What 3 things makes a station a ratings winner?

[emo474]

Ok.. this should be easy.. you've got a new station to program... Radio is not like other industries. If there's a very popular format in your market, you can, if you want, copy that format to a "T". Getting an identical library shouldn't be a problem! So once you match them song per song, what makes one station a winner and another a ratings disaster? It's not jingles, liners, or those promotional drop-ins that are totally overused: "This is Britney Spears.. listen to WXYZ -FM?" I never tuned into a station because the jingles, liners, or drop-ins sounded hot. So give me what makes or breaks a station... and why aren't more stations trying to succeed by using these tools? If it's a morning team, contests, and visibility... what's the problem? What I'm trying to get at here is, when things aren't working.. PD's usually try a host of fixes to right the ship... "We need new Jingles!” ... "Let's call ourselves THE NEW WXYZ" or "Let’s bring in syndicated programming and automate (in other words,give up)!" So what 3 things make or break a station and can the station manager control those elements (staff) or are they out of your control (signal strength/dial position)?

 

[waunderlust]

If it was easy, everyone would be a winner!

 

[crmc]

In my opinion, there are lots more than three components that make for ratings success...but you asked for three:

1.Excellence in execution on-air. That includes talent, imaging,continuity,technical parity,and a list that goes on.

2.A format laser focused on the ever-changing wants of it's audience. Answered mostly through research, not to the taste of staff, experts or radio insiders( as those who read or post here usually are).

3. Compelling content, which is different from # 1.

 

[kfitz]

Hey!!

Where does promotion and marketing fall in here!

KF

 

[hammondo]

Money, money and money.

 

[crmc]

The question was "Top three". I can name many examples where Promotion and Marketing made the difference in a station's success. But without my top three, all the promotion and marketing will do is invite people to experience a mediocre station and they may not return.
My mother used to say you get only one chance at a good first impression.
But, KF, I'm a believer that excellence in execution, a format that the listeners helped mold, and content that is compelling will make a big splash on it's own air.
Yes, money is needed, but it's been done without before.( As you know, KF...master of chicken-wire and spit that you are!)
I can site some pretty successful stations that are dwarfed in spending by their competitors. They get it done with excellence in execution, passion in all aspects/departments of the radio station, killer talent, and a focus on serving the wants of the listener above all.
Those who think this is bull,OK. Your opinion. Then I hope you work for the other guys across town, whatever town that may be.

 

[hammondo]

Let's revise this a bit; competitors who are asleep (and there are plenty), money and money. Money makes it alot easier.

 

[hammondo]

Let's revise this a bit; competitors who are stupid or asleep (and there are plenty), money and money.

Money makes it alot easier.

 

[masterg]

Hey!!

Where does promotion and marketing fall in here!

KF

Promotion and marketing in radio(and TV, too)is all about what a station puts on its own air. It was like that 25 years ago, it's like that today. Okay, there are exceptions, but they are few; an occasional billboard, a traded newspaper ad, etc., but that's the extent of things. You want huge ratings? Put a decent staff and format together, then spend a million dollars promoting it through an agency that knows what the hell they are doing. Let some "experts" handle it. Shove the station up the collective nose and down the collective throat of NE PA, and the numbers will climb quickly. But you can't just do it once, and you likewise can't just hit it during a book, you need to be there in everyone's face non-stop. Running raging hot promos on your own air ain't gonna cut it. Not to be too corny, but it really is yet another example of the tree and empty forest.

I spent a lot of time in the biz and know full well that most managers and programmers think that just because they are in a advertising driven business they know all about advertising and marketing. Sadly, they do not. Here again, however, we keep coming back to money. I sure can't say that the right promotion and marketing could make a really lousy station successful. But I can say with confidence that you could take a mediocre station and drive its numbers through the roof if you threw enought money at it.

I am in no way arguing against execution and passion. But without independent, well-thought, and therefore pricey marketing guidance, you're doomed.

 

[waunderlust]

Sorry there may be hundreds of things, but IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC. I can site numerous examples of stations in NEPA that changed their music (not their format) and saw significant gains or losses in the Arbs. Maybe it's an NEPA thing, but if you play the music they will come. Yeah, you can say the Arbs have a 6 month lag, you can say it was book placement, you could say it was execution, but I'm going to totally disagree. The music changed-the numbers changed. Enough said.

What you say between songs is important (after 15 years of telling us that jocks don't matter, consultants have changed their minds...that's how they keep their jobs), but without the music people WANT to hear nothing matters.

