There are many challenges involved in thinking about adapting traditional radio practices to distribution via the internet, but I wanted to focus on one in my first post. Understanding the economics of sound broadcasting is, I believe, as important as understanding how the technology opens up the possibility of linking sound to other forms of media communication, and how audience may shift the way they listen. My central point is that the current idea of radio as a mass medium is based upon the economics of over-the-air broadcasting, that the use of the internet as a broadcast medium radically alters these economics, and so implies that we need new models of radio practice.

In essence, while over-the-air radio is largely a high fixed cost / zero marginal cost activity, internet radio has far lower fixed costs, but relatively high marginal costs. This should be apparent if we compare the costs involved in setting up a significant over-the air station with studio, production and broadcast staff, and transmitters with those required for internet broadcasting. The general observation is backed up by some academic research (Ting and Wildman 2002). Of course, with the regulatory directions faced by licensed broadcasters, and the attention to higher production values amongst over-the-air station managers, contrasting with the desire amongst online providers to automate as much as possible, this isn’t surprising. It is, though, the marginal cost profile which is most important. An over-the-air station with 500 listeners incurs the same costs even if its listenership goes up to 500 000 listeners. That’s not to say that the station won’t improve its production values (and so costs) if the larger listenership raises more revenue, but to make the point that there aren’t any direct costs involved in the extra listeners: the stations still has to pay the same station, labour and transmitter costs regardless of the number of listeners in the geographical area in which it broadcasts. By contrast, the costs of adding the additional bandwidth to service extra listeners faced by internet broadcasters adds significantly to its costs. Even though in the years since Ting and Wildman undertook their study bandwidth costs have fallen, it will always drive up costs to add listeners online when compared with the zero marginal costs of the FM broadcaster.

The ordering of costs in traditional over-the-air radio has always pushed stations to attempt to maximise their audiences within their broadcast footprint. There are again qualifications – stations target wealthy, or less well-served, groups in competitive commercial markets – but mass audiences and spot advertising-based funding characterised the main business model for late twentieth century radio. Each station will have a breakeven point where advertising revenue covers the fixed costs. After this point the revenue from each additional listener is all profit, so even if the marginal revenue falls as the scale increases (as is often the case with broader market groups) potential profits can be considerable.

In online radio, the higher marginal costs of the extra bandwidth may be greater than the additional revenue, especially if marginal revenue falls as scale of listenership increases. It may well be worth having smaller, more tightly-focused listenerships. This may well be even more the case when you start to add additional gains that online distribution presents. I’ll return to some of these gains in future posts, but just to pick a few makes the point well: the ease with which the listeners can be profiled suggests tighter marketing is likely; the ability to charge for listening rights means subscription charges are possible; and the ability to construct bespoke services with computer compiled programmes responding to listener preferences, all make new sorts of radio service more likely.

This all suggests to me that radio formatters and programmers can start to think in radically different ways about how we design radio services for listeners. This opens up considerable possibilities for public service and community broadcasters, and certainly in the commercial field it looks like a business imperative.

References
Carol Ting and Steven S. Wildman ‘The Economics of Internet Radio’ at intel.si.umich.edu/tprc/papers/2002/89/InternetRadio.pdf

On the agenda were the challenges of the current economic climate, the opportunities arising from new media and new technology and creativity. Topics that are very relevant to the readers of this blog too….

The general perspective is that the overall economic climate will remain bad for some time to come. This will have a severe impact on the advertising income, traditional the main source of income for radio-stations. Advertising will move more and more to digital and on-line media, as those are relatively cheap and have very good accountability.

On the other hand for music radio stations, these new media and distribution challenges have some serious issues that comes with those:

• The recession will put pressure on advertising income in the ‘core’ business…
• New media and on-line distribution rights for music are still in the infancy phase and the music industry and rights organisations are developing the models as those happen. This creates a challenge for commercial radio station owners as it is difficult to plan the business around uncertainty…
• Advertisers and media agencies are not that familiar yet with new media and tend to stick with traditional mass media and the advertising models around those…
• New media and on-line distribution adds additional cost to a radio station and the limited revenue that comes from those is not immediately covering these cost…

In my upcoming posts I will share more on these individual challenges and how those impact the business and what might be ways around those issues.

