In this day and age, nearly every radio station
maintains a Web site. Most do so as an additional marketing tool, but many provide listeners with Web sites as a cyber-extension of
their on-air signals, since so many people sit
in front of their computers at work and at
home for countless hours. Indeed, a station
Web site is not only for listening, but it’s
a visual component of a radio station, a
means of giving more sight to a once sightless medium. Says Ressen Design’s Darryl
Pomicter, “Web sites compliment all terrestrial broadcast systems, supplementing and
expanding content. They give stations reach
they never had before – locally, nationally,
and globally.”
Station Web sites hold great value for
PDs for three vastly different reasons,
contends Matt Grasso, WIZN.WBTZ operations manager. “First off, Pl’s [dedicated listeners] spend a lot of time with your radio
station, and the Web site is a way to keep
things fresh and exciting for them. Games,
exclusive Web-only promotions, staff blogs
and bios all provide an exclusive, behind
the scenes look at the product. Next, Time
Spent Listening (TSL) drives the ratings bus
and your online broadcast boosts it. There
are a lot of people who are procrastinating at work. Plug them into your station.
Give them lifestyle news and information
and watch your TSL rise. And finally, the
Web site constitutes new inventory. You
can clutter your airwaves with so much
stuff. Your Web site is a new place to do
business.”
Station Web sites (cyberspace display
windows, if you will) literally come in all
sizes, and shapes. That is to say, they can be
simple offering a limited number of links, and
they can be highly interactive and multitiered with dozens of links. Not all Web sites
are constructed as income streams, but more
and more radio stations are viewing Web
sites as another good source of nontraditional
revenue. Recently, stations have begun adding
the iTunes Music Store link to their sites to
allow their listeners to purchase the tunes
they air. Emmis was the first station group to
do so on its stations in Chicago, Indianapolis,
Austin, and St. Louis.
Larger stations and cluster operations typically hire an individual (frequently called
manager of information services – MIS) to
maintain a station’s Web presence. It falls
to this person to maintain the appearance
and relevance of the Web site. The growing
role of station Web sites has made it another
potential career option for those interested
in entering the radio field. Clearly, computer
skills would rank high on the list of attributes an applicant for this position should
possess. In addition, an overall knowledge of
radio programming and marketing would be
of special value.
Although podcasts were originally
designed for downloading to iPods and
MP3s, radio stations have found them to
be a value-added programming feature.
Thousands of podcasts are available on the
Internet, and most radio stations now offer
podcasts of their on-air features on their Web
sites. Some stations have created exclusive,
podcast-only programs. Says consultant Jason
Insalaco, “Podcasting ‘exclusives’ can drive
Web traffic and increase the time listeners
spend on the Web site. For example, Web
site exclusive interviews with newsmakers,
musical artists, entire unedited press conferences, or even the local high school football
game can provide supplemental content
for station podcasts. It’s a good community service, too.” Matt Grasso adds, “Podcasts are
useful to station programming because it’s
a way to take the station with you. At first
radio programmers were afraid of iPods; now
they realize that they are just another way
to get even closer to the listener.”
A blog is a Web page of entries from a
single source/author pertaining to a particular subject or topic. Many station personalities and talk show hosts maintain blogs,
which are sometimes referred to as online
journals or diaries. Observes Insalaco, “Blogging has become a national phenomenon.
Talk show host blogs are a popular component of a station’s Web site. Consumers
are processing news at a meteoric pace via
the Web, cell phones, and Blackberries, so
station blogs fit into this scheme. While
Americans are no longer at the mercy of the
network news broadcasts or the newspaper
for daily information, the trend of processing news through opinion (whether a good
thing or a bad thing) has developed. Radio hosts can blog about issues related to the
topics discussed and the guests they have on
their programs. Blogs can billboard upcoming topics and provide listeners an opportunity to interact. Also, show blogs provide
additional information and links to stories
discussed on the air. Radio station blogs can
feature show rundowns of the day’s topics and guests so that listeners remain connected
to their favorite radio personality. Blogs are
easy to execute and maintain. In sum, stations that embrace blogs and podcasts will
gain an upper hand in the competitive radio
marketplace.”
