Act As If
Written May. 14, 2010 by Tom Webster in with 3 Comments
If your local radio station is going to survive, and even thrive, in the universe of the Infinite Dial, it is more important than ever to stand for something unique. Soon--very soon--it will no longer be enough to be the best AC in your market, or to be your local Hannity affiliate. When that day comes, you can be sure of two things: "me too" stations will go dark, and you will not get to choose that moment in time. No business gets to pick "that moment." Your local newspaper sure didn't get to choose it.
When you believe this, your path becomes clear. There are needs to fill in your community. People in your city want to connect with each other, want to know what's going on, and have to cut through a lot more noise to get to the signal that is meaningful to their lives. You can fill those needs. You can imagine, certainly, that handful of local media powerhouses that will be there at the end, as text, video and audio merge into content and the distinctions between TV, Radio and Newspaper blur and disappear. On that day, the question won't be whether you can out-mix "The Mix," or out-classic "Classic 105." It will be whether or not you can out-local Yelp, Foursquare and ultimately Google.
I think you can. The key will be to visualize, very clearly, what that online and offline media powerhouse must eventually look like in your market. Who will build it? What skills are required? What capabilities will they have to acquire? What strengths will they have to bring to the table? Take your key staff off-campus for a day, and dream it up. Cut loose the tower, the budget restrictions, the corporate shackles and your own preconceptions, and flesh out your vision of the local media powerhouse that serves, cares for and ultimately brings together the citizens of your market. Craft that vision in as much detail as you can.
And then, act as if. Redeploy assets. Cut loose distractions. Think about what will not be around on that day. HD? AM? Whatever your answer is, treat those resources like the furniture you must burn to stay warm while you realize your vision. You can and will get there, if you have a clear eye about which of your current assets are sunk costs, and which are assets upon which you can build a competitive local advantage.
This is not gloom-and-doom punditry. This is about casting off the shackles of your current infrastructure, thinking process and limiting beliefs, and recognizing the power of constraints in the creative process. I talk to many of you at conferences, in meetings and on this blog. You're smart. You know what you need to do. 2010 is the year to take a cold look at what you are doing now that will not get you there, and discard it immediately. In other words, to act as if.
Reader Comments
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This is an excellent post, Tom.
What you're describing with "AS IF" is inherently entrepreneurial.
If you look around this business though, you're going to find it's stocked with people equipped and empowered only to work an "AS IS" system.
Particularly the MBAs at the very top of the industry. AS IS is quantifiable. They LOVE that.
The have systems in place that have been developed and refined for many years.
Those are manned (in some cases) by people who have been trained and experienced to "man" those systems.
We may modify and tweak those systems, but the internal culture of our business is to run those systems. Not invent new ones. This is not a slam. It's an observation we could make about numerous mature industries.
The gulf between that reality (AS IS), and your 3rd paragraph (AS IF) is so immense in my view, that if there are readers in radio, who have the "key staff" and can actually THINK the way you're describing in paragraph 3 . . . . they should leave.
Break out and do it right - from the outside.
Seriously.
If you're going to be entrepreneurial, you probably won't have much luck or headway trying to do it while tied down to legacy systems, ideas and personnel. Particularly one like radio where the old systems still "work" throw off huge piles of cash. The momentum for status quo and against change is massive.
I believe in the future new media entity you describe, Tom. I just don't believe the internal culture at most broadcasters today is even close to entrepreneurial enough to create it.
If you want to invent where everyone is going to be - you'll have to get out. IMO.
Or, wait till someone else invents it, and hope that your legacy company at least tries to buy in once the new thing starts throwing off cash.
I think that's what most radio broadcasters are going to do.
I think you should have written this post, Jeff! You've nailed the heart of the matter very clearly. The issues confronting broadcasting aren't "new media" issues, they are HR strategy issues.
Thanks for an excellent comment.
Great post, Tom. I like your darkly optimistic take on it, as well. I agree that radio needs to move quickly in this direction, but unlike Jeff, I feel that it still can -- at least in some quarters. I'm buoyed by the fact that I've seen some new ideas under development by thought leaders inside the industry, at a few of the more proactive radio operators. Still uphill for them, but it's not over yet.
I also see some third parties (often ex-broadcasters) offering entrepreneurial and service-based help to broadcasters to get this going. So maybe that's a middle ground between your insider-generated change recommendations and Jeff's advice to go outside.
Either way, the fundamental premise here is, as you say, "out-localling" the on-line competition, which is a battle I think radio can still win.
Thanks for a provocative piece.