NEW PLAYERS, OLD PLAYERS
Nobody listens to terrestrial radio anymore. Terrestrial, meaning your basic, run-of-the-mill FM radio broadcast. Except perhaps those stuck in morning rush traffic or late afternoon rush hour, either on a bus or the (dis)comfort of their own private vehicle. If you still rely on FM radio as an alternative source of music entertainment on your commute to and/ or from work, then you might have noticed some changes on the FM radio landscape of late.
Avid listeners of the only remaining Smooth Jazz station in the metro were shocked when the plug was apparently pulled on Crossover 105.1. For decades, the station championed the commercial Jazz format, the last bastion so to speak. When we turned our calendars over for 2020, the frequency ceased playing the likes of Al Jarreau, Swing Out Sister and David Benoit, replacing them instead with modern mainstream music by the Chainsmokers, Khalid and Ariana Grande, much to the shock and horror of Crossover listeners. It is said the owners opted to partner up and lease the station to a group who took over. For the owners of a frequency, it’s the most logical thing to do. Lease it out and have someone run the station for you. That way, you have something that comes in monthly, no fuss, no muss. It is now the leasee’s responsibility to run it, program it and sell it. Sounds good on paper, but much tougher than it sounds. Speaking of leases, another frequency owner rescinded a long-standing station lease fairly recently and took back control of the operations of their station, opting to put a different group in charge. Crossover’s next door neighbor, 105.9 has reverted back to its old Retro format, retweaked into Neo Retro 105.9 The One. Staffed by former Retro personnel, the station has now expanded its format to include music not only from the 80s and 90s, but from the 2000s as well. Many FM stations have been standing their posts since forever, for years, even decades, with nary a change in staff, programming nor format. Consistency plays a large part in the success of an FM station, and the less changes, the better. It helps build an identity and familiarity for the listeners. It also aids the station in marketing itself and improve its saleability. While some stations remain the same through the years, either because they’ve built a brand name with their identity or they’re afraid to change something that obviously works well for them, other stations can’t seem to stay on course for long.
A great number of reasons cause this. A weak signal, aged equipment, inconsistent programming, poor sales and even mismanagement. At times, it is the station’s signal, lacking the broadcasting muscle to reach more ears due to a transmitter with low wattage or old (or even obsolete) broadcast equipment.
The staff is equally important, as is the sales team and on top of all this, the management holds court over the entire package. Should one component in this unified effort go awry, the whole is greatly affected.
An effective FM station’s components are boiled down to just four.. technical, management, sales, programming. Having the best broadcasting equipment is a must. If it’s not cost feasible, then the most decently functional (and fairly modern) equipment will do, but more importantly the transmitter must have the broadcasting power and an equally sufficient antenna array to transmit this. Its location is also important, so as to send out the clearest clutter-free signal possible.
Now that you have the power to transmit, you will need a format — something that will set you apart from the rest of the herd. This is where programming comes into play, and your staff.
Choosing your staff is critical because they will be the voice of the station. Their personality interplayed with the music must catch and hold the attention of their listeners.
Branding is another essential component because you need to call yourself something. It’s your brand, your identity, who you are, what you do and why you’re doing it.
You will also need a Sales team that not only knows how to sell, but knows what they’re selling, and to sell the station to the correct buyers, advertisers and agencies.
On top of everything going on within the station is the Management. They oversee the day-to-day upper echelon operations of the station, seeing to it that all departments are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. They must also act as force shield and/or shock absorbers between their staff and the owners, which is at times easier said than done.
Owners can be impatient with the lack of sales and/or progress a station achieves, but these things take time, and not all owners are aware of this, specially those who see the station solely as more of a business.
There is an art to making an FM radio station work. It takes all the abovementioned elements and the careful mixture of all of these. It’s a team effort and everyone must perform their role to the hilt for it to work.
It is similar to most (if not all other) businesses, but again, uniquely different. When a station runs smoothly like any well oiled machine, it can be a thing of beauty.