Two Strengths And A Purpose

I'll apologize in advance here, but I need to vent...

I'm sick and tired of knuckleheads in this industry spouting off ridiculous statements like "radio is about music."

Here's a typical quote. This time, it comes from an article in Newsday, but it could just as well have come from anywhere these days. Chris Butterick, general manager of Jack FM in Jackson, Mississippi said: "Radio had forgotten what its purpose is. People want to hear music and variety. Jack is all about the listeners."

I find that statement - and that mindset - downright offensive.

Let's discard the part about Jack and Listeners. It's too easy to rip apart, but that's not the point of this post.

I want to talk about this: "Radio had forgotten what its purpose is."

Ask Nikola Tesla if he invented radio so people could hear music. The statement is ridiculous. Ask Guglielmo Marconi, who claimed to have invented radio some two years after Tesla using Tesla's own work, if radio's purpose is to play music. Ridiculous.

Radio's purpose is to transmit information from point A to point B, wirelessly.

COMMERCIAL Radio's purpose is to do so for financial gain.

Nowhere in there is the word "Music." Radio stations play music because it has, through the years, proven to be an easy way to attract an audience. It Works. I'm not disputing that. And yet, after two airplanes struck the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th, music was abandoned.

So much for "radio's purpose."

Radio today lacks leadership. It's tragic really. People have completely forgotten what separates local radio from all other forms of mass communication... they've forgotten what radio's greatest asset is.

Radio is immediate and intimate in a way that no other medium is.

I'm going to say that again because it is that important. Radio is immediate and intimate in a way that no other medium is.

On the morning of September 11th, Television became just as immediate and intimate as radio has the potential to be every day. This happened because vast majority of our nation suddenly had one need, and television could meet that need. People needed to know: "Are we going to be OK?" But that doesn't happen often. When Mount St. Helens started erupting again last year, the big three network feeds were dumped in the Pacific Northwest as local news became what people wanted. "What's going on? Are we safe?"

One could argue that, even in situations such as those, TV isn't as intimate as radio. The TV host has multiple layers to get through, separating him or her from the viewer. How often do you see the TV host running his own board, taking his own calls?

With competition gaining on all fronts - especially when it comes to immediacy - one would expect to see radio capitalizing on its greatest strength of all: Intimacy. Instead, we're seeing our so called industry leaders gloating about not giving a damn. "Call somebody else. We play what we want." "Tell us what you think but don't tell us what to play."

Worse still, those who are trying to capitalize on radio's strengths are often doing so in words only. They write sweepers, promos and liner cards about the greatness of their stations rather than creating greatness on their stations.

Too few seem to recognize the difference.

I hear a station air commercials with pop stars talking about how their songs were heard first on radio. And then I hear that same station throwing away its new music by not highlighting it - which makes even less sense when you consider that people like music they know... meaning, until those new records become 'known' they're a weakness, not a strength. Highlight them! Front sell them! Backsell them (even if the backsell is nothing more than "that's new music from Keane on Q92"). Proof of performance.

Terrestrial radio without intimacy is like a champion boxer with a broken hand. Eventually, he'll lose his place among the ranks if he doesn't fight - and he'll be beaten senseless if he does.

I fear radio will do the same - without intimacy.

Jack's success today comes at the expense of the entire medium tomorrow if his competitors don't capitalize on the tremendous opportunity they've got.