HisAir.Net Christian Radio Feedback Room

Can Jesus and Christian Radio Co-Exist?

2009-03-20T11:03:00.007-05:00

By Brant Hansen
Mornings
WAY FM/CHRSN

(This is from Brant Hansen’s personal blog, and not originally written for an industry site. Brant is host of “Mornings with Brant” for WAY-FM/CHRSN.)

Dan Kimball wrote this book They Like Jesus But Not the Church. Or something like that. It's a great book.

I mean, I suspect it is. I haven't read it. I don't think I need to. I get it: People outside the church think Christians are judgmental, simplistic, etc. etc. Got it. But Jesus? He's challenging, revolutionary, fascinating, insightful, mind-blowing, mysterious.

After working in both mainstream and Christian radio, I think I'm ready to write my own book about the many I encounter: They Like Church But Not Jesus.

I mean it. I wrote before: Based on my observation, Jesus is simply not the most influential guy around. I've seen it over, and over, and over. In fact, I'd say it's a theme at my job: People just aren't that into Jesus. He ticks Christians off.

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I've been corrected many times by church folk -- after reading something Jesus actually said. They don't like it. I'm serious. "You know, all the commandments can be summed up with love the Lord your God with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said that, and..."

Ringing phones. "Hello?"

"You forgot one: Evangelize."

Jesus stands corrected.

Ring.

"Well, it's not quite that simple, you see, because..."

No, no. It can't be that simple. Not here.

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You see, we actually talk about Jesus quite a bit on the show. In fact, I’m not sure if there’s another music show that talks as much about Jesus. We do some bizarre stuff, too (like the award-winning game "Is My Head in a Case?" or playing "Rapper's Delight" in German, etc.) but it happens that Jesus – the stuff he said and did and says and does – comes up all the time.

(Not bragging here. I just think we're doing something kind of experimental. If you're in Christian radio, reading this, and you're doing the same thing -- that's cool. I just don't get out much.)

So more Jesus...but less Christian? How can this be?

I'll connect the dots for me: The things Jesus said, the way of life he gave us, his themes and priorites -- they're simply don't seem very Christian.

If we were to sprinkle in some more hey-I'm-on-your-team-here insider terms, or talk about how America is under attack by (you name it) or just stick to quoting Paul, even -- problem solved. Now it's Christian.

Jesus? Mmm -- not so much.

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I know you think I may be exaggerating. I'm not. Not in the least. Today, I read where Jesus told us that when we're praying, we shouldn't babble on "like the pagans do".

I got three very Christian emails of protest, citing scripture to rebut Jesus.

No big deal, but -- so you know -- it happens again and again. This is where my "If Jesus Had a Blog" stuff comes from, by the way. Real conversations with learned Christians, and real objections to stuff Jesus said.

I’ve noticed: People do love the Bible. But not the Gospels. They quote Biblical stuff to me all the time, but it's never the stuff Jesus said.

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I can't tell you how thankful I am for my job. Ironically – we all love irony -- I effectively killed my ambition a couple years ago, and since, my platform has grown. It happened immediately after I stopped caring.

I can't believe how understanding my bosses have been. Those of you who are down on Christian radio would be heartened by some of what transpires where I work.

And we get a remarkable number of emails/facebook messages/texts from people who say, "I have never thought about Jesus this way before. Thank you." It can bring tears to a guy's eyes. I wish those people called more on the phone, to be honest, but most people will never call a radio station and talk to an on-air "personality", especially when his head is in a case.

So that's just it. You've got "How can he say that?" on one side, and "I've never thought about Jesus like this before," on another, and there's quite a bit of both, and hundreds of thousands of listeners, and -- I can’t help thinking something's going to happen. Maybe I'm nuts.

Like, maybe Jesus is too much for religious folk. And they won’t stand for it, even as so many are drawn to him.

Jesus has always scandalized people. What if we do, too? How long can that continue?

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I have to pray every day for God to help me love these people, the frustrating ones, the Christians bugged by Jesus-talk. I've told my wife, and a few friends, that eventually they will come for me. If I keep talking about Jesus, and keep probing the stuff he said, they're going to come for me. I'm only half-joking.

I'm not worried about the A.C.L.U. It'll be religious leaders. I think there's precedent for that.

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Please pray for me. I'm not writing this because I'm desperate, or there's anything new here. I just take my job very seriously. It matters a LOT to me what people think of Jesus. At the same time, I always have my own stupid concerns about me.

I want to do great radio, not great Christian radio.

And I want to convey how remarkable Jesus is. How smart he is. How he understands our nature. How infuriating he can be to those in power. I want to subvert a culture that turns the church into an incredibly expensive and remarkably harmless spectator sport. I want people to understand how revolutionary the love of Jesus is.

I don't want to preach at them. I want to be a friend. Doing this is really, really hard. I know your job is hard, too. Thing is, my Christian radio job comes with its own paradox: If I focus a lot on Jesus, I’m going to upset a lot of Christians.

I may not have put any of this very well, but please pray for me.

Brant Hansen hosts "Mornings with Brant" on the WAY-FM network. His email is brant@morningswithbrant.com.

Do you need a fundraising makeover?

2009-02-01T18:21:00.003-06:00

By Don Hughes

President and CEO

Great Plains Christian Radio

Meade, KS

Old habits are hard to break, however, sometimes you need to look at your ways of doing things and ask yourself if the performance is what you are seeking. Now is a good time for evaluation considering the present economic climate. Private giving is three hundred billion dollars a year in the United States. I really don't expect a dramatic decline in donations. This number shows that you don't have to motivate people to give, but you need to attract an adequate level of the giving that is taking place to your organization to meet operating expenses. Sharathons may have had their place in broadcasting, but too many people are skeptical about what we say and do to obtain funds. It seems everyone is afraid or unwilling to raise funds a different way. We know what is available to us with present methods and message, however a new and bigger message, optimism of a greater vision tied to a new message can give you the funds needed for desired ministry goals.

Can anyone imagine promoting a Christian concert the way we conduct sharathons? Can you imagine having announcements on the air saying Concert 2009 is coming to a city near you for about four weeks and then allowing just a few days to obtain tickets? No one uses this type system to promote and sell products. Why do we do fundraising in this way? A fellow broadcaster asked me once how our recent sharathon went and I told him we didn't do sharathons. He asked how we raised money and I told him that we may air a few recorded announcements of sixty-seconds from time to time. He asked if it were possible to raise funds in sixty seconds. I responded, "There are many businesses presenting their products through ads of thirty to sixty seconds why would you think it would not be effective for fundraising?" There is too much time spent resting in this single avenue of requesting funds. There are regular listeners who tune-out during sharathon. The percentage of people with the inclination to phone a station and make a pledge would be smaller still. So, why a method where you have lost most potential contributors before you invite the first phone call?

We need to reach beyond just the bottom-line and what is needed for funding and embrace the listeners as our fellow ministers. Once you have done this you will be able to develop the needed resources for ministry. The key is not obtaining resources for ministry, but in building relationships with the listeners and have them join in a united effort. People want leadership, a sense of unity and family in moving to a common goal.

Look at the sports world and how people develop their favorite teams and cheer for success. You have listeners that want you to succeed and they will also join in the positive feelings of accomplishment to see the ministry's outreach in communicating hope and touching lives.

The number one thing that will motivate people to support your radio station is vision. What do you want to do and how are you doing it? What I hear from most stations is that they play more music on the radio than anyone else. I agree, cut the meaningless chatter and keep the music rolling. However, you end up communicating you are a jukebox and so the listener's reaction is, "Ok, I'll drop a quarter in the slot occasionally." Your vision has to be more than playing music on the radio. I have engaged industry people in conversation over this issue and they become very defensive and then tell me their vision is bigger than a "more music" format. However, their vision for ministry is not communicated very well to the listeners. You must electrify and energize your base concerning why you do what you do.

The second thing you must do is have the listeners take personal ownership in the ministry. I am sorry if I offend anyone, but the tone of most fundraising is, "Give to me so I can conduct my ministry." However, what needs to be said is, "I am a servant to you to help you conduct your ministry. Scripture explains how we have different callings, but one mission. The person on the air has a different role than the person who sends a monthly donation, however both work in the same mission. It is very important for you to embrace this thinking and effectively communicate it to your listeners. Don't just seek donations, but provide leadership. Don't desire your organization to be bigger, but help your listeners to desire growth in wisdom and knowledge of the Lord and what He desires for them.

Think about it! If your listeners really embraced your vision and take personal ownership do you think you would have difficulty raising funds? If you do these two things you will have the funds you need for your ministry without doing a sharathon. It is a daily effort of communicating on the air and expressing yourself in print to your listeners. Each hour you should ask yourself what you have done to communicate vision and personal ownership on the air and also in each piece of mail that you send out.

I mentioned that you must present vision and personal ownership on the air and in print. In order for you to have the audio and visual contact with listeners you need to identify your listening audience by name and address. One of the most effective ways I have seen is by sponsoring special events and selling tickets. If you use an on-line source for selling tickets or the auditorium handles the tickets you need to tell them you need the addresses for future promotion of events. People who purchase tickets to Christian events are also willing to support your station.

The station promotions director and the one who works most closely with funding should have their desks in the same room. Seek to conduct activities that will result in people phoning the radio station or send you an e-mail with their address? One thing we have done is to give away books on the air. We will obtain five hundred to a thousand copies of a good title and author and develop interest in the book over the period of a week and then have a day when we take the first five hundred to a thousand callers for a free copy of the book. You will further develop your ministry by sending quality Christian literature to thousands of people. You will also build your mailing list. You should not be afraid to spend five dollars to obtain a new name and address for your mailing list.

Your first book giveaway in this fashion will result in about fifty percent of the callers as new contacts assuming your already have some kind of mailing list. However, after several years of building your mailing list in this way your net gain may be only twenty to thirty percent of the callers.

Now, I know what you are thinking, "Oh, so you are not giving the hard pitch on the air for funding, but through the mail." No, the mail gives us another opportunity to build relationships and minister to our listeners in print as well as one the air. We like to have a ministry item in the mailing as a gift from time to time. Your mailings cannot appear routine. You need to be creative on what is on the outside of the envelop and what is on the inside. You must be creative. It is also good if mailings are personal. Use mail-merge to create a letter with the person's name on it. Perhaps even sign the letter yourself. Have a team of volunteers hand address the envelop and send it first class. The personal touch will develop the relationship and adequate funding for the ministry.

One size does not fit all when it comes to fundraising. Even though you may vary what you say during your sharathon the tendency is to present a single mindset on funding. People are different in the way they give and you need to direct fundraising accordingly. Developing a mailing list and keeping good records will help you to direct letters according to a person's giving style. You can also watch patterns and move people up in their donations. People that have never given will receive a different mailing than those that have made an occasional gift. Once someone has become an occasional donor encourage them to be a monthly donor. Encourage the regular donor to give through Electronic Fund Transfer. Watch your donors for the periodic large gift by watching when and how much they give and approach them according to the pattern. Instead of sending a gift in appreciation for a donation, get there first with the appreciation gift and the donation will follow.

Let me encourage you to keep moving forward. Be aware of the economic times we are in, but don't be distracted by it. Twenty-five years ago people got along just fine without cable TV, internet and cellular telephones. We have expanded our spending believing that we need these things. We need to understand that most people are still working and receiving regular income and will make donations. The unemployment rate moved from about five percent to seven percent. It is very bad for those affected. Pray for them and focus on the fact they need the encouragement your ministry provides to recover.

I close with a somewhat paraphrased Philippians 3:14, everyone needs your message of Hope to keep pressing on to the goal of the upward knowledge of Christ Jesus.

Great Plains Christian Radio has six full power stations and 38 translators reaching parts of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico.The flagship station KJIL has been named NRB Station of the Year, GMA Station of the Year, NAB Station of the Year, Focus On the Family Station of the Year and Kansas Association of Broadcasters Station of the Year.Don is a veteran of forty years in broadcasting. He has been involved in contemporary Christian concert promotion for thirty-seven years. Contact Don at don@kjil.com

Don't Worry, Be Happy

2008-11-02T18:34:00.013-06:00

By Chris Chicago
Shamrock Media Group

I was asked to write an article for HisAir.Net a few months back and sadly it has taken me this long to sit down and actually write something down. I have been searching my mind for days and weeks now trying to come up with something compelling and interesting for you to read. Unfortunately, I haven’t come up with anything that I think will blow your mind, in fact I plan to just write about what has been impacting me and my business lately and how God’s word gets me though the day!

As you already know our economy isn’t at its best place right now and many people especially those in the music industry are scared. It’s easy to be scared in a time like this, wondering if we are going to have a job next week, wondering if we will be able to afford gas, wondering if food prices are going to shoot through the roof, wondering if our next president is going to raise our taxes. Scary stuff.

So, you might be thinking, is Chris Chicago scared? Well to be honest it is easy to let your mind wander down that road. It is easy to think about things we don’t want to happen to us. I on the other hand don’t think it is wise to be spending time and energy on things we don’t want. The more we dwell on negative things and get ourselves all worked up is less time we can be spending coming up with amazing ideas and focusing on the things we can be thankful for. I know many of us are under paid and over worked and it can be tough to stay positive – but staying in a place of Gratitude and Positivity is key.

When times get tough and I start to wander down that road of worrying, I like to go to several scriptures God has given us that always comfort me.

But seek first his kingdom
And his righteousness,
And all these things will be given to you as well
~
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow,
For tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Maybe you are at a place right now where you don’t feel like being or thinking positive or you feel like God isn’t present in your life. No matter where you are in your faith – whether you have been a believer for many, many years or this following God thing is brand new – the answer is always the same. Seek. It all begins here. Seek and you will find. God’s word in Jeremiah says –

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.

So remember that, He promises that if we want to find him, we will.

Everyone’s story is different and the economy is going to affect all of us in different ways but the cool thing is, is that God will always be there – 100 percent – all of the time – he meets us where we are, and in just the way we need. Even if you are in a situation where God seems so far away, know that in reality he is always near. The psalms are jam packed with writings from people who felt this same way:

Hurry with your answer, GOD!
I’m nearly at the end of my rope.
Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me!
That would be certain death.
~
Those who know your name will trust you.
For you, Lord, have never forsaken those who SEEK you.

Go to a quiet place and pour out your heart. Ask Jesus to meet you and come to you. I promise he will show up in your life! I am very optimistic about our future and pray that you will find the same optimism. Thanks for reading and remember don’t worry, be happy.

Chris Chicago has been in Radio for over 10 years and still rocks the mic on 2 very successful syndicated radio programs. Chicago moved to Nashville in 2005 where he started Shamrock Media Group, a radio promotions company that targets the Christian CHR and Rock formats. He works with some of the best artists in the genre and has garnered many top charting singles on the charts.

Lessons from Politics for Christian Broadcasters

2008-10-05T20:26:00.003-05:00

By Don Hughes

President, CEO of Great Plains Christian Radio
KJIL, KHYM, KJOV, KJRL, KNGM

If you were to talk to Karl Rove, Dick Morris, Frank Lutz or any of the big names in political consulting they would speak with reverence about the work of Lee Atwater in development of political strategies. Yes, at times they also may talk of his being somewhat questionable in use of what some may call dirty politics. Observations of what we see on the surface of political campaigns are key indicators that behind the scenes it is far worse.

A man that is credited with the development of current political strategies is Lee Atwater. Lee worked on Ronald Reagan's campaigns and engineered the George Bush 1988 campaign against Michael Dukakis. Atwater became the Republican National Chairman before discovering he had a cancerous brain tumor. He died in 1991 at the age of 40. Before his death he became a Christian. Atwater even contacted candidates that were the recipient of some of his political dirty tricks to apologize. A movie is to be released soon titled "Boogie Man" about the life of Lee Atwater.

I graduated from high school with Lee in 1969 and we made contact again in 1984 when I worked for him doing voice work for a number of political campaigns. There were times when I sat around his office between recording sessions with candidates and I listened and learned. There were times when I questioned Lee about how he was conducting a campaign and other times he would just begin to talk about political science. I listened, learned and applied some ideas into my work in radio. I observed and watched the results of what Lee told me as it plays out in political campaigns and in radio.

Here is a fact...the candidate that rises to the top is not the one who has the most qualifications, but rather the one with low negatives. It was a strategy of Atwater to raise an opponent's negatives. It is an understatement to say the process is not very kind. We can see that in the current political race for President. Senator Obama did not have a lot of negative press in the early Democratic Primaries. Accusations have been widespread concerning low key coverage of what may be considered negative aspects of Obama's record. When the negative press began the Senator was able to ride his early lead to gain the nomination. It was low negatives early in the primary process that created success for Senator Obama.

You will notice too that adding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as The Vice Presidential candidate caused Senator John McCain to gain the lead following the Democratic and Republican Conventions. The idea of a conservative Pro-Life female ignited the Republican base. There were women voters attracted to the ticket as well. Since very few people knew much about Sarah Palin she had low negatives. The national media and Democratic Party went into overdrive to raise her negatives as quickly as possible.

The point of this article is not to analyze the campaign for president, but to learn lessons that can be used in Christian broadcasting. I see this principal of the application of "low negatives" play out every day in many walks of life. There are exceptions of course, but in so many ways the person, the movie, the song, the band, the political candidate that emerges on top is the one with low negatives. Outside of politics it is not always something that is planned, but it just works out that way.
Since I learned this principle almost a quarter century ago I have seen it occur in the process of songs in Christian music that rise to the top. Now there are those super hits like "I can Only Imagine" that capture everyone's attention. However, very often at the end of the year when the charts come out we all look at the list and wonder how certain songs end up at the top. Keep in mind these charts are based on radio station airplay. Music directors look for those hit songs that will capture the listener's attention; however there are those songs with broad agreement it is a good song, but perhaps not one that soars to the top of the chart. However, the song is played by many stations not because it is a hit, but because it has what turns out to be "low negatives." Many times the song with low negatives ends up being the top song for the year.

Basically speaking you may have the opinion that you are picking the hits. However, in actuality your listening audience is very diverse and you are picking the hits for only a segment of your listening audience. Programmers without realizing it choose songs outside of "the hits" that are not within the realm of the preference for the overall majority, but rather the tolerance of the majority within a given format. Not everyone has the same "favorite songs." In other words it is the collective impact of an on-air music library of songs with low negatives that creates the biggest impact on the popularity of a given station.

Here is another bit of useful political strategy that comes from Lee Atwater, "Find an eighty percent issue and have your picture taken next to it." My mind started racing with ideas. We as Christians are surrounded with eighty percent issues and even higher. There are all kinds of things we can use to minister to people and show them what the ministry supports. Even if someone does not openly embrace and participate in the things associated with the station they are certainly not offended by these images and ideas. If they were they would not be listening to us anyway. You create a situation where you have an eighty percent theme that also has low negatives.

Here is an example of an application of this strategy we have used at Great Plains Christian Radio. We have sent out copies of the Ten Commandments suitable for framing. Many times we have a public outcry about the posting of the Ten Commandments in class rooms and court rooms. We issued a challenge to post them in our homes and churches. Our listeners were thrilled with the idea and those that did not embrace the idea were at least not offended. There are so many ways you can shape the image of your station by using those things upon which we all agree.
This is nothing new. Even though our founding fathers may not have realized what they were doing, look at the main themes in the Declaration of Independent. Here is the most quoted and remember phrase, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." If you had taken a survey you would have found that colonial America was upset over the Stamp Act, but not ready to die over it. The target of the document is the King and not England or even Parliament. Most colonists maintained a kindred spirit with their homeland and had relatives and friends living there. The King brought the greatest feeling of resentment and their unity of thought among the colonist. The persuasive words of the famous 1776 document and the writings of Thomas Paine changed the course of human events. What will fill your listeners with such vision for your radio ministry?

If you are like most Christian stations you rely on donations for support associating yourself with images and words that illustrate agreement creates a vision of the outreach for your station and creates personal ownership. Vision and ownership are two very keys goals you must voice for people to feel comfortable about sending a donation in support. Low negatives, the illustration of agreement and unity will add to the vision and personal ownership for the radio station adding to the much needed financial support.

John McCain's campaign lacked enthusiasm among the united base of the Republican Party in the early weeks of the campaign, but the addition of Sarah Palin electrified the base. What will electrify the base of your listening audience? So often I see stations that are trying to develop their format to exclude anything that may offend someone. However, in so doing the station is is so passive there is nothing to motivate and electrify their core listening audience. Your goal is to reach for the excitement that Sarah Palin brought to the Republican ticket and maintain that enthusiasm every year. You will need to have a promotion or element in your programming every few months that will renew the vision.

Various studies of Christian broadcasting have shown that seventy percent of the listeners are women. However, you need to consider what pollster Frank Lutz has said in his book, Words that Work, "Myth: American Women all respond to messages like..women. It is true that there are real differences in men's and women's policy priorities, and one great ideological divide: Women typically put more faith in government than men, so they are less hostile toward Washington. Once you get beyond this one generalization, though, women are as different from one another as they are from men. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, a CEO or a salesperson, it's a profound mistake to treat women as a single, monolithic bloc. It should be so obvious as to go without saying that not all women are alike, but you'd be hard-press to find political strategists who recognize it and actually act on it." I can add that this is a truth that Christian broadcasters have not come to realize. You can ask any female about this, except Becky.

Once someone has gained a political office, if they intend on being reelected they need to engage in constituent service. Someone holding elected office needs to do what they said they would do. Whenever someone writes or calls about a concern the staff and system of response needs to be in place. The key element of the contact is that the constituent needs to feel that their concerns have been heard.

In our work in broadcasting we need to relate to our listeners as individuals and not as a block of people. When a listener sends a donation they will of course receive a "thank you note?" What about going beyond the routine receipt and even call the person to tell them, "Thank you." When someone asks you to pray, is there really prayer. We gather every morning to pray at Great Plains Christian Radio and send the individual a card letting them know of our prayers signed by each of those in the prayer circle that morning. In our work in Christian radio it is far more than constituent service.

We can be thankful in implementing these strategies that we do not have to battle the constant analysis of the political pundits in broadcast and print media. However, we do have the "Prince of the power of the air (waves), Eph. 2:2, to contend with. However, we have an advocate in Jesus. Remember always that God can wildly bless a simple act of faith.

Don Hughes Pres / CEO Great Plains Christian Radio Box 991 909 West Carthage Meade, Kansas 67864-0991 620-873-2991 (voice) 620-873-2755 (fax)

I love Radio

2008-09-21T16:43:00.004-05:00

By Keith Sanderson

Station Manager

KMOC Wichita Falls, TX

Good Ol' fashioned, tune the dial in, adjust the antenna, and hang the cord over the chair, Radio.

My older brothers first portable radio had 1 transistor (I broke it), my first had 3 transistors (I broke that one too), my little sisters first had 11 or 12 transistors (such an incredibly high number it boggled the mind, and I knew better than to break that one!).

Every morning I would hear my Dad "click" on the radio in the kitchen, and about 30 or so seconds later Joe Tom White on KWFT would come on and do live adds for the likes of "Hornsby Heavy Hardware" (which is now a... shudder... "tea room"). Farm Director Earl Sargent would talk about guilts and barrows, cattle and hay, and any number of other things that must have been extremely important or they wouldn't have it on my Daddy's radio (which I still have, and it still works....always a trip down memory lane to turn it on)

As I got older I discovered KSWO and the world of Top 40 and then AOR and it's varients on KRLG/KATT/96X/KEGL/KKQV etc. The Top 40 fast talking, cool sounding BIG voices, with all the patter and quick wit, (or the "need to clear my throat" raspings of AOR...and that ATTITUDE!), and of course country on WBAP/KLUR/KCCO etc, and the ear catching names like Cajun, One-eyed Jeff Holt, Mondo Bizzaro, Zubeck (he would say "Zubeck back" after a break...way cool! to a teen....and He HATED Disco) Ron Kirby and the (about 20 some adjectives and names and goofiness that I never could completely remember)....and then the names I would hear when I traveled like Dr Don Rose in San Diego, the King Edward Cigar Time guy, Dick Yawl, Bill Mack and the open road show (heard in 20? countries across 3 continents)...and on and on.

Radio was much tamer when I got in it in 1977...more "homogenized" I should say. The "hay day", as I was often told back then, was some 20 years earlier when "rock and roll" was being born....names like Prine, Presley and Holly were always tossed around.

Radio has always been in my life, and has mostly been my profession for 30+ years...in one sense you could say that radio has been my life.

I don't like the changes that are on the horizon for terrestrial radio. Not that I don't look forward to adapting and changing the way we broadcast, but I don't look forward to the most-likely marginalizing of the medium that I grew up with and love like a brother. It'll be around, but in what form? For many years now, the AM's, large and small, don't have the same sound, feel, or life they had in the 60's. Mostly talk. And it works...the reality is just not the same as my memories. And I just need to get over it. Is FM next? Will infomercials take over...we'll see

While I love Radio, "A Rare Medium Well-Done", I love The Message we broadcast more. Be it internet radio, podcasting, satellite, or screaming from a housetop... I am committed to broadcasting The Message of Christ to all who can hear, and in a style that is relevant, using a technology that will reach the most people possible.

Radio as I know it...and grew up with...and still love today...is just another detail.

Terrestrial Radio may be my current ministry platform.....but it is not my God.

Top Five Tips For Fundraising During A Soft Economy

2008-09-01T21:13:00.006-05:00

By Mark Kordic
Senior Consultant
Advocace Media

Those of us who serve in Christian media have unprecedented opportunities to communicate the Gospel and network with life-giving ministries. However, as the soft economy in the U.S. continues into the fourth quarter, many Christian radio and television stations are proceeding cautiously with expansion plans.

Overall, non-profit organizations continue to face declines in both revenues and donor counts. The trend over the last three years is down for these measurements according to the Target Analytics Index of National Fundraising Performance. Donor funded Christian media organizations report similar results.

The report said:

"Until now, increases in revenue per donor compensated for donor declines, allowing overall revenue to continue to grow. In the most recent quarter, however, continued revenue per donor growth could not make up for the donor decreases and prevent overall revenue from declining."

