Getting The Word Out

How can people know to depend on you if they don't even know you're there?

This wasn't a problem back in the day. Everybody used radio, and everybody knew which stations in town were the "news stations." If your city didn't have an all-news station, there was always a "heritage station" that everyone turned to in an emergency, or for school closings or breaking news. One of the biggest prizes a station could win was the "news position" for a market. Listeners knew where to go for reliable information. That was a given.

It isn't anymore. It's not just that stations have severely cut back on news and staffing. It's that...

Okay, so, you might have noticed how some of South Florida was underwater this week. The skies opened up and, suddenly, people were able to swim up Broward Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale (this really happened). Airport runways turned into lakes, as did the roads going in and out of there. Schools and businesses were closed. While it wasn't nearly a hurricane or superstorm, it was, for the coastal sections of the market, an emergency, and one of those times when radio can shine with vital information and public service.

Maybe it did. But I wonder whether today's audience even knows which stations were likely to have that information. Can they name the news-talk stations in their area? Do they know which have full local news departments? Do they know which stations carry the audio from TV news in weather emergencies? Because you can't assume, especially in a market where a large percentage of the population wasn't born and raised here, that people will just automatically know you're there.

The broadcasting industry likes to promote radio's emergency prowess, but only promotes it to Congress when it wants to get support for legislation. The public? We have generations who are listening to far, far less radio than in the past. They are not growing up knowing that the local news-talker is the place for news; they're using social media for that. They don't even know what's on AM radio. And then there's water everywhere and cell service is spotty and they want to know what's going on, and they know they're supposed to go to radio for that because everyone's supposed to have a battery-powered or hand-cranked radio for emergencies, or they're in their car and the next intersection is covered in deep water, but when they go to the radio to find out what's going on, do they know what station will have that information, if any will?

You gotta tell them, not just when a storm is approaching or a massive story breaks out in town, but always. You can no longer assume that everyone knows you're there for them in an emergency. In a market like this one where a large percentage of the population came from someplace else and didn't grow up with the local stations, those stations need to let them know where to turn. We do have a few news-talkers with news departments, and some FMs have arrangements with local TV stations for hurricane coverage, but you wouldn't know it unless you happen to find those stations yourself by accident or happenstance. If I wasn't in the business, there's no way I'd even know any of those stations exist; only a handful of stations do billboards and bus ads, and other than one meat remote I happened to drive by one day and a booth a Contemporary Christian station had at a street fair, and, oh, yeah, the sports station co-branding the local sports report on one of the TV stations here, I haven't seen any radio marketing in the wild for a long time. Radio has almost zero profile in my area.

If we're going to say radio is essential in emergencies, radio has to actually make itself essential. That means news departments ($$$) and marketing so that everyone knows you have the information they need. It's not going to happen by osmosis. You have to drill it into the public consciousness that (insert your station here) is THE news source. Billboards, social media, TV spots, ads on buses and benches, email. Maybe give out those emergency radios with your logo on them.

Oh, and then, deliver on that promise. Be there when news happens, on the air and on social media. Today, if you want that news brand, you can't just rely on "heritage." You have to earn it.

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Heads up: I'll be out much of next week at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, and if you're going to be there, too, look for me in my usual spot at the back of the room. And do not miss my conversations with Jon Grayson of KMBZ/Kansas City, Todd Hollst of WHIO/Dayton, and Amplifi Media's Steve Goldstein at the All Access Audio Summit April 26-28; See the agenda and register for the all-streaming event here.

Perry Michael Simon
Senior Vice President/Editor-in-Chief and News-Talk-Sports-Podcasting Editor
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
Twitter @pmsimon
Mastodon @pmsimon@c.im