The PD and the Audience
The programmer, regardless of whether he
or she works for a broadcast, satellite, or
Internet radio station, must possess a clear
perception of the type of listener the station
management wants to attract. Initially, a
station decides on a given format because
it is convinced that it will make money
with the new-found audience, meaning that
the people who tune in to the station will ook good to prospective advertisers. The
purpose of any format is to win a desirable
segment of the radio audience. Just who
these people are and what makes them tick
are questions that the PD must constantly
address to achieve reach and retention. An
informed programmer is aware that different types of music appeal to different types
of people. For example, surveys have long
concluded that heavy rock appeals more to
men than it does to women, and that rock
music, in general, is more popular among
teens and young adults than it is with individuals over 40. This is no guarded secret,
and certainly the programmer who is out to
gain the over-40 crowd is doing himself or
herself and his or her station a disservice by
programming even an occasional hard rock
tune. This should be obvious.
A station’s demographics refer to the
characteristics of those who tune in: sex,
age, income, and so forth. Within its demographics, a station may exhibit particular
strength in specific areas or cells as they have
come to be termed. For example, an AC
station targeting the 24–39-year-old group
may have a prominent cell in women over
30. The general information provided by
the major ratings surveys indicate to the
station the age and sex of those listening,
but little beyond that. To find out more,
the PD may conduct an in-house survey or
employ the services of a research firm.
Since radio accompanies listeners practically everywhere, broadcasters pay particular attention to the lifestyle activities of
their target audience. A station’s geographic
locale often dictates its program offerings.
For example, hoping to capture the attention of the 35-year-old men, a radio outlet
located in a small coastal city along the
Gulf of Mexico might decide to air a series
of 1-minute informational tips on outdoor
activities, such as tennis, golf, and deep-sea
fishing, which are exceptionally popular in
the area. Stations have always catered to the
interests of their listeners, but in the 1970s,
audience research became much more oriented to lifestyle (Figure 3.21).
In the 1990s, broadcasters delved further
into audience behavior through psychographic research, which, by examining motivational factors, provides programmers with
information beyond the purely quantitative.Perhaps one of the best examples of a
station’s efforts to conform to its listeners’ lifestyle is day-parting, a topic briefly
touched on in the discussion of program
wheels. For the sake of illustration, let us
discuss how an AC station may daypart
(segmentalize) its broadcast day. To begin
with, the station is targeting an over-40
audience, somewhat skewed toward men.
The PD concludes that the station’s biggest
listening hours are mornings between 7:00
and 9:00 a.m. and afternoons between 4:00
and 6:00 p.m., and that most of those tuned
in during these periods are in their cars commuting to or from work. It is evident to the
programmer that the station’s programming
approach must be modified during drivetime to reflect the needs of the audience
Obviously, traffic reports, news and sports
updates, weather forecasts, and frequent
time checks are suitable fare for the station’s morning audience. The interests of
homebound commuters contrast slightly
with those of work-bound commuters.
Weather and time are less important, and
most sports information from the previous
night is old hat by the time the listener
heads for home. Stock market reports and
information about upcoming games and
activities pick up the slack. Midday hours
call for further modification, since the lifestyle of the station’s audience is different.
Aware that the majority of those listening
are homemakers (in a less enlightened age
this daypart was referred to as “housewife”
time), the PD reduces the amount of news
and information, replacing them with music
and deejay conversation designed specifically to complement the activities of those
tuned. In the evening, the station redirects
its programming and schedules sports and
talk features, going exclusively talk after
midnight. All these adjustments are made
to attract and retain audience interest.
The PD relies on survey information and
research data to better gauge and understand the station’s audience. However,
as a member of the community that the
station serves, the programmer knows that
not everything is contained in formal documentation. He or she gains unique insight
into the mood and mentality of the area
within the station’s signal simply by taking
part in the activities of day-to-day life.
A programmer with a real feel for the area
in which the station is located, as well as
a fundamental grasp of research methodology and its application, is in the best possible position to direct the on-air efforts of
a radio station. Concerning the role of audience research, Peter Falconi says, “You can’t
run a station on research alone. Yes, research
helps to an extent, but it can’t replace
your own observations and instincts.” Brian
Mitchell agrees with Falconi. “I feel research
is important, but how you react to research
is more important. A PD also has to heed
his gut feelings. Gaps exist in research, too.
If I can’t figure out what to do without
data to point the way every time I make
a move, I should get out of radio. Success
comes from taking chances once in a while,
too. Sometimes it’s wiser to turn your back
on the tried and tested. Of course, you had
better know who’s out there before you
try anything. A PD who doesn’t study his
audience and community is like a racecar
driver who doesn’t familiarize himself with
the track. Both can end up off the road and
out of the race.”