What is Triple A?

Triple-A radio is not a format. It never has been. It is a grouping of radio stations that don’t really fit within the normal format descriptions. For this reason, there are no two Triple-A stations that sound the same. Each has their own, unique approach.

Rather, Triple-A radio is a lifestyle. The key to a successful Triple-A station is that it connects with the lifestyle of the adults in its market.  Every community has a unique history and lifestyle. In some cities, rock radio has been defined by stations playing harder-edged rock, while in others, classic rock or alternative radio has been dominant. If a new station comes on the air out of the blue and starts playing a list of songs that has no relation to the community, it would indeed be challenging to the average radio listener.

The key is to find a relatable mix of music that talks to the adults in the community the station serves. Being a lifestyle, a Triple-A station is not defined by the music it plays, but rather, why it plays the music it does. Also, it’s important to express why the station exists. Expressing why you do what you do is what builds loyalty to your station’s brand. It’s why people are loyal to Apple products; they believe in the company’s mission statement.

Become proactive with your audience. Getting out to family and adult events that appeal to the station’s potential listeners is just the start. You should also organize lifestyle activities for your listeners and potential listeners.

Because many of your station’s adult listeners lead busy lives, they won’t be able to attend every event. But, many of these people live vicariously through your radio station. They want to be kept up to date about the concerts and events that come through town, and they want to hear about the latest trends in music, food, fashion. The radio station can provide meaningful information that helps listeners feel connected to an ever-changing world.

Triple-A radio is also about being a leader. Tell your listeners what is going on in a non-condescending way. Introduce listeners to new music by their favorite artists, and keep them abreast of the new musical artists and trends. Stay relatable by not getting too far ahead musically, and make sure the station has strong familiar posts in the music mix. You don’t want your station to sound like listeners need to know the secret handshake to listen. Familiar songs give listeners a point of reference that you can use as a foundation before you take them out on an adventurous ride through your musical library.

Doing these things will keep your station in touch with the adult lifestyle in your community, and make your station relatable to a larger audience.

Caller 5 is a winner!

To give or not to give? That is the question. Do on-air giveaways really help your radio station? When a deejay announces that the fifth person to call will win a copy of a hot new album, who calls in, and why?

The truth is that less than one percent of your listeners will actually pick up the phone and call for any reason. And of course, only one person wins. So, why do we have on-air call-in giveaways? Yes, folks who are listening hear that your radio station gives away cool prizes, but for them it's just not worth the hassle. 

Does an on-air giveaway get you more listeners? Does it get people to listen longer? Does this serve your core listener? The answer to these questions is no. Giveaways that appeal to less than one percent of your audience are a waste of precious airtime.

The same principal applies to texting contests. Taking the nth texter, or a random texter has no effect on increasing the size of your audience. Isn’t that the reason we thought we had to do contests?

A better option is to serve your core audience with your prizes. Give the prizes to the people who deserve them - your loyal listeners who have registered as part of your listener database. These are the people who really care about your station. Instead of giving away prizes to random callers, select people from your database to gift.

Call up a listener out of the blue and say, “We just got some copies of a hot new album, and since you are part of our KAAA family, we thought you might like one.” Or send a prize to a listener on his or her birthday.

When you give a gift to a member of your listener club, it’s given because you care - it comes from the heart. Giving a prize in such a positive, genuine way enhances your rapport with your listeners. They will have a warm spot in their heart for your station and will be your ambassadors with their friends. You’ve won a listener for life.

Yes, it’s still okay to give something away on the air, but it’s the attitude you project that matters. You don’t want it to sound like you are bribing people to listen. Make it a contest that the remaining 99% of the audience who aren’t calling in can participate in: a game, trivia question, stump the jock, etc. Make it interactive.

Making on-air contests a reason to listen and sending gifts to your loyal listeners is a much more effective use of prizes than asking for a random caller or texter. It’s a positive way to make friends, keep listeners entertained and expand your listener base.

More Consolidation of Radio

With the new administration taking over Friday, the new Republican-controlled FCC will have a different view of the business aspects of broadcasting. It's predicted that the FCC will lift the restrictions of cross-ownership between radio, TV and newspapers. This will allow newspaper companies to own radio stations and consolidate their news departments.

I also expect that there will be some loosening on the number of stations one company can own in a market. While the limit of eight stations might stay in place, the restrictions of owning no more than five in one band might disappear. That would allow one company to own up to eight FM stations. In reality, this is already happening in some markets, as companies like Clear Channel have been aggressive with the use of FM translators, which are not included in the current eight-station limit. Engineers have found ways to maximize the 250-watt FM signals to get a good city grade signal over the major population areas. Some of the translator signals are actually better than Class A signals in the market, which have height and power limitations.