What has been your experience in 2008 and how have you adjusted your fundraising strategy to cope with this trend? In order to maintain and grow your support level during this soft economy, I would suggest that you pray for God’s direction and consider five best practice ideas:

1) Ramp up your donor communication, especially online: Your listeners may be watching the numbers from Wall Street but they also have a keen eye looking for opportunities to make spiritual investments to give people hope during difficult times. More often than not, your donors will scan your web site to see how you are responding to urgent needs in the community. A Christian radio station in the Eastern U.S. saw a significant bump in online giving as they combined an invitation to donors to support flood relief efforts with pictures of the effected areas. Timely e-mail communication with pictures or video of your community project along with an invitation for support often achieve similar results. Check out this web resource for ideas: http://www.ephilanthropy.org/

2) Tell concise, motivational stories of how God used your station to save or impact lives: Make this your development All Points Bulletin to search out the personal testimonies of your listeners and let them speak to your donors using their own words. Videotape their stories and use them in personal meetings, group meetings, appeal letters and on the web with the listener’s permission. Need an example? Check out the Stories of Hope on the Portland Rescue Mission home page: http://www.portlandrescuemission.org/

3) Diversify your income sources: As the economy continues to soften, and we enter the final two months of the presidential campaign, stations across the nation are feeling the pinch. Do you rely on Sharathon responses and direct mail as your sole sources of income? Have you noticed your fulfillment rates declining over the last two years? You may want to consider several other sources:

a) Business underwriting
b) Major donor program
c) Monthly giving club
d) Auction
e) Gift-in-Kind items

As you consider these options, remember that diversification does not happen overnight. Along with you leadership team, proceed with patience and practice good planning. Realize that diversifying your income sources is a long-term strategy including a personnel review to identify who could implement the new strategy. This is not a quick fix in difficult times. However, the prayerful investment today will keep your station strong in the future.

4) Personalize opportunities for your top donors: Some experts advise non-profit organizations to tone down or curtail some requests for money during a soft economy. But one station in the Midwest has found that major gift donors are often willing to give, especially when the gift request is specific to the donor’s interest and frequent progress reports are provided. When asked what motivated them to support the cause of this station at a leadership level, they replied:

a) Thank you for being upfront about pressing issues you face to complete the project
b) We appreciate the way you report back on what our giving has accomplished

c) We feel valued as you deliver superior service, error-free data, and quick receipting Check out an organization that sets the standard in this area: http://www.genevaglobal.com/.

5) Brainstorm new prospective donor names with staff, board members, and major donors: Buy a pizza and have fun identifying people who have raised their hand in some way as if to say “Notice me…I want to get involved!” Plan to contact them personally and invite them to a “Vision Breakfast” with an opportunity to meet some of the staff. Offer an opportunity to participate as a prayer partner of event volunteer. Here are some tell-tale signs that a listener has more than a casual interest in your station:

a) They have effectively used their community role to advance your cause

b) They are monthly or major donors to one of your affiliate partners

c) They referred someone who became a board member, staff member or key contact for our station

Will economic conditions improve considerably in the days to come? We can hope so, but it is possible they will not. Regardless, as Christian leaders, we must keep pressing forward in courage for the cause of Christ just as the first century onlookers “saw the courage of Peter and John…were astonished and…took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). May we have the same courage and may their tribe increase!

With 24 years of experience in corporate and non-profit leadership positions and almost a generation of experience in listener supported Christian radio, Mark Kordic helps radio stations and associated ministries grow income from major donors and pledges. Contact Mark at mark.kordic@advocace.com

I Don’t Know…I’m Just Making This Up As I Go

2008-08-17T21:26:00.002-05:00

By Jeff Brown
Operations Director
WAY-FM / Nashville

Who am I? Nobody special.

What do I know? Nothing you probably don’t already.

So why am I being asked to write an article for this publication? Excellent question.

Guilt by association? Sure, it’s possible. WAY-FM has a pretty solid reputation in the industry.

Is HisAir.net running out of people to ask? Now that was my first thought.

Look, there’s nothing I can say that will rock your world. My name isn’t Alan Mason, John Frost or Tommy Kramer (three men I love dearly, by the way). I’m no Mark Ramsey, Seth Godin or Greg Stielstra.

What I am is a 21-year veteran of this business we call radio. That’s half my life (makes me feel old). What I know is this: unless we change the way we think about how we do what we do, we’re not going to be doing it for much longer.

For my entire career, the radio station’s terrestrial signal has been the hub around which everything else revolves. In case you haven’t already noticed, this is quickly changing. The internet is the new hub. Your station is just a spoke, or at least it soon will be.

I’m not smart enough to suggest how you should plan for your company’s future, but as I try muddle my way through this where I live and work, I’m at least smart enough to try and learn from those with forward-thinking point-of-views. My suggestion to you is if you’re not following blogs from the likes of Mark Ramsey, Seth Godin and Fred Jacobs, then now would be an excellent time to start (consider signing up for an RSS reader like “Google Reader” that brings the posts right to your door).

We as an industry are going to have to swallow our collective pride and stop holding on to the “golden” past. “Convenience” is no longer solely radio’s strength. The distribution advantage we’ve owned for so long is slipping away. To quote Mark Ramsey regarding radio’s future:

“Either…FM/AM ‘chips’ need to be installed in every device that moves, whether it resembles a ‘radio’ or not – or…radio as an industry needs to translate its content to everything that moves in original ways, and those are unlikely to be in the same form as that content currently lives on air.”

If you’re not in the latter category, you might want to rethink your career choice.

See, I told I wasn’t going to rock your world. I hope though that I nudged it a little bit.

In his 8+ years at WAY-FM, Jeff has served on the air in afternoon drive and then mid-days, followed by a six-year stint (June 2002 – June 2008) as co-host of the Christian Hit Radio Satellite Network (CHRSN) and WAY-FM / Nashville morning show (including the award-winning “Marcia and Jeff” and “Jeff and Stace in the morning”).

Additionally, since January 2005, Jeff has served as Operations Director for WAY-FM’s four middle Tennessee stations (WAYM / Nashville, WAYQ / Clarksville, WAYD / Bowling Green and WAYW / New Johnsonville).

He can be reached via e-mail at jeff@wayfm.com and by phone at 615-261-9293. Connect to Jeff via Plaxo at http://jeffbrown.myplaxo.com/

A Radio Wife's Guide to Moving

2008-08-10T19:40:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since we've heard from "The Anonymous Radio Wife." She is an actual spouse of a radio professional somewhere in our industry. Get in touch with her personally at anonymousradiowife@yahoo.com

It's the news every radio wife knows will happen eventually. Perhaps your husband was already looking for a job and you knew the move was coming. Perhaps you were one of the unfortunate radio "victims" caught unaware and forced to move through an unexpected job loss. Either way, you know you are now moving out of state. What do you do? You might have family here, but you don't know anyone on the other end!

Let's first look at the usual radio stats in this situation: You have very little (if any) of your moving expenses being paid for. (We'll discuss this in a bit.) If this is your first move, you might have a mortgage. (Many radio people who move frequently eventually give up on buying and become pseudo-permanent renters realizing that they'll lose far less in the long-term renting than by buying if they continue to move.) If you don't have a mortgage, you might still have a lease obligation. Depending on your rental agreement &/or state you might be able to get out of a lease fairly easily by simply providing proof of an out-of-state move. Other landlords will still release you even without force of a lease provision or state law just out of mercy...or once the property is rented to someone else. (This is where YOU advertise the property yourself on Craig's list, etc. to help move the process along.) If you were caught unaware, you might have a period of time without a paycheck or with only one paycheck meaning money is really tight come moving time. If you don't homeschool, then you might have to face the possibility of working your move around your children's school schedule to make things easier on them.

How do you make a move on a budget? First, throw out the numbers to Allied, United Van Lines, and the like. Unless you have a benefactor, a huge savings, or the company is willing to pay megabucks, you cannot move on a budget utilizing one of these companies. You MUST use a rental truck and either load/unload the truck yourself (cheapest) or pay people (college kids or a company) to load/unload the truck for you. However, there much more to renting a truck than most people realize. The bottom line? EVERYTHING is negotiable!

You must keep in mind when you go to rent a truck with Uhaul, Penske, or Ryder that they want YOUR business...NOT the other way around. And they are willing to work hard to earn that business. If you call Uhaul and let them know that you either won't be reserving through them or will be canceling an existing reservation because Penske or Ryder are cheaper, then they will match or beat their competitor's price. Penske will do the same only they'll go one better. Until the day of rental, they'll match their OWN price. Lesson? Don't quit watching the prices just because you've reserved. You can often save HUNDREDS just by checking the prices once or twice a day and calling the companies to get them to match. Don't forget to ask for a fax or e-mail confirmation of any changes, though. (You can get a free fax number at http://www.efax.com/.)

Another negotiable? Mileage. Penske typically has unlimited mileage on all of their rentals. Uhaul doesn't, but will extend their mileage if you ask. You need to call your LOCAL store with Uhaul in order to get mileage extended. They won't do this on their 800#. You also can get pads &/or a dolly thrown in for NO CHARGE. That's right. FREE. Just by asking! Again, you need to call the local store for this. You can also get a free day added just by asking if you need it. Again, call the local store for this. That's where you'll get the results. Once more. DO NOT forget to get WRITTEN CONFIRMATION of ALL CHANGES!!! The person you spoke with on the phone may not be there when you go to pick up your truck(s) and you don't want any difficulty on rental day.

Anyone reading this concerned thinking they can't fit all their "stuff" into one truck? Have no fear! We had to use two trucks for our last move. You can get even BETTER deals this way! We got a discount on our second truck, free pads, and an additional day on each truck for free! (We own our own dolly.)

What about boxes? Have no fear! The BEST boxes available, Uhaul, has several excellent solutions for those on a budget. (Besides the option of reusing their boxes which have thus far been good for several moves for my family.) As long as I've known Uhaul, they've offered the option of buying back unused boxes. This gave me the freedom to purchase boxes, use what we needed, and return unused ones at the end. We just had to keep the receipt. (Which was never a problem as we always kept them anyways so we could claim what the company didn't reimburse on our tax return.) However, in the past several years, Uhaul has been in the process of rolling out a box exchange program nationwide.

This link: http://www.uhaul.com/sustainability/boxes/ has detailed info on Uhaul's different box programs. They will still return unused boxes with an original receipt. Now, however, they also have a "Take a box, Leave a box" exchange program in each store nationwide. Without cost or obligation, you can walk into any store nationwide and take any boxes that you need in that "Take a box" area for free. Their hope is that you will return them to that area for someone else to use when you are done. You also can go here: http://www.uhaul.com/boards/default.aspx?ForumGroupID=4 to exchanges boxes online. They have "free" and a "sale" section for different areas of the nation.

If all else fails, post your need for boxes to your local Craig's List at http://www.craigslist.org/ or your local Freecycle at http://www.freecycle.org/. In every case, we have had our need fulfilled without difficulty. Then, there are the "old-fashioned" ways of obtaining boxes: going to the local grocery store or wine store to get their boxes after they've stocked late at night. The problem here is that you risk chemical or food spills on your "stuff". I would try the "new" ways of obtaining boxes before resorting to the old ways.

I've packed many a friend for a move as well as my own house far too many times to count. My quickest move was 8 days from notification to move...and we were moving across the country...and had yet to pack one box! But we did it! And so can you. Packing is not near the daunting task that people make it out to be. Still, it's a topic for another article...

You Get the Christian Radio They Deserve

2008-07-19T07:26:00.003-05:00

By Brant Hansen

Mornings

WAY FM/CHRSN

To my non-radio friends who are frustrated with Christian radio...

As always, I speak only for myself here.------------------

Next time you tune into a Christian CCM station, and wonder, "What planet, exactly, is this 'air personality' from?" please know it's -- amazingly -- Earth.

I know, it's hard to believe. While he sounds utterly non-human, completely removed from our biosphere, he's actually a bipedal hominid, and, in many ways, like you and me. He's omnivorous. With opposable thumbs, he employs "tools" to accomplish tasks. And, most encouraging, he has verbal skills, forming sentences that a normal human might also form. He expresses plausibly human "emotions" and reactions to external stimuli.

He's actually pretty cool.

That's when he's off the air, anyway. When he's on the air -- forget it. When he's on the air, talking between those songs about how you should "prayerfully consider" going to a concert, about those "video games 'the kids' are into these days", and using only the most obvious humor? That's not him. It's not him, because the most vocal listeners just don't want him to be him. He's been beaten into submission, by Christians immersed in an American evangelical church culture.

And these people are getting the Christian radio they demand: They're not asking for real life. They want a dose of church culture, on the go. And the twain may rarely meet.

If he slips up, if he's real, they bombard him with judgment, scriptures that they think he's never heard, suggestions that he should pray about it -- he's never considered that! -- and quick answers to make everything better NOW.

If he doesn't use "I'm-on-the-team" code language, they call to point it out. ("I notice you don't say the word 'saved' very much, and I'm concerned that...") If he acknowledges that he's a sinner, but is specific and present-tense, the phones ring. Whatever his show was before, it's now "Platitude Open Line", something he didn't encounter when he worked at a mainstream station.

If he makes a spiritual point, one perfectly in keeping with a teaching of Jesus Himself, but doesn't connect the dots for the simplest listener, the phone lines will ring again, with those anxious to connect the dots for him, to end the mercilessness of ambiguity once and for all. He hears the callers channeling last week's sermon that summed it all up: The Bible has all the answers, and why don't you read it?

He could be honest. He could be real. He could be human. He could even be smart, engaging, and delightfully quirky. He could point out the redeeming aspects of a rated PG-13 movie. He could see all of life, enlivened and entwined with his faith. But that's not what many church-encultured tune in for. You get the radio they deserve.

(Please note: The caller/complainers don't talk that way, either, in real life. And they saw the movie, too. But they expect this sort of posturing in Christian contexts, and, by golly, they tuned in for a Christian context.)

So he doesn't bother trying all this stuff. He keeps it innocuous, uninteresting, over-simplified, obvious, and -- above all -- drenched in specific church culture-talk.

What he means: "Please don't call. I'm on the team, okay?"

And now the rest of the humans on Earth know, once and for all, loud and clear, at 50,000 watts: They're not.

Brant Hansen muddles through each day during "Mornings with Brant" on the WAY-FM network. He's pictured above with his daughter, Julia, who stole his glasses. His email is brant@morningswithbrant.com. His hobbies and interests include the following: Toast.

Through Their Eyes

2008-07-12T23:23:00.008-05:00

By Alan Mason
Change Agent
Goodratings Strategic Services

The movie "War Of The Worlds" by H.G. Wells, the original, was one of the first movies I remember scaring me. Everyone in the theatre jumped at the scene where they heroes cut the "eye" from the spacesuit or whatever, and took it to a laboratory where they set it up and arranged to look through the eyes of the invader from outer space, and see what they world looked like to them. While the effects seem pretty cheezy now, it's still an apt metaphor for what we do, and don't do, with our listeners.

While I'm not advocating you go out and dismember your listeners, one of the most important things you can do is to view the world through they eyes. But most of us don't. Instead we assume we know what their perspective is. Only a few actually do research to find out what the listeners are seeing. Just as the people in War Of The Worlds were shocked when they hooked the eye up to the camera and saw things like the alien saw them, many of us are shocked at what the listeners see in us.

But think what would happen if we could look through our listeners eyes and see the world?

Suddenly the ongoing debate about what size the music library should be would evaporate. We'd see that the listeners want to hear their favorite songs - nothing more. Library size would be decided by how many of those songs there were.

Next, we'd begin to see the rest of the world through their eyes, and find out what interests them and what doesn't. All those morning show features about "on this day in history," and it being national pickle day would disappear, and instead we'd be talking to them about what really interests them. Given this new insight we'd be able to not only talk to them, but engage them. We'd be able to involve them in the station because we'd become involved in their lives. After all, isn't that what friendship is really about, sharing things you have in common?

We'd also get to see how they see us as people. Are we the kind of folks they'd hang out with, or do we distance ourselves by talking about ourselves and seemingly never listening to them? Are we seen as being people they can relate to, or are we older people, talking down to them? Are we the kind of people they'd invite over to dinner, or are we seen as being too stodgy and distant for them?

Finally, we'd get to see how they see us as Christians. Are we really seen as "seeker friendly," people with arms wide open, ready to embrace them for their belief in God and understanding of Jesus? Or would they see us as judgmental and political, always telling them what they should be doing and passing judgement on their lives? Would the buzz words we use on the air make them feel invited, or like strangers?
One of the reasons many of us don't spend time trying to see the world through the eyes of our listeners is it scares us. We don't want to see what they do, because we'd have to change our own paradigm instead of expecting the to mold to ours. We don't want their input on music and library size because we'd have to do things differently than we are now.

But seeing the world and yourself through the eyes of your listeners is one of the most important things you can do, if you're really dedicated to a role of servant.

Alan Mason has been consulting successful CCM and mainstream stations for decades. He has been married to his wife Becki for 39 years, and they currently live in Lincoln, California. His other interests include genealogy and political strategy. He was the recipient of the 2007 Rob Campbell Award, and the Radio & Retail Echo Award for industry impact.

A Response To Josh Lauritch Article "The Next Generation..."

2008-06-28T15:25:00.005-05:00

By Gabriel Peter
Director of Operations
KJIL Abilene, KS

I was struck by Josh Lauritch's article back in May on the importance of being real. However, I almost tuned out when he said, "Your target listener of tomorrow wants to feel like she belongs." She? Now that is a tune-out factor for me. If we are ever going to become real to our listeners, we have got to get rid of the Becky mentality. Christian radio stations only want to hang with a demographic caricature named Becky and not Todd, Gerome, Jeff, Amber, Tonya, Ken, Elisa, Anthony, or Lee. "Sorry, guys. Most Christian listeners are like Becky. You just don't fit the demo." That kind of selective Christianity is most definitely fake. We are not letting our listeners feel like they belong.

We do need to be real. No sticky sweetness, being spiritually scripted, and topping it off with our canned show-prep humor. As a follow-up to what Mr. Lauritch began, there are two more areas of improvement if we want to achieve that realness. They include the music, and the attitudes by which we present ourselves.

As much as we need to be "real" on-air personalities, the music is still the identity of our radio station. If we're playing "Everything Glorious" by the David Crowder Band 8 times a day, how is that being real? It's being really repetitive. Hasn't everyone heard "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever" by 27 different artists, and "Awesome God" 800,000 times? Yes, listeners want authentic. Yes, listeners want vulnerable. So why doesn't the music reflect that? Why are we embracing the latest praise & worship but leaving behind ZoeGirl's "Scream," The Daniel Doss Band's "Hold On," Cadia's "Only A Prayer Away," Nichole Nordeman's "What If," or Jimmy Needham's "Fence Riders" that deal with real-life issues? Occasionally a "Held" by Natalie Grant or a "He's My Son" by Mark Schultz will sneak through, but they're few and far between.

Why do we play "Sneakin' Into Heaven" by Chris Rice but not "What A Heart Is Beating For"? Or "I Believe" by Third Day but not "It's A Shame"? The answer: because the other songs don't test well. It's because of silly tests and numbers which have little if anything to do with the needs of our listeners, thus hindering our ability to be more real. Someone decided that sitting in a room and rating 15-seconds of a song determined its worth to the human conscious against a variety of listening situations. We are programming our radio stations for other radio stations and not programming them for our listeners.

MercyMe will release another MercyMe song that will go straight to heavy rotation with "Call My Name" by ThirdDay, "Every Man" by Casting Crowns, hot on the heels of "Let It Fade" by Jeremy Camp, ahead of Chris Tomlin, Matthew West, Aaron Shust, and Big Daddy Weave, and we'll call "All Because of Jesus" by Fee, "Song of Hope" by the Robbie Seay Band, and "Your Grace Is Enough" by Matt Maher new and cutting-edge. The remainder of our playlist will be filled with more than a decade's worth of Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Michael W. Smith, Point of Grace, and the late Rich Mullins. We'll claim we're in-touch because we add in Daughtry, Chris Sligh, and Mandisa who were on American Idol.

Is there anything wrong with praise and worship or the aforementioned artists? No. All glory be to God. Anything wrong with happy songs? No, give 'em lots of play! But if we are trying to shed scripted spirituality, we need to embrace more real-life songs. We establish an identity and personality as a radio station with the music we play, too. We can also present a song in a way that iTunes doesn't, tying it into something relevant. It doesn't matter how real we can be on the air if our music ain't either. Expand those playlists! The iPod owners have 20 times the number of songs than you have on Scott Studios. Be daring and play something new! Spend time in programming and don't just leave it up to Powergold to come up with it. Put songs together that sound good back-to-back. (In other words, not Phillips Craig & Dean followed by TobyMac. Or as I heard on K-Love last week, "Dare You To Move" by Switchfoot followed by some live praise & worship song that totally brought the energy down. I don't know who it was because K-Love never back-sells their songs.)

Energize the breaks. Be local and informative. Don't play sweepers between everything. Establish your voice. The on-air personality is a fraction of what a listener hears.

Now that we've touched on the music, let's chat about those attitudes.

Remember this: "Do everything without complaining or arguing" (Phillipians 2:14). If we're trying to offer our listeners something they can't get on their iPod - or, better yet, something they can't get on another radio station - let's start with taking out the negativity (trust me, I'm not going into a "positive and encouraging" sermon here). This world is incredibly negative. Our attitude on the air will transmit to our listeners. Attitudes are infectious.

I did not agree with Josh's reference to Mandy and Cici as an example of how to be real (for a recap, this was the link posted http://connectwithceci.blogspot.com/2008/04/mean-girls.html ) Talk about the time you flipped off your husband?! I think accepting that as okay on-air discussion just goes to show how much we've come to accept being crass as normalcy. I kind of started to relate to the piece when they began listing the people they needed to apologize to, but that's not the way the talky blog ended. It ended with more negativity. They seemed proud of their attitudes. What if the listener had done like I wanted to do two-minutes into their talk and "flipped it off" to something else? Our listener would not leave our station with a good impression.

I have a friend who came to me last week and said, "There's a lot of negativity going around the office, and it's really hurting my productivity. Can you pray for me?Because I don't want to have that kind of attitude today." Hey, there's something real in Christ - not real in me. It's open and honest: "I'm having a problem." Followed by why it needs to be resolved: "It is affecting my productivity and my ability to do my job and benefit others." Followed by a solution to that problem: "Pray so that I might have a proper attitude." If Mandy and Cici had taken that turn, that's not only real but offers listeners something they can't get on their iPod. Radio should not be the radio dj's turn at a gripe-fest or doing the spiritual strip-tease.

The only person who would have been able to identify with that talky blog was a Becky - and she'd have been the only one. It might have been able to make her laugh, but that's all it would have accomplished. It's limiting in more ways than just the demographic. There's no resolution, nothing up-lifting, and there's certainly no God. In order to be real, we need to take it further than getting the listener to identify.

That next verse in Phillippians 2 gives us the reason why we should do everything without complaining or arguing: "so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe." That's what I want my Christian life, in addition to my radio station, to exhibit. We should not only want that for Becky, but everyone else we want listening to our radio station. The universe is a big place, so get some more music in there, and shine a light to all.

Gabriel Peter is the director of operations at KJIL in Abilene, KS and also programs the online radio station, www.therockshowonline.com. He's had his own radio show since he was 7 years old, and has twice been named Radio Personality of the Year by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. On the side, he masquerades as an independent musician, prolific speaker, and published author. His website is www.gabrielpeter.com, and can also be found on Facebook, ShoutLife, and keeps a regular blog on Xanga.

What Would I Do?

2008-06-23T21:00:00.004-05:00

By Mike Russell

MD/Morning Show Producer

WCVO / Columbus, OH

One of the most memorable lessons from my GMA experience this year wasn’t in a seminar. It was at the INO Records radio dinner that was held at a Waffle House. While not the usual fare for a label dinner it was unique in its own way. What stands out the most is not the delicious artery clogging burger platter, and pecan waffle that I had for desert. It is the way the restaurant staff worked so well with the added pressure of going from zero customers to a full restaurant.

If you’re not familiar with Waffle House it is a quick service diner, famous for their Waffles and friendly service. The menu is pretty typical of many roadside diners. They even have the counter seating so that you can watch the grill and cook staff while you eat. My daughter and I occasionally visit the Waffle House in our neighborhood. We enjoy sitting at the counter watching all the action as the restaurant staff works to get the food ready as quickly as possible. We also enjoy the back and forth banter between the cooks, wait staff and customers.

At the dinner in Nashville, the system did get a little overwhelmed when 40 orders came in at once instead of the usual one or two at a time. Even though their system was pushed the restaurant staff did a great job navigating the extra chaos and making adjustments. While sitting at the counter in Nashville watching the staff work together several questions came to my mind. The questions running around in my mind were not so much about how they were doing what they did, but more about how would I do in a similar situation? How often do I maintain a positive attitude when my work is stressful? What do I do to support my teammates when the task at hand becomes overwhelming? And how do I contribute to a positive environment when it would be much easier to be pre-occupied with the task at hand?

I wasn’t too proud of the answers that were coming to my mind. I don’t always do the best when things don’t go merrily along. I try but sometimes it is just easier to keep my nose down editing a music log than to walk down the hall to offer help to someone when I know they’re having a bad day. And sometimes I catch myself starting to get a little agitated when I have to repeat myself, again, because they weren’t paying attention the first two times that I gave the instructions.

At the end of the meal that busload of hungry programmers had full stomachs. And the Waffle House crew received a hearty round of applause, because they did a great job of pulling together, making adjustments, supporting each other, and made sure that everyone got what they came for.

Mike has been hanging around radio stations for over 15 years. The last 10 years he has been gainfully employed at 104.9 the River in Columbus, OH, and has held the titles of Morning Show Producer, Production Assistant, Promotions Director, Afternoon Announcer, Music Director, and Assistant Program Director in no particular order.

Hopelessly Devoted

2008-06-13T21:13:00.007-05:00

By Elizabeth Grattan
RADIOELIZABETH
Freelance Talent
Chicago, Il

Over the last few years I've been given a great gift from God. He's blessed me with the opportunity to venture outside the walls of the CCM format into mainstream formats. Because CCM is where I found my wings, I've always felt comfortable in the nest I flew from into airwaves that became an adventure. There are plenty of people from programmers to artists to label reps who have crossed these same lines for one reason or another, so it's not like I could cover any revelations here. But maybe some of what I will share today will be a shock you...

Did you know that at mainstream AC stations, there are no staff devotion times! That's right. The PD's don't lead prayer meetings and the receptionist isn't circulating the latest prayer requests. At mainstream Oldies stations, they don't even have bibles in the on air studio! And the rock stations? God help them. They only say Jesus on the air when they're backselling a hit from the 70s. It’s crazy, I know.

How would I make it through the days if I wasn't participating in a mandatory meeting once a week to share my spiritual needs with others? How were my co-workers going to feel comfortable around me if I didn't have a prayer chain to forward? And the listeners? How could the listeners trust me to lead them to Christ without even mentioning His Name when I cracked the mic?

It was scary, but by the grace of God I survived.

