A few days ago, “The Wizard of Ads” – Roy Williams – wrote a thought-provoking piece for Radio Ink that connected with me. In “My Apology To Programmers,” he talks about the drip-drip-drip erosion of programming resources, and how the audience eventually picks up on it. And his big takeaway?
“Radio no longer values that customer, and we’re being punished for it.”
Why do I know he’s right? Because I’m beginning to hear it more and more in focus and L.A.B. groups. While I greatly value perceptual studies, they don’t allow us to hear the “voices” of the listeners because their questionnaires are set in stone, and their output is quantitative data in the form of charts and graphs. But when you listen to listeners, you can hear the emotional change in tone.
The analogy that 
Roy used was a good one. He likened the corrosiveness of staff and budget cutbacks to a café owner with a popular soup. His accountant advises that the restaurant could be more profitable by adding 5% more water to the soup. Of course, he does, no one notices, and business was good. But then another 5% more water was added because customers couldn’t tell the difference. And because no one complained, another 5% more water was added to the formula.
And you know the end, as eventually the conclusion reached by the diner is that “The soup here isn’t as good as it used to be.”
That’s the radio story in a nutshell.
So the question is, has anyone noticed?
Let me replay you a conversation I had in a Listener Advisory Board group last summer for a heritage rock station that has traditionally had above-average personalities in prime dayparts.
Me: So is there anything that keeps you away from the station, that prevents you from listening more often?
Respondent: Yes, I don’t like it when there’s no one there.
Me: “When there’s no one there?” What do you mean?
Respondent: There are times when there’s no one there. You can tell.
Me: How can you tell?
Respondent: They just play songs. There’s no person talking and you just hear the recorded guy.
Me: Are there certain times when you notice they do this?
Respondent: I notice it more at night and usually on the weekends.
Me: And what effect, if any, does this have on how much you listen to the station?
Respondent: I don’t listen as much when there’s no one there.
Yes, it’s an N of 1, except that I continue to hear similar sentiments from listeners around the country. Companionship, curation, content, and color are all assets that great DJs can bring to stations.
Music scheduling was not originally intended to take the heart out of a station’s music footprint. And voicetracking was meant to be an unnoticeable substitute for talent being there live in the studio. Yet, quick and dirty execution or not even bothering with recorded voices undervalues a radio station’s prime asset.
Like lip-synching, fans notice. And many actually care.
Williams concludes his piece with this statement:
“Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the customers are noticing the water in the soup.”
Roy, you’re not wrong.
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In a tweet to me, Fred, you asked if listeners can hear bad voicetracking. I think they probably can. I am a sometime-voicetracker, and I do everything within my power to make it sound “lively,” if not live—hitting posts, adjusting levels, tweaking fades and cold endings, etc. But the limitations of the technology, and the nature of the beast, can only be partially overcome. Sometimes when I listen at home, it’s painfully obvious that I don’t have the kind of control over the sound of the show that I’d have if I were there in person. I am guessing some listeners perceive the same thing, but I wonder if they can articulate it.
I have a sense that your focus on trying to make it sound “real” and in the moment is a plus, and becoming more of a rarity. At the beginning of this phase, maybe voicetrackers made a greater effort to create a show that sounded like the real thing. Over time, the priority may have shifted to how quickly and efficiently can I get back to the next task at hand. And in that regard, the multitasking aspects that so many in radio have to face becomes erosive. But the real obvious moments are when there are no DJ tracks at all, and the “show” is simply songs and recorded sweepers. I believe that’s what the respondent in my focus group was talking about. Thanks for the comment.
Hey Fred-
Great post as usual and I KNOW you and I have had this convo before…however I’ll bring it up again. The reason this is proliferating at such a drastic level (IMO) is because there no significant “punishment” via Nielsen for those who do and frankly, “reward” for those that don’t.
While morally and ethically as radio people, we dislike it, but if there’s “water in the soup” the soup will stop selling..to everyone. At 367 meters to measure my 677,000 25-54 year old adults in my market, there just ins’t enough measurement pain to go around. If the V-tracking stations or the syndicated stations felt ratings pain, they’d stop. In most cases, they don’t, because the measurement system is so fundamentally flawed.
That, my friend, is the “elephant in the soup” 🙂
Dave, I think you’ve clearly identified why no one cares. It’s the same as running two stopsets an hour with 10 commercials in each one. If there was visible ratings damage, it would have stopped a long time ago. The “rhino in the soup” is that broadcast radio is not just compared to the other station down the dial. Radio competes with everything. And it’s that wider competitive arena where these things matter. I have moderated a number of groups lately where even consumers who enjoy Spotify, Pandora, or their iPods admit that it gets boring, or they sometimes even miss hearing DJs. In the broader ecosphere of audio, AM and FM radio would be wise to revisit what it does and what it can do that these digital competitors aren’t doing. Appreciate the clarity and the note.
spot on Fred….great input.
Appreciate it, Dave.
Since its analogy day, I’d like to address one point and offer yet another analogy.
First, radio’s dwindling PURs over the past 15 years suggest that the collective water in radio’s soup HAS impacted ratings. Second, if the concept of an ecosystem’s carrying capacity is analogous, it could all come undone in an instant in a way that is irreversable. When an ecosystem endures too more stress than it can absorb, it has exceeded its carrying capacity. Stepping across that line cuts the size of that ecosystem by HALF. Permanently.
Too much water in the soup runs the risk of (here’s a cliche to add to the mix) posioning the well for good. Its interesting to note that radio’s PUR slide began the year duopoly was sanctioned and the trend has accelerated in lock step with the ensuing cost cuts.
About 10 years ago, one of our teenaged babysitters noted that she liked to start on the treadmill at the beginning of the hour, “when the radio plays all of its music”. She went on to say that from about 20 after til the end of the hour “all the radio plays is commerials”.
Yes, they DO notice – even high school.
Roy’s point – that it’s gradual – is part of why it can be deceiving and easy to convince yourself that no one can tell. My former employee, Andy Bloom (get ready for an analogy) used to liken it to the kid’s game Pick Up Sticks when we’d get in those insidious spotload discussions (“Can’t we just add one more?”) In the game, each player would deftly remove a stick from the structure hoping that it wouldn’t collapse. But at some point, you keep removing sticks and the whole thing goes. Thanks, Bob, for taking the time and reading our blog.
Please see and read this:
https://leealansblog.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html#5824192844586676835
Regards
Lee Alan
Always great to hear from you, Lee, with a perspective that everyone reading this blog can benefit from. Can’t thank you enough for sharing with us.
I think that the pictures in the mind thing goes for the music as well. I’m glad MTV is gone. It’s way more fun to envision your favorite songs in your own head than to be spoonfed some perfume spot producer’s view of what he thinks sells. Long live Audio Only.
Video will always be a part of the music experience, and we DO have MTV to thank. But it’s interesting that on YouTube, many of the “videos” that accompany songs are lyrics, static slides, or random designs. That’s where the theater of the mind kicks in. Appreciate you taking the time to comment, Robin.
Came across this, thought I would pass it along. From James Cridland:
https://www.mediauk.com/article/34478/why-voicetracking-is-good-for-the-radio-industry
Make of it what you will, I’m off to watch WWIII
Yeah, I saw this also. James is a bright guy who brings great insights from across the pond. I think both he and Larry Rosin make some strong points. Whether you buy into the efficacy of voicetracking or not, you have to ask about just how frequent it’s become – to a point where perhaps it has just become excessive – supporting Rosin. And the question of why so much of it is just plain shoddy, as James Cridland points out. Two smart guys providing great food for thought for the radio industry. Thanks, John.