Once You Learn The ABC's Of "Y," Here Comes "Z"

Kudos to Russ Penuell for a terrific recap of A&O&B's client seminar session on connecting with the Millennial generation.

As I said, we really don’t need to work hard to understand millennials because almost all of our new superstars are them.  If you simply follow the trend in music and understand what they’re singing about, what their lyrics are saying and what their shows are like, you’re probably going to figure it out.

Like Blake Shelton said yesterday about his new LP Based On A True Story:   “It’s the best way to put into a song my personality, and the kind of people that I hang out with.  (the album’s lead-off track “Boys ‘Round Here” which features Pistol Annies)  This [song] is about the guys back in Tishomingo, OK and every town around this country.” 

But if you’re determined to be the you that you’ve always been and aren’t going to change, you have about three to five years to figure out that’s not going to work before your ratings figure it out for you as the audience evolves and the demographics shift.

WDAF/Kansas City PD Wes Poe and WUBE/Cincinnati PD Grover Collins are two programmers whose ratings prove they "get it."

• “We’ve all encountered people who are fake or who turn it on when they’re around us, and those people are often avoided for lack the ability to have real relationships.  We need to let our guards down and be real. For example, we use a music-quantity position that is clear and honest about what we offer listeners and we deliver on it. And we’ve been lucky enough to come out on top in the Country battle several months in the last year. When we do, we sincerely thank our listeners for putting us there and explain what they’ve helped us accomplish and what it means to us. If you’re a radio station with empty promises and fluff, your days are numbered in my opinion.  But authenticity won’t stand alone in a world with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, Flickr, Socialcam and more."
• “We’re rolling out a new wake-up app exclusively for the morning show that will work like an alarm clock.  They’ll set it and wake up to Chris Carr & Company. It’s just another feature for people that are not listening to regular radio first thing in the morning, but streaming more with their smartphones.  With the exception of the digital and tech aspects, I consider [millennials] to be a lot like everyone else.  They want to be entertained, they’re looking for quality content and they’re looking for things that intrigue and engage them. Our job is to keep them coming back.”

MediaPost's Jack Loechner calls it "Generational Progress" as the segmentation of the marketplace has fallen into several categories, but none so ubiquitous as age or generational similarities. He notes that William Schroer, SocialMarketing.org, hasthoroughly described population cohorts in a convenient fashion for planning purposes, including the NEXT one we need to start to think about.

Generation Z
Born: 1995-2012
Coming of Age: 2013-2020
Age in 2004: 0-9
Current Population: 23 million and growing rapidly

While we don’t know much about Gen Z yet...we know a lot about the environment they are growing up in. This highly diverse environment will make the grade schools of the next generation the most diverse ever. Higher levels of technology will make significant inroads in academics allowing for customized instruction, data mining of student histories to enable pinpoint diagnostics and remediation or accelerated achievement opportunities.

Gen Z kids will grow up with a highly sophisticated media and computer environment and will be more Internet savvy and expert than their Gen Y forerunners. They are also loving country music, so for more to come on Gen Z...stay tuned!  (.... To THEM.)
 

Make The Most Of Your Free CMA "Year Of Radio" Membership

CMA’s commitment to Country radio is long and enduring, dating back to the origins of the Association and continuing through today.

This year, CMA takes that commitment to a new level with exclusive content, promotions, research tools and more. It's possible that your membership credentials arrived too late for you to see a copy of February-March CMA Closeup Magazine.

If that's the case, I hope you'll enjoy this quick reprise of quotes from a terrific two page article by Brad Schmitt with insights from the CMA Broadcast Award winners on what it takes to score a national award which I plan to reprise here this week, starting with:

I think radio should try to make ‘em happy, make ‘em cry, make ‘em mad, make ‘em sigh. We just try to get emotions out of them, make them passionate, get them to show up for your causes, get them to show up at your events and do things on the air that inspire reaction. Get them to
call in with their comments. Make radio valuable. Give them what Pandora can’t give them. Give them what the Internet can’t give them. Give them all these great options they can’t find anywhere else.

