Consolidation, Contraction and Community
Written Oct. 14, 2009 by Tom Webster in Terrestrial Radio with 5 Comments
Here is a station in a major market. It features a morning show from Chicago; a drive-time show from Nashville. There are no local shows. This, in the very short term, is a compelling option for some broadcasters today. With such low overhead (i.e., no "talent.") it may even be throwing off some cash with a modest amount of local advertising.
Some stations are genuine entertainment sources, others merely provide "services." This particular station provides a service of convenience--rebroadcasting some national shows into the market--but that service is no longer unique in a world where "repeaters" are irrelevant. IP is the new FM. Very, very soon, every iota of programming on this station will be available everywhere, either live or on demand, from sources other than this particular station, wherever mainstream Americans want to hear it. If I have a relationship with Mancow, or Phil Hendrie, then the advertising power of that relationship rests with them, and not with the utility that happens to rebroadcast them in my local market. All of those stations, those "utility" stations, have now essentially been deregulated. To use an airline analogy, these stations are still operating in a hub-and-spoke world, while the post-deregulation startups are eating their lunch point-to-point. Stations like this one, that offer no added value other than a rebroadcasting service, are essentially middlemen. The Internet has not been kind to middlemen.
When the service provided by stations like this becomes irrelevant, they are probably just going to go away. This is not radio's strength. Radio's strength has always been about shared experience, local community. When the relationship rests with the local jock, morning show or other community fixture (on-air or off) then the radio station can use those relationships to put butts in car seats, stores and restaurants. Only that sense of community will empower listeners and make them feel like they are a part of something larger than themselves, and part of something that matters. Then--and only then--can a radio station really deliver results for local advertisers and fill the void left by the cascading failure of the newspaper industry.
Stations that master local relationships will survive. Stations that own unique, strong music positions with passionate communities will survive (that playlist, after all, is also unique content--and most stations don't do enough to capitalize on that online). 10 years ago, stations that did neither would change formats until they did. When IP is the new FM, those stations might just go dark. The market is already making that decision, for some.
Is this 5 years away? 3? 2? Already here? If you knew this was happening, how would you build a station to meet the challenge?
Could you build that station now?
Reader Comments
Your 2¢, in chronological order — add your comment below.
yes, i can! well, at least all the guys in germany can. we call it: "user generated radio"!
On the other hand, there's WGN in Chicago. Just about EVERYTHING is local.
Tom,
Why wasn't I surprised to see YOU at the 2009 Blogworld New Media Expo in Vegas week-before-last?
Other than a client station owner I nagged into coming, you were the only "radio guy" there, to see-around-the-corner as you clearly do.
HC
Our program director tells us to load our breaks with localism so we can give our listenters what the "re-broadcaster" don't (and won't.)The backlash for the re-broadcasters is drawing nigh, and they will soon get their comeuppance.
I'M working with community radios in Canada, and I am amazed each time of the deep roots that they have in their communities. This is definately a strenght.
Also, some are jumping on the internet bandwagon, and are starting to use their local knowledge to improve the way they are connecting with this community, and to build links between stations in different markets, sharing infos between stations and linking to content in neibourhood communities.
Time will tell if this will work, but from my point of view it seems to be a very good way to grow.
Your post and so many others show that this is how radio can revent itself.
Guillaume