There’s some sarcasm included that might have your pulse boiling or your gut laughing. Ministry business can be a pretty great divide. Mainstream becomes the worldly way while our growing niche format will be what saves. And the next thing you know we’ve trapped ourselves in a holy box that was meant to set us apart. It’s a pattern man has repeated since the dawn of time. Whether we're tying ropes to our ankles or selling sheep in the temple, we usually find a way to blur the lines.

There is so much good in Christian radio. There are such wonderful joys in being a part of a community that will span an eternity. There are blessings being a part of such a large body of believers. As a listener and a programmer and a producer and a talent, we can relish in the haven of having religious radio as an option. We can read the research and realize that needs are filled through this format. God's Hands are all over every artist, every station, every signal, every ear. For that, we can be grateful.

But we certainly aren’t the standard of perfection. Nor should we be perched on a pedestal of piety. And yet “holier over here” seems to be this air we breath. And it’s suffocating us. Because there are some huge elephants sucking the oxygen out of the room. Weighing us down with hypocrisies we hope the listener never sees. It's all over our industry. And it causes our God to grieve.

The first time I ever recoiled at the thought of a mandatory devotion was early on in my broadcast career. Because I was just so busy. Breaking away from production to sit with staff members and share spiritual stories seemed a priority shift that made no sense to me. How many hours of work were stations losing? Was this truly wise stewardship? I'd already read my bible that morning. I was in constant prayer all day. The Spirit wasn’t something I needed to shelve while scheduling spins. There wasn't an office you could travel through that didn't have a reminder that God was our #1 listener. It's not like I was going to forget about Him. And if I did, there were sounds streaming through speakers a message loud and clear that I'd signed up for ministry.

How many times were we going to sit across the table from a co-worker we'd just vented about and now we're bowing our heads in unity? There's the grapevine of gossip guised in "keeping our peeps in prayer" that was always more informative than it needed to be. And who would be the one to volunteer leading the staff to show off the strength of their walk next week? What about when the time came to share the burdens on our hearts and minds, was anyone ever going to stand up and proclaim they just hated their paycheck was pennies? After all, that had been what I heard in the hallway. Just how real were we allowed to be? Devotion time felt like a PC Prayer Party.

And God forbid you missed it. Cold shoulders and murmurs made you feel you were "falling from grace".

Some of it might just be personality. I rather prefer ordering a pizza at lunchtime and letting relationship flow naturally. That’s based on something I read in one of those bibles places in religious radio stations worldwide: forced fellowship will never be authentic community.

But we're in ministry. And so, devotions are a must do based on teachings of accountability. Yet, the very truth we're sharing on the air tells us that all the must do's to prove are worthless. Mandatory anything hides what's lurking beyond the surface. It's rags. Not righteousness.

Yes, not all devotions are “mandatory”. Not all stations schedule "Jesus talk" on the air. Not every email updating us on the pains and praises of others falls outside the model we find in Paul's letters. Sometimes, the elephants in the room take their nap and for a few moments the Spirit of God binds and loosens all that we've agreed upon. There are precious moments the hypocrisy is replaced by hope that God will work through us anyway.

Because of His grace.

And it's that same grace that pours through CCM that I found in abundance on the mainstream side. Where this us/them divide didn't need to exist. See, mainstream radio has something CCM radio doesn't: zero expectation of holiness. And yet, anyone who has ever worked among, with or for a mainstream station will tell you, there is a great great light found in these alleged dark places. Because it's just so obvious. Sin is sin. And there is liberty in being reminded we’re all guilty of it.

Instead of praises that thank God we’re secluded from the wretched world full of flesh and corruption, there is a humble remorse and repentance. Weekly devotion or not, we all fall short compared to Him.

In mainstream radio, there is simply no reason to miss the elephants. It just is what it is.

If you've never considered it, my prayers are that CCM grasps this:

Once mandatory is out of the way, authentic is able to take its place. Once the obligation to pray is removed, genuine petitioning is what people will do. Once holiness is out of the box, it is honesty that sets one apart for Christ. And if a man is devoted to God, that's something he won't be able to hide...regardless.

Try it.

Elizabeth Grattan is a freelance broadcast talent/writer and owner of RADIOELIZABETH. Her clients have included Sirius Satellite Radio, Clear Channel Communications, Salem Communications, Gospel Music Channel, & Curb Records, among others.

Why Your Listeners Are REALLY Listening

2008-06-06T19:48:00.002-05:00

By Rick McConnell

Creator of "The Airshow"

Colorado Springs, CO

It started happening quite a few years ago when I would stick the microphone in front of listeners and ask what they liked about the station. I love to use a LOT of listener comments in the imaging I do for stations. The more I talked to listeners, the more I began to get a hunch about a subtle (or may not so subtle) disconnect between why LISTENERS say they listen to Christian radio, and why we radio pros THINK they listen. Or even why some experts SAY people are listening.

As I continued to explore this disconnect. I didn’t go to the experts, or the managers, or the P.D.s or the consultants. I consulted the REAL experts: The listeners. I asked them in many various ways simply, “why do you listen to Christian radio?”

The more I listened to them, the more I became convinced of “the disconnect” that has gradually spread across our industry- and is reflected in many widely used slogans.

Listen to some of the phrases and slogans that WE think reflects why people listen (or should listen.) “Clean Air” “Family Friendly Radio.” “Safe and Fun for the whole family.” “Safe for the little ears.” “You’ll never hear our jocks tell crude jokes, “ “Good for our community.” “Positive and Uplifting.”

Those are some common ones. And they REALLY are good reasons for people to listen. They are SOME reasons people listen. And they really are good to use as part of our imaging.

But none of those come close to THE reason people say they listen.
“…It brings me closer to God.” “It keeps my mind on God and spiritual things.” “It makes me feel closer to the Lord…” “It really gives me a spiritual perspective.” It reminds me that God is in control.” “I feel like giving up and it reminds me that God is there to help me.” Comments like these are the MAIN reasons people are more passionate about listening to Christian radio- based on years of interviews with hundreds of listeners in various settings and in various markets.

These comments are not flukes. These types of comments comprise the vast majority of what comes out of listeners mouths when you let them ramble a bit about why they listen to Christian radio. (and this is consistent across all demographics) So it makes me wonder about this disconnect when many stations ignore the obvious- and create their imaging around one of the “lesser” reasons people listen.

My advice to stations looking for direction in their imaging is this: No matter what slogan they use, make sure they weave in the REAL reasons people listen into their imaging. We as radio stations can come up with fresh slogans till the cows come home. But at the end of the day, listeners still listen to Christian radio because it’s Christian radio. It’s about God. Any imaging that tries to ignore or hide that is somewhat disconnected for the REAL experts: your audience.

Rick McConnell is a 30 year veteran of Christian radio, a voice over pro, and producer of “The Airshow” imaging package. The Airshow has been used to image hundreds of stations over the past decade. Website: www.airshowcd.com

Rebuild The Theatre

2008-05-25T18:59:00.005-05:00

By Jim McDermott
President/GM
KCVO Sprit FM
Camdenton, MO

Has anyone else noticed that the people who make Christian radio happen on a daily basis are getting old--or at least older? Having been in Christian music radio since 1979, I know personally most of the individuals who have shaped this genre'...and to be truthful, I'm a little concerned. We all seem to be saying, "Back in MY day..." Gray hair is getting common at GMA. Just look in the mirror and you'll know I'm right.

But the ramifications are more serious. I know at my station, and I have a feeling that this goes for many others across the country, I don't have talented twenty-something people wanting to get into this business. What is different? Didn't most of us get our start when we were under 30? Some of the best personalities to work for me, Lisa Williams and Faron Dice, both came to KCVO in their early twenties. KC Wright started when he was just 17! My own story is similar. When I was 25, I wanted to do broadcasting, and especially Christian radio, so much that I moved from Missouri to Texas for $2.90/hr. Six months later, even though I had zero experience, I took on a challenging manager job where I was the third manager in the station's third month on the air. If you'll think back, you probably had that kind of passion, too.

So what's changed? I could say a number of things like musical relevance, low pay scales, voice-tracking, satellite-fed programming, and the waning importance of radio to the next generation, but I don't want to just point a finger at what's wrong. I want to find some answers. How can we, as managers and program directors, make our jobs attractive to those just starting out in life here in 2008? We have to be excited ourselves! Go back and read those letters and emails that come in from your listeners. Think back on why you got into this business. Be a pro-active ambassador for Christian radio. Look for interesting and talented young people and plant the idea in them that they can be powerful influencers of society through Christian radio. Show them how much fun radio can be. Recruit them at a CCM concert this summer. Invite them to join you in the control room to watch your show. And this weekend, be aware of the impression of radio you are making to your fellow church members. It's OK every now and then to be a radio star and make what we do seem bigger than life, because sometimes it is! Try shedding your corporate or fund-raising persona this week and just go out and have fun with listeners. Get out your imagination tool-box and let's rebuild the "Theater of the Mind" within Christian radio.

Jim McDermott has been President and General Manager of Spirit FM radio in Missouri since 1985. Before that he actually played records at KRMS, Osage Beach; KHYM, Gilmer, TX; and KLXL, Dubuque, IA. He has been active in Christian Music Broadcasters since the days when it was NGRS, then NCRS, then NCRA, and now CMB. He married his wife, Alice, 34 years ago and his daughter, Christy, and son, Darin, both work at the station.

The Next Generation Doesn’t Want Safe. They want REAL!

2008-05-18T20:17:00.004-05:00

By Josh Lauritch
Manager, National Promotion
EMI CMG

Who will listen to your radio station in 5 years? What will you offer them that they can’t get anywhere else? Why should they care about you?

I am the listener of tomorrow. Well, not specifically me, but definitely my generation. Here’s the problem: your radio station is one of hundreds of media competing for my attention. Let’s assume you are a music radio station. You are trying to compete for my attention with “the latest from David Crowder*Band”. Here’s the problem, I’ve got access to everything from David Crowder*Band. I downloaded the album the first day it was available at iTunes. I bought it because I’m a fan and want to support the artist. I get other music that I kind of like from Limewire. Crowder is on my iPod…every song the band has released. “Everything Glorious” is my ring tune. “Remedy” is the song on my Myspace page. I get the inside scoop from David Crowder himself because his personal blog is in my Google Reader. Oh yeah, I also have the limited edition of the album with the same version of “Never Let Go” that you didn’t play. I have everything before you do and you’re telling me “this is the latest from David Crowder*Band”? Lame. If you think the thing radio has over other media is music then you’ll never capture the attention of my generation. We’re ten steps ahead of you in that area.

Your current target listener wants to hear her favorite songs all the time, for a long time and hopefully be entertained in the process. That means 45 spins per week in heavy for 6 months because “it’s still testing”. Your target listener of tomorrow wants to feel like she belongs. Like you are her people. My generation is all about connection. That’s why we’re on all of the social networks. That’s why we blog. That’s why we tweet. Oh, sorry…you might not know about tweeting just yet. Check out http://www.twitter.com/ and let it blow your mind. Just might be the best new opportunity for you to connect with your audience.

In the past 5 years, we’ve moved from “get rid of the clutter, it’s all about the music” to “we MUST connect emotionally with the audience through content that is compelling and relevant in his/her life”. Sounds like a GMA session you’ve sat in 17 times, right? Everyone knows that’s what radio can offer the listener of tomorrow. Connection. A sense of belonging. So how do you go about doing that?

I’ll let you in on a little secret: BE REAL! Your listeners of tomorrow (my generation…and those younger) have the biggest and most sensitive BS filter that you’ll ever encounter. You can’t hype them. You can’t market to them. They can sniff out your fake attempts at being sweet, over-spiritual or funny. They can tell when you’re forcing it. They know that you’re trying to hook them in. They don’t buy it. They don’t care.

They want authentic. They want vulnerable. That’s what they are. That’s how they connect with others. My generation puts their entire life online. They’ll blog about their failures in life, their triumphs and their dreams. They’ll tell you when they’re on the mountaintop and when they’re in the valley. They’ll put embarrassing photos online because…well, it’s them. All their friends do the same thing. They won’t associate with anyone fake. That means YOU…no matter how good the music is. Remember, they have all the music you do…before you do.

The listener of tomorrow (and today, I would argue) wants you to BE REAL. Let’s be honest, we’re all a mess. We deal with all of the negatives: depression, anger, greed, lust, envy. We also deal with all of the positives: joy, peace, contentment, love, kindness, compassion. If you are going to offer something to your listener that they cannot get anywhere else then offer yourself. Offer a relationship. Give them something they can belong to. Deal with the highs and lows of life ON THE RADIO!

Ever woke up and went into work just not feeling it? Maybe you had a fight with your spouse the night before. Perhaps you’re feeling the pressure financially and you’re just depressed about it. Maybe your walk with God just isn’t where it needs to be. You’ve got to put on a show, right? You’ve got to play the silly game at 7:10, you’ve got to qualify listeners for the HUGE trip to Night of Joy, and you’ve got to entertain all morning long when you just don’t feel it. Why not tell your listeners that you’re feeling down? Why not be authentic and tell them what you are feeling…and that you’d like their help? You’ve got a community, a family that you’ve already built by being real. Watch those phones light up! They’ll gladly tell you what they do when they are in a rut, when they feel down, how they cheer up their spouse on a bad day. They’ll tell you how they mend things with their spouse after a fight. I guarantee you’ll come out of your funk by the time the show is over. Oh yeah, your listeners will probably help hundreds or even thousands come out of their funk as well. That is community. That is what the listener of tomorrow can’t get on their iPod. BE REAL!

Want to be funny and entertaining? Be authentic. Talk about the stupid things you do. Talk about the little quirks. Talk about the things that bother you and why you’re so sensitive. Talk about the things that creep you out or are just plain annoying. Like the fact that the guy at the grocery store asks you three times if you need help carrying your one bag of groceries. How he doesn’t really care and is just being forced to be nice…and how that DRIVES YOU NUTS! That right there will draw out all sorts of emotion in your listeners (won’t it Shannon Steele?).

Talk about the time you were a jerk and flipped off your husband (click here two of the best in the industry at being real http://connectwithceci.blogspot.com/2008/04/mean-girls.html). I bet there are a TON of listeners out there that have done that or worse before! People, we’re all a mess! Be a mess with your listeners. Let them know that they’re not alone! They don’t want to feel like the people on the radio have it all together. They want to feel like the people on the radio are just like them. BE REAL!

The PD Forum was buzzing last week with the story of Pastor Forrest Pollock from Bell Shoals Baptist in Brandon, FL. He was killed along with his son, Preston, when their plane crashed in the mountains of North Carolina. The Joy FM covers about 1/3 of the state of Florida and this church is in the heart of their listening area. Thousands of their listeners attend the church. How did the station deal with this? They dealt with it like they deal with every other day. This is a station whose personalities are as real as they come. They’re hilarious. They’re vulnerable. They’re compassionate. They’re honest. They are as compelling and real as it comes. Listen for a week, you’ll agree.

Last week, they experienced the fear of the unknown after hearing that Pastor Pollock and his son had gone missing. They prayed with their listeners. They waited. They hoped. On Tuesday morning, they cried with their listeners as they learned that Pastor Pollock and his son had been found, dead. That morning wasn’t “Positive”, it wasn’t “Encouraging” nor was it “Safe For The Whole Family”. It was sad, dark…depressing. But, in the midst of the tears they offered to their audience the tremendous hope that is found at the cross. That even though there is pain and suffering and death, there is hope in Jesus Christ. He never lets go.

Last week, the community that is The Joy FM was connected. An overwhelming majority of listeners to the radio station do not attend Bell Shoals. However, they felt the pain of those who did. They prayed for them and for the Pollock family. They cried with them. They bared each other’s burdens last week. That, my friends, is what you can offer your listeners that they can’t get anywhere else. BE REAL!

Josh was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI and spent 3 and ½ years as the Promotions Director/APD and Midday host at Salem’s former 105.3 The Fish, WFZH-FM in Milwaukee. He moved to Nashville to work with the legendary Grant Hubbard in the National Promotion department at EMI CMG. He currently handles promotion for Chris Tomlin, TOBYMAC, Switchfoot, Steven Curtis Chapman and the rest of the EMI CMG Label Group roster in the Midwest region of the USA. He lives in Nashville with his wife, Amy and their two annoying cats Jack and Phoebe. He blogs regularly at http://www.thedeepthoughtsofjoshua.blogspot.com/ and, of course, you can connect with him at Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.

Watershed in the Kitchen

2008-05-10T19:16:00.005-05:00

By Lisa Williams
Air Personality
K-LOVE Network

We all have watershed moments when something happens that changes us or our direction forever, irrevocably.

As I was answering phones in the KLOVE studio a few days ago, I remembered (as I often do) a radio watershed moment that happened over a decade ago, and yet dictates the way I act at work every day.

My husband's company had moved us to a new town in a new state. It was the fifth move of our marriage, and I had (again) left some good friends behind and was starting over. New town, new people...I was feeling alone.

As I was setting up our rental home and learning the area, I was listening a lot to the Christian station in town. At that time, Crystal Lewis' song "God's Been Good to Me" was just starting to get lots of airplay, and I was always listening for it. I had only heard it a couple of times, and was obsessing over hearing it again. I even called an old radio station where I had worked 1000 miles away and had them play it over the phone for me:)

The woman who hosted the midday show in my new town had become my friend. I had never called her, and we had never met, but she was my friend. She was the only woman in my new town who was talking to me. (I totally understand the phenomenon of listeners saying, "It's like you're my best friend.")

It took several days (this was before the ease of the Internet and handy-dandy web sites), but I finally caught the phone number for the studio. It was early afternoon, I was in the kitchen unpacking things, listening for my favorite song.

I decided to call the studio.

After several attempts, the DJ answered. I remember feeling the "I'm-about-to-talk-to-someone-important" nervousness. I said "hi" and asked if she was the woman on the radio. I remember wanting to say, "Hi, I'm Lisa and I just moved to town and I don't really know anyone and you are sorta like my only friend and I appreciate you playing songs for me while I unpack my house." But, instead, I just said, "Will you play a song for me?"

Her response was succinct. "We don't play requests."

So I said, "Oh, okay." I paused, and after hearing no other words from my friend, I said goodbye.

I felt blown off. I felt foolish for calling her. And I felt lonely as I realized the radio lady wasn't really my friend. What a loser I was for calling and asking for a song. Such a loser.

Here's what I learned from that moment in my kitchen:

Don't answer the request lines if you don't have time to be nice. If you're too busy to chat for 30-60 seconds, then just let it ring. If you're in a bad mood, then just let it ring. If you think your only job is to tell them the rules of the radio station, then just let it ring.

Don't tell a caller you don't play requests. Even though you don't, that's not the purpose of answering the studio lines! Use the phones to connect with people. Use their song request as an entry point into learning about them. Take charge of the conversation and go fishing!

"What song is it that you want to hear?", "Is there a reason why you like that song?", "What's your name?", "How long have you been listening?", "What are you and your family doing right now?", "Do you have kids?", "How did you find the station?"

Take notes. You may be able to mention some of the things they say in an upcoming break.

Sometimes they will tell you stories about their song that will BLOW YOU AWAY. Sometimes they really have nothing else to say, and you graciously let them go. Other times, you will realize their request gave them a plausible reason for calling, but really they have something else they want to talk to you about.

"Oh, you just moved here? Where from? Why did you move? Do you like the area? What do you like best? Are you feeling lonely about the move, or excited? Have you found a church? Does your dog like it here?" I mean the questions you can ask are ENDLESS! And usually it only takes one to get them talking.

The goal? To find out a piece of their story! To connect as one human to another! And, hopefully, glean something you can use on the air that is personal, interesting, relatable and connects with the thousands who are listening. Once you get a piece of their story, you can graciously let them go. They'll feel noticed. You'll have a bit.

If you have the time and energy, you could use them to chat about what you want to talk about on the radio. "What's the best thing about living here?", "Are the gas prices higher here?", "Did you get your tax rebate check yet? What are you going to do with it?" "What's your family doing this summer for a vacation?"

My goal is to have great bits on the air. Their goal is to connect with my radio station. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Lisa is on KLOVE weekday afternoons from 3-7pacific. Listen when you can at klove.com. After 18 years in Christian radio, she has finally found something she likes more: being a mommy! Her 14 month old JD is eagerly awaiting his new baby brother in a few weeks, and a very large, waddling Lisa is eagerly awaiting maternity leave.

Time to Move Forward

2008-05-03T13:29:00.005-05:00

By Dave Senes
Network PD
WAY FM CHRSN
Nashville

Lately, there’s been a lot of discussion on email forums and in columns like this about Christian CHR. From what I can tell, it seems like a good number of well-intentioned Christian radio programmers hold on to the notion that if we just throw more money at Christian CHR radio (whatever CHR really is, but I’ll get to that in a moment) or get it into larger markets with the help of “visionary leadership” it could explode. No… it won’t – explode that is.

Christian CHR stations generally differentiate themselves from other stations by targeting teenagers. Trying to target teens exclusively with Christian music is self-limiting and plays against the natural landscape for the CCM fan base. In other words, one can’t create a larger potential audience for a specific type of music than the one that naturally exists.

CCM Radio naturally skews 30 plus, meaning that’s where the bulk of CCM fans exist. That’s a fact that has been shown in many very expensive research projects, so you just saved a lot of money if you were thinking of doing your own. Even stations aimed at a broader target like 18-34 aren’t designed to maximize audience share with CCM.

Ok, then why aren’t there more young fans of CCM?

Generally speaking, teens (Christian or not) and young adults (18-24ish) in general feel somewhat bullet proof and don’t have as much of a felt need for faith based music at this age as they will choosing a life partner, entering parenthood and realizing their influence on their kids.

Christian teens and young adults will certainly cherry pick their favorite CCM songs as they come across them based on a variety of reasons (often peer based), but not enough to change their primary goal of staying in touch with the mainstream mass appeal songs of their generation.

A quick glance back helps to see where we are today. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, a bunch of “saved” rockers began writing and performing mainstream sounding music with “Christian” lyrics. Christian labels were created and the industrialization of this music followed. This new music was fed directly to a Christian sub-culture of music buying fans found primarily in the American church and church youth groups.

The youth group sub-culture became the perfect market for CCM to flourish. The music was safe and “cool” which gave every youth leader in America an instant alternative to recommend for parents who were happy to bankroll their kids’ new clean listening addiction. Each week kids would bring their Christian cassettes to church and do what every kid does… compare their opinions on music with their friends.

Christian radio eventually caught on to the opportunity to promote “Christian mainstream” music as a ministry to thousands. I am fortunate to work for one of the pioneers of CCM radio. WAY-FM began over 20 years ago. In the early days, the lucky kids had a WAY-FM or other CCM station to listen to during the week between church attendances. The CCM radio revolution was well underway. By the 90’s, donor funded CCM had blossomed and most markets had at least some form of CCM station. But eventually the novelty wore off.

The ultra passionate “CCM all the time” youth subculture that once existed in much of the church world is long gone. In fact, now most youth leaders don’t even promote Christian music exclusively. They would seem out of touch if they did. Most Christian parents no longer see Christian music as the only option for their kids and have given up on the thought of “no mainstream music in the house”. Churches feature mainstream hits that reflect truths found in the Sunday sermon… So, it’s easy to see how the wave of CCM fans comprised of Christian youth in the 80’s just keeps rolling along with no replacement population behind it.

If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend that you read Charlie Peacock’s recent article on the future of CCM. I could go on and on, but he’s a much better writer. He picks up perfectly on what I’m talking about. He portrays a reality I’m afraid many will ignore, but here’s another plug not to.

So what about today? How do we program CCM radio today? That’s assuming we have another 5 – 10 years of viability among the fragmented formats that comprise CCM radio today.

First, a suggestion… let’s move forward. Let’s get beyond arguing about the meaning of terms like AC and CHR within the context of Christian music. Your listeners don’t care, so why do you? The Country music to CCM comparison is fitting… when’s the last time you heard of a Country CHR station?

There are only two types of music among Christian music fans. 1. Popular 2. Everything else. You are either playing the most popular songs for your target demo or you aren’t. So, in my personal opinion, there’s really only one set of truly mass appeal songs inside the Christian music genre.

However, if we must still fragment our target audiences because of mission statements that involve reaching youth specifically, we should at least define chart headers with something measurable… (Women 18-34) and (Women 25-54)… after all most stations are trying to reach people in one of those two categories. The only way to program a station for growth is to judge songs on their popularity within a target demographic.

Popularity is measurable, but the discussions I see often seem to center around ideas and agendas that are subjective… Like, “such and such song” doesn’t sound “such and such” enough… what? Is that really a good way to make a decision? Personal opinion?

Why isn’t Christian CHR growing? First (repeating from above), targeting teens that don’t represent the bulk of CCM fans is a self-limiting proposition to begin with, and second, because donors are much more forgiving than stock holders.

For a general market owner, the formula is simple. Ears=Advertisers=revenue=stock price goes up for investors. The end game is to make money and everything leads to that. The minute revenues decline the investors dry up and things come to a stop.

It’s always questionable to me that our investors (donors) don’t really have an objective way to measure the return on their investment. Perhaps that’s an overstatement. After all, there are concerts full of cheering kids and plenty of community events promoted or held by CCM stations that are evidence of how donations are being used. But at the end of the day, the medium of radio is about mass reach. To do radio well you need to win the numbers game.

What if all along, CCM radio donors, like investors, had required CCM stations to present them with data proving that their investment was actually bringing more listeners to the station each year? I suspect this article would be seen as somewhat irrelevant and out of touch since we’d have all moved beyond discussing the real meaning of CHR years ago in pursuit of something measurable.

Dave’s career began 12 years ago as producer for the Fred Winston show in Chicago. From there he produced several other shows and was on the air in several formats before heading to Salem’s Chicago talk and teaching format as Creative Director. While there, the promotion to PD provided him the opportunity to help launch 106.7 The Fish in Chicago along side John Frost and Tommy Kramer. After leaving Salem, Dave headed for warmer weather and spent two years at WAY-FM in Ft. Myers, FL before coming to Nashville to serve as Network Program Director for WAY-FM Media Group’s CHRSN.

What Are You Waiting For?

2008-04-21T13:16:00.005-05:00

By Ken Farley
Hit Music Research
Nashville

You’ve probably heard the statement “If you aim for nothing that’s probably what you’ll get”. The Bible says “Without a vision the people will perish”. As you go about your day to day activities do you have a clear cut vision of what God has planned for you to do with your life?

Does it include yourself, your family, and whatever your personal vocation may be? I believe that God put us all here for a purpose and a reason… it’s not an accident that you’re here. But what are you here for and how are you supposed to go about fulfilling and accomplishing what God has planned for you?

