This morning, a reminder that radio no longer operates in a vacuum. And important to note that this post is NSFW.
It starts with a “news” item from The Onion (actually, it first appeared back in 2011) that came through my email box last week:
Radio DJ Invites Whole Town To Some Bullshit
News in Brief • Local • Unsponsored • ISSUE 47•48 • Nov 30, 2011
• 2.9K36724TULSA, OK—According to an on-air announcement, KWPA disc jockey Johnny the Radio Bomb is inviting the entire populace of Greater Tulsa to some bullshit or other happening this Sunday. The bullshit, which is taking place in the parking lot of Kirk’s Mattress Warehouse off the Broken Arrow Expressway and may or may not be in a tent, will feature free hot dogs, an unbearable local blues-rock band, a bunch of other bullshit, and an appearance by Johnny the Radio Bomb himself. “Everyone’s welcome,” the Radio Bomb said as he cued up “Feels Like The First Time” and “Juke Box Hero” for a Twofer Tuesday rock-block. “Hop on down to [the bullshit] between two and five.” In addition to picking up bullshit bumper stickers and stupid-ass balloons for the kids from the KWPA Prize Patrol, visitors can register to win a 2012 Toyota Corolla.
Of course it’s satire. It’s The Onion. But doesn’t parody tend to reflect a humorous view of reality? And in this case, the reality revolves around how long can lame, ineffective radio remotes and on-site promotions sustain themselves – much less client and audience interest?
To see a real, live DJ on site can be a memorable, even a life-changing moment. Or it can be a sign that a station is mailing it in – or worse, just isn’t very appealing.
And when stations engage in the same old remotes, the same wheel-spinning-prize-winning games, and offer the same banal experiences again and again – well, it stimulates Onion-like parodies.
It’s a reminder that while radio has a key advantage because of its on-site access and abilities (you’re not going to go to a phone store or a car dealership to meet Pandora), the demands of these time are forcing radio to up its in-person game.
“Good enough” is no longer good enough.
How can events, remotes, and live experiences for fans be enhanced? How can stations truly add value for clients by putting together different, more engaging meet-ups?
It comes down to setting higher standards, raising the bar, and demanding that we look and act bigger, amp up the fun factor, come across as more professional, and be more engaging.
And to modernize event promotion, it’s also about asking how social media, apps, texting, photos, and other digital tools can be woven into these unique, personal moments to make the more meaningful, memorable, and special.
When we do things the same way again and again, the audience – and advertisers – begin to lose interest. Crowds dwindle, demand ebbs, and one of radio’s true advantages becomes equalized and loses it potency.
Whether you’re in Clarksville or Chicago, there’s every opportunity to be more creative, more energetic, more present, and more engaging.
A staff brainstorm is a place to start because the more of these appearances you’re contracted to make, the more they have to be better in order to maintain their effectiveness.
Otherwise, we’re just parodying ourselves.
Thanks to Saga’s Steve Goldstein and Emmis’ Jimmy Steele – two very A-level players – for bringing this story to my attention.
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Stop doing them…Yeah sometimes clients will insist but break your sales department off the crack and your jocks off the money…and just stop doing them.
Nobody cares…And hasn’t for a while…Oh free pizza and t-shirts you say…Nope…Nobody cares and there isn’t anything anybody can do to make it better.
I installed a Playstation in the last Rock 101 Van that I was in charge of getting ready for the road. The game system was set up to drive the game sound through the speakers…That worked then, but wouldn’t work now. They’ve got the same games installed in their in car and phone systems.
As for the sales people…Just ask the client if they’d rather have more commercials or somebody taking up 3 of their parking spaces on a Saturday afternoon.
The radio remote is dead…Do on-air promotions that can drive traffic, interest and ultimately dollars to your clients and sell the vans.
Mike, these comments are appreciated. So that’s the question – is the model dead or is there a way to reinvent it? I’ll be keeping an eye on comments today (and beyond), but I still feel that personal connection with radio has value – is it that radio has beat the remote to death OR would some innovation make a difference. You are not the first to suggest selling the vans – let’s see the mood of the room. Thanks for weighing in.
I disagree with Mike. Nobody cares because the DJ doesn’t care period. We do the “same old” remotes but my DJs ENTERTAIN the entire two hours they are out there. They don’t sit in a folding chair, spin a wheel or try to hide behind the tent. The spots leading up to the remote are entertaining as well and it’s about the prizes as it is about the fun and meeting the DJ. Here’s the biggest problem. Who wants to meet someone that is a slacker liner reader on the air? NO ONE!!! So you have to go to the root of the problem. PPM, Drive-by consulting, idiot PDs that only care about self-preservation and the only making budget matters sales people are to blame. Most radio DJs today don’t have a clue how to entertain on the air and off the air. Start there
Rick, thanks for adding to the conversation with inspired comments that speak to the approach and the goals of these personal interludes with a favorite station and/or DJ. Appreciate you taking the time.
