Wednesday, October 9, 2019

21 Oct Wednesday, October 9, 2019

This Week in The Lund Letter:  
>   Ad Agencies Prefer Radio
>   Local and high touch; radio’s benefits can’t be undermined!
>   Don’t say that!
>   Get the most out of your social media
>   Top radio formats of summer… and other Trends

Traditional Ad Media Trail Radio in Agency Ad Buys!

When choosing the advertising media purchased and managed most by ad agencies, social/digital media is first at 82% and radio is second at 77%.  The study was intended to determine which media they buy to create the best brand recognition and the highest return on investment. The survey conducted by Borrell Associates April through July, 2019, shows the top media purchased in the US:

+   Social media 82%
+   Radio 77%
+   Search engine marketing 74%
+   Website banner ads 74%
+   Newspapers 70%
+   Broadcast TV 68%
+   Email 68%
+   Outdoor 67%
+   Event sponsorships 67%
+   Magazines 63%

This Borrell research was reported in MediaPost, an online advertising newsletter.  It quoted agencies saying traditional media is best for creating brand awareness and building brand consideration.  Digital media is preferred for campaigns requiring immediate action, which is a major positive for radio.  Borrell found smart speaker adoption is low, below 10%.  Lund Media knows that radio’s convergence with digital media adds a one-two punch to this study and adds to radio’s value – what about the audience who listen to radio on a stream, app, or podcast?

Newspaper Advertising Shrinks Again

In 2019, Zenith’s Advertising Expenditure Forecast reports advertisers will spend more on social media platforms than print.  As social media grows; newspaper and magazine advertising lost ad share.  In global ad spending, TV is first at 29%; paid search is 17%, followed by social media at 13%.  Print is last.  Worldwide advertising expenditure on social media will grow 20% this year to reach $84 billion.  TV advertising also continues to suffer from shrinking ratings and will slip again this year.

Lund Programming Clinic: Path of Greatness

Radio survives best when it gives people programming that they can’t get anywhere else. As streaming grows and Internet radio is on every cell phone and in every car, broadcasters must differentiate their product to survive.   Radio listeners need local information and high-touch community contact, not a depersonalized generic national air talent or worse – straight automation – that bears no relation to the local listener.

Columbus Day is observed on Monday, October 14.  We want radio to discover the “new world” of audience engagement.  Consider these starting points for growth:

1.   Build your information franchise.  That doesn’t just mean news; weather is vital for most areas.  What happens when bad weather hits, and no one is at the station?  Have a plan, and don’t miss the chance to serve when the need is highest.

2.   Become hyper-local.  Orient your written news, weather, and sports to your local service area.  Make it available online, too.  Relate to your local market and be the source for what’s happening locally.

3.   Be visible.  Be the force that cannot be ignored.  Check your local visibility and involvement.  From signs to civic groups, be seen everywhere.

4.   Have a strong morning anchor.  Build your morning show to touch local lives, and give a local twist to national items.  Do things because they relate to your market and touch local lives.

5.   Hire a part-timer.  This may be the best source for your next fulltime hire.  Radio has no farm club system to develop talent anymore, and younger people don’t even know we exist as a career!  Do your own part and start growing your own bench.

6.   Help local merchants.  Super serve local clients and show them you care.  Show them how you are involved and get results.  The most important numbers to them are in sales, and you can impact that with great marketing plans for them.

7.   Give back.  Invest in the community and be active as a major contributor to further local causes.

Constructive Discontent

Can your station sound better? If you’re not satisfied with the format or execution, the Lund team can provide you a cost-efficient evaluation of your station.  We take these steps to derive your best plan of action:

>   Music:  We review your music library, clocks and rotations within your music software, and we conduct a music audit of key competitors.

>   Talent Coaching:  We aircheck your talents and produce coaching reviews.  These focus on format, music, talent performance, energy, formatics, imaging, and station “uniqueness” (Stationality).

>   Action Plan: You receive a comprehensive report, executive summary and Plan of Action.

This Lund Strategic Programming Evaluation provides you with a detailed road map to increased audience.  Contact John Lund for more info!

Lund Talent Tips: Crutch Phrase Removal

Listen for crutch phrases that permeate far too many jock vocabularies.  Every minute a listener spends is important, so why waste time with empty words?  If you hear these phrases on your station, put on the rubber gloves and get busy:

1.   John Doe on a Wednesday (he uses a different name on Thursday?)
2.   Give me a call if there’s something you wanna hear (do you really take requests especially when you are voice tracked?)
3.   Currently, the present temperature is 48 degrees (no, let’s give a day-old temperature in some other measure!)
4.   It’s Hump Day. Oh, please.
5.   Right now it’s 14 past 7.  Of course it is now, and give digital time checks.

Listen for crutch phrases and words that invite tune-out (“I’ll be back in three minutes,” etc.).  Making the most of your talent content includes eliminating wasted words and crutch phrases.  These little irritants often drive listeners crazy:

>   “After the hour of…”  Most listeners say digital time is easiest to understand.  But it does get worse… “Ten minutes this side of one o’clock” will have everyone wondering which side they are on!
>   “On your Monday,” “Hump day,” “End of the week Friday” all deal with things the listener already knows.  Why insult him, unless a bit follows that plays only on that day of the week?
>   “The old clock on the wall says it’s time to…” and “Time for me to get out of here”do nothing for the listener and make the DJ look rather stupid.  Everything said on the air should have something for the listener, and old clichés simply don’t qualify.
>   “John Doe till ten o’clock” is a favorite.  Just what does John Doe become after ten o’clock?
>   “Hello, Illinois” is the syndrome of talking to a whole state or city at a time.  Radio is an individually used medium.  People listen individually, so talk to one person at a time.  The only truly acceptable plural is “you,” which can mean one or more persons.  For those who question, we suggest frequent viewing of “Good Morning, Vietnam” to satisfy the urge.