In many instances people will say they haven’t gotten a clear cut word or picture of what direction their path and purpose is supposed to be, and that they’re “waiting to hear from God”. Probably the first image that comes to mind is someone being still and quiet, waiting for confirmation on what God has in store for them. There are certainly many instances in those quiet, intimate moments with God that He reveals Himself and His plan for our lives. But, if that’s your situation right now, I would also encourage you to think of “waiting” along the same terms of being a waiter. When a waiter is waiting on his/her customers they’re not taking it easy doing nothing. They’re going about their day, serving their customers and waiting on them through deed and service. I think it’s the same thing sometimes when you’re “waiting on God”. You just go about your business doing your best to take care of whatever is set before you to accomplish that day.

But don’t be discouraged that because you don’t feel like you have a clear cut directive for your life, that you’re not making a difference. The Bible says that when you’re faithful with the little things God will make you faithful of much and that with whom much is given, much is required. God has given us all some huge opportunities to make an impact in the lives of our families, friends, co-workers, and the potential countless thousands of people you connect with each day through radio. So make the most of each day that God blesses you with and be expectant that He will provide you with the answers to the questions you may have right now!

Ken Farley spent fourteen years at KOKF/OKC, twelve of them as PD, before moving to Nashville in 2000 to work as Director of Promotions for ForeFront Records. Two years later, when EMI CMG went through a round of mandatory cutbacks, he was let go from the company and it was at that time that he went through his own “waiting period” of discovering what God had for him next. It was during that season in his life where he founded Hit Music Research and also partnered with Jeremy Gonzalez to get AmpedCreative off the ground, a company that he bought out two years later. Hit Music Research provides online music research services exclusively for the Christian music industry and AmpedCreative produces station imaging and is also the home of several nationally syndicated programs including The Weekend 22 (CHR), The Weekend Top 20 Countdown (AC), The ZRock Radio Revolution (Rock), Music News, (60 daily news feature) The Hype Radio Network (Hip-Hop & R&B) and their newest partnership with The Real –“Inside The Music-Outside The Norm”. Ken resides in Brentwood, TN with his wife and three children. (his youngest, Kayla, pictured)

What is CHR?

2008-04-13T19:18:00.010-05:00

By Alan Mason
Change Agent
Goodratings Strategic Services

Alan is a regular contributor to The Christian Radio Feedback Room

There's been a lot of discussion on the forums lately about Christian CHR, much of it inspired by the R&R Article in the 21 March issue.
Interestingly, I¹m having a hard time telling what Christian CHR is. Is it a target? An attitude?

You may recall the research study Paragon Research and Goodratings did about three years ago. There were many conclusions, but one of the most important was the large size of the footprint of the CCM format. It covers all demos, and most musical styles. Far and away the most popular second choice for Christian CHR listeners was Christian AC. The song montages used to determine people who listen to CHR vs. AC contained artists that are now mainstreamed on AC. So what is CHR, and more importantly, what does successful CHR look like?

Just because you say you¹re CHR doesn¹t mean you are. Secular CHR has some specific criteria that might be helpful in determining where you are:

1. Do you have a larger proportion of 12-24¹s than you do 25-44¹s in your cume? How well does that cume ratio match up with AQH, which should show the demo most favorable to the station?
2. How do you rank in the teens, 18-24, and 25-34 demos? In secular radio I¹ve seen people lower their demo, but at the same time they lowered their overall audience too, fighting their ³natural² audience. If you¹re ranking in the bottom third of the market it¹s difficult to say you¹re successful, irrespective of demo target.
3. Two of the major Christian CHR companies we work with have seen they have a greater proportion of 35-44¹s than they do 18-24¹s. Does that make them non-CHR¹s? In fact, they¹ve increased their teen levels only when they played tested music, which leaned more AC. Do the analysis on your own station, and see how your demos line up.
4. What is the average age of your donors? It¹s not unusual for us to see a target audience that¹s 10 years or more less than the donor. That could mean trouble down the road, because our research clearly shows a donor is a superfan of your station.
5. What¹s the energy of your station? In the secular world we¹d be looking at specific song sound code and tempo issues to help determine if a station is CHR or Hot AC.
6. Who are you talking to, and who¹s doing the talking? I seem to have created a little controversy with my statement in the R&R article, but the simple fact is if you¹re talking to a ³generic² audience, and not the 18-34¹s, you¹re neither CHR or AC. You¹re generic. The CHR audience is very aware of authenticity, and that means you¹d better be able to speak their language in their way, and really understand it.

Yes, there are considerations like the level of new music you¹re playing, but more importantly it has to do with how many times you play the songs your playing, and whether your audience really cares about those songs. You can tell that by the size of your audience.

To me, the answer is simple. If you¹re achieving success with 18-34¹s you¹re CHR. If not you¹re Hot AC or AC. But the bottom line is, who really cares?
If you¹re doing what God wants, and not what you think you should do, it doesn¹t matter if your CHR or AC. What really matters in our context is whether you¹re making impact on the largest number of people possible. Are more people hearing God¹s word in music, or fewer?

It seems to me if we threw out the format labels and do what¹s right, we¹ll be successful. If we cling to some sort of made-up format title and never crack a two share, you¹re probably doing the wrong thing, not matter the format. It has to do with filling a need.

Alan Mason has been consulting successful CCM and mainstream stations for decades. He has been married to his wife Becki for 39 years, and they currently live in Lincoln, California. His other interests include genealogy and political strategy. He was the recipient of the 2007 Rob Campbell Award, and the Radio & Retail Echo Award for industry impact.

The Audacity of Christian CHR

2008-04-06T16:39:00.004-05:00

By Mike Couchman
Program & Music Director
WAYG/Grand Rapids
WAYK/Kalamazoo-Battle Creek

Here we are, staring another precarious year in the face. So far, Christian CHR does not appear poised for growth. Survival, hopefully, but don’t ask to thrive. A recent Radio and Records article summed up our challenges well, so I won’t bore you with a long rehash. To sum it up, we’ve got 1) Coverage area obstacles. 2) An identity crisis. And, 3) A lack of faith in our format from both within and outside.

All the industry jargon of targets and listener profiles aside, this is what I believe to be true. Christians and non-Christians alike choose Christian radio stations for different reasons than they choose secular stations. Those reasons have more to do with their inner faith than their music style choices. Yet invariably, those music preferences also lead them away from Christian radio, or, are why they visit our stations only in spiritual crisis.

What if a format existed to help them avoid a crisis in the first place? This is where Christian CHR can be most effective.

We can be the format that helps “train a child when he is young, so that when he grows old he will not depart.” We can be the one that prevents young women from living promiscuously, the one that talks those who’ve made mistakes early in life OUT of making even bigger ones later. We can be the format that provides the foundation for strong marriages that last lifetimes, instead of the format that tells youth it’s important to live together first to kind of “try each other out.” We can be the format that points someone towards serving their world for Christ, instead of serving themselves with dreams of cash and parties.

Has Christian radio already done this? Certainly! But I contend we have only scratched the surface. Teenagers and young adults across the country who profess to be Christians are filling their minds with songs about casual sex, tunes about the appeal of wearing revealing clothes, and music that glorifies solving problems with drugs, alcohol, and self mutilation.

Yet we Christians are often shocked when people in our own churches and Christian schools get pregnant, drop out, run away, or become sullen and distant. Then later in life, we lament about how the divorce rate in the church is just as high as outside those walls. About how we can’t believe so-and-so did that with, or to, so-and-so.
Since I arrived into Christian CHR from Mainstream CHR eight years ago, the constant debate has been about tactics, strategy, and targets. I believe those are important discussions, but we’ve become sidetracked from our potentially powerful purpose.

While we go ‘round and ‘round those issues, committed Christians are inhaling lyrics like “Shorty was hot like a toaster, Sorry but I had to fold her, Like a pornography poster;” and, “Let me wrap my thighs…All around your waist…Just a little taste?” (current Mainstream CHR chart toppers).

Lyrics are only part of the problem. You’ve got role model issues galore, from men who treat women as toys to women who don’t treat themselves much better, and an obscene amount of materialism mixed with substance abuse. The media outlets that serve up this unwholesome mix of music create their own events and partnerships with even less tact and class than the lyrics you read above.

All while Christian CHR throws its hands up by refusing to acknowledge these gaping music holes CHRISTIANS (!) fill with trash. We say our target doesn’t want their modern, mainstream music itch scratched when they come to Christian radio. Or, that it’s simply not possible for us to scratch that itch, so why bother? We claim we want to serve the needs of Christian youth, but continue to be less adventurous than their own parent’s iPod playlists.

I’m not suggesting that you throw caution to the wind and embrace “risk” as your new strategy. Nor am I proposing that Christian CHR should be an exact replica (aka copycat) of Mainstream CHR. I agree with the WAY FM Network’s Matt Austin when he says that’s a failed strategy. I don’t think your station should become more experimental with music on the fringe of mass appeal. Frankly, much of the current
Christian CHR chart is fringe to mass appeal music lovers.

Instead, I am pleading with you to focus on this generation’s dire need, and your station’s unique position to minister. Putting on promotions, events, air talent, and songs that appeal to their parents won’t lure them over. They may respect it, and find things they enjoy, but it won’t replace their desire for lyrics, genres, and content that’s uniquely their own.

Today’s modern, young Christians are deluged daily with evil messages about relationships, self image, and priorities in life. The movies they watch assure them that a little sexual exploration can’t hurt. The websites they visit treat modesty like it’s the plague. They can’t walk down the halls at school, even Christian schools, without hearing unthinkable conversations. The innocent people who pull up iTunes to download their favorite Christian song can’t escape images and messages contrary to their core principles. When they have spiritual discussions, plenty of Christian teens and young adults are open to the idea that Jesus Christ might NOT be the only way to Heaven.

What’s crazy is that today’s teens and young adults could easily be persuaded differently. Unlike the generations I and probably you come from, the ones that rebelled at the notion of parental authority and involvement, today’s youth don’t mind telling you they actually crave informed opinions from their elders. They sincerely want to spend time with Mom and Dad, and have a nearly insatiable curiosity about spiritual matters. Their parents are working, and sometimes too self involved, leaving schools and secular culture to give them incorrect notions about eternity.

This is where Christian CHR can shine. We can’t prevent every teen pregnancy or stop every young girl’s eating disorder, but we can certainly do a lot more damage to Satan’s agenda than we have been. But not if we continue failing at some programming basics, or master the wrong ones for our format.

Even done well and effective, this format may never garner the 12+ numbers Christian AC has become known for. Funding it is definitely more challenging. Those topics, as important as our discussions about target audiences and listener profiles, again distract us from what Christian CHR can accomplish in greater numbers: changed lives of today’s youth, and changed destinies for tomorrow’s Christian AC listener. As long as more Christian teens and young adults are consuming Rihanna, Buckcherry, and Flo Rida than anything Christian CHR offers, we have work to do.

Who’s ready to approach things differently? I am, although I admit I don’t entirely know what that means. I have some ideas, and I am guessing you do too. Let’s talk about them, collaborate, and make history. E-mail mike@way.fm, and leave a comment, PLEASE. Thank you for your time.

Radio Is About Passion

2008-03-30T21:50:00.004-05:00

By Stace Whitmire
Air Personality/Network MD
CHRSN

Once upon a time, there was a nine year old curly haired girl, who found refuge from the pain in her life by turning to her radio. Her family life was in turmoil, as her father was seemingly trapped in the clutches of alcoholism, her mom was simply trying to hold the family unit together, and poverty was really all she ever knew. God was something she heard about on TV shows; Church was something she saw beautifully dressed people come out of on Sundays, but nothing more. But radio…that was where her friends were. The songs spoke to her heart. The DJ’s were always there. It was the one stable force in a world full of chaos. It seemed so cool. Permanent. She knew that was something she wanted to do with her life.

In case you haven’t guessed, the curly haired girl was me.

Radio is all about passion. Every day when I walk into my station, I flash back to those memories, and that’s what fuels me. Because being an on air personality and music director is so much more than just a job to me. It’s like air. Not just because we truly have the coolest jobs on the planet, but because there are so many people who turn on that button to hang out with their friends…US. And we owe it to them to be ON. To give them everything—“the show.” The passion. To be that friend.

As Christian broadcasters, we have an even more unique opportunity. We get to be a part of something so much bigger than just entertainment. This is where the music director side of me really gets to “geek out!” There’s nothing I love more than hanging out with our artists, listening to what they’re working on, talking about what artists they’re loving, and what’s on their hearts.

I feel like my life has come full circle. I am happy to say that my father was able to conquer his demons, and I have been blessed to live out my dreams. But along the way, I’ve learned a few important things that I’d like to share. First, I try to always remember that I really am so blessed to do what I do. Second, I try to keep in mind that the people on the other end of the radio aren’t “listeners” they are “friends.” Third, I sing along with my radio station!! It’s all about having fun! I love my station! I think WAY-FM and CHRSN ROCKS. And no, I don’t think I’m biased at all!!

But if there’s one really important piece of advice I can give you, it would be the simple words of my friend, Jayar Reed…”Live Passionately.” It doesn’t get better than that!

Hope to see you all at GMA!

Stace is the Network Co-host of the award winning Jeff & Stace in the Morning, heard on WAY-FM via CHRSN, as well as the Network Music Director for CHRSN...a radio vet of 21 years, she's worked in every format, and is even in a couple music videos! Stace's husband Brent is a concert photographer, and they have 1 furry daughter, Penny The Wonder Dacshund. They all live just outside of Nashville, Tennessee

Networking

2008-03-22T13:02:00.008-05:00

By Lara Scott
Midday Air Personality
KFSH Los Angeles

A friend recently told me that he thought I was a good networker. I had to laugh, because when I hear the word networking I think of a smooth operator who hands out lots of business cards, has power lunches and breakfasts, and drops names of important peeps. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…it just isn’t me! In my opinion, networking is really about building relationships that are good for everyone and that make our lives better. It’s wonderful to know all kinds of people that you can go to for advice, trade ideas with, or perhaps even ask for a job one day. Here are a few ways that I’ve met and maintained relationships with other radio folks, and I hope that these will inspire you to reach out and expand your circle of friends.

1. Show sincere appreciation when you hear something great. Jocks and PDs tend to get loads of negative email from listeners, so it is a wonderful thing to get a kind note. If you’re listening to another station in town or checking out a station online and hear a great promo, email the PD and tell them it rocked! If you hear a jock doing a great break, let them know!
I met my current boss at The Fish, Chuck Tyler, a few years before I started working here. I had just started going to church again after hitting a low point in my personal life, and was thrilled to discover a station that encouraged and inspired me. I found the website and sent an email to Chuck that talked about how amazing the music was, and that I had fallen in love with Casting Crowns, a group that I heard for the first time on The Fish. Chuck emailed me back (I was doing middays at another LA station at the time) and invited me over for a tour, and a few years later I became part of the on-air staff at The Fish.

2. If you’re going on a trip, check out the local stations. Listen online before you go, and email to see if you might stop by and say hello (don’t forget to bring some station swag for your new friends).
I met my friend Jeff Taylor this way. Before a visit to my hometown in Florida a few years back, I went online to see if there were any Christian stations in town that I could listen to. I found Way-fm, and emailed Jeff to say hello and how much I liked the station, and told him that if a station like Way-fm had been around when I was younger I might not have made some of the decisions that I did. He wrote back to say come on by, and we have been close ever since. Don’t be afraid to make that initial contact, whether it’s via phone or email. The worst that could happen is that you might not hear back from them!

3. Read industry trades and sites, like HisAir, AllAccess.com, and R &R. Not only will this help you learn about different stations, who is working where, and job openings, but it’s a great tool for when you want to contact people, too. If you see that a jock has been at a station for 20 years, email them and say congrats! We have a terrific local radio site (LAradio.com) that’s updated daily with all kinds of info, and I’m always seeing stuff on friends that I”ll email them about.

4. Devote some time every day to your relationships. I have turned into my mother, and I make lists for everything! Books I want to read, groceries to buy, home improvements to tackle, etc. I also have my daily to-do list, and I always add names of industry friends to contact to say hi, congrats, happy birthday, find out how the job search is going, or say what’s up. That might sound a little silly to schedule that, but if you are anything like me you are overstressed and easily distracted, so I find that it’s nice to have it on paper. It probably works out to about 15 minutes a day of calling or emailing friends.

5. Make sure to respond when people reach out to YOU! I got an email out of the blue last year from Frankie Di Vita, who works at a rock station in Riverside and was interested in a morning show opening we had. She’d gotten my email from a mutual friend, and as we started emailing I found out she’d won Bon Jovi tickets from me at my previous job! On the day she came in for her interview we ended up going to church together, and the next weekend we fed the poor in South Central LA. Frankie ended up being our morning show fill-in person, and I ended up with a great new friend that I have tons in common with. You might not end up even ever meeting in person, but a quick “thank you” in response to someone’s random email to you might make their day, give them some much-needed encouragement, or be the start of a beautiful friendship. Or maybe they’ll be in a position to hire you someday and remember that you took the time to respond.

I really believe that by showing sincere appreciation and putting in a little effort you will be rewarded with some new radio friends! And I think you’ll be surprised by the warm reception you’ll get from most of the people that you contact. Please remember, though, that the key is sincerity! If it’s not coming from your heart, your words will not ring true. I hope that what I’ve learned and written will help you, and I’d love to hear from you! You can reach out to moi at lara@thefish959.com.

Lara Scott has been in radio since 1990, and has been the midday host at KFSH/Los Angeles for the past two years.

No Country for Cold Songs

2008-03-16T13:37:00.008-05:00

By Jim Beeler
Music Director
KSBJ Houston

I’ve been there, and I’m sure you have, too. You’re away from your home town, your home station, and you’re listening to a local Christian music station. Half the songs you hear are either ones you’ve dropped or never played in the first place. You begin to swell with a little pride, knowing how much better your station sounds. And then it hits you.

Maybe these are songs their audience really wants to hear.

This could be true, but far too often it’s not. In this age of cost-cutting and streamlining, you’d think that more stations could and would pony up some cash to actually ask their listeners which songs they should keep playing and which ones should go away. Smaller-market stations pay less and networks can get package deals. It’s not that expensive, especially when you consider how many listeners you may be losing because you’re simply playing some wrong songs. Call them stale, cold, burned, weak – whatever adjective fits. Your audience knows they stick out against the really great songs. And you certainly don’t want to give them four minutes to decide to change stations. Believe me, it won’t take nearly that long.

So, what’s a great song? Only the fans of your station can tell you. Please don’t take this as bragging, but one of the reasons KSBJ’s cume has more than doubled in the past few years is that we’re now playing fewer and better songs. But Jim, if I play fewer songs, listeners will call and complain! It’s been our experience that those calls will always come in, no matter what. What they’re really saying is I’m hearing too many songs I don’t like. And when you compare their numbers to your total cume, they are inconsequential. It’s the people who don’t call and simply change stations that you really want to worry about.

Research is wasted if nothing is done with it, so when we get results from our weekly online testing, we adjust our playlist accordingly. Yes, every week. We keep the same amount of songs in our database, and we don’t use a recurrent category. When a song comes out of current rotation, we’ve already seen enough spins and testing to know which of our non-current categories is right. The song’s composite test scores determine how much to slow it down, helping take away the guess work. This starts a chain reaction, causing the lowest-testing song to drop off permanently. Sometimes a current song will not score well enough to keep at all. Hey, if you audience tells you they don’t like a song, why keep playing it? I know this sounds simple, but it is! So, why do we radio know-it-alls keep complicating it? Get busy testing your database with a sufficient audience sample, and then trust the results. It won’t happen overnight, but continued testing will eventually give you a playlist (and cume) that other programmers will envy when they visit your town.

Jim Beeler has been Music Director at KSBJ/Houston since 2001. He has been PD at WQFL/Rockford, and has also worked in Christian radio in Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming and Oklahoma. In his spare time, he works for a DJ service, and hosts Christian radio sharathons.

Love Is Not A Fight: A Personal Reflection

2008-03-08T16:16:00.009-06:00

By Warren Barfield
Essential Records Artist

NOTE FROM THE MODERATOR: Christian Musicians are people with issues, struggles, and triumphs just like you and me. Some of them are transparent enough to let us see through to those issues as they deal with them. Warren Barfield is one of those artists. Some of you spoke on the phone with Warren Barfield last week when Warren took an afternoon of phone calls to talk to us about what's going on in his life these days. For those of us who didn't get a chance to speak with him, HISAIR.NET asked Warren to sit down and write down some of his thoughts about his latest single "Love Is Not A Fight." Below is a piece Warren wrote for HisAir.Net this week. The Label didn't ask us to do this. We're not promoting a song or an agenda. We just thought the story was good enough and resonated enough with each of us that it was worth another look here in the Feedback Room.

My wife is my best friend, who I love dearly, and she loves me. But isn't it fascinating that two people who love each other so much can cut one another so deeply? When you let issues build up in a marriage, the smallest thing can trigger a war, and pretty soon you can lose sight of your love and commitment to one another. We had a night where something as trivial as spilled pretzels forced into the open things we had left unsaid. Once everything had calmed down, I wrote this song. In that moment, I fully realized my duty, as my wife's husband, was to wrap my arms around her. To love her more than my pride, more than my desire to be 'right,' and to find a way to move through life's good and bad times together. That will be a struggle at times, but love is worth the fight.

I wrote "Love is Not a Fight" about my marriage and my commitment to my wife. I've been performing it at my shows now for about six months, and after every show I am overwhelmed by the many different ways the song is affecting other people. I heard a story the other day about a man who has an adopted daughter. He said at times the challenges seem impossible to struggle through, but my song reminded him that Love is Worth the fight. The song has proven to be more than just a tune I wrote in my living room about my story, it is song about all of our relationships.

It's easy to just skim by on the surface of life. The challenge is to go beyond the shallows into deeper relationships with the ones we love. At times this can be uncomfortable. It means we have to take the time to invest in their lives. It means we will have to be vulnerable and honest about who we really are. This will likely result in some pain. But it's the kind of pain that carves out space in our souls for more joy than we could have ever experienced before.

More "things" will not bring you the full life that we all crave. It is time we make the important things important again and seek deeper relationships with our Maker and the people we share this space with. Love is not a fight, but it is something worth fighting for.

Warren Barfield
Warren Barfield MySpace

Fixing The Talent Pool

2008-03-02T21:17:00.003-06:00

By Malachi Crane

General Manager

SAU Radio

Spring Arbor, MI.

There was a great piece in R&R recently discussing the lack of incoming talent into the radio industry. Radio broadcasters across the board agree this is a problem, but there is a deeper issue here: we need to join together to do something about it.

With fewer students interested in radio each year, both radio stations and universities have struggled to find an answer. As the number of students majoring in broadcasting dwindles, so does the investment in broadcasting departments. We have now fallen into a downward spiral with fewer students, outdated broadcasting departments, and radio stations that are struggling to find talent.

At Spring Arbor University, we have four full powered signals and a communications department with a degree in broadcasting. The fix has to start with training grounds like ours. First, we as university radio stations have to take it upon ourselves to actively recruit high school students and engage them in what we are doing. We can offer hands on experience over the course of their four year degree and provide exposure to different formats from day one.

But, in order to do this we have to be able to attract and entice the brightest talent. That is accomplished through broadcasting scholarships to attract the best talent to our industry. We have to start recruiting the next generation of broadcasters instead of hoping and waiting for the best.

We’ll do our best to attract the best possible talent to train and prepare for a career at one of your stations. We need you to invest in what we are doing though in order to make it work. How about investing in a radio scholarship? You could be an active part in solving the talent pool issue. Find a local college in your area who is offering hands on experience in radio. Invest in what they are doing so that you can have a better selection the next time you post an opening.

Let’s band together and fix the problem.

Malachi is the General Manager of the Spring Arbor University Radio Network that includes signature station HOME.fm. You can reach him at mcrane@arbor.edu

Larry Norman 1947-2008

2008-02-25T16:48:00.008-06:00

Singer, songwriter, producer (The Father of Christian Rock) Larry Norman died Sunday morning (2/24/08) at 2:45 at his home in Salem, OR. From Larry's website here are some thoughts from his brother Charles and a final letter Larry dictated right before he passed away.

Hello everybody.

Our friend and my wonderful brother Larry passed away at 2:45 Sunday morning. Kristin and I were with him, holding his hands and sitting in bed with him when his heart finally slowed to a stop. We spent this past week laughing, singing, and praying with him, and all the while he had us taking notes on new song ideas and instructions on how to continue his ministry and art …

Yesterday afternoon he knew he was going to go home to God very soon and he dictated the following message to you while his friend Allen Fleming typed these words into Larry’s computer:

I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.

My brother Charles is right, I wont be here much longer. I can’t do anything about it.

My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.

My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.

I’d like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.
Goodbye, farewell, we’ll meet againSomewhere beyond the sky.I pray that you will stay with GodGoodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Larry

Thank you to all of you who were so nice to my brother over the years. Kristin and I will post funeral information in the next day or two. Right now we’re not able to function very well, but the whole family is here … our mother Margaret, our sisters Nancy and Kristy, Mike Norman and his new wife Tiffany, and Silver.

We miss him beyond words. Thank you for everything.

Peace to you all in Christ,

Charles Norman

Please feel free to leave coments on what Larry Norman's music meant to you. Thanks

Ted Kelly
HisAir.Net

Creative Jocks & Liner Jocks

2008-02-10T21:01:00.000-06:00

By Scott Herrold

Network PD/Mornings

SOS Radio Las Vegas

Creativity isn’t thinking outside the box- it’s thinking inside the box and making it work!

When you need a creative spark, go into your office and print out all your liners. Close the door, turn off the cell phone and open up Microsoft Word.

Think about a topic you’re facing this week- like Valentines Day. Write down EVERYTHING that comes to mind, no matter how raw and stupid it seems.

For example:
Cupid’s little diaper, the arrows, the blind dates, sappy love songs, red roses and big heart shaped velvet boxes filled with chocolate.
The way my wife knows when I buy flowers from the grocery store vs. the florist.
Song titles like: All About Love, How do I lover her, Fall In Love Again, Godsend, etc.
The disappointment after I grab a random chocolate from the heart shaped box…. only to find some nasty cherry mush inside!

The difference between a creative jock and a liner jock is emotional thought!

Think about how “Becky” views Valentines day. It’s another night where she can’t relax. It falls in the middle of the workweek between soccer practice, ballet sessions and packing lunches. It’s another day she can’t stay out late because she has to get up for work at 5:30am.

Becky’s view of love has changed since her teenage Valentines dates. She cares more about the thought her husband puts into the date, than the actual restaurant he takes her to. In Becky’s eyes, Valentines Day is about how her husband’s response makes her feel important, appreciated and beautiful.

