Always On

This week, some thoughts that I'll probably disagree with shortly after sending this out. I reserve the right to argue with myself. Don't tell me you don't do the same thing....

All right, then. The Holiday 2016 ratings started to come out this week, and the reaction was typical for the Holiday phase: it doesn't matter. Doesn't count. It's the holiday, usage is different, and, besides, nobody wants to listen to talk radio over the holidays. No big deal. We'll be back to normal in no time.

But...

First, "normal" hasn't been that great for most talk radio stations in recent years, not even during the most bizarre and talked-about campaign in history. (If you rose from 9th to 6th place in the 6+ numbers and are top 10 in 65+ but you're not top 10 in 25-54, I wouldn't be celebrating anything.) But more important is that what you're saying is that the product you create -- the entertainment you produce -- is something people don't want to be around in the happiest time of their year.

Think about that for a second. You're creating an entertainment product, something that depends on attracting and keeping a loyal audience to succeed, and you're accepting the idea that there are times -- Summer, holidays, happy times -- that people will prefer to have nothing to do with you. Yes, there are different types of entertainment for different moods, but you have to work at it to be summarily rejected when people are at the peak of goodwill and lightheartedness.

Oh, but you'll point out that your "regulars" are taking vacation during the holidays. True, but what does that say about your bench? Have you developed backup talent throughout the year that people like and want to hear? Or are you putting warm bodies behind the mic and figuring that it doesn't matter as long as there's sound coming through the speaker? Or are you REALLY throwing up your hands and playing "Best Of" tapes that aren't really the "best of" anything but fill time and save you money? If it's any of that, can you blame people for not wanting to be around you?

And then you'll say that you're competing with a wild card: those all-Christmas music stations. And you are. But you compete with all-music stations all the time. Maybe you should think about doing nothing but Holiday topics in season. After all, you're supposed to be talking about what's top of mind to your listeners, right?

You might also contend that it doesn't matter because it won't impact sales, because it'll be read as, well, it's the Holiday phase, nobody cares. Ah. So, then, why do music stations bother with the all-Christmas stunt if it wears off immediately after the Holiday month? More importantly, why do you want to give people a couple of weeks off from being in the habit of listening to your station? Do you think it's a given that they'll all return once the last strains of "Auld Lang Syne" are wafting over Ryan Seacrest? Can you afford to blow off audience at any time, for any reason?

All of this is to say that radio is still thinking of the media landscape as it was 20 or 30 years ago, and it's not like that anymore. On-demand media and the proliferation of technology have changed everything. Look at television: While the broadcast networks are trying to hold onto the last vestiges of the traditional "new Fall season," even they are launching new shows all year round. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu unleash new series all the time, and people watch when they want to watch. If you air good programming, they will come. There's no excuse for consigning any part of the year to the trash heap. And "at this time of year, people don't want what we have" is less an excuse than an indictment of our ability to give people what they want, which is compelling, interesting, relatable entertainment, period. At all times.

All I'm saying is that you want to win every game. You won't, but tanking only works in pro sports (#TrustTheProcess #RaiseTheCat), not in radio. Slacking off because "it's only the Holiday phase" is a phenomenon that I'd like to see go away. Talk radio should always put its best foot forward, even if it's in an elf's shoe.

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Yeah, I go and tell you all that and then I mention All Access News-Talk-Sports' Talk Topics even though I took much of December off. Hypocrisy! (I did post some stories, but, hey, I don't have backup here -- it's all me, and even I need some down time on occasion. Stop shaming me.) Anyway, you know about Talk Topics and all the fine show prep material for talk and personality radio, and that you can find it by clicking here, and that you can also follow the Talk Topics Twitter feed at @talktopics with every story individually linked to the appropriate item, too. And there's the Podcasting section at AllAccess.com/podcasts.

You can follow my personal Twitter account at @pmsimon, and my Instagram account (same handle, @pmsimon) as well. And you can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pmsimon, and at pmsimon.com.

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Oh, yeah, that new thing I've been mentioning. It's around the corner. See you there.

Perry Michael Simon
Vice President/Editor, News-Talk-Sports
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
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