The advantage of a recession sometimes is that you will have to think smarter and smarter to make your business work and innovation and creativity are key…

Over the past 6 months or so, I’ve been involved in a research project with the BBC. We’ve been looking at what listeners and fans do online. The project investigated notions of interactivity; it looked at the ways in which fans of specific presenters express their fandom online; it examined the things that fans of radio soap The Archers do in order to connect and discuss their favourite show; and my bit, with Professor Tim Wall, was about specialist music online.

Specifically, we looked at three things:

1) What do specialist music fans do online?
2) What does the BBC do for specialist music fans?
3) How do BBC staff think about specialist music provision?

The findings, I think, are quite interesting – and a summary of the project is being published on the BBC Radio Labs blog.

But one of the things I found most interesting was the notion of ‘orientations’ that we noticed among BBC staffers. There were clearly people who thought about the online world as a central part of what they did, and others for whom the broadcast was the thing – and anything that the radio station did online was simply there to extend and reinforce the brand.

Now, these orientations are not polar opposites, and lots of people had a mix of both orientations, but people were predominantly facing one way or another. And in fact, we considered both of those to represent missed opportunities.

Now, of course, what the BBC does for specialist music, it does so for reasons of public service, and we go into some detail on that in our report. But it got me thinking about radio personnel in general, and the ways in which they think about the online environment.

If you’re the kind of music radio person with a broadcast orientation, all the internet is to you is a bigger transmitter. Or it’s a kind of a trap that you lay out there in the world, and when people stumble into it, you can grab them and pull them in to your broadcast programming.

If you have more of an online orientation, you may consider the medium on its own terms, but may not be making the most of the music programming which, if your station is doing anything right, is where all the real action is.

The trick is to step outside both of those frames and consider your station as a media organisation in a broader sense.

You are particularly good at media that uses sound – music, speech and effects – but a holistic view of your organisation as ‘media in general’ encapsulates both the online experience and the broadcast one, so that these can work together with a common goal in mind.

In the case of the BBC, it’s specialist music for public service. In your case, it might be music and entertainment for commercial purposes. Or information and debate for community purposes. Either way, the cognitive step outside the two orientations into a wider media perspective allows you to think about broadcasting and the internet, radio and new media, as part of one coherent thing.

And when you begin to do that, a lot of the problems facing radio in the 21st century begin to melt away, and a lot of really interesting opportunities emerge. I’ll be talking more about that idea here on New Radio Strategies in the coming months.

I will be the first to admit that there is nothing genius in here – for the most part, all these pillars are common sense, but that doesn’t make them any less important! And as stated above, I have changed these pillars many times throughout the years, rotating different ones in and out bur for the most part they have expressed the same things. So with all that being said, here we go…..

1. The Right Music – An obvious one, of course, but it needs to be said that if the music isn’t targeted towards your core listening audience then nothing else on this list will matter.

2. The Best Talent – This is NOT an area to skimp on. There’s a reason why certain talent demands big dollars. Because they’re worth it. The whole “you get what you pay for” thing. Back when Mel Karmazin ran CBS/Infinity radio he responded to those who questioned him about paying Howard Stern, Don Imus and others so much. Mel responded by saying something to the effect of, “you’re looking at it wrong – it’s not about how much I’m paying them, it’s about how much they’re MAKING for me.” Nuff said.

