The Production director either didn’t care and they simply just slam stuff on the air because of they have to, or something is really wrong with their outboard processing. The music sounded crisp, clean, full and rich. But, when they went to break it was like listening to AM Radio through a tin can. Surely the production folks can hear that in their studios when dubbing or producing can’t they?

If you are not creating, producing the best possible product for your clients then your clients will soon be on you competition and a For Sale sign goes in the stations window. If you’re trying to get that “sound” that you heard in LA or NY you probably don’t have near the gear these pros do and you’re trying to do something that you probably shouldn’t.

If your engineer is as awesome as most , he’s tweaked the processing on the Optimod to sound as best as it possibly can without losing the integrity of the signal (THE most important part of your radio station). Your job in production is to make the imaging, promos and commercials sound just like the music, seamless and the absolute best quality audio you can produce.  If the dub you get from the agency is bad, SEND IT BACK and ask for a better quality version of it.  Make your station as listenable as you can and your listeners will keep you tuned in 24/7!

As a kid, I grew up listening to this great station late late at night, long after I’d been told to turn off my small transistor radio, but with an ear plug and a clear night, I could hear all my hero’s on the AM band from great stations like WSM, WGH, WNOR, WVAB, KAAY and that too me was heaven.

It’s what brought me to radio in the first place, all those years as a kid, never did I imagine it would be me behind the mic, backselling George Jones, dropping the time and temp over the intro of George Straits “Fireman” , hitting the post and moving on. All these years later, I look back at those days of radio and wonder where it all went, now it’s not really about personality(outside of morning drive) and more about being a jukebox or an Ipod.  I miss the personality days of radio more than anything and I think the state of radio should return those personality driven radio stations back to us.

Sure, as a programmer it’s all about engagement and keeping them engaged as long as possible, but with relative content, powerful imaging, and personality influenced music, we can always be our listeners best friends. I’m not talking about rambling on, but about your life, your music, your emotions, and how it all ties in to your listeners everyday life. It can be done, If I had one dream that could be fulfilled it would be to program a great station just like WSM-AM (heck even the FM), or better yet, pull an air-shift and talk about Jean Shepard, Porter Waggoner, Patsy Cline and the rest. That would be a dream come true, can’t you just hear it?

Short relevant music sweeps that highlight your current catagory mixed with the recurrent/gold and your music positioning statement will keep your station at top of mind for these listeners, it also re-enforces your P1′s and lets’ them know that their favorite preset will be back full tilt on xx/xx/xxxx (for us 12/26).

Marketing your stations website with pics of your artists, new concert calendars, and events promos should also dominate your promo category’s.

If you are using Twitter/Facebook you should be starting to think about socially acceptable ways to push your followers into listening longer and more frequently with content driven contest teases.

No budget? well you can still push them into listening for your VIP Club’s points triggers, word of the day, song of the hour etc.

Driving Holiday listeners to listen after the tinsel effect is always hard but not if you plan ahead

You should be doing all these things daily, weekly, quarterly and annually to insure that your brand stays true to your mission statement. I had a recent conversation with a PD about why the 25-54 Female AC Demo was so fine tuned to the 25 year old, he schooled me in the thought that the advertising mediums  buyers are 11 year olds and they are, so we must tailor our brands to that low end of the demographic to achieve maximum success. While I disagree with a few parts of that paraphrased statement, I do agree that in reality, the AC demo really is 35 -64 and there in lies the brand.

“Mom A” is a 25 year old stay at home first time mother who graduated in 2003, got married and has child, she’s got a 4 year degree, is highly motivated, intelligent and listens to your station because it plays the music she likes.

“Mom B” is a 35 year old mother of 3, who has a 2 year degree from a community college, a full time job , a husband who works 2 or even 3 jobs to support the family and listens to your station because she has listened to it all her life.

“Mom C” is a 54 year old grandmother who is educated has 3 children, a husband on the verge of retirement (maybe) and listens to your station because it is a companion and keeps her mind of things like bills, holidays, medical issues and retirement.

Which one of these 3 potential listeners is your P1?, All of them are your P1′s and you should be striving to super serve them daily with relative content, music that evokes emotional ties and developing this brand to create engagement when and where ever possible

 I have been trying my best to figure out how I can ease into and transition myself from an imaging/production/long form programming  producer to a programmer. With over 20 years in the industry, I’ve been on the air (and am not very good, technically flawless but doggone it, I’m just not that entertaining, at least I don’t think so… ) I produce exceptional imaging for my AC and maintain a AAA stations testimonial products, I’ve delved a little in promotions; understand it’s purpose and it’s missions,  I would love the opportunity to at least become an Assistant PD because the Catch 22 of it all is, without that little  title on my business cards and my resume’, noone and I mean noone would take a chance.. or would they..