Half Effort, No Result

Sell the helicopter. Close up shop at Airwatch. The traffic report is dead.

That's what a new report claims. It simply says younger audiences, like myself, don't want to hear them anymore. Must have something to do with the fact Americans are giving up driving, forever riding unicycles to their destinations instead.

The report says:

"The region's top-rated pop station, KIIS-FM, recently dropped afternoon traffic reports after AMP-FM, a new Top 40 station received higher ratings without traffic updates."

Probably since most people in their 20s are unemployed, still live with mom and dad, and don't have a driver's license. But that's beside the point.

Radio is once again listening to the worst possible place: A consultant who can promise them a quick way to reduce capital expenses:

"Metro Traffic, a division of Westwood One Inc., began consolidating its 60 traffic reporting operations around the nation last year to just 13. "

GPS, cell phones, and in-car Wi-Fi mean fewer people needing to listen to the radio, they say. But that's okay. "Airwatch has a growing service providing traffic updates directly to navigational units in vehicles."

Let me level with you as a 25 year old: A white flag ain't a great business plan.

I am more than willing to shift permanently away from radio for news and traffic information if that's the industry's desire. But let me warn you, once I and my fellow Gen Y'ers break our radio habit, we will never come back.

Translation: Your business will be dead. Over. Gone. Sell the spectrum (like you did the helicopter) and go into the Wi-Fi business.

May I propose a contrary option: Expand traffic reports into explanations of the problem, rather than raw data. My Garmin can tell me there is "a crash southbound I-15 at 90th South." Only a radio station can tell me that "a Walmart truck swerved to avoid a stalled car and tipped over just before the Sandy construction zone, blocking the three left lanes." A traffic jam is much more bearable if a listener knows why they have to wait.

That requires hiring people who can call U.H.P., talk with listeners on the phone, and (ideally) fly overhead and look. GPS will never replace that.

The decision is yours. Invest in your product now and keep the business alive awhile, or wave the white flag now. Don't worry. We Gen Y'ers will one day be happy to chop up the FM spectrum for cheap internet access.

Delilah Disallusionment

An acquaintance of mine writes on her Facebook:

"I was listening to Delilah the other night and this lady was talking about her divorce & how she had these incredible girlfriends that were there for her through the whole dreadful process. She asked Delilah to pick a song for those she was most thankful for ... Delilah chose to play 'Mele Kalikmaka' ... I would be ticked!"

Let's face it. Cost-cutting programming like "Delilah" can fall horrifically short on its mission to convince listeners that the show is live and local. In this case, Delilah's local music-insert system (a strong point P.D.'s might say) backfired terribly in context of the programming.

A bit scarier to consider: "Delilah" is one of syndicated radio's better-implemented shows. So many others are much, much worse. Yet, the show's execution is excellent, and it pulls a loyal audience base.

Another friend:

"My wife and I were listening in the car one night, and a woman called in talking about how happy/grateful she was about her upcoming 60th wedding anniversary and how much she loves her husband, and asked for a song. Delilah picked 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' by Neil Diamond, which conveys pretty much the exact opposite emotions."

In the end, the lack of local investment will one day end with a lack of local listeners.

Swallowing My Pride

Well, I've had a number of reasons for not updating the old radio guide site.

I'm ashamed to admit that technological snobbery has been a big part of it. I owned 100% of my code on the old site. Every single page you see there was hand-crafted with some help from Microsoft Frontpage '98.

But that meant any change to the dial involved having to re-code dozens of pages. Life got busier.

I'm now happy to embrace blogger for news and my thoughts. Wikipedia will soon take over the job of AM and FM dial pages. And YouTube will help me upload more airchecks than ever before.

Cheers!

And now, for no apparent reason:



Here's an aircheck from Boston, twenty-five years ago.