What’s your camera angle? After you write down all your ideas, you will have dozens of different “angles” for your show this week. Incorporate these “angles” into your liners, your bits and your phone topics.

You can make ANY idea more creative when you overload it with verbs and adjectives.

I’d love to hear some of the fun ideas you come up with! Email Scott@SosRadio.net.

Scott Herrold is the Network Program Director & Morning Host for SOS Radio in Las Vegas. He was recently named one of Radio's 30 Under 30 shining stars by Edison Media Research. In addition, he was nominated for Music Director of the Year by Radio & Records in 2005. Before joining The SOS Radio Network, Scott worked in Tulsa & Detroit.

Why Do We Do What We Do?

2008-02-03T18:47:00.000-06:00

By Mark Giles
Hit Radio Promo

Some mom and dad in Africa lost their little boy to starvation last weekend.Another couple's daughter was kidnapped, abused and murdered. Still another family was publicly assassinated for worshiping the "wrong" God.Terrible tragedies. What is our world coming to? Yet my work continued. There was much to finish.

Then I heard the news of the little boy who had drowned in Alabama and immediately stopped what I was doing. The questions began to form, one by one, along with a prayer for the family.How could a father possibly handle that while away on business? How was he going to get home to his wife and children?Who was there with the mother when they found the little boy?Oh dear God, please be with them, comfort their hearts and minds, let them know You haven't forgotten them.Thank You for keeping my family safe, wherever they are right now…..

When a tragedy like this hits someone we know, it becomes more than a sad statistic.It's personal. It's real. We can relate. We can associate a name and a face with the pain.And try as we might, we can't close our eyes to the horror of the moment.

Statistically, by the time you finish reading these paragraphs, a mom and dad in the US are going to get word that their precious little boy or girl is gone.No more hugs or goodnight kisses. No more soccer games, peals of laughter or muddy shoes by the door.They will never again hear them utter the words, "I love you more than anything". They have lost their child. And in that instant of unspeakable hurt, they will begin to search for a grain of hope.Somewhere, someone that will offer a kind word and a gentle touch.They will be gasping for a breath of life, and reaching for help.

And thru the miracle of Christian radio you can be there for them.Peace. Hope. Love. Encouragement. Comfort. A trusted friend.

If you ever find yourself wondering why you do what you do, think of the mom or dad that could be needing you at that very moment.And pour everything you have into being the best that you can be at what you do.Because someone could be depending on you in that instant.… In a way that we can only begin to imagine.

And steal an extra hug from the ones you love today. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. And life is brief.

Mark Giles is an independent radio promoter. His company, Hit Radio Promo, is based in Nashville, TN. He is a husband, father of two married sons, and grandfather of three boys.

Radio and Records industry—Kinks in the Partnership?

2008-01-27T16:06:00.000-06:00

By Noonie Fugler
Music, Middays & Promotions
K-Life 89.3 FM San Luis Obispo

A friendly response to Andrea Kleid’s post (1-5-08)

In marriage relationships, I’ve heard that kinks in communication can be referred to as ‘stepping on each other’s air hose’. In the precious balance of communication between radio and record companies, it may not be a full kink—possibly just an air pocket.

Andrea pointed out a phrase that will go down in Music Programmer infamy, ‘Still listening.’ I maintain that the phrase in question is not always a cop out, but instead a reflection of the facts.

Each week is new at the radio station. Imagine the bowling alley and the cool machinery that clears the pins—think singles. The same is true in the Music Department for the possibility of an ADD--by Friday at 5pm–the decisions are made and another week of programming is in the bag.

We may have been teetering toward adding a new Artist and then, just like Goliath…in drops a GIANT core Artist single! That shuffles the deck. The fact that the newbie didn’t quite surface to the top means that the phrase, ‘still listening’ applies. A decision to go forward was in the plan last week, but the play book has changed.

I’ve been caught describing the ‘singles scene’ in aviation terms. Take LAX for instance. The amazing amount of flights that go in and out of that airport might rival the cars on the 405 freeway nearby! If you do have to patronize the place, expect a long line of planes ready for take-off. As we learned in kindergarten, single file is best. Music Programmers may have several songs that are about to take flight, but only one or two may actually launch.

Consider ‘still listening’ as a phrase of hope. The puddle jumper in the back of the line choking down the jumbo jet fuel may still have a take-off window, but Air Traffic Control has a hold on it until it is safe to fly. Air quality like song quality matters too. Radio needs to lead with the best option we’ve got.

Strap on your flight suit & headsets—great music is going to be played at high altitudes in 2008!

The Anonymous Radio Wife

2008-01-19T22:42:00.000-06:00

The Feedback Room introduces a new occasional contributor. Her name is Mys. Tery...The Anonymous Radio Wife. From time to time, this “Power Behind The Throne” will chime in with observations, rants, advice, and reflections on the perspective that is most often completely ignored; that of a radio person's spouse. Leave a comment...or E-mail her directly: anonymousradiowife@yahoo.com

Let Me Introduce myself. I'm the anonymous radio wife. I'm married to a radio guy of 20 years. I remember when we were dating. My husband quit his job in radio. He thought I would break up with him because he was no longer in radio. If I knew then what I know now; I might have done just that. However, I did NOT break up with him. Several months later (ironically after he had already gotten me to commit to marry him...I now know why), he got back into radio. That, became my life.

I'm not sure if it's endearing when my husband now calls me his “little program director” as I critique someone on a competing station. I've become used to turning the radio UP when the commercials come on (heaven forbid I even THINK about changing the station!). I have yet to understand why he MUST hear the break that he JUST recorded 5 minutes ago on the radio, but I have come to accept it. Such is my life.

I have become an expert mover. I can put most “Two Men & a Truck” franchises to shame with my skills. Need a house packed for a cross-country move in 8 days? I'm your woman? Need it done despite having kids in tow whom you homeschool for extra moving ease? Not a problem. I can get it done. I keep threatening to write a book on moving someday. After all, it's my life.

Our new neighbors think a good wife has the house unpacked in a week. They've never met a radio wife. I can pack up and move across the country in a week, but don't expect me to unpack overnight. It might take me a year. After all, by then; we might be moving again! It will just save me from having to pack again. Yes, my mindset is that pathetic after way too many years of doing this.

I hope “our” men understand what we go through for them. I hope they think about the sacrifice made by the radio wives out there the next time they come home with “exciting” news. (You know: WE'RE MOVING!!!!!!) To which us wives will reply, “Where to this time honey?” as we pull out our supply of boxes that we keep ready in the attic and start packing.

The Story Is In The Stories

2008-01-13T16:55:00.000-06:00

By Alan Mason
Change Agent
Goodratings Strategic Services

Alan is a regular contributor to The Christian Radio Feedback Room

Many of us look at Arbitron as a measure of success, and it is. Like it or not, it’s the best measure of the number of people listening to us. But, there’s another measure we should look at - the stories your listeners tell you.

No other format has such a compelling message as we do. Yet we sometimes allow an inferiority complex to creep in, as the “powers” tell us we’re not doing enough to “take people deeper.” In short, we’re not doing God’s work with all this music and happy talk.

Let me tell you a story. A couple of years ago, as he was preparing to fly to Ireland and help put that country’s first Christian network on-air, Dick Jenkins called Verizon to make sure his cell phone would work over there. As the Verizon person began checking they were talking, and Dick told her what he did and why he was going to Ireland, and so forth. Turns out the phone would work, and Dick would be able to stay in touch.

Fast forward one year, to the music test I was conducting in Chicago. A 30 something woman approached me, and told me the above story. She was not a Christian at the time, and based on the conversation started listening to K-LOVE. Within six months she had committed herself to Christ, and here she was in my music test.

Not taking people deep enough? Not doing God’s work? I beg to differ.

Another story: At a donor event in the San Jose area I met a donor who told me about how he became a donor. He had been a very successful executive in an Internet company, and seemingly a wonderful life with his wife and family. But he got dragged down by drugs and gambling, and eventually found himself without a family, without a home, no money in the bank, and only the clothes on his back, a pistol that used to belong to his father and a broken down car. He found himself so low that he thought about ending it all. Since he was homeless, he was looking for a place to park for the night, so he could sleep, and saw a church. He asked the people at the church if he could park in their back lot that night to sleep...and they told him no.

Now he’s really despondent. He finds an empty space to park, and decides he’s going to end his life at sunrise. To keep himself occupied until sunrise he turns the radio on, and searches down the dial for a station. For some reason, in the place he’s parked not very many stations are coming in, so he settles on one that is clear - K-LOVE. At some point in the night he puts the gun in his mouth, ready to pull the trigger, but something stops him. As he listens through the night he realizes his need for Christ, and how “final” his decision was.

The end of the story is not just that he didn’t kill himself, it’s that he became a Christian, got involved in a church. He leads a small group and teaches in the church. Oh yes, that pistol that was in his mouth? He sold it, and used the money to make his first donation to K-LOVE.

There are two points here. The first is the importance of stories in connecting with people. Rarely do facts and figures connect two people, stories do. They have more impact on other listeners than anything else you can do. But you need to share those stories, in the listeners own words, on the air. The story of your success is in your stories, as well as your ratings. Get them on the air.

The second point has to do with our inferiority complex. We ARE doing God’s work, and I can prove it by pointing to the stories. Anyone who suggests otherwise simply doesn’t know the facts, and more importantly, doesn’t understand how God is using we music stations. Never doubt yourself - God is on your airstaff, and telling His story.

Alan Mason has been consulting successful CCM and mainstream stations for decades. He has been married to his wife Becki for 39 years, and they currently live in Lincoln, California. His other interests include genealogy and political strategy. He was the recipient of the 2007 Rob Campbell Award, and the Radio & Retail Echo Award for industry impact.

We Need Each Other

2008-01-05T22:06:00.000-06:00

By Andrea Kleid
Manager Nat'l Promotion
Word Records

What a coincidence that the theme of this rant is “We Need Each Other” and also happens to be the name of Sanctus Real’s new single. A shameless plug never hurt anyone. J

If you know me at all, you know that I have an odd and hopefully humorous way of delivering a message. Please keep this in mind as you read the following.

I’ve been thinking about the partnership between radio and records, and have run across a few kinks in our relationship. Like any marriage, I believe these kinks can be worked through with a little open dialogue and good listening skills. So here are a few (random) observations from my humble perspective…

The Myth of a #1 single

I know it may be shocking to find out, but the reason we push for Top 10, 5 and number one singles, isn’t because we get a bonus. (We don’t). We actually have a strategy. In the same way that you plan out your most dynamic promotions around the Fall book in order to increase ratings; we are planning our biggest singles around album releases. I’m not going to argue that a song should be played if it doesn’t test well. What I will argue is that we have to be partners. Let me give an example. If station ‘KRZY’ chooses to add a single two months late (or early!) from an artist that is a business driver for a record label, this can seriously mess up our strategy. On a first single specifically, the main purpose of securing a high charting song isn’t the bragging rights, it’s the simultaneous gathering of audience impressions nationwide around the record’s release. Just like a promotions director spaces out major promotions throughout a calendar year in order to make the greatest impact, we also have a strategic plan in place.

Still Listening

Think back to a crush you had in grade school. Now let me give you a hypothetical. Now, imagine that girl or boy that you loved ignoring you on the playground during recess. Even after you spent all morning re-writing that love note, complete with red hearts around their name… and now they act like you aren’t even there. Heartbreaking! Ok, so maybe that’s a little dramatic, but I needed to get you to an emotionally fragile state to propose the following question. What in the world does ‘still listening’ really mean? Those of you who know me, know that I can be pretty straightforward in my approach. (This is where you echo, “yet, not overbearing, Andrea.”) Anyway… let’s get it out on the table. If you’re not hearing a song, just tell us. I’ve found that open dialogue can actually lead to an intuitive conversation that will help me better understand what does work for your market. So bring on the “no way’s” and the “are you kidding me?’s”… we can handle it… and I bet we’ll both walk away better understanding each other’s perspectives. And it makes the “it’s an add this week” even sweeter.

I like your gut.

Yep, that’s right… you will never hear me asking you to cut back on your caloric intake… I like your gut. Ok… not the one leaning over your belt. I’m talking about that emotional reaction that happens when your child has one line in the school play and as the anticipation builds up, then they deliver it perfectly, you have this rush of pride and emotion. That’s all I’m asking for when you listen to music. Let it take you to a place that is outside the radio station walls. Get in your car for an hour and drive around in your city experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of your community. Expect the music to carry you through your day. Expect encouragement… your listeners are. Then when that one song comes along in your stack of singles that grows your heart twice it’s size because it connects with you so deeply… share it. There is nothing more rewarding than a phone call from a music director telling me how a single I’m working touched their life. When did we become so afraid to let the music move us? For those of you cringing at the fact that I haven’t mentioned the word testing yet… I’m not abandoning you. I’m just asking for your heart and gut to still be a factor.

Wanted: A&R in your market

Help us help you. I sat in a meeting a few weeks ago when we were brainstorming about the next innovative way to find new talent. The widespread audience that radio naturally has became the topic of conversation, then my boss began talking about a handful of artists that are getting significant airplay in local markets. Disclaimer: I’m not talking about your production guy’s brother’s girlfriend’s band. I’m talking about the artists who have a solid product already, and aren’t actively seeking a major record deal. They’re producing and touring and creating on their own because they can. We would love to be partners with you to know these folks and give them a platform to grow creatively. This doesn’t mean we want you to send us all the emails you get about airplay. But if something comes across your desk that is stellar and relevant and stands up to the other music on your desk, send it our way!

Moral of the story is that sometimes I just want to yell, “Why can’t we all just get along.” There are critical and simple ways that I think we can do to keep this industry alive. Let’s start listening to each other and see where it takes us.

Andrea Kleid is Manager, National Promotion at Word Records. She's also worked for EMI CMG, at WNLT in Cincinnati, WAY-FM in West Palm Beach and WJIS in Tampa/Sarasota as Promotions Director. Andrea grew up in Cincinnati, and therefore is a Bengals fan, even this season (who dey!). She loves living in Nashville because of the Americana/Folk live music scene (guilty pleasure). On the side, Andrea works for a national organization called RAINN (http://rainn.org) where she organizes an annual concert tour across the southwest to raise money for their national hotline. Andrea was just voted 2007 Radio & Records National Promoter of the Year.

2007 Recap of Articles

2007-12-30T21:51:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year from HisAir.Net !!

We want to thank you for your continued support thruout 2007. We truly seek God's guidance in all we do on this website.

Here's to an even better year ahead in 2008. Hey with The Lords help how can it not be? Right?

Here are links to read some of the best articles posted in the past year. Enjoy and feel free to leave a comment.

Fix The Product First by Daniel Anstandig / McVay Media
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/01/fix-product-first.html

Encouragement For The Encouragers by Joey Krol / WIBI
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/03/encouragement-for-encouragers.html

Life is Prep By Beth Bacall / WAWZ
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/05/life-is-prep.html

Reflections From The Other Side By Gary Thompson / WJQK
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/06/reflections-from-other-side-of-fence.html

Prayer By Chris Lemke / WCSG
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/08/prayer.html

Get Real By Scott Smith / WPOZ
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/08/get-real.html

Radio Junkie Becomes Real Mom By Lisa Williams / KLOVE
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/09/radio-junkie-becomes-real-mom.html

Better Than We Thought We Could Be By Alan Mason / Goodratings
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/09/better-than-we-thought-we-could-be.html

Building Your Station By scott Valentime / KCMS
http://christianradiofeedbackroom.blogspot.com/2007/10/building-your-station-rubber-meets-road.html

Once again thanks for supporting HisAir.Net in 2007. Submit an article for future publication in the Christian Radio Feedback Room to ted@hisair.net or garythethompson@gmail.com

Crisis at New Life Church

2007-12-14T21:17:00.000-06:00

By Faron Dice
General Manager
CHRSN-WAY FM Media

I have worked in Christian radio for over 20 years
I have worked for some of the most well-known Christian ministries in the nation. I have had a few impressive titles. But that's not MY ministry! It never has been!

MY ministry is the same as yours… to "do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God." That's what I am called to do. I try to live this out in my home, my work, and my church. I just happen to work at a ministry that is doing great things nationwide (WAY-FM), but that's my job, not my ministry.

Now, the shootings have happened at MY church…WOW! I am truly shaken to the core. This hits so close to home. I have a 15 and 18 year old daughter, just like Mr. Works. (Who lost his daughters and was also shot) I go out of that same exit at the church almost every Sunday morning at about 1pm. For some strange reason (oh yeah, it was the weather), I didn't attend New Life last Sunday. I stayed home, and received a phone call at 1:25pm, as the incident was just happening. It was a good friend, who was safe. Then, I watched the news like everyone else.

My family and friends are all ok. But my church, and my emotions are shaken. Something like this really could happen anytime anywhere!!!! The only safe place is heaven.

I'm thinking that I need to get back to MY ministry…(Note: I'm not quitting my job at WAY-FM.) I'm going to hug my kids more. I'm going to pray for their safety every single day. I'm going to call them on their cell phones several times a day and I'm going to take their phone call (even if I am in a meeting). I'm going to work to improve my relationship with my teenage daughter. I'm going to spend more time talking with my kids about life and death and God and priorities. I'm going to shake more hands and learn more names next Sunday at church. I'm going to carry this into my workplace, too.

Pray for New Life. We are shaken. Pray that there will never be a copycat of this. And get back to YOUR ministry.

Faron Dice is the General Manager of the Christian Hit Radio Satellite Network, part of the WAY-FM Media Group, Inc. in Colorado Springs, CO. You can contact him at faron@chrsn.com

A Brave New World

2007-12-09T19:58:00.000-06:00

By Glenn Hascall
Station Manager
KHYM Meade Kansas

My fingers spread wide as I maneuvered the reel to reel tape back and forth across the tape head queuing the next song. I also reposition the stylus for the next song played on the turntable. A selection of carts sits to my left as I match the right cart number with the hand written log.

Sometimes the cart didn't queue up before I needed the machine so I stopped it and turned the cart over hoping to remember to restart the cart and let it finish it's cycle.
For a quarter of a century I have repositioned a boom mic and slapped headphones on my head as I get set to either slide or turn a pot and give weather I will forget just as soon as I turn off the mic.

Perhaps the smart ones in my cycle of radio life got out when opportunity came knocking. A few are public relations experts; some couldn't handle the stress and became the fodder of vagrant stories. Some, like me, have stuck with it and weathered some storms that promised the end of radio as we knew it.

The carts, reel and records have gone the way of the dodo bird, radio staffs are generally much leaner than they once were and listeners have abandoned brand loyalty in significant ways.

We contend with hobbyists and networks, we know someone who enjoys satellite radio or their ever present mp3 player. We face incredible challenges just to keep things going.

Fewer feet are trying on our shoes and the median age for radio personal is aging.

What are we doing to bring new voices to the air? Are we proactive in our approach to advancing radio or simply holding on hoping that this new storm will pass us by?

Radio has changed dramatically since I first stepped into my first pair of broadcasting shoes and there are days I wonder what I am doing in broadcasting all these years later. From a practical standpoint it may make more sense to power down and venture on to a less taxing occupation, but I still believe in radio.

The calls and letters I get tell me radio continues to have a huge impact in the lives of listeners. Yes, there are multitudes of options, but you have to identify what it is that brings listeners to your position on the dial even when it is possible to listen to so many other choices. If you can't identify that special something it's time for some critical evaluation of what you are doing and why you are doing it. If you don't have a purpose for what you do radio can simply be something fun to do until you get bored.

Ford learned their position as a great American car company was not a given this past year. In the same way terrestrial radio will suffer its own losses as a new paradigm in listening takes place. Radio is learning that it is time to locate a new normal and figure out how to function best in that new environment.

Today there are no hand-written logs and the carts are all computer based. The reel to reel has been replaced with computer racks that hold network servers and hard drives. For radio it is a brave new world – one where there remains great opportunity for those who refuse to fear the treading of new paths and new ways of reaching out to an audience that may be interested in believing you can still deliver – and cheer when you do.

Glenn Hascall is the station manager for KHYM, Meade, Kansas. Email Glenn at glenn@khym.org

The End of Local Christian Radio?

2007-11-26T19:22:00.000-06:00

By Dan DeBruler

General Manager
Christian Listening Network
Fayetteville, NC

I can't begin to count the number of times I've received the “...petition 2493 threatens to silence Christian Radio...” email. You know the one – renowned atheist Madeline Murray O'Hair speaks from beyond the grave through the FCC to ban religious programming. In reality, of course, there is no petition 2493, and the letter has been around long enough that even the bureaucratic FCC has it listed as a hoax on their website.

There is, however a very real threat to Christian radio today. Christian music radio to be more specific. It's not the so-called “Hate Crimes Act” or some other suppression of religious freedom. It's not the ACLU or another liberal mechanism operating to silence Christians in general. It's the new Public Performance Rights legislation now being considered by the U.S. Senate. Forged by lawyers with a knack for stirring controversy among an entertainment driven culture, the legislation amounts to little more than legalized extortion.

At its core, the Public Performance Rights is well-intended legislation: Musical performers deserve to be paid for their work. I don't deny or begrudge them a right to make a fair living from their art. In fact, as a radio programmer, I do all I can to ensure they make a fair living. We announce songs. We identify artists. We provide purchase links for CDs and to artist websites. We connect songs with upcoming paid performances and concerts.

In recent testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Musician Lyle Lovett stated, “No one tunes in to a radio station to hear the commercials...radio is making money by using the music.” His statement is essentially true. However, it denies the role radio plays in music sales in general. It denies the fact that radio listeners repeatedly call and email requesting specific songs by specific artists. How do you think they heard about the song or artist in the first place? Why would they think we would have one song out of the multitude released in a given week? Why would we have a song that hasn't even been released on an album yet? Because they heard us promoting it. Arm in arm with the record promoter, radio “leaked” the single weeks or months prior to the release date, then we aired a contest the day before the CD hit store shelves so listeners could “win it before they can could buy it” - all the while hyping the new release to the benefit of the artist and everyone in the promotional chain between them and the general market.

On any given day, I can visit one of our station websites and see several components involving some musician's specific work, be it a concert, a CD, or just the artist's picture beside the listing for the number five song this week. If I double-checked our ledgers, I doubt I would see a single entry referencing the artist's payment for that promotion. Nor will I find evidence of payment for the countless times our air staff mentions “this song, by that artist, on the new album that comes out next Tuesday.” We're not looking for payment, though. In Christian radio, we're looking for a peaceful coexistence that acknowledges each party's contributions to the other's success.

I read the industry news. I know radio is perceived to be big money – so is music. One look at the entertainment headlines, and one can safely assume musicians are paid healthy sums to be able to afford the societal excesses and classy rehab they pay for. Then I look at most Christian music stations. Eight staff members and 6 volunteers, all trying to make a difference with music that does the same.

Already facing a reduction in service and audience size resulting from the Copyright Royalty Board's infliction of additional Pay per Performance Royalties relative to our streamed content, I have to wonder, who will suffer most if the new legislation wins? Radio...records...the artists? Yes to all – and add the public, because everyday music stations with genuine, local appeal won't be able to afford the added expense for long. Who should we charge for each promotional mention of a song or CD? When I see respected names like Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, and up-and-comers like Krystal Meyers among the founding artists of the coalition geared toward levying this new performance royalty, I fear radio has few friends in the matter.

Talk shows with royalty-free intros and segues – they may well be the wave of Christian radio's future if the Public Performance Rights legislation passes. And to all my record promoter friends – well, it was nice knowing you.

Dan is the General Manager of 3 North Carolina stations, including (Christian AC) WCLN-FM in Fayetteville, NC. He can be reached at dan@christian107.com

The Big Buffet Table

2007-11-18T20:27:00.000-06:00

By John Butler
VP Promotion
Curb Records

What do you remember the most about the wedding receptions that you’ve attended? Was it the wonder of re-living that special day with your spouse or the funny reminiscence of seeing your large-girthed relatives dance the lambada? Could be both?

More often than not it seems people remember the food. Ah, what is more glorious for a foodie than a wedding feast! Especially during the pre-reception where appetizers of every kind, hot and cold, hang from the ceilings and doors and all of it is FREE.

Yep, just for the benefit of knowing the person who’s getting hitched there is no tab at the end of this meal. Don’t know about you, but I try to graze little by little. I don’t always look to see what others are doing but it seems the meat dishes go quick and the coconut shrimp are gone in a flash.

Give me the veggie dip and the deviled eggs and I am happy. Sometimes I discover much to my chagrin that there were a lot better options than just my pre-determined favorites that I didn’t even notice were there. At that point, like others, I am too stuffed to try them. Burp!

This is what it’s like out there in the world of music. Everything is either already at our fingertips (or about to be), available anywhere and at anytime online in millions of places.

That’s a huge buffet table for consumers and the audience. If they are “foodies of music” they are certainly praising the heavens for such a bountiful harvest.

For the makers and marketers of music we serve at the pleasure of having a lot of space now to put our delicacies. That’s the challenge: A growing and seemingly endless amount of places for producers to put our best dishes for consumers and an equal amount of places for consumers to pick from.

Time is precious, digestive tracks are finite and value has yet to be established. Not everything at the table is worth consuming. Not everything is edible.

What do you value? How do you sort through the information to get to the dish you want to consume or to pass on? What determines your space and time for consumption?

You are the only one that has that answer! Happy hunting.

John Butler is VP Promotion of Curb Records Nashville. He can be reached at jbutler@curb.com

A Moment of Self Examination:

2007-11-11T19:28:00.000-06:00

By Gary Thompson
APD/Air Talent
WJQK Grand Rapids.

-Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall.

I’ve been watching the on-going media circus surrounding my Alma Mater, Oral Roberts University. It breaks my heart to see the university that I love so much experiencing such a trying time. Many questions swirl in my head about the whole situation.

Was there sin present? Did they bring this upon themselves? Is it only an attack of the enemy? Do we (with our foolishness and laziness) indeed hand the enemy our own sword and invite him to run us through? Does the enemy even need to form weapons against us if we form them ourselves with our lack of moral vigilance?
While at KXOJ, many a lunch hour I would look out from the 55th floor of the old City of Faith Tower and marvel and the serene beauty of the ORU campus. It was calming and inspiring to think of the many lives God has called and trained on that campus, including my own. How could God call and equip so many at such a place if all of those terrible things really did go on there?

But really, none of these questions even matter in your life or mine. None of that is actually for any of US to decide. Instead, the situation should be used as a personal learning opportunity. It’s a time to stop and take inventory of our own faithfulness and integrity. We have, after all, been given great responsibility as programmers and talents in this format. Who among us EVER desires to have our names splashed across any page (digital or print) as another example of fallen Christian leadership?