Watch weather crutches as well.  We all know not to say, “The current temperature is presently 49 degrees,” but weather forecasts and alerts often have excess verbiage. If conditions are the same for the next three days, combine them (“Clear skies through Wednesday”).

Lund’s Top 3:  Enticing Listeners
  
Increase cume adding new and returning listeners:

1.   Make your website creative and interactive; tie-in to your Facebook page. Promote both often on the air.

2.   Ask active listeners (prize winners) to listen more; use an email reminder.

3.   Create a loyal-listener or at-work-listening club tied in to the station’s website and/or Facebook.

For more Top 3 lists, check out www.lundradio.com.

Promotion of the Week: Live In It To Win It

Listeners have to live in a car. The last contestant in the car wins. This can last for weeks and attracts TV coverage.  A variation is Kiss My Car. If listeners take their lips off the car or lift their feet off the ground they are disqualified. Another variation is Get Your Hand Off It (listeners keep their hand on the car – last one to take their hand off it, wins it).  Outright ownership of the car is better than a year lease, but beware of potential backlash from tax costs.

Make More Sales

Help your sales staff lock in new dollars.  Boost your billing with proven sales promotions.  The Sales Promotion Guide details over 200 money-making Sales Promotions with new ways to make extra billing.  The Guide details proven radio sales promotions geared to all kinds of retailers – including auto dealers and furniture stores.  And there are sales promotions for remotes and charity events.

Find new ways to lock in annuals.  Get sales promotion ideas for stations in any size market, and even prospects with small budgets.  Order now and receive our Fall Promotions Guide for free.

Lund Trend Watch:

A Classic Summer

In Nielsen’s format comparisons pitting PPM ratings for the January to May period against summer 2019 (June-July-August PPMs), Classic Rock and Classic Hits were the biggest format winners in seasonal audience growth.  Classic Rock was the top format of the summer for 3 of the last 4 years, including this year.  Classic Hits won summer of 2018.  This summer’s biggest increases:

+   Classic Rock up 7%
+   Classic Hits up 4%
+   Country and Alternative up 2%

Several formats lost listening in summer.  The biggest losses came in Mexican Regional (down 10%), Spanish Adult Hits and News Talk (down 6% each), All Sports (down 5%) and Contemporary Christian (down 4%).  Most other formats remained flat.  Biggest gains and losses do not reflect overall listening, which News Talk won despite its losses.

Podcasting Continues Large Growth Trend

From 2015 to 2019, the number of monthly podcast listeners has increased 123%.  In the shorter period of 2017 to 2019, the increase was still a healthy 53%. There are currently 43 million monthly podcast consumers according to Nielsen Scarborough.  Edison Research reports that number to be much higher at 90 million.  Podcast listeners are younger than the national population… 62% are between the ages of 21-44 with a median age of 39.  They are also more likely to be male (56%).

Fox News #1 on TV

Fox News Channel is the #1 cable news network for the 71st consecutive quarter.  In Q3 2019, it had an average prime time audience of 2.4 million viewers.  MSNBA had 1.5 million and CNN had 1.0 million.  In the same quarter, Fox News had 4 of the top 5 shows:

#1 Sean Hannity with 3.3 million viewers
#2 Tucker Carlson Tonight with 3.1 million
#3 Laura Ingraham with 2.6 million
#4 MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show with 2.5 million
#5 The Five with 2.5 million

Fox News is also first among viewers 25-54, the most valued demo among advertisers.


Planning Your State Broadcast Convention?

Thanks to all those who attended John Lund’s seminar at the Georgia Broadcasters GABCON convention last Saturday in Atlanta.  This positive “Science of Radio Programming” workshop was attended by managers and programmers and focused on radio programming/marketing strategies for our digital age including basics, formatics, ratings, social media, trends, no-cost marketing, and more.  If you’re planning your state convention and need a positive, pro-radio/pro-audio speaker, contact John Lund.

Next week in the Lund Letter: The 800-pound gorilla in the studio.

Thanks for reading
The Lund Letter
We welcome your comments.  Email John Lund.

About Lund Media

Lund Media is the premier radio programming consulting and research firm in North America.  The Lund Mission is to assist the broadcast industry with hands-on programming, music guidance, marketing, and research to help stations achieve their revenue and ratings goals.  For over 25 years, the Lund team has provided consulting and research to radio stations (all formats), TV stations and broadcast networks.  With specialists in every format, the Lund Goal is to help stations get more listeners and keep them listening longer.

The Lund Media staff has written over three dozen books and guides on radio programming, marketing, and news.  Over 10,000 subscribers opt-in to receive Lund Media’s weekly newsletter, the most-read independent radio programming and management newsletter in the US.

Call John Lund for more information about how the Lund Media Group can help your stations achieve more listeners, higher ratings, and more revenue.
Phone: 650-692-7777.
Email john@lundradio.com.