Eliminating Seams

Saying Goodbye Less Than Seamless

I was listening to the last minutes of Science Friday Today. At least I thought it was the last few minutes. Ira Flatow was saying goodbye. He was reading the credits. He told me to have a good weekend. The PRI button played. The show was over! Well, maybe not.

He told me to tune away.

So, I did. I got out of the car and did my errand. I got back in my car. I turned on the radio and there was the second half of Science Friday. I thought you were gone. You said goodbye. What gives?

I remember learning in my PD classes we were supposed to promote time spent listening by not creating barriers to listening. Telling listeners goodbye is a big sin. When you do this you're telling listeners to go away. You're creating seam. You're creating an excuse to tune out.

I would hope the network people would know about something as basic as the avoidance
of seams. Yet, I hear it all the time. The halfway point of Weekend Edition has a long goodbye. Garrison Keillor spends a good two minutes saying goodbye. They say goodbye every night on All Things Considered.

Why?

As a PD responsible for keeping listeners listening and engaged...you're doing your best to send them away. It is supposed to be about the listener. We're supposed to think audience. The audience tunes in and out all the time. They do not listen to programs from top to bottom. Instead of saying goodbye, how about an opportunity to forward promote?

Why is this important for public broadcasting? Building audience and promoting time spent listening creates loyalty which allows stations the opportunity to grow funding and build partnerships within the community. It's basic. It should be a part of best practices.