Today I’m glad to bring in a local pinch-hitter, Tom Bender, Regional Manager and Sr. VP for Greater Media Detroit:
If I hear the term "outside the box" one more time, I think I’ll go nuts. Someone is always encouraging managers and programmers to think outside it, yet managers are intensely uncomfortable with the results.
The need is completely clear: as an industry, we need….and our listeners crave….innovative, stimulating programming. Either they’re going to get it from us broadcasters, or without any fanfare, they’ll just depart to a medium that will provide it.
Our response is far less adventurous. We spend hours fighting over the last 20 songs on a 300 song playlist and whether or not the audience is up for them. We write and re-write liners to make sure that we get every product attribute we want them to remember like a mantra. We listen to the "other guy" on a song by song basis and laugh when they play a bad-testing track.
So….where’s the entertainment? Where’s the stimulation? Where’s the compelling reason to remember to tune in your station tomorrow? How’d we get stuck in this rut?
After all the software, statistics, Arbitron analysis, and competitive crises, let’s remind each other what the objective has always been:
We’re here to entertain people. Audio wallpaper just doesn’t cut it anymore.
–Tom Bender
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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