3. Unique, Compelling, Exclusive – The “Holy Trinity” of content creation, ESPECIALLY these days where there are unlimited choices for consumers. Any content that you create for your channel, station or platform should have these three elements – uniqueness, compelling-ness (to coin a word) and exclusivity. Sirius and XM got into a bidding war for content because they each wanted content that was unique, compelling and most of all, exclusive. The ONLY place to get Howard Stern was on Sirius; the ONLY place to get Oprah and Friends on radio was XM, they each competed for exclusive sports rights and so on.

4. Think Strategically, Act Tactically – Every station should have its own strategic plan, which simply put is a document that identifies what the overall plan for the station is. Like I said, simple. At its essence, the plan identifies what the station’s three (or so) key elements are. These three elements are the key positions that the radio station is trying to own. Once those are articulated, EVERYTHING that is done on the station has to support one of those key elements – whether it’s imaging, DJ talk, events, promotions and everything else. Once that’s in place, the tactical plan is created. The tactical plan is the document where all of the station tactics are articulated – each of these tactics should support the strategic plan. Sounds simple, and it is. But it’s surprising how many times it’s not done.

5. Specialty Programming – This is an extension of the point above, as specialty programming is a tactic that is deployed in order to carry out the strategic plan. However, it is a pretty important tactic and therefore gets its own number. It is critical for a few reasons, the first of which is that because whatever it is that is created will (hopefully) be good programming for the radio station. . Secondly, the promotion value of the show can’t be overestimated. The specialty program is something specific for your station to promote across dayparts, on the website, in e-mails to the database or elsewhere. Instead of saying, “hey, listen to our radio station ‘cause it’s great…” if there is a specific specialty show to promote the message becomes, “Listen to ‘Most Wanted with Ben Jones’ every night at 7…” (An actual show on Virgin Radio U.K.). And this becomes even more important when promoting across a platform, say like a satellite radio platform.

6. Promote, Promote, Cross-Promote – This ties in with the item above – Promotion is everything. Across dayparts, across channels (in a multi-channel environment), on the website, in e-mail blasts, in outside advertising, wherever, whenever. Promote specific things – shows, jocks, events, contests, whatever. Just promote it.

7. You Have Left the Box – (Think and Re-Think Everything) – You know that proverbial box you’re always hearing about? Not to be cliché about it, but really, take a look at everything you’re doing with a fresh perspective. Don’t necessarily throw out the rulebook (cause there ARE some really useful ‘rules’ that have been established), but re-evaluate EVERYTHING. Look at everything you do and your reasoning behind doing it with a fresh set of goggles. What do you see now? The landscape has changed drastically over the last few years and is still evolving. Make sure you are adapting.

8. It’s More than the Music – Okay, if you’re a music station the music is obviously super important (see #1). But don’t stop there. If you do you’re dead. What does your station do that is SO compelling that someone would rather listen to that rather than their iPod? Are your jocks compelling? Are they babbling idiots or do they have something to say? Do they relate to your audience?

9. Make it a Production – The importance of great production, or imaging, can’t be overstated. At its best, great imaging can go a looong way to communicating to listeners what your radio station is all about. It can convey the brand essence of your station in a way that is creative, exciting and pleasing to the ear rather than seeming intrusive to your audience. At its worst it is annoying, intrusive and sounds like a commercial. Be on the right side of that divide. Make it cool. Make it in tune with the brand essence. Make it fit with the strategic plan. And make it short – you know, attention spans and all.

10. Events – Another ‘more than the music’ element that is critical to the success of a station is events. Partner with cool existing events. Create your own events – be creative, think BIG, be unique. And make sure the event is a good strategic fit for your station. And then of course, promote it! The promotional value of events can’t be overstated – again, it is something specific to promote – and gives all listeners a sense of the ‘bigness’ of all that’s happening on the station/platform. Even if they’re not interested in that specific event, they’ll take note of it.

11. Artist Involvement – Get the Artists involved – through interviews, performances, endorsements, guest DJ slots, hosting a show or other creative ways. This is another area that people can’t get elsewhere – on their iPods or their customized Internet radio channel. The only place that can deliver the artists directly to the people is your radio station! You have to build the relationships with the artists, managers, record people, roadies, whomever; it is imperative that your station delivers the artists to the listeners.

