September 10, 2018, Issue 618
GuestColumn:AViewFromTheBeach
by Sue Wilson A few weeks before I left my job at WQMX/Akron, I wrote a batch of updated positioning liners so imaging could stay fresh if the station didn’t quickly hire a replacement. What I didn’t expect was that my thinking ahead would swing around months later. But I’ll get to that. Programmers end up on the beach for any number of reasons, but there are benefits for those of us who enjoy a constructive view of their time away. After my own “ah-ha” moment, I began wondering what others have learned after their own experience listening like a listener. Mike Brophey retired last year after Sue Wilson more than two decades as WKLB/Boston PD. His first observation? The dominance of in-car listening. “I’m driving less, so my listening is less,” he says. “It’s still difficult to listen without critiquing everything, but it’s fun to tune in as a listener and not a PD.” While he still enjoys radio and will continue to, he finds the medium too predictable at times. “I hear less creativity across the board – in imaging, contesting, promotions, personalities, you name it. As an industry, I hope we return to stretching the parameters so listeners begin to expect the unexpected.” Contributing to subpar creativity are jocks who struggle being focused on and connected to their communities. “When personalities are tracking three other stations while they are on the air live, creativity is reduced,” Brophey says. “People want to be entertained, and their connection to personalities and radio stations is directly proportional to how deeply they get their entertainment needs satisfied. It’s all about content and personality.” Former WYRK/Buffalo PD Wendy Lynn agrees, and is using her time out of the daily grind to refresh her perspective – especially when it comes to on-air talent. Listening to other formats and other markets has her excited. “I was listening to a Pop station in a smaller market and heard this young kid who wasn’t very polished,” she says. “Most PDs or a consultant might have thought he talked too long or too much, but that’s (continued on page 6)
Fri-nally: Broken Bow’s Jason Aldean (c) with WSIX/ Nashville’s Gator Harrison and wife Tennille at the Nashville stop of the High Noon Neon Tour Friday (9/7).
Creative Thinking Churns Profits
An ad campaign from Land O’ Lakes points to a new way the creative community is seeking more and butter (sorry, had to) avenues for music, artists and songwriters. Warner/ Chappell Mgr./Creative & Synchronization Katie Jelen helped facilitate the “She-I-O” effort that found the brand and an ad agency working with recording artist Maggie Rose and songwriter Liz Rose (no relation). “The idea originated with The Martin Agency, a female-fronted, Virginia-based advertising agency for Land O’Lakes,” explains Katie Jelen Jelen. “This particular idea is part of a larger All Together Better campaign meant to raise awareness and celebrate female farmers around Women’s Equality Day (8/26).” Maggie points out the company recently named their first female CEO. “They approached me about rewriting the children’s classic ‘Old MacDonald’ with a modern message, and they also engaged the super talented Liz as my collaborator. We thought
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