CCM Coaching Tip #56 - A New Year's Resolution: Build Momentum Into The Format

by Tommy Kramer, KramerMedia.net

Here's an early New Year's Resolution: Since the biggest weakness of CCM radio is its lack of forward momentum, let's fix it.

Here are 5 easy steps that will change your sonic landscape and automatically give you more true momentum:

1. Talk over song intros. If you're not doing this, start. A LOT can be said in just a few seconds that show your personality, your imagination, and save your having to do more than one thought when you do stop down to do lengthier (but not TOO lengthy) Content. In a music sweep, hit the next song, THEN talk.
2. Keep your Imaging pieces short and concise. ONE message, then tag with the station's name. Use ONE example, or ONE sound bite. No "multiples". If you have three good listener comments, for example, they should be made into THREE separate produced pieces, not lumped together in one.
3. Take "statements" out of your jingles. Jingles should be thought of as simply a way to identify the station in a musical way, without having to talk. Statements or slogans in a jingle muddy the purpose. It would be like Jeremy Camp cramming the Geico slogan into his next song. Ewww.
4. Mind the pace of the music. No two slow songs in a row. No two female vocals in a row. No two similar-sounding mixes in a row. Slow - Medium - Uptempo - Medium. Then rinse and repeat.
5. Play the new song LAST in a music sweep. That'll make sure, even if it's a song with a :00 or very short intro, that you can identify it at the end, when you stop down. This is the most effective way to introduce new music to the audience on the air.

There are many (trust me, MANY) other things I could list, but these will get you started.

Remember that the station with the best momentum wins, every time. (We're not talking about having the fastest pace. True momentum belongs to the station with the smoothest transition from this thing to the next thing. No wasted motion.) Most CCM stations are extremely "choppy" with a lot of "stop-start-stop-start" going on. That can stifle Time Spent Listening and hurt ratings. Remember that the more cume you grow, the more support you can get from listeners. And that means more money for the ministry side of things.

I sincerely hope that 2018 will be the best year for our format EVER. Hopefully, these things will give you a head start.