Walk Away Wednesday

Long ago and far away, there was a universe where there were no mobile phones, computers were mostly desktop, and the word “Device” had no meaning regarding communication. I’m not going to say that it was a better time. It was a different time.

Transparency was limited as to what you were up against in a rating battle. The rating services of the past provided more top-line information than insight, enabling a deep dive, as they do today.

The big technology in the past was an AM/FM/Cassette recorder. If you didn’t have that, you had to listen to your radio station live as content aired. What the past did do was provide that which is significantly limited today. Time. We needed time to listen to our radio stations and those of our competitors. Today’s Western society is “time impoverished.” Largely due to the fact that we’re never out of touch. Our devices keep us tethered. Few have the discipline to focus when interruption is almost a constant.

Listening in real time allowed for the trained ear to experience what the audience was experiencing, feeling the atmosphere created by the delivered music or talk content, connecting and relating to a personality. Doing so provided a simulation of sorts as to what the audience was experiencing. Listening without distraction also allowed time to create, ponder, and use our imaginations. Hearing a weakness on a competitor’s station (real or perceived) highlighted a point of attack to use as an advantage.

We cannot ignore that we have many more tools today. For one, feedback is almost instantaneous. We have tools that benefit content advancement, better management and control of music and news, monitoring of our radio stations, and our competitors. We have assets that on-air talent can use as is appropriate and fitting for who they are as presenters and performers.

The granular analysis that is available to us as broadcasters is so much more advanced than even what we had available pre-pandemic. How one takes advantage of the tools available to them is a key part of growing an audience. What these tools shouldn’t be a replacement for is listening live. Listening over the air, and if you’re not Total Line Reporting, listening online as well. It’s not too much to ask your Program Directors and Sales Managers to listen to an uninterrupted hour of each primetime daypart minimum once a week.

In that long-ago time that was mentioned previously, we encouraged our clients to employ a tactic known as Walk Away Wednesday. That is that once a month, the Program Director would take a Wednesday, and listen from 6:00 am-9:00 pm, take notes of what was heard on their station as well as those they battled with for listeners, and learn from them.

Often those PDs drove around town to experience listening in morning and afternoon rush hours. Sitting at home or in a quiet space during all other hours. Absorbing what they heard. The key was to focus only on what was coming out of the speakers. Did you hear any weaknesses on your station? What about your competitors? When you were not in traffic, were you able to stare out the window and think about what you were hearing, and did you like it?

Don’t underestimate the importance of being able to really listen. Listening is significantly important to future growth. You can’t listen when you’re in a meeting or on a device. Find time to listen to your radio station. Walk Away Wednesday.

Try it.