Today we’ve got another guest entry from Jacobs Media’s Keith Cunningham:
The Internet, wireless technologies, and file-sharing have changed everything. Never before has news and entertainment moved at such a rapid pace. Consider John Kerry’s latest gaffe. Botched joke or not, it was only minutes after he planted his foot (leg?) in his mouth that his comments – both audio and video – were available to the entire world on the Internet and TV. And less than 24-hours later, the photo you see below was being seen and shared by thousands online.
It’s the print and CGM equivalent of a morning show bit. It’s an immediate and humorous payoff to a big news story that everyone was aware of. If FM Radio is going to be successful at injecting itself into today’s conversations more often, and be the music, entertainment, and topical informational center for a market, it must make better use of speed at all times. AM Radio often does it better.
Historically, radio has had the ability to be the fastest moving medium. Got an idea? You can have it on the air in minutes. Conversely, print and TV generally had lengthier timelines. But they’ve caught up to radio in the speed game. And sadly, voicetracking, production outsourcing, and pre-scheduling music are dramatically impacting radio’s speed.
How can radio again capture the moment and react right now, when something is hot or breaking? If there’s no one in-house who can do good production, if the creative team is too busy doing 10 jobs to even pay attention to what’s going on, or if we don’t have a live jock on the air for twelve-hours, how can we react to what’s going on in the market or in the world? At that point, radio is too s-l-o-w.
Implementing speed isn’t difficult; it just takes awareness and discipline. One idea Fred and I are proponents of is the 15-Minute Meeting. It’s simply a daily quickie creative meeting with the creative staff (who are simply the sharpest, cleverest people in the station). Bat around current events, both local and national, from pop culture to politics to sports – and determine what could be done. Whether it’s a bit for mornings, a full-blown weekend or station promotion, a funny drop, or simply tidbits of information for DJs to know or bring to the airwaves, the 15-Minute Meeting can single-handedly impact a station’s topicality and creativity – and improve its speed.
Gone are the days when stations can afford to have a liner-writing session, produce them up, and let them rotate for months. Things are moving too quickly – in the world and with competitive media. It’s time for radio to get up-to-speed.
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 other thing that has slowed radio down -in the big corporate world, you oftentimes have to run the idea up the ladder 5 or 6 rungs and wait for it to come back down to do anything.
You’re right, Greg, because if you just follow
your instincts and “go for it” without first
obtaining permission…often you’re later that
day in the general manager’s office being lectured
(or worse). Of course, there is the old standby
rational of “forgiveness is easier that permission”…
but then they can say “this is something you should
have had the experience and smarts to just KNOW would
be inappropriate, etc., so I’m not buying it”.
There is a built-in (structural) problem in which
jocks are rewarded not to be edgy or aggressive…
in a way that ends in mere creative frustration
and a terrible feeling deep inside that they copped out.
So it really boils down to: do you trust your jocks enough
to pre-empower them with the right to take a calculated,
educated chance at 6 am…or do they REALLY havd
to wake up the PD and ask if it’s O.K. The average jock
would take the easy road and just say, “Aww. screw
it. This isn’t worth the political fallout later”.