12. The WOW Factor – This is kind of the catch-all. Even if you do everything technically ‘right’, does your station have that ‘it’? Does it reach out and GRAB the listener and entice them to listen? It better. There’s a great scene in that movie “21” when the main character is interviewing for a scholarship to Harvard Law School. The kid has a 4.0 GPA, has aced the law school exam and is a perfect candidate in every regard. The only problem is, as the dean tells him, is that there are 72 others just like him! So, the dean asks him, what makes him stand out and his application ‘jump off the page’ and rise above the rest? What makes his story so compelling? So the same can be asked for your radio station – what makes your station so damn compelling that listeners will say, “WOW”?

13. Communicate – Sounds silly and cliché and basic, but again, sometimes things are cliché for a reason – because they’re true. Communicate externally and internally. Make sure everyone at the station knows what the plan is and make sure everyone listening knows exactly what you stand for and what you’re all about.

I’ve written about these satellite radio micro-channels before here and here and I hate to sound like a broken record, but I will.

Investing in creative, compelling programming pays off.

Sirius just announced that Coldplay will take over one of their channels (Alt Nation) for ten days beginning Friday, June 13th. The launch of the channel, Coldplay Nation, coincides (shockingly!) with the release of the band’s “Viva La Vida” album which will be during the channel’s 10-day run. As is stated on the Sirius website, Coldplay Nation “celebrates the June 17 release of Coldplay’s new Viva La Vida with Chris Martin and the band’s personal introductions to songs from the new album. You’ll also hear music from throughout their career, artists who influenced the Coldplay sound and current favorites.”

This cuts to the heart of what radio has to do to succeed – create programming that is unique, compelling and exclusive. If listeners are given a compelling reason, they will listen and become fans of a radio station or in the case of the satellite radio providers, subscribe to their service.

Coldplay is one of the biggest bands today with one of the most anticipated new releases on the horizon. If you’re a Coldplay fan, the channel is great news for you because you get to listen to a channel that is running what you consider compelling content. Those who aren’t Coldplay fans may not listen, but they will hear about it (thanks to cross-promotion) and they will get the message. The message being that one of the globe’s biggest artists is doing something big and something exclusive for the service that they subscribe to. Sure, it may not be an artist that they’re particularly interested in, but nonetheless they are once again reminded of the fact that “cool things are always happening here” thus subtly giving them additional justification for subscribing to Sirius – which is critical during this time where every cent of discretionary household spending is analyzed for potential reductions.

With Viva La Vida being their 4th studio album, Coldplay doesn’t have the catalog to support a channel for an extended period of time like Sirius’ other micro-channels, such as Springsteen’s E Street Radio, Jimmy Buffett’s Radio Margariville, Elvis Radio, Siriusly Sinatra or The Grateful Dead channel, but that’s hardly the point. With the announcement and imminent launch of Coldplay Nation, Sirius has scored a coup and like George Bush can proudly say “Mission Accomplished,” although without the irony. They’ve sent the message to fans of Coldplay, to non-fans of Coldplay, to subscribers of Sirius and to potential subscribers of Sirius.

This is nothing earth shattering, in fact it’s extraordinarily simple. But then again, most things are. Invest in programming. Be creative in the programming. Offer something compelling and unique and people will respond, even in this day and age of changing consumer habits, declining radio listenership and of serious questions regarding the relevance of radio to people’s lives.

What Park says is not at all dissimilar from the sentiments I posted here a few weeks back. There is a lot of talent to be celebrated. There is even more waiting to be developed, if stations are prepared to take the time to do it. And there is absolutely nothing the BBC can do against a well-constructed Indie station that is rooted in its community, that knows the issues and the talent on its patch.

So, two cheers for Park’s rallying call; he’s not wrong. I’ll make it two and a half if Global starts sourcing its national talent from its local stations, and three if Global frees up (and then supports) its local stations to actually be local again.