Do things on the air that will inspire reaction. We have an open mic segment twice every morning. They call in and we don’t interfere, but we’ll throw in sound effects and clips. They can rip us, they can argue with us, they can call in and congratulate us on a CMA win.

They can do whatever, and we try to keep it entertaining. Make it a radio blog! Let them know they’re welcome to be a part of it, participate in it and have fun.

-- Chris Carr of “Chris Carr & Company,” WUBE, Cincinnati, Ohio (Large Market Broadcast Personality of the Year)

(an ongoing series) Why I Love Radio

1. WYCT-ADX/Pensacola’s Melinda Bowden hit a home run last Thursday. She got a call as she began at 10am about family who's mother is from Honduras and she is terminally ill. The story had been on WEAR-TV for a few weeks because they have been trying to get her kids from Honduras to the states to see her for Christmas and ultimately before she passed. The state department approved their Visas on the Thursday morning, but the cost of the flight was nearly $3,000.00. Melinda aired the original call back about how people could make a donation... By the end of her shift at 2p... she had raised nearly $4,100.00 and the children arrived in Pensacola Christmas Eve at 930p from Honduras... She did good radio!

The Cat Country evening personality completes the story:

“On Christmas Eve my family and I were invited by the family to the airport to greet the sons as they arrived in Pensacola. What an honor! I was humbled and encouraged by the love that surrounded that family, the nurses and my own family in the airport that night. A Christmas miracle indeed! As a result, my determination and love for radio was renewed. I was reminded that one voice can touch many, many people. I thank God that this time, he chose mine.”

2. Jack Latimer, PD/Morning co-host at Larche’s KICX/Barrie-Orillia-Midland also had one of those great moments on radio this week that worked so well with the Christmas season.

"After we did this break listeners were calling and crying on the phone about this being what Christmas is all about."

3. 92.3 WIL and "Cornbread's Kids Crusade" Raised Over $260,000 for St. Louis Children's Hospital.

"Thank you for supporting our efforts to provide St. Louis Children's Hospital with a life-saving Mobile Intensive Care Unit."

4. Bonneville's WUBE/Cincinnati's listeners have been saluting their family and friends who are in the military over the Holidays.

Bringing people together to do good things, bigger things than any ONE of us can do alone is that makes this season so special and radio does it better than any other medium!

I am so proud to be in RADIO. If you've been up to something you're proud of, please let me hear about it.

Bonneville's B-105 Asks Cincinnati To Give "Cash For Nash"

WUBE is asking its listeners to participate in Cash for Nash to help Nashville and its residents recover from the recent devastating floods.

B-105’s Cash for Nash benefits The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving life in 40 counties of Tennessee. The Foundation oversees more than 730 charitable organizations in the state. It regularly distributes millions of dollars to various local organizations to help better the middle Tennessee communities. The Foundation vows to allocate donations strategically as different needs arise.

Two Ways Listeners Can Help Now:

1) Visit the B-105 Booth at the Country Throwdown beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, May 21 at Riverbend Music Center. The station will be collecting Cash for Nash. If every attendee gives even $1, the numbers will add up and make a big difference. Tickets are still available at Riverbend Music Center. Country Throwdown features 20 different country music acts – including Montgomery Gentry and Jamey Johnson - performing all afternoon and into the night. You can have fun, hear great music and make a difference.

2) Donate right now at www.b105.com. Any amount helps!

100 percent of the money B-105 collects through Cash for Nash goes to The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for use in flood relief efforts.

“We’ve heard from the victims, and many Country music superstars, who have equated this recent catastrophe in Nashville to the potential in some areas of what Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans. The rain may have stopped falling, but the tragedy still exists. Thousands of people need us. Now is the time for Cincinnati’s Country fans to do something about it and send not only financial support from money raised at Riverbend this Friday, but also a message to Nashville that help is on the way. B-105 is sure that after Cincinnati provides Cash For Nash, other cities will also grab the torch and follow suit in the months ahead to help out Nashville, TN in their own unique ways!” - Chris Carr from B-105’s Morning Show

WUBE and WYGY Program Director Grover Collins adds: "I am thinking we will do this at every Country show throughout the Summer."