If you do research, do it right. Base it on YOUR market and the listeners YOU want. Don't test country listeners for an urban station. Don't test rock songs for a lite AC. Stairway to Heaven will test well no matter what the format. I can site even more examples of research where one person has changed the sound of a station, more than once, based on how they felt that day. Yes, the same people will be repeat survey takers. And I only heard about it AFTER the survey.

Marketing is important, but secondary. In this market listeners must sample a hell of a lot, but when they like you they stay. I know that doesn't seem logical, but it's true. Maybe it's word of mouth, but I've seen stations spend a lot on marketing and fail, others spend little and succeed.

I'll close where I began IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC

Sorry if I got long-winded...call me a frustrated wanna be PD who watches others fail/succeed...a lot.

 

[masterg]

I'll close where I began IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC

Respectfully, I disagree. Perfect example - WWDL. For years WWDL had one of the best music mixes in the market, and most everyone I knew who worked in the biz thought so, to the point that we often referred to 'DL as the market's "Best Kept Secret." The numbers sucked. Always did. Why? My guess is that, by an large, no one knew they were there, because the station never spent a nickel promoting itself. Instead, the owner pocketed what was likely millions over the course of 30+ years. Unfortunately, we're all aware of how that ended.

Music - Extremely important.
Music - Just one piece of the puzzle.

 

[hammondo]

Me too. If you do research, do it RIGHT! It takes MONEY.

If you do promotion... super promotion, it takes MONEY.

You can't have good people doing "what's between the music" without MONEY.

MONEY to begin with. It takes money to make money.

 

[waunderlust]

OK I admit the stations I saw suddenly change already were somewhat familiar to listeners, but their numbers changed almost immediately just because they fixed the music.

As per WWDL, didn't they stunt it pretty well into their launch or was that just a buzz in the biz? They became a case where what you say between the songs mattered. I agree I liked their music too, and no offense to the talent, but I couldn't listen very long because the jocks between the songs didn't "jive" with the imaging and the music of the station. Although "most everyone I knew who worked in the biz thought so, to the point that we often referred to 'DL as the market's "Best Kept Secret." may be true, just because a format is done well, doesn't mean it's "right" for the market and not everyone in "the biz" knows what is right..

 

[dmer]

As a radio listener, the thing I look for most is music variety. I hate repetitition. Hearing the same song twice in a day instantly turns me off to a station (obviously WKRZ and WBHT are not on my radio). I also prefer music from the 70's and 80's. I don't like a lot of talk but can tolerate some of it if it is witty and entertaining, or if it focuses on the music. I don't like voicetracking and can usually pick it up pretty easily now since so many do it these days. I also like to hear news, weather and traffic (even if its usefullness is debatable) in the morning and afternoon (why do so many stations not have news updates in the afternoon?).

Most people I know listen to a particular station because of the music. People that like rock listen to Rock 107 or maybe the Mountain. People that like soft rock listen to Magic 93 or EZ 103, etc etc. Kids tend to like the top 40 stations (or CHR if you prefer). Stations need to market to their demographic and let people know what type of station they are. Don't try to market outside your demo. Your average 15 year old is not likely to listen to EZ 103 or Classic Hits 103.5. And at least around here, most people pick a station and then never change the station. That's probably why new stations have such a hard time breaking through. I know a few people that listened to Magic 93 for years and only recently changed to EZ 103. EZ has been on the air for almost 3 years now. So if your a newbie you have to give your station time, perhaps years to break through.

 

[emo474]

I posed this question becuase of the stupid things that some programmers do when they think they're making a big difference at their station. I've heard money, promotion, and variety. Nowhere did I see voice tracking, repeating songs every 90 minutes, becoming impersonal and updating liners. Just like real estate (location, location, location), most of you felt money, money, money was important. How many stations really spend the money to make the money? Once everything is in place, the format, jocks, and rotation.. the emphasis always seems to be on toying with the stupidist things...we need new liners, jingles, let's repaint the van, we need a new slogan! None of these things attracts or holds listners.. so why do the programmers do everything else under the sun that's contrary to what really needs to be done to gain raitings?

 

[making waves]

I found it curious that everyone else said money, money, money makes the difference. Sure, if you had a million dollar promotional budget you could put up a bunch of billboards and buy advertising EVERYWHERE, and SURE, that would make a difference in impressions, especially if you had the largest promotional budget in the market. The thing is, most stations don't have a huge (if any) promotional budget anymore.

