How to Win #1 Nielsen Ratings

Legendary investor Warren Buffet once said, “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things  just take time . You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” A new radio show is an investment. Companies take risks, and it is natural to hope for quick rewards. But succ ess is not guaranteed, and it can take a while. This is true not just in the United States but around the world. I recently read about a current radio story in Australia from  James C ridland , radio futurologist and editor of  Podnews . The legendary  Kyle and Jackie O  show on KIIS Sydney was recently syndicated into Melbourne, and the initial rating success has been  meh. James writes , “The show was expected to be an instant success because it’s Sydney’s #1 FM breakfast show. In January 2014, the show shifted from Sydney’s 2DAY to KIIS – taking its #1 FM status with it in a shock survey. People were expecting similar. But radio numbers don’t work like that…  Not only that but Kyle and Jackie O’s main show has never been heard in Melbourne.” We do not know how station management there is reacting to the ratings, but here in North America, we sometimes have to calm panicky CEOs and VPs in similar situations. I have often told the story about a new local morning show we were pitching to replace an underperforming syndicated show on a number-one-rated CHR station in a major US market. A regional vice president asked me, “How long will it take for this show to deliver substantial ratings?” I said, “It typically takes 18 months or longer for the show to outperform the station.” I walked him through the development of other high-revenue shows and assured him that the wait would be worth it. He responded, “I don’t have that kind of time.” He then copied and pasted one of the company’s generic syndicated morning shows into that timeslot, expecting a quick win. That show lasted one year. The VP then rushed in another generic syndicated show, which ran unsuccessfully for four years. Next came a promising local show sacrificed in company-wide layoffs before it got off the ground. The station now has  another  syndicated show – a good one, but it is the  fifth show in 12 years  – and the former #1 station is in eleventh place overall as of this writing. Imagine being a sales rep explaining that mess to clients. In our business, our product is a friendship between the show hosts and each listener. “You can’t just snap your fingers and make a friend,” says  Jeffrey Hall , a communications researcher at the University of Kansas. A format flip or promotion can sometimes produce a ratings bump, but the sustained business win is in building the emotional bond between our talent and the audience. Advertisers who love the show will also loyally spend money on it. A relationship like that takes time; if it were easy, everyone would do it. Richard Branson once said, “There are no quick wins in business. It takes  years  to become an overnight success.”

Photo by  Samuel Regan-Asante  on  Unsplash