What do you plan to do different in 2011 than 2010?

Budget planning should be complete and now we focus on vision planning for 2011. The art of planning concept and ideas for your Country Music Radio station next year. What will you being doing different to bolster ratings and in markets 50+ prepare for pre-currency in PPM? Are you preparing to execute more timely and fashionably?

Country Music Radio should be embossed in the community with a live and local presentation. I watch local TV news every night on the ABC O&O TV station here in Fresno, KFSN-TV 30. They are so deep into community events, not from the news angle, but the community service and public service angle in most of the stories. Radio has wandered away from that, too much work or too little personnel? 

Plan in 2011 to bring your morning show into the community and let them put their arms around everything your town does. They need to be paying close attention to the the three main events that happen everyday, locally and pop-culture and national/world. You would be surprised about the disconnect from morning shows and what the audience is really thinking and talking about. Social Media will help you with what's important they are discussing and posting about. Stop letting ego-centric morning shows make choices in the programming that cater to themselves or really nobody. They often feel that too many localisms are goofy and not applicable to "their shows". 

I was talking to a small market OM today that told me his CMR station is a community station that happens to play Country music. I thought what a great way to describe what we do and we need to do.