Let's Be Real

It’s 33 minutes and 53 seconds of my life I will never get back. I was recently asked to listen to a follow-up interview of a morning show whose traditional radio career ended after the host made a verbal attack live on air on a female talent, that he never met before, in an entirely different state, simply because she was one of the hosts who got a job that he wanted. The interview was conducted on the host’s new platform Twitch and featured the young woman’s former partner, hired with her as a team to do mornings, who recently quit his job because he felt like corporate radio and old school consultants were ruining traditional radio and would soon be the death of the industry.

Now, before I get into the fact that I had to force myself to listen to this bitching and whining session among two egomaniac hosts (not to mention the hours I lost listening to the original incident where this gross verbal attack originally occurred), let me first say, that to a certain extent, I agree that big companies focused on downsizing, leading from the ivory tower with no local or diverse input and hiring high priced consultants who have been consultants since before I started my 20 plus year career in radio and “fit the mold” are destroying what is supposed to be a cutting edge business. Let’s face it, we do still live in the dark ages in this industry. But while those who remain passionate about the business are continuing to fight the fight to keep it alive and grow it into a multiplatform and multimedia industry, it’s guys like this in the interview who aren’t helping the cause. Not that I think their impact is really that big.

Twitch, Podcasting, YouTube etc. are different than Radio, largely in part because of radio’s commitment to the community, and the ratings system. While radio attempts to be mass appeal, which of course is first stimulated by P1’s and loyal listeners, Digital channels and outlets tend to be driven SIMPLY by loyal listeners, and unless you are an incredible influencer with mass appeal, it takes a minute to build an audience big enough to compete on a mass level with a radio brand. These digital platforms are an extension of the brand for radio and serve to provide more in-depth content and on demand entertainment for heavy listeners.

So back to my point about the interview. The host being interviewed said he finally quit his previous job for several reasons. First, because he felt like everything had become about the female host who was attacked, and he just wanted to move on. And secondly, because the company he worked for had an Executive Level Programmer get involved and forced an old school consultant down their throat to tell them how to do their show. His biggest issue was that the consultant had told him he needed to learn to tell DAD jokes and he needed to develop “benchmarks.” Okay, I’ll give him the Dad joke thing because if you’re not funny, you can’t force it. But let’s be honest, if at that point in your career, a consultant, any consultant, is telling you that you need a list of benchmarks for your show, it’s probably because your show sucks and is not moving the needle. It’s called structure and safety when building a new morning show or trying to work with talent who leave a lot to be desired.

So many talent out there think that because they do stand-up comedy, radio is a no- brainer for them. The comments from both male hosts in this interview were “I can’t do this bullshit. I just do what I do. Corporate radio and consultants are ruining the business. I don’t need structure and I don’t need benchmarks.” That may be fine for on demand content, and crazy loyal listeners who agree with your “unique” opinions, but in radio you are dealing with PPM, and just turning on the mic and shooting the shit without a direction doesn’t work when you only have 5 minutes of straight listening per quarter hour to get any kind of credit for what you are doing, and the average real-time listener is gone in six seconds if you don’t grab their attention right away.

Not everyone is Howard Stern, who can just turn on the mic and go, but remember why he left traditional radio (besides his desire to not be held to the fire by the FCC). He wanted to be able to just do what he does without question. But again, not everyone is Howard Stern. The actual successful radio talent today, the ones consultants aren’t having to force benchmarks on, understand their job position or mission: The organization of creative and relatable content designed to engage the real-time listening audience as quickly as possible, within the boundaries of the ratings system, for the purpose of generating revenue.

If you can’t do that, then don’t commit to a radio job, find another outlet and pray you are more successful on it. And keep in mind that you may not be as funny or talented as you think you are. Most GREAT talent are self-deprecating and authentic, and not trying to be a shock jock or a comedian on the air. The best way to master success in radio is to first remember that the station is not yours and there are people you have to answer to like every other job. The second is to air check yourself as often as possible and remember the show is about the audience and not you. If you can do that, then you’ll never have to justify leaving a job because “you just couldn’t do it.” I know a lot of people out there right now who would kill to have that position and probably work 50 times harder at it.