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11-28-2011 (updated)

Our story about the strength of local on-air talent vs. nationally recognized names like Ryan Seacrest and Elvis Duran stirred the pot quite a bit over the past few days. Some have argued that unless you know the feel of a local market, what's going on, who the local players are and what the flavor of a community is national names can never compete with the locals. Others would argue, and have, that listeners really only care about being entertained. All of that flavor stuff doesn't mean much if you are presenting compelling and entertaining information. Take a look at some of the comments that follow the story.

That national philosophy, as outlined by new CEO Bob Pittman in the December 5th issue of Radio Ink, involves bringing some of Clear Channel's "world class talent" into smaller and medium markets and to localize them, so to speak. That talent may include Elvis Duran doing a morning show or Ryan Seacrest doing an afternoon show in markets they do not live. That seems to have a lot of you in a tizzy. Why?

Some would say this approach removes any possibility of creating a farm system of radio talent. The next generation of Elvis Duran's, Rush Limbaugh's and Bob and Tom's are now without a place to start, learn and grow. Others might ask why small and medium market listeners should be used as Guinea pigs. Just because talent is local, doesn't mean they always giving listeners the best product. There really haven't been too many complaints about Rush Limbaugh. Rush is not local, yet he's heard on hundreds of stations and has been for years. There are no complaints because Rush is a great broadcaster. But is local always best for listeners and advertisers? After all isn't that our top priority?

Burns & Associates CEO Alan Burns tells Radio Ink people don't really care if Rush Limbaugh is local. "In most cases and places, being entertaining is more important than where you originate from. Listeners will say local is preferable, but they’ll listen to what’s most entertaining or most useful to them. But local does matter. You can win with local if you do it well and thoroughly and are in roughly the same ballpark as the other guys on entertainment or information. Clear Channel’s move to more nationalized content will cause some broadcasters to try to do a better job of local service, and that’s good for the industry."

Ryan Seacrest is on in the town I live in, Fort Myers Florida. We've never run into him in the grocery store so I'm pretty sure he doesn't live here. Maybe a summer house in Naples, but that's just speculation. Can listeners really tell when he stops speaking live and the local liner fires off? Probably not. Today's technology is very smooth. I can tell, but that's because I'm listening for it. And, listening closely brings me back to the days of yesteryear when our antiquated automation system would fire off carts, which would break, in some enormous space-ship looking spinning wheel causing 30 seconds of dead air and all kinds of lights and buzzers got go off around the station. Times have certainly changed. 
 
Veteran radio consultant Jaye Albright says automating radio's programming is nothing new. "Great beats local. Great local beats unengaged execution, no matter where it comes from or how famous the voice. Fun, originality, creativity, passion, interactivity, proper targeting, position, excellent formatics dominate as long as it makes the listener feel something more than anything else on the radio right now."

"My first lesson in this fact came in the late 1970's when I left local radio in San Jose to join consultant-syndication company Drake-Chenault. One of my first client station visits was to North Carolina Summit Broadcasting General Manager Roger Stockton, who I was trying to convince that his radio station should move from one of our 24/7 syndicated formats, "Great American Country" which was voiced by the legendary Bob Kingsley to adding a live morning show and other "live and local" dayparts.

"Don't people wonder if Bob ever sleeps?" I queried Stockton. He replied, "they don't seem to, since we have an 18 share in those time periods." Consistent music rotations, a familiar voice front and also back announcing all of the current music and tight formatics compared to what other choices Triad country listeners had was sufficient force to win big at the time.

For local to matter, Burns says, you have to do more than just pay lip-service to it. "Just saying the names of three suburbs after the weather won't work. I’ve seen some of CCU’s Premium Choice stations do very well against nominally “local” programming.  You have to know the market and care about it, serve it and reflect it on the air, and be everywhere in it. That’s where the national companies and content will have a hard time competing. Clear Channel, and anyone else who wants to emulate what they’re doing, has to be thinking about several questions regarding staffing levels: How many markets can one talent empathize with? Do you have enough people at the local outlet to actually be in touch with the market? Do you have enough people left to generate sufficient local presence?"

Of course, we want to know your thoughts. Please send feedback to edryan@radioink.com or post your comments below. When posting comments please keep in mind this is a debate about programming philosophy, not about people being fired. We all agree that it's unfortunate and life altering that people have lost their jobs.

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At Radio Ink's Forecast 2012 we will feature a panel on this very topic.

The time: 11:10-11:50 AM

Close-up on Revenue Initiatives -- Does Local Make 'Em Loyal? Or Is Bigger Better?
A close-up look at the myriad of revenue streams. Where is the greatest potential for growth, and what are the best ways to capitalize on it? Does national programming provide better quality and bigger returns? What is the role of digital? How does radio in the local marketplace compete -- and/or take advantage of broader national resources as well as social media marketing platforms? These and other compelling issues are explored.

Moderator: John Gehron, COO, AccuRadio
Chris Bell, President, Triton Digital Applications & Services Division
Traug Keller, SVP, Production, Business Divisions/ESPN
Michael Weiss, President, Sales/CBS Radio
Go HERE to register for Forecast

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