I think about my own career. I think about the wrong thoughts and secret motivations I have on a regular basis as I go about the work God has given me. And it sends a chill of warning down my spine. I remember what my pastor back in Tulsa, Billy Joe Daugherty said once: “Talent, and God’s calling may PUT you in a place of honor. But it’s your character that will KEEP you there.”

-What do any of us have that we were not given? Our position is not owed us. We are permitted to serve at the pleasure and mercy of Christ. Let’s walk, therefore, circumspectly and humbly.

Join me for a moment of introspect. I know I need one.

Gary is APD / PM drive personality at WJQK Grand Rapids. He is also a moderator for the HisAir.Net Christian Radio Feedback Room. Contact Gary at garythethompson@gmail.com

Be Real

2007-11-03T23:00:00.000-05:00

by Johnny Stone
PD/Mornings
WAWZ New York

Your show should be about nothing in particular. More on that coming up in a moment.

Show prep that includes things like “Today in History” makes my head explode. Although I am guilty of having done it early in my career, I can’t think of anything that is further from the life of your listener. I also went through a phase of every break being scripted out, voiced with fake comedy voices and the bits rotated throughout the week to gain maximum exposure. That was then. This is now. Now is being yourself. Or, in my case, being myself. But I digress. Let me provide a little background.

It’s not as if I planned to be where I am today. God did it. I’ve always wanted to be on the radio, since I was about eight years old. I remember standing on that corner right outside my elementary school with my buddies, Dave Williams and Dan Frankot. We were discussing what we wanted to do when we got older. The conversation went kind of like this:

Dave: “I want to be a pilot when I get big so I can wear that cool suit and hat.”
Dan: “When I grow up, I’m gonna be a policeman so I can wear that cool uniform and hat.”
Me: “I want to be on the radio, invisible to everybody so I don’t have to wear anything.”

Now, of course, I do wear clothing while I’m on the air, but you get the idea.

Radio offers so much, to so many, whether you are listening to it or performing in some capacity at a radio station. It is theater of the mind and is fun to listen to when it’s done right. So how do you do it right? I really don’t know the answer to that question because there are many different ways of doing it right. If there was a single way of doing it right, we wouldn’t need consultants, program directors or critics. We’d just do a Google search, download the answer and off we’d go.

Here’s what works for me: BE REAL.

Although it’s only two words, achieving it can be a very difficult thing to do. The ability to be the same charming person sitting at the dinner table with friends and family while you are on the air is hard. It can be done and here’s how to do it: take nothing you do for granted. Even standing in line at the check out at the grocery store you’ll find great show prep. It’s your job to remember what happens. Let me give you an example.

I noticed that when I transfer the items from the shopping cart to the conveyer belt, I put the canned stuff up first, followed by the stuff in boxes and last, the fruit and veggies. I do it so that as each item is scanned and goes into the bag, the heavy stuff is first and the easily bruised stuff goes last. It’s my thinking that I can prevent getting home and finding my bananas under the Campbell’s soup cans. Just plain everyday living, but just by talking about it, listeners began calling about their behavior and the behavior of others that they’ve seen at the grocery store. It turned into a fun topic that lasted throughout the morning show.

Another common, everyday thing was discussion on the coupon where you get “one free meal of equal or lesser value.” I wondered why we had to give the coupon before ordering. It made me feel like maybe the portions might be smaller on the free meal. I just didn’t know why we couldn’t give the coupon when we paid. It was something I’ve always wondered about.

I know, it is just a normal thing. You maybe think the same thing. Well, that topic just blew out the phones with people wanting to chime in on their thoughts about it. It made for a hilarious, plugged into everyday life, show.

My wife went to Texas for a family event last week and when she came home, she unpacked a three foot tall plastic hollow guitar filled up with popcorn. It has a picture of Elvis on the front of it. After you eat the popcorn, the top has a little slot that you can drop change into. It’s a strange version of a piggy bank! Well, guess what? I thought it was really weird, and so I plan on talking about it on the air. I know that my listeners will want to call in and tell me what the weirdest thing was that their spouse brought home.

The main thing is to put aside the thinking that “everybody does it, so it’s not interesting to talk about.” I submit that is exactly why you should talk about it. Just do it from your unique perspective. God made only one of you, so however you feel about the most mundane of daily tasks can be entertaining to that person(s) listening to you. Chances are, that person has done the very same thing, so that’s your touchstone in common. That person may have a different way of putting the grocery items on the conveyer belt and will want to share it with you. They may have also used the Entertainment Coupon book and wondered about presenting the coupon before ordering. It’s the real life, common, everyday things that help you to be more real to your listener.

Remembering may be the hardest part, so here’s what to do. Carry a small notepad or use your PDA to take notes on those common everyday things that you do. Bring them to the air in an entertaining way and share them with your listeners.

After all, the whole reason that Jerry Seinfeld had such a huge success with his TV show, SEINFELD, was that it was a “show about nothing.” In other words, it was all about common, everyday life and the situations that arise in it. Your show should also be a show about nothing in particular.

Johnny Stone is the morning show host and program director of STAR 99.1 in the New York Metro and has been there for going on five years. He also hosts the syndicated two hour CCM weekend show, LOOKING UP TO NUMBER ONE-THE COUNT UP SHOW. Before joining STAR 99.1, he did mornings at 106.7 The Fish in Chicago. Prior to that, Johnny had a career in doing mornings in secular radio, working in Dallas/Fort Worth, San Diego, Tampa and Atlanta.

For Goodness Sake, Rest!

2007-10-28T19:13:00.000-05:00

By Donna Cruz

Air Personality

CHRSN/WAY FM

So much of what I've been infused with in my own personal reading lately is about TIME. Wasting time, not enough time, living in crisis mode and to whom we give our time. We know about the sin of gluttony but when it comes to work and other commitments we sometimes don't bat an eye about how we manage our time.

I recently got married and want to spend all the time I can with my husband. I have a son who still loves hanging out with his mom and that's not going to last so I need to take advantage of every moment that he still lets me (without a fight). But we work, go to school, hang out at church, shop for groceries, return phone calls and emails until there is no time left but to sleep and get up to do it all again the next day. In the meantime, it's not only our family relationships that suffer; it's our community within the Kingdom…our relationship with our creator…the ONE that wants to BE with us more than anyone.

For me, it's become a matter of practicing what I preach. "God owns all the time and he will replace the time spent with Him if we need it back." He honors that decision. It starts with a prayer and the question, "Do I really trust God enough that as he created the entire universe, I too can get all my work done in the same six days?" Then comes rest. Just as the word of God speaks to each of us in different ways, our rest looks different too. It's meant to recharge us.

Rest for one might take on the form of getting decked out for a date after not having that kind of time with your spouse. Maybe a movie marathon day at home (not folding laundry while you veg in front of the TV). Maybe it's a day in bed or at the spa or taking a drive. Whatever it means to each individual it is a MUST. We get worn out, jaded, trapped in a cycle if we don't. Hundreds of verses in the Bible reference "resting". Am I going to trust God enough to rest this week?

Donna Cruz is a Way FM / CHRSN mainstay, having been with the network for a number of years. Donna is PD of Way FM, West Palm Beach. Most recently Donna was given the additional responsibility of handling middays on the CHRSN Sattelite Network.

Share Your Meal

2007-10-21T16:02:00.000-05:00

By Craig West
Mornings
KXOJ Tulsa

Allow me a brief moment of your time to offer up praise for the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors I injest everyday. Lexapro. I like the name of Lexapro. It has a superhero quality to it’s pronunciation. If for whatever reason someone asks me if I take Lexapro I say, “No. I don’t take Lexapro. I AM Lexapro”. Then I rip off my clothes and run down the street wearing nothing but boxer shorts that are 3 sizes too small thanks to the occasional side effect known as weight gain. Picture a rubber band rapped around a chunk of cauliflower and that should suffice as a visual. I, Lexapro, harness such super powers as occasional sweating, rapid heartbeat, confusion, and dizziness.

Let’s see, I also take something called Lamictal. It has been successful in controlling rapid cycling and mixed bipolar states in people who have not received adequate relief from lithium. The cool thing about Lamictal is that “they” are still not quite sure how it works. My favorite side effect of this pill is vivid dreams and/or nightmares and memory problems. I’d tell you about all my cool dreams but I can’t freakin’ remember any of them.

Over the past 10 years I’ve had some people tell me that my battle with depression and anxiety was just an idol in my life, selfishness, demonic, a form of pride, or just something I can choose to let afflict me or not.

Elijah, once lay under a Juniper tree, so down that he wished for God to end his life. God’s reaction…He sent an angel to feed Elijah. Peter was so distraught and down after denying Christ that he went back to find peace in his old lifestyle. God’s reaction…Jesus prepared him breakfast on the beach. And in our destitute state, God gave us true food and true drink in the form of Christ.

People who choose to listen to you are hurting and whether they know it or not, they’re hungry for something different. Just share your meal with ‘em. Peace.

Craig West has been in radio for 20 years. He has a wonderful wife, 2 sons, one dog and the occasional Siberian Midget Hamster that seems to live anywhere from 13 to 19 days in their home before going to meet The Father. Oh, He has also handled mornings on KXOJ for the better part of the last decade.

You've Got (Hate) Mail

2007-10-13T10:43:00.000-05:00

By Wally

Host

Total Axxess

Recently I was invited to attend a forum of some of the most influential people in Christian radio, I am not sure why I was invited, but I went anyway. Of course you cannot have any discussion about Christian radio without the subject of the beloved crusader coming up. I think I shocked the panel when I told them that I read my hate mail on the air. Some of the people on the panel looked at me like “I know he’s new but didn’t he get the Christian radio rule book?” I contend that if done right hate mail is not only show prep but also a good way of illustrating something positive.

Here is what I am talking about. Recently I said on the air that I wanted to get a tattoo but I was reluctant because there is nothing I love that much that I want to have it on my skin forever. I could almost hear the crusader typing his e-mail with every Ecclesiastical reference known to man before I even finished my sentence. The venom this guy spewed in his e-mail was mind boggling. He concluded with saying “if you are going to get a tattoo you should get, I’m an idiot tattooed on your forehead.” Then of course he signed it with the salutation In Christ’s love. That always my favorite part of the crusader e-mail.

Here is what I learned from this experience. You do not have to blast the person or respond with the same animosity they extended toward you. Admittedly, that is how I used to handle e-mail on the air and it always came back to bite me. Inevitably people would say they that while they agreed with what I was saying they thought I was not showing Christ’s love in my response. That is when it hit me. As we live our lives we leave imprints on other people, both positive and negative. My goal is to minimize the amount of negative imprints I leave behind. I was all prepared to battle it out Biblically with this guy on the air when I stopped, threw away my notes, and changed direction. I explained how this guy’s e-mail left a negative imprint on me that I would remember for the rest of my life, but instead of focusing on that I told the story of a woman who twenty five years earlier had left a positive imprint on me that I still carry to this day. So don’t shy away from trying to turn a negative into a positive

Sometimes the hate mail defies any logic whatsoever and is just funny. For me this came in the form of an e-mail from a guy from Alabama who was horribly offended that I asked a Canadian band “What is Canada good for anyway?” This guy actually wanted me fired so I got creative and tried to help him accomplish his goal by calling my boss on the air. Here’s the audio.

Wally has been host of Total Axxess since May 2007 airing live from Nasville. He worked at various rock stations for a number of years, and did a couple years at Radio Disney. Most recently he did a morning show at one of the biggest alternative rock stations in the country, 99x in Atlanta.

Building Your Station - The Rubber Meets The Road

2007-10-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

By Scott Valentine
Program Director
KCMS Seattle

There are so many people whose experiences we've learned from. Before I try to provide anything for an unsuspecting reader, I would like to acknowledge the Lord and everyone who he's put in my path. I would also like to thank the Lord for those rare moments when I have also been teachable.

How to build a radio the Scott Valentine way? First, get a really big supply of popsicle sticks and some Gorilla glue. Also Zip ties and Duct tape are a must before reading any further. What has seemed to work well for me, besides spell check, is to look for genius in the simple rather than in the complex. Simple messages cut through the mental clutter, complex messages get lost. Our job, boiled down to two simple concepts, and a third:

1. Get 'em to listen longer today, and,
2. Get 'em to listen earlier tomorrow.

The 3rd concept should really be applied first, and it's as simple as putting together a great Halloween Party, EGAD! I mean Harvest Party, I mean, oh look, it's Santa Clause!

Ok...In putting together a compelling presentation, you need to be playing the right 150 songs. WHAT?!?! Sure, 150 songs! Just think of why so few songs are testing well today; look into the car next to you (unless you're in North Idaho, then they'll be looking back & you won't like it). You'll notice that the next driver has a pretty good likelihood of being on a mobile phone, on an I-Pod, on an I-Pod phone, or burning themselves drinking Starbucks while trying to operate their I-phone.

"Listeners" don't know that they are supposed to be listening to US! The result is that fewer songs will test well. If you have 4-5 hours of Teach and Preach stuff, then you should be playing about 80 songs. Next make sure you're playing the right 150. Go to your largest donor with a list and let them scratch everything off that they don't want to hear. Or if you'd like to build a larger donor base, test the music in an ADT (Auditorium Test) and don't let the receptionist recruit for the test.

If you can not afford great local research, there is a way around it; hire a really good consultant. They should have a client list to share with you. Another tool to use is BDSradio.com or Mediabase. THEN choose a panel of radio stations that you know test their music. Viola, a dog-gone good play-list! NEXT, fix the imaging on your station. Your imaging should teach people how to use your station once they find you, so Today's Christian anything won't work. The imaging should mimic the good stuff people are saying about your station in their words. Great imaging will also teach your air-staff how to relate.

Next, the "live" tracks that the announcers use should accomplish a "tell a friend" mission. Kind of like, "You know that woman they call the Cat Lady has a cat that has been missing for a couple of hours? She may need the encouragement of (station)."

Ok, so you can do better than that. See how easy it is? Why aren't you doing it already?!?!? Now you've done everything but the most important thing. Invite people to your station! ADVERTISE! Real-Call, Buss Boards, hand-bills on livestock (use the #5 staple). No sense in doing anything on this virtual page if you are not going to invite anyone.

Oh, I left off my biggest pet peeve in Christian radio. In Morning Drive, only play your highest testing music. Yes, the same 70 songs will be perfect IF they are the right 70 songs. Oh, and tell your talent to get out of the station & prepare for their show by HAVING A LIFE! Then they'll have something to share besides the inside of a radio station (which very few are interested in hearing about on the radio station, except during a share-a-thon).

Scott has been at KCMS-FM, Spirit 105.3 in Seattle since 2000, (Ranked #23, 12+ now #3 (4.4 12+) Prior to KCMS, Scott had stints as the PD and Morning co-host (Scott & Sam) in AC and Oldies. Scott is Into "religion" as much as Jesus is. He Loves Jesus and his wife, Susie, and 4 kids (Susie is Scott's wife, not Jesus'). Scott says "I really admire Ron Hutchcraft. I love to Ski and play guitar (love to play, not play well). Scott forgets the words to the songs he sings and loves anything with "twin turbo" in it. He'll get there fast if he can remember where he's going!

Breaking Through In A World Of "Ignorers"

2007-09-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

By Jason Sharp
(one of these guys pictured, guess which)
Program Director
WCQR Johnson City
soon PD of KTIS Minneapolis

I have been reading the book by Tim Sanders called, The Likability Factor.It¹s a fascinating read based on the principle that life is a series of popularity contests. The choices other people make about you determine your health, wealth and happiness. Decades of research proves that people choose who they like. They vote for them, they buy from them, they marry them, and they spend precious time with them. The more you are liked the happier your life will be. I buy this concept and I think it 100% absolutely applies that what we do everyday.

After all, who doesn't want to improve on The Likability Factor of their radio station, and the people who you have on the air. When we have someone tune into our radio station, they are instantly going to see where we rate on their likability scale. They do that first by listening. Sanders says that is the first step to letting someone make a judgment about you, to get them to listen to you.

In this world of information overload, we have to remember that hearing does not equal listening. We hear background noise all the time and pay it little heed. But when we are really listening, we are looking to connect with someone else. And in our world, "Kim" is looking to connect with us. There's so much out there trying to get into her ears, and as a result, she ignores most of it. Conservative estimates suggests that people will receive up to 400 persuasive appeals per day, just from marketers alone... and that doesn't count our Sharathon appeals! To deal with the attention overload, Kim has developed a filter and has learned to ignore most of what she hears. That filter is a necessary survival technique for modern life and your spouse uses it against you all the time. :) Sanders says we basically filter out the sand and process the few pearls from everything we hear.

So the big question -- is your station, and its personality's, providing sand, that will be filtered out, or pearls, that will indeed be remembered?

Are you providing noise or content that she can use and connect emotionally with? Kim listens when we say something she cares about and we can't win the popularity contest if we don't connect. What about the
ministry features on your station? Your imaging? Promotional announcements? Sharathon appeals? Are they connecting? We have become a nation of professional ignorers. We can't risk missing the mark. We have to be on target every time so that our station can win and God can be honored!

Is your station, and it's personality's, likable?

Jason Sharp has been PD at WCQR/Johnson City for over 8 years and the last two years he's also handled Corporate PD duties for Positive Alternative Radio, Inc. Prior to that he was also at WPAR/Blacksburg/Roanoke, VA, and WXPZ/Milford/Delaware. He has just been named PD at KTIS/Minneapolis and will start there Oct 15.

Radio Junkie Becomes Real Mom

2007-09-23T19:36:00.000-05:00

By Lisa Williams
Air Persoanlity
KLOVE

I’m writing this late at night because my seven month old is finally asleep. Every good mom gives the advice, “Sleep when your baby sleeps”, but I find it impossible to grab a nap when there are laundry, emails, and bills calling my name.

He’s napping, I’m catching up. He falls asleep for the night at 9pm, and I try to get as much done as possible before I pass out. Then he’s up for another feeding an hour after I have slipped into my sleep coma.

After 7 months of this, I am officially: toast.

The radio junkie has become a real mom. For seventeen years in radio, I’ve lied to myself. I thought I reeeaalllyyy understood the target because I WAS the target.

Not so.

I used to listen to radio like a sportscaster watches a football game. Analyzing everything, giving advice to the radio, calling morning shows to see how their producers handled calls.

Oh, I was a radio junkie.

Now, I’m a real mom. A diaper changing, covered in spit-up, could-not-care-less-if-I-have-make-up-on, same sweatpants wearing, tired (but very happy) mom of a precious gift from heaven. And here’s the big change:

Radio is not everything.

The other day, I tried to listen on-line to a friend of mine who does an afternoon show in Seattle. I know her show was on, but I didn’t really hear anything. My ears were full of wonderfully sweet baby laughter followed closely by amazingly loud cries from the saddest, 2-toothed face I’ve ever seen. Then it was time for the 17th playing of Baby Einstein’s “Down on the Farm”. My sister called. A repairman came to look at the sink. I had to run to the store for dinner stuff. Before I knew it, my friend’s show was over, and the only thing I remembered was a few songs.

I’m starting to understand the typical Christian radio target, for the first time. Her mind is too overwhelmed with life to care about things she doesn’t care about.

Relationships, family, my little man’s safety: these are on the top of my heart’s list.

And speaking of my heart, sometimes the best taste during my personal, spiritual day will be when someone like Casting Crowns breaks through and I hear “In the arms of your mercy I find rest. Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west, from one scarred hand to the other.”

And my heart pauses, and I worship. I connect with my Savior.

That’s when the radio station becomes something very valuable to a real mom.

Lisa Williams starts on KLOVE this week. She'll be on from 6-10pm central M-F. Lisa was with Z88.3 in Orlando for almost 10 years and now lives with her husband Darin and son JD in Sacramento, CA

Better Than We Thought We Could Be

2007-09-16T22:10:00.000-05:00

By Alan Mason

Change Agent

Goodratings Strategic Services

The Feedback Room Welcomes Alan Mason to the blog as a quarterly contributor. We're just days away from the start of the Fall book and we thought it would be a natural place and an appropriate time for his thoughts.

Let me tell you a story about football. Well, it's not really about football, it's about a football coach you may have heard of, Vince Lombardi. What he did with the New York Jets, and then the Green Bay Packers is legend, and he's often looked at as a role model for coaching.

"He made us all better than we thought we could be." - Jerry Kramer about Vince Lombardi

Like all coaches, Lombardi had team meetings where they would watch, and discuss, film of the last game. Sort of like the radio equivalent of going over an aircheck. Lombardi would point out mistakes, where they could have done better, and what they should stop doing. Then he noticed an interesting thing happening - the number of mistakes per game began in increase. Play suffered overall. And the men didn't look like winners.

At that moment, Lombardi decided on a strategic change in how he coached. He decided that he would now emphasize the positive, what the players were doing right, and celebrate even small improvements. It wasn't just correcting mistakes, it was any movement toward playing the way Lombardi wanted that was applauded.

"His enthusiasm, his spirit, was infectious." - Frank Gifford about Vince Lombardi

The rest, as they say, is history. Once Lombardi shifted the minds of the players to what they were doing, they could envision what they could do. They became a powerful force in football.Lombardi taught us that the goal of a coach is to encourage the players to be better and do better.

What kind of coach are you?

I see a lot of what are called aircheck session, talent sessions, coaching sessions, and critiques, that do the exact opposite. The aircheck is stopped for examine a mistake. The emphasis is wholly on what's wrong, and what they need to correct. Often it's simply the PD implying the talent should just do it their way. There's not much encouragement in that, and you can expect failure to continue.

"Respect wasn't a one way street with him. He demanded it of others but he also gave it." - Pete Rozelle of Vince Lombardi

OK, a lot of you are saying, "Yeah, but I'm no Vince Lombardi." Wrong! All of us have a choice of motivation and encouragement or correcting and discouragement. It's a choice, not nature. It's also the realization that, in a true coaching session, it's being done for the talent, not the PD. Your job is to encourage them into better performance, not to beat them into submission.

If you adopt Lombardi's perspective, and focus on what your talent is doing right, you'll see swift improvement. As the book The One Minute Manager suggested, you need to become a "good-finder" instead of a mistake finder. When you review an aircheck focus on what you want, or progress toward what you want, and forget the mistakes. Very rarely is a mistake something so catastrophic you need to focus on it. What you'll find is that human nature is to move toward what you reward, and away from what you ignore.

It's a decision, and it's up to you. Focus on the positive, and wait for the results, or focus on the negative and see more failures.

Alan Mason has been consulting successful CCM and mainstream stations for decades. He has been married to his wife Becki for 39 years, and they currently live in Lincoln, California. His other interests include genealogy and political strategy. He was the recipient of the 2007 Rob Campbell Award, and the Radio & Retail Echo Award for industry impact.

I'm a listener too...

2007-09-09T05:23:00.000-05:00

By Jack Eason
Executive Director
The Sound Of Light Network

What in the world am I doing writing an article on the HISAIR.net website? What qualifies me to say anything to anyone? These are the thoughts that went through my mind when my friend Bill Lurwick asked if I would share some thoughts on this week's blog. And the thoughts began to run through my mind… Should I talk about format? Production? Professionalism? Gaining listeners? Show prep? Staffing? Music?

Tons of options and yet there are many more people than I gifted to speak on all those areas. As I think about what would qualify me to speak on anything, I remember that I do have at least one qualification:

I am a RADIO LISTENER. I love listening to the radio. Yes, I have an IPOD. And, yes, I do like quietness at time. But mostly, I love listening to the radio; listening to different stations and hearing what they do. I love hearing how commercials are produced and finding new/different jocks and voice talent. And the question I seem to be asking every time I tune in to a station is, "Does this come across as legit? Not manufactured? Not canned?"

As I listen to other stations it seems to me many times they have 'one-up-ed' in this department. Why? Because they come across as R-E-A-L.

I'm concerned that in our "safe for the whole family" approach that we have gotten so "safe" (if that's possible) that we are unauthentic and come across as 'plastic' to people.

Could it be that we come across as plastic because…(gulp) we are? Have we become more concerned with good radio (nothing wrong with good radio) than connecting the message that God has entrusted us to deliver to our listeners? Are we more concerned with what we think about format than providing music and ministry that will meet the needs of our listeners? Are we more concerned with timing and making sure we have a certain amount of music an hour that our jocks have become mere puppets? Do we understand who our listeners really are? Do we understand that a very high percentage of our listeners ARE NOT connected with God in any way? I know we are not the church (organization) but we are the Church (the body) and we have a huge privilege and responsibility (IMHO) to take good radio with the GOOD NEWS to our listeners. I'm not saying we turn into radio preachers, but if we are going to be plastic and disingenuous, our listeners will know it and they will tune away. It will not only impact our listenership, but if we are a listener-supported station, it will impact our budget. The reason IPODS and non-commercial satellite and non-commercial/ "non-jocked" internet stations are having success, I think, (again, IMHO) is because we aren't being REAL. If I am going to tune in and hear 'plastic', canned, unauthentic radio, I can get the same thing (the music, if I am a music station) by listening to my IPOD and create my own personality.

With all the technologies and questions about the future of radio: HD, internet, satellite, cell phone, brain implantation radio chips (OK, I made that one up), the one thing that will keep radio alive is REAL PEOPLE. And real people want to listen to other real people.

I don't believe that most of our listeners want us to be so "safe for the whole family" that we aren't real and connecting to their world. Our listeners' worlds' are not safe. Most of them are the products of broken, excuse me, (PC) dysfunctional homes. Most of them struggle as parents with being overworked, overcommitted, and underpaid. Most of them wish they knew how to simplify their lives, love their spouse more, and be more fruitful with their time. Most of them are smarter than we think. Most of them wonder at the middle of the month why there's still more month than money left. They deal with other parents who are critical of their kids. They deal with their children's teachers who have issues. They deal with creditors who can't seem to get their account straight. They deal with teenagers who are rebellious and having premarital sex.

Ok…you get the picture, I hope. Their world is…just like ours, to some extent, if we are honest. They don't live in the "safe house" that it sometimes sounds like our "on-air" radio folks live in. I hear jocks when delivering a news story about the war or some car accident say, "Some of the people aren't with us anymore." Translation: They died. My little eight year old girl knows what they mean. She's studying history and war in school; she doesn't need someone to try to make it "safe" for her. (By the way, it doesn't work anyway. She asks, "why didn't they just say 'they died', Dad?".) Who knows? I can't answer her question. I know some of you may be thinking, "Well, should we say, "Their heads were blown off by a bomb and …(gorey details)".

No, that's going to the other extreme. What I am saying is BE REAL to the listeners. Sometimes we come across to our audience as if we live in a protective bubble and everything in radio-land is great. Sometimes that's ok, because sometimes everything is great. But sometimes it's not.

