Are You Nimble?

We, as a format, and maybe just as humans in general, have a tendency to “set it and forget it” when it comes to what we think is true. If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s that change permeates everything. From reality, to my perception of it, to my politics and faith, and right on down to how our stations serve our audiences. If your elbow hairs just went up when I typed “politics,” peace be with you. I’m not going there. (Although I’m now twisting my left arm to see if I actually have hair on my elbows. I don’t. Does anyone?) Radio’s lack of nimbleness is bigger threat than Spotify or COVID 19.

Here’s how “set it and forget it” has played out in Christian radio: “Women don’t test.” Christian AC in particular went through a season where songs by females didn’t research as well as songs by men. Maybe believe this to be true in 2020. I’m not here to debate it, but to suggest that even if it were true at one time, it won’t always be true. At JOY FM here in St. Louis, 5 of our top 10 best testing songs this summer are by women. If we made decisions from the mindset “women don’t test, so let’s not add a lot of songs by females,” I wouldn’t be able to brag about “Shattered” by Blanca, “Waymaker” by Mandisa, “Peace Be Still” by Hope Darst, “Truth I’m Standing On” by Leanna Crawford, and “Still Rolling Stones” by Lauren Daigle. (BTW, the Country format had similar assumptions, but decided to increase spins on female artists anyhow. So far in 2020, the format has experienced some nice ratings growth. They blatantly went against what research told them and are better for it.)

Another recent example: “Bleed the Same” by Mandisa and TobyMac did very so-so as a Current for KLJY. I don’t even recall if it ever went to Heavy rotation for us. We kept it around in a Gold category because of the message and for the flavor it brought to our blend. (We don’t ALWAYS do that, but this is where art trumped science and having a vision for our station came into play.) Shortly after the death of George Floyd, Bobbi Mason (APD for JOY FM & BOOST RADIO) smartly put the song into research. It came back as our top testing song that week.

At its best, radio research is a snapshot of your past. Even best practices that we’ve developed or learned from our peers. Don’t let what you thought or even knew was true a month ago or years ago hold your station back. Don’t ditch research, don’t toss out truths that never change, but do recognize times and tastes change.

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” – Albert Einstein

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” – Isaac Asimov