In the classic comedy movie, “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray awakens to Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” on a clock radio (remember those?)… every morning as he experiences the exact same day over and over.  After several mornings, Bill Murray eventually throws the radio against the wall.

Always go into stopsets with a creative promote-ahead.  If you don’t want to go from a bit to a promote-ahead to spots, do a produced “donut promo” after a bit into spots.  Push to expand the average TSL beyond 10 minutes. Practice the 80/20 rule in promoting ahead.  Instead of providing the answer, give enough to intrigue the audience with 80% and hold back 20%.

Examine the production elements on your stations and assess all your on-air elements. Look for quality, freshness, and imaging liners with unplanned consequences. Are imaging liners touting listener benefits? That’s a stronger ploy than a list of features.  Great production makes grasping the context easy for the listener. Look for unintended tune-outs, like comments that signal to the audience that they’ll have to wait for music. 

Repetitively brand the station name (especially in diary markets) and positioning slogan, ideally 30-40 times an hour in a diary market.

Help your air staff grow and develop as talented performers.  This is a great time to take a fresh look at their performances.  Our job as programmers is to motivate, stimulate, counsel, and critique the staff.  Conduct a coaching session at least once a week, and more often with the morning talent(s).  Consider these guidelines.

The easiest way to achieve higher ratings is by extending Time Spent Listening.   Simply always give listeners a reason to stay tuned.  Go into every commercial stop set by promoting ahead a listener benefit – such as content, music, weather, a prize giveaway, etc.  Do this just before airing your first commercial.  Provide listeners a reason to stay tuned, and they will! 

Appointment listening requires promoting ahead benchmarks, features, and benefit-driven reasons to listen.  Tell your listeners what you do and give them every reason to set multiple appointments every day. 

As you prepare for the fall, consider these tactics to enhance your programming and expand your audience. Perform a brand audit conduct, a comprehensive evaluation of each station in your cluster, as well as for your direct competitors.  Monitor and critique every aspect of every show.  Some PDs do this at home, which is less distracting.  Listen intently and take notes. 

What do your listeners have in common with goldfish?  More than you think — and it could cost you ratings.  Scientists say the average goldfish has a 9-second attention span. Bad news: humans are clocking in at just 8 seconds.