I was starting to get the feeling while I was on the air, the last few years that radio listeners, for some weird reason quit communicating with radio stations. Are they out there listening? Yes, do they care? Maybe. Hard to gauge the lines of communications with the audience. We have the request lines on hold or forwarded to voice mail so often, they can't call and get through to a live human being. That takes a hefty proportion of the ability to communicate out of the equation.
All those times during the past few years plugging web sites and email like an elixir salesmen in Dodge City, still nothing. The only times the phones rang is when we gave away tickets or other handouts. I starting asking myself, are the only ones left that will communicate with radio stations, contest players?
Thank goodness for strong morning shows that keep the listeners interests. Morning shows can only get bigger. They are usually always live, they communicate with the listeners on the air through conversations, contests and interactions. Is anyone still out there that will call or communicate with the a radio station? I see a ton of cell phones, texting and social media is one major opportunity to give the audience a chance to share with us again.
Monday, September 21, 2009
IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?
I was starting to get the feeling while I was on the air, the last few years that radio listeners, for some weird reason quit communicating with radio stations. Are they out there listening? Yes, do they care? Maybe. Hard to gauge the lines of communications with the audience. We have the request lines on hold or forwarded to voice mail so often, they can't call and get through to a live human being. That takes a hefty proportion of the ability to communicate out of the equation.
All those times during the past few years plugging web sites and email like an elixir salesmen in Dodge City, still nothing. The only times the phones rang is when we gave away tickets or other handouts. I starting asking myself, are the only ones left that will communicate with radio stations, contest players?
Thank goodness for strong morning shows that keep the listeners interests. Morning shows can only get bigger. They are usually always live, they communicate with the listeners on the air through conversations, contests and interactions. Is anyone still out there that will call or communicate with the a radio station? I see a ton of cell phones, texting and social media is one major opportunity to give the audience a chance to share with us again.
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It's cause all you guys are doing things wrong in the bigs. Here in Dirt City, we engage our listeners. I bring strippers in the studio, our web cam feeds logs historic numbers. Our Morning amn Ice Road Trucker, challenged some a-- clown to no-hols-barred fist fight in our parking lot..hell...we easily had a hundred folks down here for that. Ty Calhoun-"innovator"
ReplyDeleteI think there's a couple issues, Chuck, and not necessarily in this order... Bad, lazy, undirected talent who don't give anyone a reason to call in. ie: "Here's Toby Keith, part of another 10 in a row on WXXX" - a typical break as I hear things for many years now - isn't going to do it. This relates to what Alan Burns brought up recently, stations talk about themselves. That doesn't engage listeners to get them to call in. REAL topics do.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the "phones on busy all the time" sydrome, due to the stations being voicetracked. It doesn't take long for listeners in this situation - which is now standard procedure almost everywhere in dayparts as important as midday - to learn they just aren't going to get anyone to answer, and give up trying - even in those dayparts that are live.
At least in my situation, a lot of listeners DO communicate via Facebook, and about all kinds of things. They bring stuff up on their own, all kinds of questions. And if WE put the right topic out there for comments, look out - there has been tremendous response. So people WILL communicate. Perhaps listeners just like doing it via text and Facebook more now.
Fortunately for us, we have a very active audience on the phones. Perhaps it's due to many years of using the phones right, and actually having live personalities on the air to answer them.
For those who are voicetracked a lot, if you aren't seriously working Facebook, you are really missing out. Actually EVERYBODY should be on that train, and I'm amazed at the amount of stations who aren't and/or who are doing it very poorly.
Chuck, I was so glad to see your post on this. KMXB/Las Vegas had good phones throughout the day and I am CERTAIN it was because of all the action on the morning show (Marc & Mercedes one of the best morning shows I have ever heard).
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