Music continues to be the #1 reason they tune-in. Not contests or DJ’s. Having a clear, concise music position continues to be key. Today, most AC’s have a more contemporary music sound, but many are not getting credit for it. Have short and effective music promos that brand you as well as tell them who & what you are about using music examples.
Enough “Entertainment Tonight” already. Despite the fact that just about every morning show does this, most AC listeners continue to have very little interest in hearing Hollywood entertainment & gossip updates in morning drive (according to research).
Unless you have a “superstar morning personality” most listeners will tell you that “you don’t have a morning show”. If this is the case, make sure you keep your show music intensive and keep content bits interesting and between 60-90 seconds. In AC, morning drive is the warm-up for the workday. Make sure you have plenty of “listen at work today” verbiage in AM drive that promotes the benefits of listening at work.
The hits are still the hits. When it comes to currents, the mass appeal, multi-format hits are still the ones you should play. “AC” only currents may be ok with P1’s but they are not helping you with those all-important P2s. Add new songs with care. Continue to avoid the "AC only" songs.
Morning show “benchmarks” are only worthwhile if listeners care.
The bar on content has been greatly raised yet morning shows continue to do sub par benchmarks on a daily basis.
If you do benchmarks, make sure your listeners like them and that you are getting credit for them. If every show in town is doing trivia, maybe it’s not a good idea for you to do it. Careful that competitors do not get credit for what you are doing.
They like DJ’s but not too much of them. Keep talk concise. When they do talk, communicating key station benefits is key. Listeners not hearing everything we say. Let’s make sure they hear the important stuff.
Knowing the titles and artists of the music is still a top benefit. There has been a lot of talk about this in the trades lately. I have always been an advocate of title and artist. After all, talking about the music is what a DJ does.
TSL is about increasing “Occurrences of Listening”. Sure long listening spans help, but the most effective way to raise your TSL is getting listeners to come back more than they currently are. Tactical contesting can work here.