After the phone rang I took a look at the caller ID and saw by the number that it was yet another telemarketer. Instead of ignoring it or picking up and then immediately hanging up as I usually do, I decided to answer it up and see what they wanted.

This is where the surprise came in.

The person on the other end of the phone simply said, “Hi Mr. Sabatini this is (name) calling from Verizon Wireless. We just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for being a customer.”

Hmmmm…Okay. The classic setup. Good telemarketing technique – thanking me for my patronage and then coming in for the hard sell. I was ready. Ready to hear the pitch so that I could quickly cut her off by issuing my terse, “no thank you” followed by me hanging up.

I waited for her to continue with her pitch. But there was nothing. I waited for her to continue but the silence became deafening. “Uh, thanks” I mumbled semi-coherently. She thanked me again and then hung up. I stood there a bit dumbfounded. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.

So what does this have to do with radio? Everything. Don’t worry, keep reading and I’ll get there.

Sure, that phone call was just another telemarketing technique – but damn was it a good one. They didn’t actually want anything. Well, that is not entirely true, as they obviously want my business. But at that moment they didn’t want me to do anything, sign up for anything or think about spending more money with them for services I probably didn’t need.

It got me thinking about customer service and the value of GREAT customer service. There are companies that are renowned for their customer service but many, many more who are not.

And here’s where the radio part comes in. In the radio business customer service can mean many things, but no matter the definition, I think you could safely say that many radio stations do NOT give great customer service.

In the radio world, great customer service means delivering MORE to the listeners than they expect. It’s being bigger, better, stronger, faster. It’s surprising them (in a good way!). It’s giving them a reason to listen to your station rather than a direct competitor or a non-radio competitor like their iPod. It’s providing them with a difference – a difference that matters to them. A difference that tells them you care about them. That you understand what they want and that your goal is to meet their needs, and then some. They can rely on you.

In the satellite radio world, customer service has more of a traditional meaning as people actually have to pay a monthly subscription fee to listen, therefore they are the classic “customer.” But the bottom line is still the same – customers have to be not only completely satisfied with the product and service that they are receiving, they should be overwhelmed.

The customers (subscribers) should be constantly reminded why they subscribe. They should be reminded by hearing great programming; creative programming; compelling programming. They should be reminded by coming across all of the unique channels. If the satellite radio business, subscribers have to be constantly reminded why the paid option is a better option than their local and free FM stations. The listeners have to be reminded why you’re better than their iPod. When the monthly bill comes in they shouldn’t even have to think about whether they should keep subscribing or not. It should be like the utility bill. They should feel like they can’t live without it. GREAT customer service can do that. In the radio business, GREAT customer service equates to GREAT programming.

I’m Just Sayin’….

I’ve written before about why I think satellite radio is great – here and here. Basically it boils down to the fact that the satellite services can take advantage of the fact that they have the Power of the Platform.

And while that’s all still true, I want to take a brief break from discussing radio “strategery” or any other serious, well thought out concepts or points about what makes radio (especially satellite radio) tick. I just want to talk about the experience of listening to radio as a listener.

Here in the States, we are just coming off the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend. It’s the weekend that officially celebrates the men and women who have given their life in service of our country while also serving as the unofficial kick-off of the summer season. Over this weekend, radio stations traditionally do something “special” and this weekend was no exception as stations trotted out their countdowns and what not. But what made me stand up and take notice was something that one of the Sirius channels did – it reinforced to me why I was a Sirius subscriber and why I thought satellite radio is a powerful medium.