What I think a lot of radio mgmt believes is that, since there's no money to promote, to make a difference in the book, they have to focus on tweaking the other stuff...the programming, music, staff, van painting, logos, imaging, blah blah blah. However, if they focused harder on creatively getting their staff and calls in the faces of the listeners, they could do more low cost or free promoting than they thought.

It's a package deal. You won't have listeners if your music programming doesn't take into account local or regional listening habits and preferences. You won't pull numbers if Joe Bob Diaryholder doesn't know about you. You won't pull numbers if your talent doesn't connect with local listeners or is unlikeable (ah, that elusive likeability factor). And of course, if Joe Bob and Jane Diaryholder don't write down the half-hour they listened to your station because at the end of the day when they actually filled out their book, they forgot...or they accidentally confused your station with the other station, well, you're screwed there, too.

A big huge part of the issue is that the ratings system is broken and needs to be fixed. But also the misconception that you can't promote for free or cheap.

 

[masterg]

A big huge part of the issue is that the ratings system is broken and needs to be fixed. But also the misconception that you can't promote for free or cheap.

Cheap or free? Sure, you can do it. But you've heard it a million times - You Get What You Pay For.

I cannot count the times a PD thought he could make his station successful by ...getting us out there in the community, by having his jocks everywhere, everyday, non-stop. Great, wonderful. Then you start trying to make numbers magic and money on the backs of your employees, burning them out, working them 6, and sometimes 7 days a week. Been there, did it, seen it, hated it, still do. Worse yet, it doesn't work, there is nothing to be gained.

If you cannot drive listeners to your freq and make them sample, then you cannot recruit new listeners. And you need money to drive them to sample. Tweaking keeps listeners, it doesn't recruit them.

 

[crmc]

To comment on the last two posts:
Making waves- read back a few posts and you will see that I addressed several of your points.The one point I would like to add to is that while diaries are still the ratings methodology( remember that electronic people meters-PPM- are now ratings currency just two hours down the turnpike in Philadelphia), unaided recall is the challenge. And without a tremendous outside ad or marketing campaign, it's the slogans,imaging, promos, sweepers,and of course the on-air execution that can PERHAPS make the impact, get the extra quarter hour from a diary-holder,further brand the station. Unaided recall is a memory game. The PPM markets have validated that. Houston as an ongoing beta-test, running PPM's concurrent with diaries, and Philadelphia where it's PPM only. PPM ratings showed that rank of stations didn't change that much, but people who wrote down two or three stations actually listen to 5 or 6 in a week.Cumes shoot up, TSL down, and a new set of rules of engagement appear on the scene.
NEPA will be on the diary for years to come. Arbitron is rolling out only in the top 50 markets over the next few years. Getting them to remember is and will still be the key here to ratings success.That's why there has not been a new player in the top 4 12+ in NEPA in over 10 years. Unaided recall.

Masterg- while you are correct in most aspects,in my opinion,and from my experience over the last 30 years, the "out in the community " part of the equation is just that. A part of the equation.I have been involved in situations several times when that was the missing part, and the needed component that seemed to hold the station back.That alone is not a fix. A broken station with no connection to the perceptions of it's listeners will get little gain from exposure. It may even hurt. But stations that are focused on a mission, with a clear target, and well implemented formatic elements, and excellent on-air execution from it's talent, will benefit from targeted community exposure.
Outside marketing builds cume.If stations have the resources to market outside their own air, and their product is in order, thats a great way to build cume. Otherwise, it's sort of a hit and miss game of hoping they find you.
But, I have been in situations where it was the talent or the Promotion/Marketing team that was the extra push that made the difference. Sometimes it's new listeners( added cume), sometimes it's more listening occasions from the ones you already have( increased TSL resulting in increased AQH).
If there was uninspired management asking unreasonable requests to inappropiately compensated or over worked staff members, I can understand that the result would be less than favorable. But I can site numerous situations where the grassroots shaking hands and kissing babies was the " secret sauce" that took a well programmed and executed format to it's highest levels. And then after a change " at the top" I've seen those same stations decline when the "New Sherrif 's" scale back or remove that same element due to their quest for less clutter or cost savings or laziness. This stuff is hard work. At the end of the day the willingness to work a little harder, longer and smarter( all three are needed) than the next guy can help the station achieve what others thought it couldn't. Then the neysayers attribute it to luck. Or diary placement.