrive at their own leisure but all leave at the same time.
You have spurred me to see if I can get my hands on recent DOT info for the market to see if my observation is correct.
One of the facts that was solidified by the adoption of the PPM was radio listening was driven by employed people who are in a routine. Qualitative information has always shown that high radio listenership correlates with high income and high desire to be “in the market” for products. On the other hand the highest TV viewership corresponds to lower income. If you are watching Jerry Springer in the middle of the day, you are more likely to be unemployed.
We have never really made hay with that point and with the blurring of the lines between going to work and work at home has – with an allusion to your article of last week – left a perception that we have been hurt badly by the work at home trend when it has been slight and, if you believe the Nielsen figures, is largely back to 2019.
Why do people always have a negative and very often wrong perception of our industry?
I think it starts with the same mindset that none of your friends are going to slide over to you at a bar and tell all the money they made by buying an Index Fund or ExxonMobil. It just isn’t sexy and “cutting edge” to recommend a 100 year old industry and agencies in particular love the shiny new object.
Mike, those image problems have been ignored by the radio industry for years. Remember, many radio stations – and large groups – gleefully ran satellite radio spots on the theory it would never amount to much. “Not AM, not FM – XM” on our own airwaves is part of the perceptual erosion that has been allowed to fester and grow. I could go on and on. But you cannot let competitors or even regular “citizens” reposition you without fighting back and telling your story. But the other part is how radio sounds compared to its new competition – the gross number of commercials – is aa sore spot no matter how you try to position it. Thanks for chiming in on this one.