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CATCH THE FLU, IMPROVE YOUR CAREER
By: Walter Sabo
While we are very worried about trouble with consolidation, your listeners are watching Ricki Lake. They are watching Oprah, The View and Judge Judy. No one listens to your station in a media void. All other media impact your station’s ability to appeal to your target listener.
When your listeners talk about their day, they’ll discuss what they saw on Oprah, The View or Judge Judy. They’ll mention something heard on your station. They will quote the local paper or a new magazine article. You competition has never been another radio station, it’s your listener’s time. Which medium wins their time?
Often I’ll mention something on The View or Judge Judy to an executive at one of our client’s. The answer is always the same. “Oh, I saw that a long time ago when I had the flu.”
Top marketers agree that every business in their category impacts perceptions of their brand. For example, if a company does all of its business through phone orders, Federal Express and Verizon help determine customer expectations of all phone-based businesses. If Fed Ex does a great job of customer service, every other phone-based business has an easier time with their customer base. That’s because companies that dominate a category control consumer expectations.
“Talk” is on TV and radio. In the listener’s mind, your station is just as big a deal as a TV talk show. You compete for their time and you compete for memory real estate.
Those TV shows influence what a listener expects from your station.
It’s shocking how often I’ll ask a colleague about Judge Judy---the number 1 talk show on Television only to have them respond, “I saw it once when I was sick.”
Get sick more often. Better, start rolling tape. Judge Judy changes expectations of what an older, traditional woman can do and say on the air. Oprah changed what a young black woman could do and say on the air. Ricki Lake gives voice to disenfranchised teens. Each successful talk show host on TV opens a new opportunity for your station.
Each successful talk show on TV also determines how interesting your station’s conversation is to your target listener.
Here are the topics on daytime TV talk shows on February 21, 2001. These are over the air, commercially supported shows bought by the most prestigious advertisers in America:
Maury “Angry teen age moms confront their former boyfriends with paternity tests.”
Jerry “A newlywed explains how her husband has been living with his mistress.”
Queen Latifah “Teen paternity.”
Montel “Young mothers accused of murder.”
Ricki “Families turn to lie detector to settle their problem and end feuds.”
Good Morning America “Sex after marriage.”
Source: New York Post 2/21/01
So, how’s that stack up with your playlist? To your listener, those shows were an equal choice. Are your topics more or less interesting to your target listener? Be a pro. Put your personal feelings about those TV topics aside. Those topics are on the air, accepted by vast audiences and cleared by top network and syndicator lawyers and producers. The audience sees them on the same menu as your topics. Who wins?
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