Meeting with the entire program department is as important as holding individual show improvement sessions. There are many constructive topics to discuss in your weekly or bi-monthly programming meetings. Programming meetings build consensus and morale and are a great way to set direction. Consider these topics for discussion:
What’s the next big event or contest the station should be involved in? Ask for promotional ideas that would be exciting and tremendous for the station.
How is our music; how are the rotations and burn on fast-rotating songs? Are there any new songs we should consider? How about songs that don’t belong?
Get a check-up from the neck up! Report what happened in the last ratings and what we’re doing this fall to bolster the audience. What is our next promotion ad contest?
Gain awareness about listeners. What are they talking about? What “Big Event” is on everyone’s mind? What’s trending on social media? What’s today’s hottest movie, actor, TV show, artist, car, fad, toy, technology gadget, amusement destination, or major concert event? If a big film just opened – pass out pairs of tickets. How can you talk about this information within the format?
Who’s new to the studio line? How’d they find the station? What’s their favorite song? Where do they live? How are they listening to the station – over the air, the website stream, on the station’s app, or another means? Have a system so talents capture the name, phone number, and email of everyone who calls to add to the station database.
Where did you go on your summer vacation? What stations impressed you, and what promotions, liners, or bits were ones your station should consider? What intriguing talents did you discover?
What liners and jingles are being run too often? How can we better recycle listeners to mornings and other shows? Consider listener endorsements and artist and celebrity drops to give lesser frequency to the station voice and jingle imaging. How can we add more variety to our imaging arsenal?
Brainstorm creative stunts and seasonal promotions for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and beyond. What are the best promotions that other stations have done? What promotion would get the biggest tune-in and awareness for the station?
Seek professional help! Invite the Sales Manager to the Programming meeting to discuss how well the station is being received on the street, the best-attended remote, or a terrific job done for a client.
We live in a great city. Introduce a Chamber of Commerce or BBB rep to talk about what’s new or unique locally. Have your “city expert” help you create a profile of the typical listener, what they drive, their number of kids, where they live and shop, etc. What new store has opened or is coming to town? What is the growth area in the city? Who are the five biggest employers, and how many people work there? When does their first shift begin?
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John Lund is President of the Lund Media Group, a radio programming consulting firm with specialists in all mainstream radio formats. Did you find this article useful? You can leave a comment below or email John at John@Lundradio.com.