OKC Thunder and how radio dropped the ball

[duckoutofwater]

Ok gang. I have to get this off my chest.

Oklahoma City made a huge step forward with the welcoming
of the NBA to OKC.

It's what radio guys like me dream of. I spent 20 years in the
biz, and have stepped away from PD duties to be a dad to
2 adopted toddlers.

When I was in the PD chair I would have fought for some sort
of visibility with the team. If I was lucky enough to get it, rest
assured our stations presence would have been known. What
an incredible chance to rub elbows with listeners and be involved
in something HUGE!!!

So - that is why I'm scratching my head. What I saw at the Ford
Center on gameday was shocking. I saw what I would assume we're
talent sitting behind tables playing with their I-Phones while
THOUSANDS of possible listeners walked by. I made it a point to
hang for a few minutes to see what kind of interaction if any
they had with the public. I saw a few listeners, people that
looked like they actually wanted to have some interaction walk
off when they realized the people at their favorite station were
too busy.

So - PD's and GM's - question - what are your people doing out
there? Especially in a GM/GSM position, you understand how
important relationships are. Wouldnt you think that you should
educate your talent on the importance of having a relationship
with consumers/listeners ? That is one of the few things that
we have over an IPOD. Human contact and relationship building
can take your station from "just some radio station" to "I know
those guys". An IPOD cant beat that!

I'm not on your payroll, so I'm not going to go into details as to
how you fix this problem, but I will tell you that you had a
chance to really do something special - and you blew it!

Better luck next time...

 

[b344077]

What I just read is discouraging. I hope this is not the norm.

As a former resident of OKC, there is a much bigger picture and it deals with the needs of a town like OKC if it intends to become a bigger player on the national stage. In addition to being a businessman, I am also an elected official and have followed OKC 's trevails through the years. I am also part of the front line to attract world class business to my community.

OKC is a city that has gone for several brass rings (big-huge business projects) and have, upon occasion picked up a few but not enough. It has become apparent that for them to compete with cities like Indianapolis and Charlotte it needs to have big town venues that appeal to a large swath of citizenry. These must attract the kind of Business Projects that will have OKC elevate to the next level. These needs include things like have more true upscale dining, national cultural events and MAJOR LEAGUE SPORTS. (In addition to an attractive business environment). Securring the Thunder was a big step forward. For the Thunder to be successful, a heavy dose of civic support is key. The media is a major part and the keystone stations must be in the front lines. These kinds of franchises also expand to sport offerings like FSN-Oklahoma, further enriching the industry.

I have nothing but great memories of Oklahoma. Guys and gals, ya'll need to work as hard as you can to grow that franchise and help to grow OKC. You collectively will be the richer for it.

 

[duckoutofwater]

Agreed and thanks for your comments. We have a very
large arts festival that has been going on since Tuesday,
and as of Friday - not a radio station van to be seen on
the grounds at all.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Back in the day just about all the bigger stations would be down there. Of course back then there were quite a few more air talent types to send out there and support people to help set it up. Too bad today's commercial radio sucks so bad...

 

[Hung up]

Agreed and thanks for your comments. We have a very
large arts festival that has been going on since Tuesday,
and as of Friday - not a radio station van to be seen on
the grounds at all.

Seems there was some sort of problem getting clearance from the Arts Festival folks a few year's ago. I can't remember what exactly happened but they weren't radio friendly (wanted to charge for parking or wouldn't let them have space???). If anyone remembers exactly what went down please help me out.

 

[duckoutofwater]

That would be a big mistake on behalf of the festival directors
to do something like that. Between live mentions and promo's
for an event like the fest folks would be making the wrong decision.

I would think that by giving Republic Parking a few mentions staffers
should be able to come and go at the parking garage by the Park Harvey.

I did see 98.9 on Saturday, but they we're kinda crammed into a
bad spot.