It's also not an EITHER/OR proposition to me. I hear stations (a few) that do "good radio", have great music, format, production, professionalism, AND are also REAL. One of the best times recently I heard on radio was when the jock shared about his wife's battle with cancer between two songs. He didn't go on and on; he just honestly communicated he was having a hard day dealing with it. You could hear the emotion in his voice and even envision him getting choked up talking about it. After about sixty seconds of him sharing about it, he went right into a song about struggles. He didn't have to "set it up". His honesty set the song up. Talk about being real and connecting. Wow, I almost had to pull over. That's radio that comes across as real. It didn't just help me connect with the jock, it made me connect with those things I was struggling with AND it made me connect with the truth that God could help me through it. Multiple connections all because he was real. Isn't that the kind of radio we want to be involved in?

Jack Eason is the Executive Director for THE SOUND OF LIGHT Radio Network which produces 2 nationally syndicated radio shows that air LIVE on Saturdays on over 175 radio outlets and a nightly show available on satellite. He is also a published songwriter. He is proud of his kids, Lauryn and Will, and also of his wife, Lynette, who just recently became a published author.

Answered Prayer

2007-09-02T23:24:00.000-05:00

By Chris Lemke
GM/PD
WCSG/Grand Rapids

-follow-up

I recently (08.20.07) posted to this site a note about prayer and my recent reading the book, Pray Big by Will Davis Jr.

Now I know God works, but c'mon...

Last Thursday (08.23.07) our station hosted - as a wrap up to our big summer-long promotion -a free outdoor concert with Brandon Heath and Rush of Fools. It had already stormed that morning, but cleared out by ten. The weather forecast was calling for the moderate probability of thunderstorms, with the nearest storms over central Iowa, normally ten to twelve hours away if they didn't break up before then. Great. We could just get the concert in. So up went a prayer and, at my encouragement, we opted to set up outside and "uncovered" over choosing a smaller but "sheltered" venue.

Almost in sync with our setting things up, the storms simultaneously picked up speed and intensity and definitely on a direct course to us, almost as if it were a race to see which would happen first - the storm or the concert. By 4:00, three hours before starting time, it was too late to change, we were committed. If that weren't enough, at 4:45pm and just 45 minutes before gates opened, a small lone storm cell unleashed rain and a tornado that touched down 35-40 miles NE of us - well past us but enough to rattle my confidence we were doing the right thing. I prayed even more. Short ones like, "Lord, help us out here, please!"At 5:55, I checked with three different local (tv/radio) meteorologists and sure enough the giant storm cells were tracking right to us with a planned arrival of 6:25. So we opted to start the concert an hour early (6:00) and get in what we could, especially since gates had opened at 5:30 and there were well over 800 people already there. Four songs and twenty minutes into Brandon's set, it began to rain, only lightly but enough for us to pause. Five minutes later, the rain stopped, or rather "paused" as if to take a deep breath and really let it come.

In Pray Big, Will Davis talks about the high priority of corporate prayer, that Christianity is about community. He spends a whole chapter looking at Matthew 18 "where two or three are gathered." And so, God moved me in that respite of dry skies to take my request to Him, but to not go alone. Now it may be no big deal for you to "name it and claim it," but for me - with impending rain, thunder, and lightening - it was a major problem, but it wasn't about my problem, it was about God's solution. And if we were to ever see it, He wanted us to ask.

Swallowing my pride and prepped for total embarrassment, I prayed with 1800+ voices alongside what Davis calls a big, hairy, audacious prayer, reminding us all - mostly myself -and God (as if He needed it), that when two or three are gathered, and in this case nearly two thousand, are gathered and agree in His name that He has business to do tonight thru His music and we just want to see it happen... well... Lord, could we see it without the rain falling. Now, you might think, "Well what's so big about that?"

If you'd seen the size of the storm cells and given it had just rained and we were still on the front edge of so much more... Long story short, and to paraphrase our meteorologist, it was as if God took Moses' rod and (just as the storms entered the GR city limits) split the storms in two sending rain to our north and the heavy storms to our south while our part of town remained dry for the next hour and length of the concert. Ironically, a moderate sprinkle only began as Rush of Fools performed the Delirious? song, "Rain Down." :) What were they thinking?!? :)

Was it a miracle? I dunno. It certainly was no problem for God to do what He did, and I suppose plenty of people could explain it away, but I cannot even begin to tell you how encouraged I was, and am. James 4:10 was so much in play, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He... "

Wow. And now, strangely enough just 24 hours later, I cannot help but think of how often Jesus told those whom he healed, even his own disciples, "Don't tell anyone (the confession or miracle) you've witnessed." (Mark 1:44, 7:36, 8:30, 9:9) I'm guessing He so instructed knowing people would misunderstand why He came in the first place. Lord forgive me if I've gone that same path, but how can I not confess His incredible goodness, and believe He had some business to do that I did not know. And that's the point I prayed with those in attendance. It wasn't about the singers, the music, the giveaways, the station "business," it was about His business and what He needed to do. It was a realignment of what we're all here to do in the first place; to not play it safe - even in our prayers. To qoute Lewis's Mr Beaver (from Narnia), "Of course He isn't safe, but He is good."

The application to radio? Listeners may be looking to your station for great music and great on-air hosts with compelling content - and that's noble and good, but last night, I was reminded that God is looking for a difference, a real difference that our station can make only thru His Word done His Way thru His people, and sometimes that happens in ways that have nothing to do with us, just to emphasize the point that it really is all about Him. I'm just glad He invites us sometimes do nothing more than agree in the asking.

Chris Lemke is General Manager Program Director WCSG in Grand Rapids. E-mail Chris at chrislemke@aol.com

It

2007-08-26T22:00:00.000-05:00

By Glenn Hascall
SM/PD
KHYM/Meade, KS

I remember an interview I had with author Mark Ward a few years back. He had just released a new book called "Air of Salvation" and it was a comprehensive look at where Christian radio came from.

I don't have Mark's book in front of me, so I will not be able to remember the pastor's name who preached the first on-air sermon. However, I do remember that this preacher was confined to a small wooden room with a singular microphone.

I'm not sure it's safe to say he thought the whole thing was a joke, but he did comment, "I don't believe unction can be transmitted."

When the letters started rolling in he apparently changed his mind.

A pastor in Wichita Kansas was among the first to preach via Ham radio and he too discovered how vast the reach of radio was.

Today we in Christian radio may hold a bias to terrestrial radio. It is, after all, what we know and how we've done 'it' for decades. Terrestrial radio has a long and venerable history and we now know that 'unction can be transmitted'.

But what if we are simply like that first pastor who thought that God only worked one way? What if there is something beyond terrestrial radio? If so, what is it? Should it be embraced?

As moderator of the Fellowship of Christian Broadcaster's forum I've heard a broad variant of ideas about the future of Christian radio.

Some broadcasting friends have moved to HD radio and others argue the cost is prohibitive and the receivers are few. Other broadcasting friends are finding inroads into satellite radio just as XM and Sirius are in merger talks. Still others argue that if Wi-Fi hot zones can be established there will be no need for HD or satellite radio because a listener can tune in to any Internet audio signal anywhere a Hot Zone is established. A secular writer says it is time to get out of terrestrial radio.

The arguments continue to rage.

Meanwhile secular reports indicate that the growth of online listening is not with established terrestrial signals, but with Internet only stations that do not play advertising or underwriting spots.

Where exactly does that leave us?

In the hands of God - the very One who is not surprised by our dilemma and is in the business of reaching out to those who need the redemption only He can provide.

God's Word tells us not to be anxious, but thankful in our times of prayer.

Yes, we know that God can use a transmitted signal to affect the lives of many and so we continue faithfully transmitting and relentlessly look for ways to do 'it' better.

We may learn much from consultants who follow trends or historians who chronicle what has been done, but in the end we must follow the One who, while personally changeless, provides a great adventure in discovering ways to reach out in new ways to those who need to hear the best news they will ever hear.

Stay strong, be faithful, don't worry and keep watching to see where God is working and don't be afraid to go where He leads.

Glenn Hascall is the station manager for KHYM, Meade, Kansas. When he isn't on the air or working on some graphic design project for Great Plains Christian Radio he is providing voice work for stations, moderating the Fellowship of Broadcaster's forum, or just being a husband and dad. Hascall is also a professional writer and his work can be found in books by Thomas Nelson, Regal and Bethany House. Hascall also just released his first comedy sketch CD through Sheep Laughs Records. Sometimes he sleeps. Email Glenn at glenn@khym.org

Prayer

2007-08-19T06:07:00.001-05:00

By Chris Lemke
GM/PD
WCSG/Grand Rapids

I know. I’m supposed to be talking about radio, not prayer. And besides, even in Christian radio, it’s a given that prayer is a part of what we do in Christian radio... at least that’s what I would think.

I just finished the new Revell published book called 'Pray Big', by Will Davis Jr. Among other reminders, Davis says, “Prayer lies in the fact that it’s based on a relationship, not on the weight of what’s being asked for… The benefit of praying isn’t primarily the answer we get from God, it’s the pleasure of actually being with God in the asking.” (pp 67, 51).

Couple that with my recent 20th anniversary where my bride and I spent much of the day in prayer, and a returning this past weekend from the Philippines where I saw first hand the difference prayer can make in the lives of reaching the poor.

I mention all of this as a reminder to myself how much I need to be praying with regard to our station and its reach. Your station’s mission is probably similar to ours, something like we’re called to encourage and engage listeners to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. What I often forget is how much prayer must be an integral part of the mission.

Check out some of these questions I recently lowered my head in shame to.
They all start with, “When’s the last time I…:”

Ø …prayed for God to speak thru me as I turned on the mic?
Ø …prayed for the listener to draw closer to the Lord?
Ø …prayed for God to bring the right contest winner to call because she really could use the prize?
Ø …prayed on the air? (Why not?)
Ø …prayed for God to meet the needs of those attending our station event?
Ø …prayed about what events we should do?
Ø …prayed with my staff at more than just a meeting?
Ø …prayed for fellow on-air people at my station that they too would communicate well?
Ø …prayed for our engineer, the IT person, the receptionist, their families?
Ø …prayed my “competing” Christian station across town might be even more blessed than we?
Ø …prayed for the artists and speakers heard on the station?
Ø …prayed for the business partners who underwrite or advertise?
Ø …prayed that if we weren’t being effective, that God would break or change me before He changed what I thought was the problem?
Ø …prayed for God to affirm, grow, and bless His calling in my life?
Ø …prayed regularly, with compassion – not obligation or guilt – on all the above, and more?

Obviously I’m not wanton for things to talk about, and I’ve not even touched on being thankful. Believe me, I’m not here to make anyone feel guilty; the Devil’s already got that covered. Perhaps what I need to better grasp is that God does care about all the above, and is longing to hear from me about these things. If it matters to me, then it matters to God.

Suggestion? Take three of the above, and spend five minutes talking to God about them. Do it again tomorrow at the same time, and the next day, and the next. No doubt the more time I spend in prayer – not necessarily longer times, but more times (perhaps short times more frequently), then I may just begin to see even more of who He is and what He’s up to, not just at the station, but in the community He’s reaching thru it.

Chris Lemke is General Manager, Program Director ,"On The Spot Fill In Guy", Head Cook and Origami instructor for GMA Station Of The Year WCSG in Grand Rapids. E-mail Chris at chrislemke@aol.com

Get Real!

2007-08-12T20:40:00.000-05:00

By Scott Smith

Mornings

WPOZ Orlando

As an air personality, the greatest favor that you can do for your listener, is to be REAL! I get so sick of listening to radio that is this big put on, jocks who aren't being authentic, who are performing as some Dudley Doright sounding personification of "The Disc Jockey". When you're talking about only what's important to "YOU", you've found a great way to chase off your audience. Your show often becomes a smattering of things that never matter to your listener, so she, naturally, finds somewhere else to go.

Like you, your listeners want someone who is the real thing in a friendship, not some high maintenance prima donna. Someone bold to enough to have an opinion about something. Someone who as a heart, and isn't afraid to show it. Someone who has faults, and isn't afraid to admit it. As friends, we share laughs, shed tears, inform, encourage, inspire, engage, and include each other in every aspect of who we are. Why is it they you should do anything less for your listener. As friends we look out for each other. We look for opportunities to help each other. Your listeners deserve the same love and concern.

Sure, letting your guard down is hard at first. It will leave you vulnerable. You'll get the occasional hate mail from a crusader, but you will connect with your listener in a way that will endear you to her forever. Your life, your show will have an impact in ways that you could never imagine. As a friend, who has learned the hard way, let me encourage you to be authentic. You can stop all the silliness of being a "Disc Jockey", and just be YOU! Thanks to good friends like Tommy Kramer, I have learned to be "me" every time I open the Mic....the Good, the Bad and the Ugly! but I can assure you this, if you're REAL, you'll have listeners for life, better yet, you'll have friends for life.

I don't think there any greater honor, than having your listeners say they love listening because you are one of their BEST FRIENDS!

God Bless and thanks for being real!

Your BFF!

Scott Smith has been morning host at WPOZ in Orlando for a number of years. Scott is also host of the Weekend Top 20 Countdown heard on stations nationwide. E-mail Scott here.

Perspective

2007-08-05T22:15:00.000-05:00

By Chuck Pryor

Program Director

KSBJ Houston

While I could spend hours talking about the relationships we have with our co-workers or spouse, this little blog is more about another relationship. That’s the one we have with our listeners.

My latest reading on leadership is a book from John Maxwell called Winning with People. It’s really less of a leadership book and more about relationships. In fact, it’s kind of the 21st century version of How to Win Friends and Influence People.

One of the chapters in the book Maxwell talks about the Lens Principle. Anytime you have two or more people involved with anything the likelihood for seeing things differently is there. Anytime you add “Christian” on the front of it (in our case Christian Radio) the likelihood of seeing things differently is 10 fold. Why?

Because of perspective.

How many times have you read an e-mail or gotten a call that starts something like… “I have been listening to you station for years and I really like it, I support you guys, my kids love it and we listen all the time BUT…” This is when you brace yourself for the shotgun blast you know is coming. Now, before you hit the delete button or roll your eyes into the back of your head ask yourself why she feels this way.

Because she is writing form HER perspective.

The only way she sees the world and your radio station is through her eyes… through her filter… from the perspective of her life experience. And to be honest, that’s really all she cares about. She cares more about herself and her family than your radio station. And in the case of donor supported radio stations if they contribute they will likely feel even more passionionate.

Perhaps she does not understand your methods, goals, or strategies and explaining them might help ease some of her concerns but… I think the key here is to begin to re-evaluate our methods, goals, and strategies to better reflect her perspective rather than ours.

One of the stories in Maxwell’s book is about a Chess player who was having a hard time beating his opponent. In fact he was always getting beat so he decided to get up from his chair, walk around to the other side of the board and then he could see the game from his opponent’s perspective. When he did this he began to see things differently and the outcome of the game changed. Why?

Because his perspective changed.

I realize that no matter what we do someone is NOT going to like it because they see things from their perspective. I also know the larger the audience, the deeper the market penetration, and more importantly, the more the Gospel is communicated the feedback room will be filled to overflowing. Why? Because everyone ONLY thinks from their own perspective so who is right?

Depends on your perspective.

The longer I’ve done this the more I realize we are in the service industry. Obviously our stations have goals that need to be met. Management has goals, the board has goals, and the investors have goals but as a Programmer we can never forget that our listeners have one goal… to punch a button and have their needs and expectations met from their perspective. How do we do this? How do we see through her lens? How do we get a different perspective?

Get outside of your office, your studio, and your world to see things from her perspective. Invite yourself into her world. Visit a different Church this weekend. Drive in the traffic she drives in. Go through the school drop off line she drives in. Shop where she shops. Listen to your station in places that SHE listens to your station. Whatever you do get up from your side of the chess board and get her perspective… see the chess game from her perspective and you just may have a check-mate.

My goal before the end of the year is to have dinner with at least 5 families who listen or support KSBJ but I want to do it IN THEIR HOME. I plan to buy dinner, deliver it, and eat with their family to gain some new perspective about my radio station. My only goal is to find out how we can better serve them and help me see KSBJ from their perspective. I think this will help me become a better PD and more importantly see things differently. I'll let you know how it goes.

I’d love to hear your feedback on what you have done or plan to do to better gain perspective.

Feel free to leave comments here or e-mail me.

chuckpryor@gmail.com

Chuck Pryor joined KSBJ Houston as PD in 2005. previously he was with WBGL Champaign and WCIC Peoria

Stop Playing Games

2007-07-14T16:51:00.000-05:00

By Bob Thornton
Program Director

KXOJ Tulsa

While driving to work this morning I flipped around to about a half dozen radio stations, as I always do. In the course of today's scan I heard one station promise "52 minutes of music this hour", another two promised "50 minutes of music" and yet another promised "at least 7 songs in a row".

If one of my DJ's made a promise like that I'd fire them on the spot.

First of all let's get real. 52 minutes of music just means there is a guaranteed 8 minutes of commercials, and you can bet they do not count weather, dj chatter, promos and other non-musical elements, even though the audience thinks of it all the same. So unless you are singing your trivia contest, you sure are not playing what you promise, and if there is one thing this day and age will not tolerate more than anything, it's hype.

Second of all, who wants to be restricted like that? You live and die by your definitions and if you paint yourself into a corner like that you'll never escape! Let me illustrate: the other day in the 3pm hour we in fact played 12 songs that took up all but 5 minutes of the hour. Just 4 spots and some DJ chatter and we were done. Man, maybe we could do that every hour and promise more music than anyone else! Then at 4pm we had a major artist in the studio. He talked about his music in depth, took a few calls and created some very compelling radio, but we only got in 9 songs that hour and our spot load was a whopping 9 units. We even played a promo on top of that! But guess which hour was more compelling, more memorable, and created less "tune-out"? Of course the hour with the artist. I've seen it happen time and again with other circumstances, from fundraisers at the local mission to morning shows where a topic takes on a life of it's own and two brilliant morning show hosts create magic over the airwaves. It's times like these that Aiysha Woods lyrics come to mind, "I don't wanna box you in…".

Yet station after station after station obsesses over songs-in-a-row or minutes-per-hour or most-music-while-you-work.

Here's the problem: NO ONE CARES. Christian audiences, more than any other care about a connection, a deep resonance with your radio station. If you do not ring true with them, you will be nothing more than a temporary stop at the bottom of the list when all other options come up short (read: you'll be a p3 choice at best).

A really great Christian radio station cuts through all the clutter and is REAL to the audience. That does not mean they are syrupy sweet and quote scripture every hour to prove their Christianity. In fact it sometimes may mean quite the opposite. What it does mean is a genuineness, a transparency and a connection that is built by action and consistency over time. You cannot plug in an automation computer, copy the old CRR music charts and call it a Christian radio station.

Here's the scary truth: Your radio station is not just part of a lifestyle, for many it IS a lifestyle. They are not satisfied with their church, their job, their home life or their position in this world but YOUR STATION; now that's something they can wrap their arms around. When they are at your event they can be themselves, they are somebody, they are connected. And it's not just the "ccm junkies" I am talking about. Thousands feel that way but will never tell you so. They are all around you.

So stop playing games. What you believe determines what you do, so what you are doing right now reveals what you really believe. If your station is nothing but worn out radio hype, it reveals that you don't have a better plan for reaching people, and it reveals your motive as well. I guess when you think of it that way, we're all pretty transparent.

Multiple GMA Station of the year and R&R award winning KXOJ, Tulsa Program Director Bob Thornton is one of the CCM format's premier and heritage programmers. He's also a nice guy and an all around snappy dresser. As the creator of industry website "ProgramDirector.Net", it's famous programming e-mail forums and RadioServers.com, Thornton is looked to by programmers nationwide as one of CCM's "It" PD's. E-mail Bob at Bobt@KXOJ.com

Reflections From The Other Side Of The Fence

2007-06-23T12:12:00.000-05:00

By Gary Thompson
APD / Music Director
WJQK Grand Rapids

You've probably spent some time in mainstream radio at some point. There are some good, talented people in mainstream radio. There are also some great companies. But for the most part, mainstream radio has a huge problem right now. Most places the mainstream product is mediocre by design. YES! I said it. Mainstream radio is designed to be mediocre in most cases. Sure, mainstream is garnering most of the market share in most cities. But that is for two big reasons:

-- Their formats are not niche, like yours.

-- (This is a big one): Society has been conditioned to being served a sub-standard product. We're used to bad service and bland product. For more on this, read "Raving Fans" by Ken Blanchard.

This is a note of encouragement to you in Christian radio. I don't think many of us in Christian broadcasting know the gift we have. YOUR genre is still a final frontier of formats. Most places, your industry still has the freedom to connect with your listener and create great, original radio IF YOU WILL...AND IF YOU WANT TO. I may not make any friends with this statement. But most places, mainstream has just given up trying to be great. Most places mainstream radio is scared to step outside of its safe formulas to try to be great again. There ARE some positives to the way mainstream plays it safe. Here are some guarantees: Safe can keep you earning a steady paycheck. Safe can keep the profit margin acceptable for now. Want to know what else safe will do? Safe will relegate your product to mediocre every time.

When I say being 'safe' I mean being unwilling to let the listener in and see who you are. Safe is unwilling to separate yourself from your liner cards and put yourself out there and risk sounding real. Take heart. Because YOU still have the freedom in the CCM format to have some fun on the radio and to really strike a chord in the life of your listener. Another reason YOU have an advantage is that you have instant 'lifestyle affiliation' built in to your format. Mainstream has to work harder than we do to create this. Branding is by nature harder for mainstream formats. I like what people such as Daniel Anstandig (McVay) and Bob Thornton (KXOJ) have said about the subject. To summarize, they both have communicated that our Christian formats are more than just genres of music. They are creeds and core convictions. There are few (if any) formats besides ours that can deliver that deep a potential connection simply by virtue of who they represent.

There is much to be said about general management and operational housekeeping knowledge that mainstream has had in their favor. But those things can be learned. Some of the advantages that YOUR format has can be learned. But many of them can't be learned. They just ARE by virtue of who you are.

Don't stand on your side of the fence looking over at mainstream and think that the grass is “greener.” Many of us have been on that side. And they (mainstream) may have more landscaping experience. But their grass is turning brown. You have a golden opportunity to step into the gap and create radio that will really stand out and last. But step one is realizing the gift and advantage you have before you.

Gary is APD/MD at WJQK in Grand Rapids ... JQ99! and a moderator for the HisAir.Net Christian Radio Feedback Room..... contact Gary at Gary@JQ99.com.

Life Is Prep

2007-05-20T21:52:00.000-05:00

Show Prep is Right under Your Nose

Beth Bacall
Star 99.1
New York City

Some personalities spend hours trying to prep a radio show that could flow quite easily if they were to explore the show prep right in front of their faces. Show prep is more than Ask.com and today’s top ten hits. Life is a search engine, and it’s about time you went surfing.

One morning, I found myself reading the business section of my local newspaper, an act some people may call archaic. I was just trying to keep up with the soaring Dow Jones when right there at the bottom of the page I spotted an article about a company that makes fiber cookies; the company declares that one cookie provides the same amount of fiber as in three bowls of oatmeal and a cup of sunflower seeds! Fiber is a huge buzz word for most women aged over 30 and most adults age 40 and up. My email box reached its maximum after just one mention of the wonder cookie.

Therein is the perfect example. I could have easily recycled that newspaper and lost that golden piece of information. I’ve realized that show prep could be sitting in your backseat, or on a purchased cup of coffee; on a menu, at the gym, or at the DMV (trust me, you’ll find plenty material standing in line at the DMV). And if you are ever short for content, your children, my children, or your neighbor’s children would be happy to oblige (you might want to check out your kid’s iPod while you’re at it, and let’s not forget YouTube).

Instead of spending too much time on that glorified bit, take a chunk out of life, and wrap it up in your intro.

Life is full of show prep. Just look in the shopping cart of the person ahead of you in line or pick up a magazine you wouldn’t ordinarily gravitate to in the waiting room of wherever. You’ll see products, people, culture and emotion. These nuggets all tie into a story somewhere down the line and by remembering them, you can better relate to a specific audience.

Go beyond people watching: notice the surroundings around you and recount them over the air. Keep your eyes open on the road, stay off the cell phone and notice the price of regular gas at the next 10 stations you pass. After 5 or 6 miles you’ll have valuable information on the average price of gas and know more popular stations then Google could ever tell you, not to mention, you’ll get to check out all the cool new SUV’s shes driving.

Live it, love it and notice it and you’ll find show prep in all the familiar places.

And by the way the fiber cookie website is http://www.rightdirectioncookies.com/

Stationality (Part 3)

2007-05-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

A THREE PART SERIES ON
RADIO’S DURABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
By: Daniel Anstandig, VP/McVay Media

The perception of your brand in the listeners’ minds—your Stationality—will ultimately manifest into ratings and revenue, for better or worse.

This series on Stationality is about exploring the relationship between listeners and their favorite radio stations. All three parts of this series are available on http://www.mcvaymedia.com/.

Consumers are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages everyday. Only relevant messages will squeeze through the judicious mental filter of potential listeners.

Psychologists have declared that the most successful brands appeal to a consumer’s drive for approval, validation, and sense of belonging. A brand is a lifeless package of intellectual property until the audience passionately identifies with its cause. At that point, the brand is brought to life in the listeners’ minds.

Heart 106.2 in the United Kingdom is an example of a radio station that has transcended the cliché slogans and tag-lines prevalent on worldwide airwaves, instead creating a remarkable listener experience. London’s Heart-FM brought their slogan, “You Can’t Help but Feel Good,” to life with a creative marketing campaign surrounding Hula Hoops. The playful and light-hearted campaign included the station’s promotions staff distributing hula hoops at local events, visiting workplaces to hand out “fresh hula,” and a DVD featuring “Hulaerobics”—ways to stay fit by practicing hula. See the campaign in action at http://www.heart.co.uk/.

Karen Steele, Program Director at Toronto’s Mix 99.9, has done an exemplary job of transforming simple contests into surreal experiences for her listeners. Recently, when the station had ten tickets to give away for a Justin Timberlake concert, Mix 99.9 created “The Boss’ Box,” where all ten tickets were given away to “the boss’ box of seats” for the most creative calls. The promotion led to an entertaining on-air campaign, which engaged incidental listeners as much as contest winners.

Animate your marketing and promotions, and listeners will remember you two-fold over the stations who take the tenth caller and “play four in a row with less talk” (insert any number of other radio clichés here).

Your ONE Most Important Word

Summarize your brand’s position in one word. What is the take-away feeling of your station?

