Like so many, I learned of Whitney Houston's death while browsing Facebook. Immediately my old programming instincts kicked in. Had I been a programmer of an AC station, I would have instantly phoned the hotline and told the jock on the air to play nothing but Whitney records for the next hour. Then I would have phoned the production director to begin work on a special. We would have placed Whitney into high rotation for a while and probably put listener comments on the air.
Mind you, I'm not big fan of Whitney Houston and the choices she made. I met her early in her career, when she was coked-up, and I have no tolerance for that. But from a programming perspective, if our listeners loved her, I'd be all over it.
The very first thing I did after hearing Whitney Houston had died was go to CNN and Fox News, and there was no mention. Then I turned on a couple of local radio stations, and again no mention. Then I went to my TuneIn app so I could check out stations in different markets, and again, no mention. Though her death had just been announced, my quest for someone being responsive was not fulfilled.
Though this may not seem like a very big deal, it is in these little moments when radio stations are made, when audiences are dazzled. Though we never liked to see this kind of misfortune, we used to love these opportunities. It makes great radio, engages listeners, and makes your station stand out over others. It was true for the few stations I eventually found playing Whitney tunes, as it was true a few months ago, when Amy Winehouse imploded.
Whatever is on the lips of the public should be on radio stations immediately. Super Bowl wins, storms, national emergencies, local kidnappings. Radio can be responsive. Scratch that. Radio SHOULD be responsive. Unfortunately, a lot of stations can't be responsive.
Pre-recorded programs and pre-planned playlists are where radio falls apart when topical opportunities arise. Those stations could take days to respond and start playing Whitney Houston songs or talking about Super Bowl scores. Though some will tell me that I need to stop living in the past and accept the current way of operating radio stations, I still think these lost moments are a loss for radio.
Frankly, someone needs to be in charge and ready to respond at a moment's notice. A program director, assuming one is employed at these autopilot operations, needs to drop everything, grab access to the station automation system from home, break in with the announcement, and play some Whitney Houston music. Maybe it makes sense 90 percent of the time to operate on cruise control, but when that ice hits the roads or hail is about to pound your listeners' homes, radio needs to break in and be topical or local.
Call me old-fashioned, but this is one of places radio shines best. Sadly, too many did not shine this time, and that's a lost opportunity for radio.
This concludes the basals in agreement of the new Inscription Profession for the acrimony of the Lich baron amplification in apple of Warcraft. Apart from the fact that these games can be highly addictive so when it comes to build your own empire, there isn't any room for boredom. The timing of the story in the game dates back to time of Anakin and Luke Skywalker.
Posted by: Clash Of Clans Hack Cheats | January 07, 2014 at 07:20 PM
Eric
Sorry to say "it's over" for the kind of radio you're talking about. At least for 90% of the stations. Who is the PD supposed to call? There's nobody on the air, and possibly nobody even in the building for a 3 or 4 station cluster. 20+years in commercial radio, I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of well programmed music stations, and learned from people who were trained the right way. Tight breaks and shifts, talking to the community, fun and timely promotions. Unfortunatly it's bigger than one pop or rock star death. It's what these stations are missing every day with their canned personalities, some who are canned from outside the market, DJ's voicetracking so they can do the job(s) of 2 or 3 other people who were in the last round of budget cuts. No Eric, unless something drastic happens, it's over, and having a PD at home tap into automation isn't the answer. Listeners know better, and have no expectation of getting anything different than the canned music and DJ's they've become accustomed to. How sad. And even sadder, a lot of these young radio talents have no idea what's wrong. Not their fault, they haven't been taught to know better.
Posted by: Jon Norton | February 24, 2012 at 07:02 AM
Eric,
Why not name names? You know who caused this to happen? You know them and have written about them time and time again over the years in Radio Ink...call them out. They have ruined a great industry and there is NO going back. Their loyalty is ONLY to their shareholders NOT their listeners...and to make sure they get a big fat bonus while the industry shrinks and radio dies.
I absolutely did not expect to hear a thing on radio Saturday night when the news on Houston broke, and i was right. So i wasnt let down. Voice tracking and old weather reports recorded at lunchtime airing at 7pm.
Radio is a mess and when the clients start to figure it out more and more watch the real mess unfold.
Posted by: MICHAEL EDWARD KNAR | February 16, 2012 at 01:05 PM
Eric,
Maybe Radio companies should have a "crisis studio" that was manned 24/7 for events like this. They could then spring into action mode and respond with relevant programming and push it down to their stations much like an EAS test takes over the station's programming. They could keep their costs low and the relevance high. It would be no different that tuning into a television network but the local listener listening to their local station would be updated immediately. With everything so intertwined the "crisis studio" could populate station web sites, and social media outlets.
Posted by: Frank Denning | February 14, 2012 at 01:06 PM