Super…..Excellence in everything radio does is essential. Spread sheets don’t run stations…..Content and People Do. Here comes the new season! Clark http://www.broadcastideas.com
Appreciated, Clark.
Where there is humor there is truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws58s9wzYsA
More parody (meaning more truth?). Thanks, Steve.
Mike is right on the money. If the reason and payoff are interesting enough, maybe an occasional remote is a good thing, but the Onion parody is so close to reality that it isn’t really parody at all. And the rub is that most remotes don’t even feature station personalities because so many stations don’t have any on sight anymore. Remotes have to be real events to be effective and very few are.
At a lot of stations creating an event that includes digital media would require a sign off from some corporate type at headquarters who never set foot in a radio station, taking one really good way to create and fuel and event off the table.
Dumb down the product, dumb down the sales force and you dumb down the industry.
Bob, these comments continue to get to the heart of it – a real, personal appearance that is meaningful and helps connect the audience to the station – NOT the card table and the van. Thanks for taking the time.
Actually, in relative terms the remote described is way “bigger” than today’s typical car dealer “event.” I mean, a live band AND a chance to win a car? Sweet!
Thanks, Harvey. 🙂
One of the best comments I’ve seen in a long time
Thanks, Bob!
If the DJ is someone the audience cares about, great. They won’t be coming for the balloons and hot dogs but the kids might say “ok” long enough for mom and dad to make a stop. However, when the station sends the now ubiquitous “street team”(code for 2 bored interns thumbing their smart phones) it just reinforces the stereotype so brilliantly lampooned above.
Exactly!
if the promotions people are smart – they will know that NINE times out of ten, the listeners come to an event not for the bumper stickers, NOT for the street team – but to see their favorite DJ – it’s not the same experience otherwise, period!
problem is, like Rick has previously said, a LOT of the radio guys today have NO clue WHATSOEVER how to entertain – ON air or OFF the air – again, there are exceptions… 😀
Radio Gal, some good points. A lot of this goes right back to the fundamentals of radio, staff training, customer service, etc. Thanks!
EXACTLY! radio needs to get back to fundamentals, period!
Jack, thanks for the comments. Of course, the advent of the street team was to accommodate more remotes and appearances than even the most energetic DJs can make. And of course at many stations, there are contractual limits, too. But this question about the efficacy and contribution of remotes also comes down to how many are being sold, and do they lose their value because of their ubiquity AND the station’s inability to fulfill them professionally?
I couldn’t agree more, Fred. The saddest part seems to be that most stations I see out and about at an event simply have a tent with a few interns handing out meaningless promotional trash. The station doesn’t even bring in any talent to talk to the crowd. It’s simply a meaningless presence, which 20 years ago, may have meant something.
A street team should get together constantly to reinvent themselves and not just be as you put it this “ubiquitous”, valueless appearance. This is where programming and sales need to learn more about what the other does. Too often programming just discounts the needs of sales and throws them a pointless bone, just to appease them. If the goal is to be as creative as possible on air, we certainly need to be just as creative (if not more so) when we are actually visible.
I’ve always believed that the most important thing in so much of what we all do every day, is to remain goal oriented. That keeps us all from straying off our marks.
Thanks, Bob, and can’t agree more. Somehow along the way, the purpose and mission got skewed. Radio started doing them to fulfill sales requests and the true intent got lost. Appreciate you taking the time.
as a longtime student of radio (particularly NYC radio), I agree with what Rick and Jack are saying – the problem with a LOT of radio appearances today – it IS just a couple of kids just spending a few hours with a wheel and t-shirts – however, there are exceptions… 😀
Thanks Fred, Bob and RadioGal(!) Here is, maybe, one more reason for the stampede to hire street teams: some ad agencies are asking for it. Whether you think it makes sense or not, it is all the rage with some clients and ad shops. So stations are just giving them what they want. Place a buy and get an on-site sampling session (“not a remote….we don’t want THAT”). The station’s promo team or some interns hand out flyers for the client. Same EZ-Up tent. Same key-chains. Add a few flyers and kids wearing(your company name here)T-shirts and suddenly you’ve got an event! The BS isn’t just coming from radio. Some of it is coming TO radio.
but again, Jack – most listeners these days want the “radio experience” – not just winning the stuff or getting free stuff from their favorite station -they want to be able to say they met their favorite DJ from that station! and, sadly, a LOT of the radio stations have forgotten that – one or two kids with a table – to them, that’s an appearance!