For the record, I’m a Bruce Springsteen fan – a big one. I spend a lot of time listening to Sirius’ “E Street Radio” channel – a channel which, as you may have guessed, plays nothing but Springsteen music. The fact is that even though I have all of his music loaded up on my iPod and can play any Bruce song that I want at any time, I still really like listening to the E Street Radio channel. One of the reasons for this is that I enjoy the serendipity of it all. I like hearing ‘random’ songs – songs that I wouldn’t dial up on my iPod, but for some reason I enjoy hearing when the channel plays it. But another reason I like the channel as much as I do is that they play stuff that I don’t have! Since they’re officially sanctioned by the Springsteen camp, they have access to lots of things that I only wish I had.

So over the Memorial Day weekend, E Street Radio featured nothing but live Springsteen shows. Shows from all different time periods and from all different tours. Shows with the E Street Band, without the E Street Band and solo shows without any band; basically everything a Springsteen fanatic would love. And as great as all the live shows played were there was one that stood out in particular. It was a benefit show recorded just over two weeks ago at a small 1,500 seat theatre in New Jersey. In addition to the intimate nature of the show, what set this show apart was that Bruce and the band did something they have never done before – ever. They played two of their classic albums, Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town in their entirety. The songs were played in the exact same order as they appeared on the original albums. People literally paid thousands of dollars to be at this show and a mere two weeks later we were hearing it on the radio. If you’re a Springsteen nut, hearing this was nothing short of incredible.

From a fan’s perspective the whole weekend was awesome. I didn’t change channels once throughout the whole weekend – and I’m a constant channel-changer. And even though gas prices are through the roof, I did some driving around I didn’t really have to do because I didn’t want to miss anything. That’s powerful. And that’s the power of the platform. The fact that Sirius could do this is due to the fact that they have a Springsteen channel to showcase it on. And the only way you can have a whole channel dedicated to one artist is when you have a platform enabling you to provide this kind of variety.

So that’s it. No serious strategy discussion, insight into programming mechanics or anything else like that. Just observations from a listener who spent the weekend listening to something he really liked and was damn glad about it.

I’m just sayin’.

Seems to me that in the US, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Italy, or anywhere in southern Europe, really, all you have to do is swing a mic around and you’ll hit someone who sounds great on the air. Back in England, we burden ourselves, with honourable exceptions, with ridiculous contrived styles. I’d love to hear a contemporary Brit Broadcaster who could deliver the mix of informality, rhythm, poise and gravitas of an Alastair Cooke or a Garrison Keillor. I’d love to see if that classic French affable wordy formal/informal radio style could translate to English. I have my doubts…

A while back, I mused about what we mean by radio, which sort of centered on communication between broadcaster and audience. And on that tip, I don’t feel I am being communicated with when I hear a hideously exaggerated local accent from someone who really doesn’t talk like that in real life. And I don’t feel I am being communicated with when I hear the same generic voice (butch, male, faintly pompous and shouty) doing the idents on a dozen automated digital stations.

That’s why I liked what I heard on Radio Campus 93.3. That gallic style – rich and relaxed – hasn’t changed in decades, and it fits well. Simple, inviting, unapologetic and direct does it for me. But, as with the last interesting new station I’ve come across (vocalo, out of Chicago), content is king and the style of the station flows from there.

As he pointed out, now that social engagement is moving from being a destination to a feature, it’s a big opportunity for radio.

Indeed.

Terrestrial radio has done a lot of things wrong in recent years but a way for them to get back in the game and re-establish their relevance is to make sure this is not an opportunity lost. Radio ain’t dead, but it’s broken. It’s critical for radio to re-engage listeners in new (and old!) ways.

And the whole ‘social thing’ is a big opportunity to re-engage.

Back in the day, the great state of New Jersey had an advertising campaign designed to promote tourism (and if there was any U.S. State that needed a campaign to promote tourism, it was New Jersey – Bruce Springsteen and the Jersey Shore not withstanding). The tagline of the campaign was New Jersey and You – Perfect Together! Taking creative license from the Garden State, I propose a slogan which applies to the topic at hand: Radio and Social Networks – Perfect Together!

