There are some mysteries as to why some radio stations, playing the same music as other radio stations in the same market, outperform their competitors. It\u2019s not obvious. The music point of differentiation is not apparent between the two. Neither of the two competitors have a clear advantage over the other when it comes to on-air talent. You don\u2019t hear a big cash contest on-air, you aren\u2019t seeing billboards or television ads, no bus sides or bus shelters bearing the name and frequency of their station, and you\u2019re not sure if there\u2019s a stealth marketing or direct messaging campaign underway. The only thing that you\u2019re sure of is that one station always seems to win and the other always seems to lose.<\/p>\n
The expression that fits the best, as an explanation, may be \u201cThe devil is in the details\u201d \u2026 meaning that the details of a matter are its most problematic aspect. Attention paid to small things has big rewards.<\/p>\n
Here are 10 little known and seldom practiced tips that could lead to ratings growth:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Stop-set placement: <\/strong>As simple as it may seem to many, taking advantage of Nielsen methodology and maximizing time spent listening by placing your stop-sets appropriately is not something that\u2019s done uniformly.\u00a0PPM criteria requires 5 minutes of listening that could be individual minutes that are accumulated within a quarter hour. Meaning a minute here and a minute there \u2026 back and forth \u2026 as long as they add up to 5 minutes within the quarter hour. Therefore, in a PPM market you want to play your commercials across the quarter hours so as much of each quarter hour as possible is filled with music.\u00a0 That could mean stopping from 12 after to 18 after the hour. It could mean stopping 56 to 04 after the hour. Whether you\u2019re playing commercials across the :15 and :45 or across :00 and :30 \u2026 you are enabling the meter holder to hear mostly music in those quarter hours.<\/p>\n In Diary markets the criteria requires 5 continuous minutes within a quarter hour. That\u2019s why in those markets a station stops in the middle of a quarter hour. They may stop at 20 past the hour for five minutes of commercials, as they are trying to cover from 25 past the hour to 35 after with a music sweep. That gets you two quarter hours listening and you get credit.<\/p>\n 2. Filling the stop-sets:<\/strong> Because you should want to play long sets of music as frequently as possible, you\u00a0 should prepare for times when your station is not sold-out by filling one stop-set at a time. Many stations fill their commercial breaks evenly. That\u2019s the opposite of what you should do. Analyze which quarter hour has the fewest listeners listening and fill-up the stop-set in that quarter-hour before starting to fill other breaks.<\/p>\n 3. Longest commercials air before shorter commercials:<\/strong>\u00a0This one is tricky as not all traffic systems can accommodate this tactic. Despite the urban myth that shorter commercials are better than longer commercials, which is only true if there are fewer overall commercials. Listeners count units and not minutes. Four sixty-second commercials make a break seem shorter than eight thirty-second commercials in a break. We\u2019re talking about illusions. Playing the longest commercials first in the break creates the illusion that the stop-set is shorter than reality.<\/p>\n 4. Commercials that sound the most like music should air first in a stop-set<\/strong>: There are fewer music commercials today given that the concert business has ground to a near halt during the pandemic, and few businesses use jingles in their commercials any more, but when you have a commercial that embraces music \u2026 that commercial should be first in the break. It will hold an audience longer.<\/p>\n 5. Don\u2019t telegraph your stop-sets:<\/strong>\u00a0Not only does it sound antiquated to use phrases like \u201cWe\u2019ll be right back\u201d and \u201cup next\u201d it signals to your audience that commercials are coming and they should tune-away. It\u2019s also a missed opportunity if you don\u2019t tease ahead, by mentioning compelling content, to encourage a listener to sit through the break.<\/p>\n 6. Be aware of the phenomena known as \u201cAccumulated Listening\u201d<\/strong>: Realize that a daily listener may be hearing you more than they hear their partner at home. If all of your talk-sets are long, then the accumulation of talk can be overwhelming and the audience will search for an escape. You don\u2019t have to share everything in your head in one show. You have shows daily and as such you can balance your content through the days and weeks.<\/p>\n 7. Radio On-Demand audio should be after\u00a0<\/em>your CBET or Voltair unit (PPM Markets):<\/strong>\u00a0Meaning that if you\u2019re in a PPM market, and your on-air shows turn their programs into podcasts or on-demand audio, use the streamed source that includes encoding from your CBET or Voltair unit. That way, providing you air the show in its entirety including commercials, within 24 hours of broadcast, you\u2019ll receive Nielsen credit. The PPM meter will capture it.<\/p>\n 8. Two days matter:<\/strong>\u00a0Thursday is usually the most important day in Diary markets. Monday is generally the most important day in PPM markets. It may vary in your market, but do the research to see which day you\u2019re receiving the most reported listening (Diary markets) and captured listening (PPM markets) to giveaway the biggest prizes, award the most money, announce concerts, music releases and share magnetic content that has value to an audience, on those days.<\/p>\n 9. Silence is Golden:<\/strong>\u00a0This one always brings guffaws and chuckles from some of my colleagues, but nothing is more attention-grabbing than silence. Want to capture the listeners attention before a major announcement? Pause for 2 or 3 seconds of silence and then begin the announcement. Just as a listener reaches for the controls of their radio, or as they stare at their smart speaker, your message begins to play. Note; we\u2019re not suggesting so much silence that your silence sensor activates.<\/p>\n 10. Set Appointments:<\/strong>\u00a0The quickest way to grow your time spent listening is to encourage the audience to return to listen several times a day. We know that repeat tune in drives AQH Share. \u201cCheck back with us at nine, two and five for your chance to win\u201d or \u201cbe listening at 3:10pm when we have the premiere of Taylor Swifts new song.\u201d Being specific and asking the audience to do something as an appointment, has to have a genuine payoff, to be effective.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The question: Why do some radio stations win rating sweep after rating sweep?<\/p>\n The answer: They make a religious-like commitment to the details that others overlook.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the secret.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n