Billboard Wars

The Battle for Market Share

Radio stations in highly competitive markets used to battle for attention with billboard wars. Along the Tri-State Tollway around Chicago there used to be several touting various formats as stations vied for another ratings point in a lucrative market.

The billboards increased awareness and were also meant to develop branding identity. Effective campaigns could do that with simple, uncluttered messages. It wasn't as effective at creating ratings share. In markets that were measured quarterly, there would often be a new crop of billboards for the Fall and Spring books in the hopes of building an audience.

On our most recent trip around Chicago, I didn't see any.

What's Changed?

I don't have the answers, but I can surmise.

Social Media - 

Social media is much more cost effective and with the right strategy can engage listeners directly.

Audience Measurement

The advent of PPM give Content Directors almost instant gratification on an hour-by-hour basis.

All things being equal, the data can give the station a pretty good idea if the billboard campaign is moving the needle at all. PPM also reinforces the idea that the most effective thing you can do is create great content and make effective use of forward promotion. Solid radio practices go a long way. Meeting listener expectations on a consistent basis generates loyalty and increases share.

Coverage Counts

St. Louis Public Radio is taking over operation of KMST.   When it comes to radio...Location  is everything. 100,000 watts is really impressive, but how many people are in the coverage area? It has been an uphill battle for KMST to generate enough audience to support itself. The alliance with St. Louis Public Radio and the cost effective sharing of programming may keep KMST in the public radio fold.

St. Louis Public Radio to assume operations of KMST 88.5 FM

The obvious loss is the local programming with the exception of "Bluegrass for a Saturday Night. St. Louis Public Radio General Manager Tim Eby says, "St. Louis Public Radio officials pledge to continue supporting civic events and cultural programs in the Rolla area."

Cautionary Tales

Think Before You Send

President Donald Trump should serve as a cautionary tale about what we say and what we share online. His tweets have been introduced as his state mind evidence as his travel ban travels through the court. His posts are his own worst enemy.

He's not the only one self sabotaged by his social media posts. Ten potential Harvard students had their admissions denied because of their offensive posts.

But there's more...

About the same time I was considered the damage that could be done by ill-advised posts can an op-ed from Mark Oppenheimer in the LA Times about how Twitter is bad for him...because...well...it's a huge time suck. Just think about the time wasted over Trump's typo. As Oppenheimer puts it, "Life is short, summer’s here, and my dog deserves a long, leisurely walk. Halfway through, we’ll sit down for a spell. I’ll bring a book.

Getting it Right

Curmudgeon Alert

Years of audience research and focus groups reveal that Public Radio's audience expect us to get it right. So...what happens to our credibility when the weekend host on our local station calls Delbert McClinton Dilbert?
Unless...of course...he really did mean Dilbert!

And another thing...It's BER-lin...not ber-LIN.
So...how come it's always being mispronounced?

Berlin: This town east of New Britain is BUR-lin, not bur-LIN. So, when you see the sign on Route 9 that says "East Berlin," try not to think of Cold War Germany.

You can look it up here...

It takes very little to get people to tune away. Why would you put any barriers between you and your listener? I worked in three very competitive markets with several public media options. Watching the audience data made it clear there was little room for mistakes. Barriers between you and the listener were usually unforced errors and easily fixed. Leaving the barriers unattended resulted in loss in occasions and duration of listening. For public media the decrease in revenue can be catastrophic. Today, with so many platforms and option available, there is very little margin for error.

Work with your people to get it right. Checking out the details is easier than ever. Digital media may be resulting in competition for the ears and minds of your listeners, but it also offers a greater opportunity to get it right.

Promiscuous Listening

It's happening. 

I'm no longer involved on a day to day basis.
When it comes to fundraising on Public Radio, I'm more like your typical listener. I tune away. If I can get the same content elsewhere without the funding pitch, I'll do it. The only time I didn't do that today was when there was content I knew I couldn't get anywhere else.

What's the Lesson?

It's the content. It's always been the content. To think otherwise is foolish. The listener/user comes to us for the content and their willingness to support us depends on the listener's relationship with the content. Consistently meet their expectations and you will have their loyalty. Fail to meet their expectations and risk losing them to somebody else. It's kinda' like relationships.

The Downside of Protectionism

Holy Cow! 

Are trade restrictions a good idea. It depends on who you ask. One of the lessons learned from the Great Depression was that protectionist policies made the depression worse. Here's a look at what trade restrictions can do. Canadian farmers are happy. Wisconsin farmers are not. "Dairy Farmers of Canada, a trade group, said in a statement in 2016 that protections for the country’s dairy farmers were in place before the Class 7 pricing rule, but weren’t being enforced, resulting in approximately $231 million in annual revenue losses for Canadian dairy farmers." The Canadians are being accused of protectionism. 

Isn't that what we want to do?

Wisconsin’s Got Milk, But Canada Doesn’t Want It

Why do I care? I grew up in Wisconsin. My uncle owned a dairy farm near Shawano. He was successful, but success is getting harder to achieve for the small farm.

This may not hurt the corporate farmers, but the mom and pop operations that are a part of Grassland Dairy Products will feel the pain. These 75 dairy farmers are in danger of going out of business. You may not be able to tell by the price of dairy at the supermarket, but currently, there's a glut of milk on the market. That limits the options for these 75 farmers.

Most Say Tensions Between Trump Administration and News Media Hinder Access to Political News

New research from Pew asserts that the tensions between President Trump and the Press are getting in the way of real information.

I'm willing to guess that where you place the blame would depend on where you lie on the political spectrum. Most Say Tensions Between Trump Administration and News Media Hinder Access to Political News: Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans say the relationship between the two is unhealthy.

Other polls indicate the approval ratings for Trump are headed for all-time lows. The disapproval is not necessarily from his base but is instead from those who previously said they did not have an informed decision, but the poll numbers from Quinnipiac suggests erosion from his base too. If, Trump is trying to deflect blame to draw attention away from his mistakes by creating smokescreens of misinformation, it is not working.

You can find more information about Trump's approval ratings at The Hill. The results are from a Quinnipiac Poll.

"Tim Malloy, assistant director of Quinnipiac’s poll, said Trump’s approval has not yet reached the low point of former President George W. Bush, his most recent Republican predecessor."

“President Donald Trump continues to struggle, even among his most loyal supporters,” he said. "Many of them would be hard pressed to see even a sliver of a silver lining in this troubling downward spiral.”

Of course, Trump lashes back by making statements about fake news. Newsweek looked into the accusation from Trump. They conclude the polls are not fake. One of the issues with the election polls they found was that there were so many people unwilling to give an opinion about their choices during the election.

 "Possible reluctance of respondents to voice support for Trump has frequently been cited as a possible reason that pre-election opinion polling, and post-election surveys, may have underestimated support for the Republican."

They are weighing in now in increasing numbers. Something you might want to think about, the next election is about 18 months away.