The People Vs. The Plug In
| The People Vs. The Plug- In
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| So many times when I was applying for my next radio gig, I would ask the Program Director who their competition was. At the time (say 3 years ago) it seemed the competition was across the street. They'd name a few stations in the market taking away some of their Cume and their TSL. THOSE were the competitors. It's funny, still today I ask the same question to different programmers. 'Who is your competition?' Again, they'd come back and say the same thing, 'it's stations so and so'. What amazes me is NOT ONE programmer I spoke to mentioned the IPOD, the internet, or Mp3 players. Interesting. Not one.
To me, the competition is not across the street but it's what's laying in people's laps, in their pockets, attached to their dashboard in their cars, hooked up to their computers at work. It's what they are listening to while they are jogging, walking, cleaning house etc'it's wherever they are. My question is: 'Where is YOUR station?' So many times stations think they are so cool giving away 'an iPod FILLED with your favorite artist's music!' Really? Did you know that according to a Business Weekly article from 2008, there were more than 100 MILLION iPods sold? Not to mention the ones handed down after upgrading to a new one. If you give away an iPod on your station, you're giving them another reason NOT to listen to your station. Listeners get to add the music THEY like to it, which takes away time from listening to YOUR station. Honestly, would you EVER see Burger King giving away McDonald's hamburgers with a side of their fries? Not in a 100 million years! Why? Why give the customer another reason to try something else they might like better? Giving away the iPod'how does this help your station? Here's how it CAN help your station: A) you give them the iPod filled with their favorite artists' music, B) they cannot ADD music to it and C) you put the music in and in between songs you remind them of where they got it from. For example, you fill their iPod with the music, in between songs you put your station imaging (quick 3 seconds) or perhaps, you have a morning show bit (10 seconds) reminding them to listen to the station, or better yet, your morning show cuts a personalized special line that says something like 'Hey Diane, thanks for winning with (insert your station here)! Remember to listen tomorrow morning at 7:10 for more giveaways'now back to your personal iPod from (your station here). This is one way we can compete with the Plug-in. Do you want to know more ways? Keep reading. Every day we read about people losing their jobs in radio. It's the saddest aspect of being a part of something that is supposed to make people happy. Remember the days when radio was fun? Seriously, think about it. Wolfman Jack, Shotgun Tom, Charlie Tuna, Billy Ocean, Howard Stern, Don Imus, the list goes on and on. In their day, that was TRUE radio magic. In the movie 'Good Morning Vietnam', Robin Williams played the radio disk jockey that helped people get through life. It wasn't ALL about the music; it was about the personality on the radio. iPods can't deliver personality, but your people can. We need to bring people back into radio and give the listener something a Plug-in can't, and that is a personality; someone LOCAL talking to them. The only reason the concept of 'less is more' and 'less talk' seems to be working is because the listener thinks 'good, less talk means I won't hear people babble about something I don't care about'. Why do we have personalities on the radio if not to let them have one on the air? If you don't trust your talent enough to entertain your listeners on the radio, then you have the wrong personality on your station. iPods cannot reach your listeners and touch them and speak to them, what they can do is give them an escape from whatever it is they are doing. Wouldn't it be better to have a listener escape to YOUR station versus a plug-in? Sure it would. There's no question we are faced with competition from the Plug-in. If we bring back our personalities let them have the controlled freedom to touch your listeners each and every single one of them, it will win against the iPod. Trust me. How do I know this for sure? Because it took longer than 20 seconds for you to read this and you stayed. Keep your people, keep the faith and keep on keeping it personal. It's The People vs. The Plug-in.
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