So let’s get right to it – why are they perfect together? The fact is, at their core radio stations are and have always been social networks. In fact, they are the oldest mass-media social networks. (I’m sure the cavemen had their own version of a social network, but it probably involved cave drawings or something and sure wasn’t powered by technology!). Bound by music, lifestyle or point of view, a good radio station identifies, captures, becomes a source of entertainment and information for, and provides a voice and identity for specific communities of people. They do this by providing these communities of people with content that is important to them. Content that is relevant, interesting and exciting. Listeners to a great radio station feel like they are part of something – something bigger than themselves. They feel like they are part of a larger community of people who like what they like, who feel what they feel and who have similar experiences as they do. They feel connected.

It is about the power of the collective experience.

You know how a song always sounds better when you hear it on the radio as opposed to hearing it off a CD? There are a number of reasons for this, one being due to the serendipitous nature of it; but another is because of that sense of having a common or collective experience. It’s because as you sit there in your car listening to the song, you know that thousands of others – other members of this community – are hearing the exact same thing at the exact same time.

The sense of community is a powerful thing.

Great radio stations are community builders and community leaders. The essence of a station’s community (assuming the station is a music-oriented one) is the music, but it’s more than that. It’s the lifestyle the station portrays, it’s the language, it’s the imaging, and it’s the jocks – their attitude, the things they talk about, the way they talk about them and the points of reference they provide. It’s the whole deal.

Radio stations ain’t supposed to be jukeboxes. In fact there is probably an inverse relationship between the “jukebox-iness” of a station and its relevance and importance to people and how much “connection” they feel towards it. Call it the “sucky” equation.

Great radio stations – those with a low “sucky quotient” – get members of their target communities to place their trust in them by holding up their end of the bargain. Among other things, their end of the bargain consists of the following: providing creative and compelling programming; hiring jocks who know how to relate to and connect with people; creating ways for the listeners to directly interact with the radio station and by becoming vibrant members of the community. The members of the community look towards the great radio stations to be a guide for the community – a guide on musical tastes, on lifestyle on opinions, on trends.

When I think of great radio stations, I think of KROQ in Los Angeles. KROQ plays what would generally be termed as ‘alternative rock’ music, but defining them as purely an ‘alternative rock’ radio station doesn’t do them justice. They’re bigger than that. They’re the self-proclaimed “World Famous KROQ.” KROQ sets trends. KROQ oozes a lifestyle. They reflect the interests of the KROQ community while at the same time leading it. They have street cred. If KROQ says it’s so, it’s so. I remember a day back in the late 90’s when the Kevin and Bean morning show had Snoop on as an in-studio guest. Snoop? On an ‘alternative’ station? Yeah. The thing is, KROQ defines itself by a lifestyle rather than by a ‘format’. There’s a difference. A big one. KROQ understands who their core listeners are and then creates programming that group would appreciate, regardless of any traditional format boundary. That pertains to the music; it pertains to the jocks; it pertains to the imaging and it pertains to the guests they have on the air. Simple. Would the skateboarder kids in Huntington Beach think having Snoop on was cool? Yeah.

The point is, KROQ has made themselves the center of a vibrant community. They have served, led and engaged this community of people remarkably well. Sadly, most terrestrial radio stations aren’t doing this. But they can start. And for their own sake, they better start. The online social media revolution can serve as their wake-up call. The power of the online social networks is undeniable – and as pointed out by Dubber, it’s still evolving. So for radio stations to regain their relevance and importance to people’s lives, they have to figure out their strategy for riding this new media wave. First and foremost they can start by realizing that by having an existing broadcast signal and presumably a great deal of listeners, they already are social networks. Maybe they’re not strong, effective ones at this point, but that’s because their on-air product isn’t engaging their listener base. To improve the strength of the network they have to fix their on-air product. Invest in it, be creative in the programming, and all the rest. Once that is done and the station has an engaged listener base, they can further engage them by utilizing the web. This will require a lot of thinking. And a lot of work. But it has to be done. It’s show time.