Jack, totally get it. But as long as you’re going to fill an advertiser request or sales commitment, why not look good and make an impression? This isn’t just about satisfying clients – it’s how these promotions look and feel to listeners. When they see a lonely intern at a shabby tent with an old van nearby….well, you get the idea.
There seems to be a lot of focus here on what the sales team, clients and on-air staff want, need, care about, etc. Its all so internally focused. It seems that we have forgotten what our reason is to exist at all. And here comes the shocker – its not to make money. We are here to serve an audience, to entertain/inform/help/support people. For many listeners, we are a lifeline, a conduit to the world, and our on-air staff are their friends. I know, its naive and idealistic, which is why I have continued to work in non-commercial media. Once we start thinking that our sole reason to exist is to make money, we forget about the recipient of our labor – our listeners. After all, they don’t really matter unless they have a PPM in their purse.
You’re on the money, Abby. We’ve gotten so caught up in sales fulfillment that the listener has been left behind. Thanks so much for this timely reminder.
A remote broadcast can be one of the best advertisements you can still do. Today, more than ever, it’s important to be out and be seen.
Fairs, parades, community fundraising events. We’re there and actually reporting live and shaking hands and kissing the figurative baby. We listen to what the real people that listen to us have to say.
Interns with a prize wheel and cheap crap with the station logo and pre-recorded out-of-market voicetracked talent drops on the air? I agree, why bother.
Radio Gal, I submitted my response to Jack before I saw this comment. Obviously, we agree. Thanks again for chiming in.
Steve, thanks for making the distinctions. Done right, on-site appearances can touch people’s lives and build brands and communities. Thanks for commenting.
The dreaded remote, how I hated them. Especially when you are working for one of the largest Radio companies in the country and they don’t budget for remotes. Instead you get a card table, 4 CD’s to give away and pre-recorded call-ins. Talk about embarrassment. I had to buy my own table cloth and speaker so that we could talk to “the crowd”. Try a remote at a bank! Or at a Piano Store. The worst two hours of a salesperson’s life. Get rid of these remotes! They are awful and a waste of money…but wait, I have to make my budget! Sure, a two hour remote sounds great!
Nancy, as you point out, they can be demoralizing for talent as well. Let’s face it – on air personalities are trained to think about numbers of listeners. When you’re at a remote and a half dozen people show up in an hour it can be disheartening. We owe it to our clients, to our personalities, and to our listeners to stage good events that are well-planned and have a strong chance of success, while providing a great listener experience. As you point out, there are budgetary concerns, but the erosive nature of bad remotes over time creates a downtrend that may not be reversible. Thanks again.
At least it’s not just radio…
https://youtu.be/9U4Ha9HQvMo
No, bullshit is everywhere. Thanks for the equal opportunity viewpoint, Seth.
I fear the day we’re no longer allowed to bring food to remotes. The car dealer’s sales staff might starve to death.
This article makes some good points, and then I read the bottom where you thanked some A Level Players.
I worked for one of them, and I’m quite familiar with one of his stations, where they’ve kept the same boring talent on for years, only now they’re even less interesting. Live appearances are duller than ever. The station never hires because “it’s just not in the budget”.
It would mean a lot more if these practices were actually put into effect. Maybe then the revenue would start pouring in?
Scott, thanks for the comments and your honest thoughts. Both Jimmy and Steve are top-notch product guys. They each have a strong sense of how to win in an increasingly challenging business. No excuses because your own experience is valuable, but it is an imperfect world where broadcasting companies are forced to make the decisions that are often difficult and appear to be short-sighted – especially from the outside. It is difficult to know the factors that are in the balance. Thanks for taking the time to weigh in.
When I wasa young man Labella And Rhodie from Kzew in Dallas would be contracted to preform a remote broadcast from Kips Big Boy Restaurant. They would bring with them records and two turntables . there would be a truck parked outside with a 30 ft tall antenna.
They would do their entire show in front of a live audience who would buy pancakes and coffee for the simple joy of watching a live radio show. Anything that happened at Kips Big Boy would go out over the air. If a waitress dropped a tray the city knew about it. If Labella spilled coffee he had to use his gift for entertaining to talk his way through it.
The advent of the cell phone made anothrr kind of remote possible. The kind where the ninety second breaks got called in and the danger of coffee being spilled onto a
turntable was minimized. We lost something that day. We gave up on being show people we began to accept our own mediocrity We became as entertaining as a month second rant could allow us.
Hey, Jake, it was a different time. But there was clearly a sense of showbiz and “reality radio.” Much of that has been lost in the modern-day remote. Thanks for commenting.
I mean ninety second rant would allow us. Don’t get me started on what predictive text has done to mankind.