The new free market approach could help values of radio stations, which have been stagnant and falling for years. There will be more demand for FM signals as a new wave of consolidation will be open, and some groups might be looking to snap up signals or consolidate their group with another one.

We've already seen some loosening of other regulations, such as having to keep copies of every correspondence in the Public File. Gone are the days when every single email sent to the station from a listener had to be kept in the file. And we'll see the hard copy files move more to the digital domain, as the FCC will allow more stations to post their public files online.

The other thing the FCC will address is the increasing RF noise for AM radio. All of the new electronic devices have added more noise to the environment, which makes AM difficult to receive. Stations that have lower power levels are having a hard time cutting through the noise, and the FCC will want to find a solution for those stations. The "AM Revitalization" plan was really the "Clutter up the FM band" plan. The major market FM dial is getting very crowded, as a result of all of the move-ins, all the new FM translators, low power FM stations and the relaxing of the second-adjacent protections. The recent TV auction will open up more bandwidth, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of that bandwidth will be allocated to expand the FM band.

What's been lost since the consolidation of radio is the competitive attitude. One result of the '90s wave of consolidation is that, in many cases, stations that were once fierce competitors found themselves owned the same company. At many clusters, meetings were held to give each station its own identity. Decisions were made to move one CHR in a more Urban direction, or one of the rock stations to harder rock. Sometimes, music libraries were divvied up and songs and artists were claimed for one station or the other. The result was less appealing radio stations. My recommendation my clients is to do what's best for each station. Don't dilute the product to protect another station in the cluster, it only makes your station less appealing and inviting for an attack from another station. 

I have the feeling that it's going to be a wild few years coming up, so hang on.

Heavy Music Rotations

The people who listen to your radio station the most might have the opinion that the station plays the same songs over and over. If you had a focus group with these core listeners, you would probably find that they are not upset about how quickly songs are rotating. Rather, there is more of a curiosity about why the station repeats songs, more than an adamant dislike of the practice. 

People only notice repetition when it’s a song that they don’t particularly like. Great care should be taken to make sure the songs in your hot category don’t polarize listeners.  This is not a place for novelty songs or specialty songs. The best songs for heavy play are the ones that are the cross-cuming songs, or what I refer to as horizontal songs - the ones that are getting exposed in other venues and on other radio stations. Keep in mind the purpose of playing songs heavily: to make the station relatable to the occasional listener. These should be the songs that help draw listeners in, not ones that are polarizing.

By the way, at many radio stations, the songs that rotate the heaviest are the horizontal recurrents, as they are the ones that are best known by a larger audience. 

Your core, loyal listeners will always want the station to be more adventurous. These types of complaints from the loyal core should be expected, and even welcomed. It means they really care about your station. If you don’t get any complaints from core listeners, it means they’re not intimately involved with your station. 

First Quarter Sales Packages

Welcome to the new year 2017! The busy-ness of the holidays are behind us and now it’s time to get down to business.

Traditionally, radio sales are slow in the first quarter of the year, as local businesses take inventory of their stock and attempt to recover from a busy holiday shopping season. If sales people are waiting around for the orders to come in, the station’s commercial logs will be empty. This is the time of year to be creative and put together some sales packages to encourage local businesses to buy spots on the station.

Many stations create special rates to entice clients. The problem with this approach is that when an advertiser gets used to a $20 rate, it’s going to be difficult to get him back at a $60 rate. In my experience, the best sales packages are when you offer an advertiser something they normally can’t buy.

For example, put together special 60-second spots that have a unique purpose. On Valentine’s Day, have a Valentine’s Day package where you put three appropriate clients – florists, sweet shops, restaurants - all in one spot. Produce a 60-second spot with an open and close, and give each client fifteen seconds of copy inside the donut. If the sales department is aggressive, you could sell fifteen to twenty different clients on this package. Charge each client one-third your top ratecard 60-second spot rate, and you’ll be getting full rate for each spot, while at the same time giving a small business an affordable way to get their message out to your listeners.

Put together a package for a shopping mall or a shopping neighborhood. For instance, you can produce an open and close for Crossroads Mall, then plug three different small stores into the donut. There are numerous types of packages you can put together: medical centers, restaurants. Think of any type of product category and you can put together interesting and creative sales packages.

These types of packages will be production-intensive, and good production will make them interesting to listen to. They are also sales-intensive, as salespeople have to call on many smaller businesses to make the packages work. To incentivize sellers, offer a special higher commission for selling businesses into these packages. Some stations have had such success selling them that they even put together some packages during their heavy advertising time, too. If produced properly, they will become part of the content of the radio station letting listeners know where they can find shopping bargains, as opposed to just another commercial.