Here’s a guest blog from Jacobs Media’s Keith Cunningham:
Would an NFL coach move the kicker to the QB slot just to save a few bucks? Nope. So why would someone be asked to program or sell a format they have no experience with, just to add some dollars to the bottom line?
If you haven’t read the 10,000 Hour Rule chapter in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, it’s worth your time. The premise is that the best in the world have put 10,000 hours of work into their craft.
If someone wants to be a professional basketball player, they’ll need to spend a lot of time practicing their shot and moves, learning the winning strategies, and they’ll have to study their competitors to know what to expect. You can’t just become a great basketball player without knowledge and experience. Natural ability and all, even LeBron James likely surpassed the 10,000 threshold of pure practice before he was 20 years-old.
Now let’s turn our attention to radio.
Downsizing has forced many in the industry to take on multiple jobs. One of the unintended consequences is that too many radio professionals are assigned to jobs they’re simply not qualified for.
It’s miscasting in broadcasting.
Let’s consider these sales scenarios.
1. It’s not uncommon to find sales staffs representing music products they know nothing about, or catering to a demo they’re totally unfamiliar with. If you believe that a good sales rep knows their product, a tough job becomes exponentially more difficult when you don’t know your format or your audience.
2. Many in sales are asked to provide digital solutions for clients, yet they themselves don’t understand how tech applications really work or how the audience even uses digital tools.
3. As a result of downsizing, many reps now have lists that are just too long to adequately service and thus, customer focus and attention suffers.
Let’s shift gears to programming.
1. There are PDs all across the country being asked to program additional formats they have no past experience with. That’s not to say that basic radio fundamentals aren’t the same across formats. But a lack of experience with a particular genre and audience is usually a deficit for even the best PDs.
2. DJs are voicetracking to cities they’ve never been to, and for formats they know nothing about. Even the best communicators struggle when they’re broadcasting to people and metros that are just blue pins on a map.
3. There are promotions and programming people doubling as webmasters, even though their skills are minimal. That’s not to say they can’t eventually get up to speed, but the learning curve is steep, and other media continue to provide more sophisticated web efforts over radio.
In tough times, everyone has to pitch in, learn new skills, and adapt to changing conditions. While those who have been laid off deserve some empathy, those who find themselves cast (or miscast) in different roles have severe challenges, too.
Radio may be able to get away with patchwork staffs for a while, but there’s a point reached where the lack of experienced players in key roles will take its toll on the product. Many stations are getting by on the fumes of brand-building that took place over the past decade or more. But that foundation will eventually erode when the lack of “10,000 hours” pros comes home to roost.
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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One of the upsides of consolidation is that it has given great opportunities to those who would not have been promoted as quickly if at all. I have seen a few talented individuals take the ball and run with it.
The downside as you pointed out is that even the best ball runners can faulter, especially when they have little experience running.
There are also those that have been promoted that had no desire to take on additional challenges but agreed to such to stay employed.
What we are seeing in the programming arena today, IMO, are administrators. They don’t really make business or creative decisions, they just implement orders from headquarters.
Yes, radio folks are often “miscast”, AND many experienced pros are “outcast”. We can’t forget those who are replaced with less talented and less experienced personnel to save a couple of bucks. I’ve been an “outcast” for two weeks, after hosting the same morning show on the same station for 20 years, then replaced by former interns turned part-timers. Listeners and advertisers are keenly aware of this trend, and they are not afraid to express their frustration. This was on my Facebook page this morning from a 30-something-year-old female:
“I HATE HATE HATE you are no longer on the morning show. I drive to Va. Beach every day, from Franklin and need you to get me through the drive. I have been listening since 1996. It was wierd because when you left the show I was truly upset. It was as if I lost a friend. lol crazy huh?”
I swear I didn’t make that up.
This woman is upset that the coach pulled the QB, and put in the kicker. Tommy Griffiths
How about those of us that stepped up and managed the stations web site and tripled as the promotions director, MD, PD and cheer leader and did it all very well and still because our salary was tall we were cut loose!
Mark V., How dare you be good AND productive and expect radio to pay you what you are worth! Tommy Griffiths
My favorite broadcaster.