Examples of ONE WORD brand positions:
-Fun
-Serious
-Relaxing
-Positive
-Comfort
-Companionship
-Confidant
-Work
-Smart
-Adrenaline
-Family
-Faith/Spirituality
-Learning
-Attitude
-Anger
-Smooth
-Uplifting
-Encouraging
-Fantasy
-Goofy
-Peace
-Friends
-Sing-Along
-Hustle/Busy
-Heart
-Warmth
-Underdog
-Rebellion
-Authority
-Community
-Values
-Party
-Reliable
-Jokester
-Class Clown
-Joy
-Arrogance
-Pride

Condense your character into one word… then let the essence and meaning of that word permeate and dominate the sound of your station.

Evaluate the music balance on your station. Are you offering a balanced representation of this one-word brand through your music? Or, are you trying to put an Orange Juice label on a can of Coke? If you believe your brand is “uplifting,” and entire quarter-hours on your station are occupied by songs about grief, it is important to revisit your music scheduling practice.

In any fifteen minute period, your station’s music balance should reflect your Stationality.

Measure your information/news strategy against your one-word brand.

For instance, if your brand is “family safe,” there may be news that you choose not to report. Consider using your station’s website to launch an informal survey among your audience, determining which stories resonate most (and least) with your target.

We live in the “age of information,” but not all listeners want to hear all news stories. It is crucial to understand which information is meaningful to your listeners, and which information is irrelevant.

Irrelevance = Listener Exit Door

The Rule of Three
Pleasing a new listener only once with their experience of your brand is not enough to win them over as dedicated fans. Consumer research has repeatedly shown that buyers must sample a product at least three times before they will make the decision to change or substitute an existing product loyalty with a new product.

Saunter down the aisle of your local supermarket, and you will notice new products in packages of three. Savvy marketers are attempting to interrupt a buyer’s purchasing behavior three times, before they return to the store. This practice has been most prevalent in marketing of cigarettes, where new brands are sold only in bundles of three packs of cigarettes.

An important lesson can be gleaned from our friends in the retail marketing business. Consistent cross-promotion and appointment listening are crucial ingredients for your success. You must bring a new listener back three times before you are likely to change their long-term listening habit.

Make noise in your marketplace with persistent relevant messages, and your audience will react passionately to your Stationality.

Daniel Anstandig is Vice President/McVay Media Consulting. Reach him at dan@daer.com. Read more about Stationality at http://www.mcvaymedia.com/.

Stationality (Part 2)

2007-04-29T20:56:00.000-05:00

A THREE PART SERIES ON
RADIO’S DURABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
By: Daniel Anstandig, VP/McVay Media

It is impossible to create a steadfast definition for good radio. Many people point to ratings and revenue as the measuring sticks for radio stations. While these are important numbers, they are merely reflections of a battle won or lost long before any Arbitron diary is filled out or a new client order is written. Successful radio operators understand that the real competitive battlefield is in the minds of their listeners.

The perception of your brand in the listeners’ minds—your stationality—will ultimately manifest into ratings and revenue, for better or worse.

In this Three Part Series on Stationality, we are exploring the relationship between listeners and their favorite radio stations. Read all three parts of the series on http://www.mcvaymedia.com/.

In part one of this Stationality series, we discussed the importance of empathy in a programmer’s effort to connect with his or her audience. The second tenet of strong stationality: It is imperative to understand the target listener’s world of experience.

In my personal quest to enhance this empathetic understanding of the audience—and assist radio station clients in connecting with their audiences, I consulted a Forensic Psychiatrist and asked him to review some of our focus group tapes.

Combining his experience with astute observation of the focus groups, he remarked about how clearly overwhelmed many of the respondents appeared in their everyday lives. When participants were asked to share an account of their average day, many conveyed a sense of feeling overdrawn and overcommitted.

Their testimonies call upon radio to sell one of the medium’s most solid attributes… Radio is a portable time-saving device.

Radio can save people time because they can listen while they are doing other things, like driving, running errands, jogging, and working. While they're preoccupied with something else, they can get information on the weather, news and information, conversational fodder, information that impacts their safety and family life, and endorphin-causing music. Radio can offer all that out of a little portable speaker.

For an example of entertainment with a clearly defined time-saving and life-changing benefit to the listener, spend some time listening to the John Tesh Radio Show. John Tesh does a tremendous job of selling the benefit of his show to listeners with the tag-line "Intelligence For Your Life." His topicals on ways to screen baby-sitters, how to save money on electricity, ways to lose weight without fad diets, and other similar topics draw listeners in and promise to improve their lives in return for the time they spend listening to the radio.

Another key headline in the expert’s analysis of our audience is the underlying motivator or driving force behind listeners’ hectic lives. Virtually every listener’s brand choices are driven by a search for approval, validation, and a sense of belonging.

Successful stations give listeners a sense of belonging by validating their values and lifestyle.

Douglas Atkin, author of The Culting of Brands, became fascinated by the fierce loyalty of brands like Apple/iPods, Harley, Snapple, Saturn, and eBay. He conducted a study of brand communities and “cults,” looking at the psychological similarities in people who joined either group.

He found that members of brand communities and offbeat social groups are in search of belonging. Themes of community, devotion, and advocacy arose in his study.

Remarkable stationality gives listeners a sense of belonging and validation—a greater sense of purpose. What perceptions does your audience value about themselves? Answer that question, and validate their positive beliefs about themselves through your imaging, personalities, and promotions.

Stella Schwartz, Program Director at KOST/Los Angeles, has done a terrific job of implementing this particular principle with her “for your family” imaging campaign. Through a series of short imaging between songs, she validates the lifestyle of parents. Her imaging features comments from authentic moms, talking about the role of a parent and how KOST fits into their lives.

Different brands have different ways of making people feel at home. Among many tactics, Starbucks has created its own language. “Iced Decaf Triple Grande Vanilla Non-fat with whip latte” is Starbucks for “decaf coffee on ice with whipped cream.” They even have a LATTE LINGO section on their website (http://www.starbucks.com/). Starbucks has earned mind equity by infusing new words into our daily lexicon.

Heart 106.2 in the United Kingdom brands themselves with the slogan “You Can’t Help but Feel Good.” In Part III of this three part series on Stationality, we will talk about how some of the world’s biggest radio stations—like Heart-FM in London—have transcended simple cliché slogans and tag-lines, instead creating remarkable listener experiences. You will find new insights on how you can earn prominence in your listeners’ minds by creating sensory experiences and evoking emotion.

Daniel Anstandig is Vice President/McVay Media Consulting. Reach him at dan@daer.com. Read more about Stationality at www.McVayMedia.com.

GMA Week.....Are you going to be there?

2007-04-17T17:36:00.000-05:00

Well it's just about time for GMA Week.

What do you hope to accomplish in Nashville?

Spend some vacation time in Music City, get away from your station and day to day responsibilities, meet new people, receive an award, meet some artists, interview for a new job, gain some valuable radio knowledge you can use back home, just have some FUN ....etc etc.

Well there's numerous reasons to head off to Nashville for GMA....what are yours?

Any advice for someone attending GMA Week the first time? Any "must do" things you'd like to mention.

As for me I want to meet in person as many radio and record folks as possible. So many of you who communicate with HisAir.Net are only known by emails.....that's fine but hopefully we'll bump into each other at some point next week. Here's my cell is if you want call while in Nashville ... 225-773-5676

Post your comments and suggestions etc ... See you in Nashville!

Ted Kelly

HisAir.Net

ted@hisair.net

Stationality (Part 1)

2007-04-08T18:48:00.000-05:00

A THREE PART SERIES ON
RADIO’S DURABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
By: Daniel Anstandig, VP/McVay Media

Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors and financial strategists of all time, was asked recently on CNBC what he looks for in a new venture. His reply was the same one he has uttered in interviews for over thirty years… “durable competitive advantage.”

Only companies who demonstrate a stable and enduring advantage, which differentiates them in a noteworthy way from their competition, are eligible for investment by Warren Buffett.

By the same token, only stations who demonstrate a stable and enduring programming differentiation from their competition—also known as “stationality”—are worthy of busy listeners’ time investment.

Radio’s “durable competitive advantage” is “stationality.” Stationality is the nature of the relationship between listeners and your radio station. The relationship a listener has with your radio station’s brand ultimately determines your success.

Whether I am consulting radio stations, interactive companies, or magazines, our branding and programming efforts all boil down to one thing: management of our brand’s perception in the consumer’s mind.

The average person will only remember seven types of soda pop, seven types of toothpaste, seven types of cereal, and seven radio stations. Most often in Arbitron diaries, we only see three radio stations that are “top of mind” enough in the listeners’ world to make it through the spiderweb of his or her brain onto the diary paper.

This Three Part Series on Stationality explores the relationship between listeners and their favorite radio stations. We’ll discuss some of the principal tenets of radio station branding, which we’ll call stationality.

Stationality is not about what your radio station does. It’s about what your radio station means in the mind of the listener.

Your station’s pattern of behavior (type of music you play, spots heard on your airwaves, personalities and imaging between your songs, promotions/contesting you run, etc.) are all merely lifeless events.

It’s the meaning or emotional interpretation that listeners give each of these events that bring them to life. A personality coming out of your speakers is just a series of words playing through an electronic machine until the listener feels something. Then, your personality exists in their mind.

You know that you have started to achieve stationality when listeners describe your station as they would describe a person.

“Majic 95 is like a friend that stays with me all day while I’m working.”
“Party 97 is always having a good time.”
“DC101 is all about standing up for the little guy.”

Each of these statements imply an emotional interpretation of the station within the listener’s mind.

Radio station claims of #1 for the best music or the biggest morning show fall on deaf and uncaring ears. No radio station has a better variety than a listener’s personal iPod, regardless of what you say.

Remaining relevant means shifting the playing field from positioning our radio stations with descriptions of what we do (most music, better variety, brighter mix) to descriptions of what our product means (feel good, relax, family, connection, comfort, sing-along, etc.)

The listener’s take-away feeling is the biggest contributor to your stationality.

It is imperative to understand the target listener’s world of experience.

Empathy is an important skill of a smart programmer. It is impossible to connect successfully with an audience who you don’t know.

Select a “prototype” consumer who represents your station’s most common listener. This person will be your conduit to understanding the experiences and values of your station’s audience.

Once you identify a most common target listener—for instance, 27 year old Jen, 42 year old Nancy, or 35 year old John—begin to inventory your listener’s average daily experience. An inventory of your target’s average daily life will begin to give you a snapshot of who they are. What do they do from the time they wake up, to the time they go to sleep, and everything in between?

Then, begin to dissect the driving emotion or deep need that motivates your target to do what they do. In most cases, this requires some form of personal interview or focus group with your audience.

In a recent focus group for an Adult CHR radio station, a 35 year old female described her day…
At 5AM, I wakeup and get on the treadmill. At 6, I get myself, my son, and my daughter ready. I help my husband get his lunch together, and hope to get out the door by 7AM to get my kids to daycare. By 7:15 I start my drive to work. I go through Starbucks drive-through to get a pastry and coffee. I work from 8AM to 5PM. During my lunch hour though, I get clothes to the dry cleaner and back, pick up groceries, and run other errands I can’t get done after work. Then, usually I’ll pick up lunch or pack a lunch and eat it at my desk once I get back at 1 o’clock. At 3, my husband gets off work and picks up the kids from daycare, so my phone rings continuously with them until 5… when I get off work and race home. Then, I play with the kids while I’m cooking dinner and doing laundry… get them in bed by 9. Spend time with my husband until 10 or 11 at night… which usually involves falling asleep in front of the TV. By 11, I go to sleep to start all over again.

In an effort to dive deeply into the accounts of listeners in this focus group, we shared the results with a forensic psychiatrist.

In Part II of this three part series on Stationality, we’ll share his observations and their impact on your programming and marketing. It will change the way you look at the positioning of your radio station.

Daniel Anstandig is Vice President/Adult Formats, McVay Media Consulting. Reach him at dan@daer.com. Read more about Stationality at www.McVayMedia.com.

HisAir.Net Turns 5 Years Old!

2007-03-27T21:47:00.000-05:00

From Ted Kelly

HisAir.Net

This week marks the fifth anniversary for HisAir.Net. Thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for 5 wonderful years of serving Christian Radio! Launched in March 2002 HisAir.Net set out to fill the void of covering Christian radio on a daily basis. We take great pleasure in posting station job openings, news, airchecks, PD interviews and more for HisAir.Net readers. At the time of our launch there were no other websites on the internet serving The Christian Radio format exclusively with industry news, pictures, openings, etc, etc that was updated on a daily basis. Today that still remains true. There are other secular radio trade sites such as AllAccess and R&R, that do pay some attention to the format, but for the most part they bury anything about Christian Radio under the secular formats. Actually HisAir.Net was launched after numerous talks with AllAccess editor Joel Denver who at the time did not include the Christian format on his site. Joel eventually took an interest in the format and added it. I then decided to start a separate site that was totally devoted to Christian radio. A site the format could call its own. Special thanks to some of the earliest supporters from radio including Doug Hannah, Chuck Tyler, Ken Farley, and Sean Caldwell. And thanks to record promo guys Mark Giles and Curb’s John Butler who were also there in the beginning. The acceptance from the radio world was tremendous from the start and we thank you. Today the daily traffic to HisAir.Net continues to grow on a constant basis. As does the format grow as well. Arbitron says “Religious” radio is not a niche anymore having increased its quarter hour listening by 35% over the last ten years. In addition several major market stations like KLTY Dallas, WFSH Atlanta, KFSH Los Angeles and WAWZ New York are drawing a weekly cume of over 200,000. The only disappointing aspect of HisAir.Net has been the lack of financial support. From the onset we decided to make the site free to use by all. Having been in radio for such a long time I realized that offering the site’s services for “free” was the way I wanted to go. I am unable to comprehend why some decide to use their promotional dollars at worldly secular trade sites while not using HisAir.Net to reach Christian radio. Our cost is not only considerably less but extremely more cost-effective. So this is a perception we continue to attempt to overcome. But we remain positive and look forward to the future of HisAir.Net trusting that God will move on record people, radio owners and management, and others who have services for Christian radio, to support HisAir.Net financially.

We hope to run into you all at GMA in just a few weeks. As always your comments and suggestions are most welcome. God Bless Your Broadcast Day!

Ted Kelly
Editor
HisAir.Net
ted@hisair.net

Encouragement For The Encouragers!

2007-03-11T20:19:00.000-05:00

By Joey Krol
Production Director WIBI Springfield, IL/St Louis

Ted Kelly came to me, and asked if I would write an article. He said I could write about anything, even venting was one of the suggestions. Honestly, I didn't want this to be about me, but more of an encouragement to you.
If you work in radio, you most likely work more than 40 hours a week. Actually, let me rephrase that, if you work on the programming/production side of radio, you work more than 40 hours a week.
Ever get so caught up into the "little things" and lose sight of the bigger picture? I do. At times, I'm so focused on making "great radio", I lose sight of what Christian radio is all about. I had an Operations Manager give me this great verse from Isaiah 50:1 "The Sovereign God has given me words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones".
That's a verse that I keep in mind. We see on TV, read in the paper, and experience in our everyday lives, that people are hurting. People are struggling. People are lonely and feel un-loved. That verse says that God has given you and me the words, not just any words, but words of wisdom to encourage all the weary, and he's given us a microphone to say it on! I encourage you to write that verse down and keep it in the studio with you so that it can remind you what it's truly all about.
I got an E-Mail from a good friend of mine who works in major market radio. I told him about my new gig at WIBI. I expressed to him how excited I was. His response was "enjoy it, cuz the older you get, the less passionate you are". That broke my heart.
I remember working at a full-service country radio station. I worked countless hours a day to get my work done. It was a station that aired on average 23 mins of commercials an hour. (Yea, you read that right) They all had to be written and produced by the air talent. It was lots of work. Being 19, and putting in all these hours, I was easily discouraged & started to hate my "job". Until I came across a great verse one morning. Colossians 3:23. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men". When I thought of that verse, it gave me strength to get me through those big projects, and gave me insight of who I'm working unto. Now, please, don't get me wrong, I didn't always live out that verse everyday.
Now that I work in Christian radio, I'm not just working unto the Lord, but I am working for an awesome cause as well. Helping people connect with God, telling them in some way that Jesus loves them, playing music that the holy spirit can take and witness to the hurt, the lonely, the lost, & the hopeless. That's why I love getting up every morning and being excited to see what God will do that day.
I remember a couple times I was offered a secular radio job. The salary & benefits were nice. Very nice. But, the more I prayed about it, I didn't feel that's where God wanted me at that particular time. I turned it down. It was hard for me. Today, I do think about that salary that I could of been making, but when I see lives changed right before my eyes, it truly all comes together.
I just want to encourage you, no matter what station, what format, position, market or even field you're in, that your hard work isn't unseen with Him. Proverbs 15:3 "The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good".
So remember, the next time you have to work a holiday, work 15 hours a day, or just feeling over worked and underpaid, that God is in the stands cheering for you. And the real prize is waiting for us, gaining more and more in value.

Joey's the Production Director and on-air talent at WIBI radio, which can be heard in Springfield, IL and St Louis. Send your thoughts and emails to Joey, jmk1240@hotmail.com

If I speak, with the tongue of a listener

2007-03-04T15:43:00.000-06:00

If I speak with the tongue of a listener, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I wear the listener dress and understand the culture and all forms of etiquette, and if I copy all mannerisms so that I could pass for a listener, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the listener, and if I spend my energy without reserve, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love endures long hours of show prep, and is kind to those who mock his mannerism’s. Love does not envy those who work in the ‘Big’ market; love does not exalt his own abilities, and is not proud of his vocal superiority, does not boast about the way we did it at the other station, does not seek his own ways, is not easily provoked into telling about the beauty of his last studio, does not think evil about this co-workers; love bears all criticism about his ways of doing things, believes all good things about this new place, confidently anticipates being at home in this place, endures all inconveniences.

Love never fails.

But where their is station dis-unity, it will fail; where there is gossip, it will lead to truth; where there is encouragement, it will change. For we know only part of the demographic. And we minister to only part. But when Christ is reproduced in this demographic, then our inadequacies will be insignificant.

When I was on the radio, I spoke as a radio announcer, I understood as a radio announcer, I thought as a radio announcer; but when I became a listener, I put away announcer speak.

Now we adapt to this listener awkwardly, but He will live in it, intimately. Now I speak with a different style, but He will speak to the heart.

And now these three remain: the listener, the relationship, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

You Might Be In Radio If...

2007-02-09T15:34:00.000-06:00

. YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you turn up the radio excitedly at the sound of dead air on your competitor's station.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you have 37 unlabeled 15 minute cassettes or cd’s in your back seat.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you listen to the radio "invertedly", turning up the volume during promos, sweepers, and talk-sets, and flipping to another station during music.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you drive around aimlessly looking for an unlit 4 tower array just to see it.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you frown at the competition while driving when you hear a song they beat you to.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you tell someone you plan to go to lunch "coming up next hour".
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you have 125 unopened CDs you'll never listen to but, never more than $3 cash.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you use phrases like "If I was programming the music, I would NEVER/ALWAYS/etc..."
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you have lived in six cities in eight years.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you remember what "When you play it, say it!" means.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......You get excited at sunset and drive by the towers just to hear the phase shift.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you know at just what mile marker a certain station will/will not come in.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you kicked the transmitter up to 50,000 Watts at night just so your friends to the south could hear you (even if it was just for a few minutes)...
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you drive north/south/east/west just to get that certain station.YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you drive a $500.00 hunk of junk while the sales staff have $50,000 Lexus.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF .....You put up with it.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......You find yourself talking to yourself all the time to see how you sound.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you base your trip plans on what stations you want to hear.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you get a memo about how to report overtime and you wonder which overtime is overtime.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......two days off in a row is considered a "long weekend."
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you can recite the five-day forecast from memory.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you forgot what kind you music you like, but instead like songs because they sound good after the jingle.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you work on holidays.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you have been listening to the football game your station is airing for two hours and you don't know who's winning.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you can tell what time it is when listening to the radio even if they don't give the time.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you have dozens of tapes of radio stations that play music you don't like.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you listen to a station that's barely coming in.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you tune in to a station before it signs on.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......your maps are covered with circles and dots.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you are a "seasoned pro" after two years in
· he business.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you have a dozen radios, but you need them all.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you have copies of both the album version and radio edit.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you aren't a sports fan but you know who won and when they play next.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you have recurring nightmares about bad airshifts filled with dead air.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF......you interview the governor and drive off in a junker.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO.....At Christmas dinner, you back-sell the Christmas presents, explaining that "Unopened ones are around the corner, stick around".
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF....when the hotline rings you break into a cold sweat.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF....your production/remote load exceeds your airshift and your friends ARE NOT in radio when they say you "have it made" working 4 hours just playing music.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF....you begin to like the music you are playing even though you have been faking it for years.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you can run to the can, stop in the break room, check the newswire, and make it back for the last 15 seconds of a 4 min. song.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you're called 10 minutes before a shift starts and told you have to work it and you live 20 minutes away.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF..... you can recite all the spots in a break.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF..... the one time you need the power generator is the one day the electrician didnt have time to hook it up.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you have ever had to call a supervisor more then once on the same day at 3 A.M.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...your chief engineer has ever had to talk you through how to fix a transmitter from over a cell phone.YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... the equipment at your station decides to stop working properly on a holiday weekend when no one can be reached.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF....you recite I.D's and sweepers from different stations just to annoy your friends.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF....when your at home and you answer the phone and give the stations call letters.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you answer the phone and tell someone their caller ..6
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF....you do an air shift in your dreams.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...on a holiday weekend, you're the only one at the station.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF... you talk about how much better your competition's web-cast sounds over your stations actual broadcast.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you are on the air every holiday.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF....you talk to friends in a "radio voice"YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you have ever taped a boring conversation with someone and turned it into something funny.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you can hit the post on any ramp in your playlist, but can only sing the hooks from songs that are in your music promos.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you have a CD player in your car, but no tape deck, and are mad! (because you can't listen to your aircheck from that day).
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you hate everyone's favorite song because it doesn't have an intro.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you actually own white cassette tapes.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you don't know whether to introduce yourself at parties...with your air-name or your real name.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you know how long it takes you to take a dump by song title.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...two months ago when you worked at the car wash you could jog a mile without being out of breath and now it is tough for you to get from your car to the Laz-E-boy.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you know what temperature it is.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you make your friends listen to airchecks and they have no idea what you are talking about.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you refer to nighttime as "the weekend"
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you don't assume DJs are attractive.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO.....if you hear your competition using catch phrases and you pull over to the side of the road screaming, "Thats mine!" - while your kids look at you as if you've finally snapped.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO.....iF you tell your wife/girl/boyfriend, "Coming up next hour we'll be hearing from the in-laws, plus we have a new dinner today you're going to really like..."
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO.....if the first time you voice-tracked a shift, you stayed up until 4 A.M. to catch every break.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO.....if your boss misspelled your last name and called you Dennis for the first six months, and asked you how you like working at the Country station when you worked at the hot Adult Contemporary station next door.
· YOU MIGHT BE IN RADIO IF...you have found that 7-inch reels of tape DO decay over time when stored in the garage.

Contemporary Music vs. Traditional Music

2007-02-04T21:12:00.000-06:00

Contemporary Music vs. Traditional Music
Talk/Teaching Programming vs. Music programming
Positive positioning vs. Christian positioning
And vice versa ...

By: Keith Sanderson, OM KMOC/Wichita Falls, TX

Did I miss any? Of course I did, as the list of what defines us, and divides us, is very long indeed. As we try to decide who, and what, we are on the air…we must first come to an understanding of where we fit in The Kingdom. In my contemplation and search I have come to the following conclusions:
What we ARE NOT:
The church. The word church is used some 115 times in the New Testamant, and some 90 times it refers to the organized church, and that is how I use it here. We cannot, by the very nature of what radio is, provide what the organized church is designed by God to provide. Radio is by definition a “mass” media, or mass form of communication. True, we must direct our efforts to the one, and connect on that level, but that is far from the discipleship mode that the church operates in. (or should operate in, IMHO) I cannot disciple someone that I cannot get to know personally on a very intimate level, and vice versa. So, we are not the church, and we shouldn’t try to be. We also should make very clear that we DO NOT want the tithe. I believe the tithe belongs to the local church, and when we don’t make that clear, we become “competition” to the local bodies (and pastors).
The defender of The Truth. While we should clearly state our stance that Jesus Christ is the only savior, and the only way to heaven, we are nowhere called to defend His Word. We are told to be ready to give and answer for the Hope that is within us, or in other words to defend our belief in Him. God is the defender of His Word, and I don’t have to. Indeed…I can’t, and neither can you. He calls us personally to LIVE the Faith, not defend its validity. His Word says we overcome by the Blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony. Period.
What we ARE:
An encourager. We have the ability to encourage a large number of believers everyday. Radio can go places that Churches and Pastors cannot. We reach into that car going down the main drag, or the highway…into the cubicle in the office…the living room…the work site…and on and on. Our reach is only limited by the contour of our signal. True, it is up the listener to tune in, but that is where our programming, branding, execution and marketing come in.
A conveyer of Truth. His Truth, not ours. Hopefully His Truth is our Truth, but we do not have the right (IMHO) to color His Truth with our theology. We of course have our own views on His Truth, but unless we are only trying to minister to one group, ie: Southern Baptist; Presbyterian; Pentecostal; or whatever, then we should try to minister in the vein of C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity”…simply Christian without all the adjectives and qualifiers.
There are many more things that we ARE, and that we ARE NOT, and these are just a few of mine. We must each come to those places on our own while in the midst of His Word, while immersed in His Presence. He will tell us what His plans for our particular radio ministry is. And there is the rub.
We all think our way is the best. If we are bent toward teaching, then we tend to think that the best (or only)way to use radio is for teaching. If we are called to Contemporary Music radio, then we might tend to think Traditional Music is old-fashioned and unnecessary. His Word says He gave some to be Apostles, Some Prophets, some Evangelists, some Pastors and Teachers. A Pastor and an Evangelist will disagree on many long range plans simply because of the different call on their life. The tight structure of the Apostolic calling will clash with the loose structure of one with a Prophetic calling. Yet The Lord saw fit to design the “ministry” offices like that anyway. (Even in this example, straight from scripture, there are those who say some, or all, of these “offices” have passed away, and others who say that they all still operate today. If we differ so vastly on scripture, is it any wonder that we differ programming wise?)
The BEST way to present Christian radio is the way He directs you to. Let’s face it..nowhere in scripture does it address Christian Radio or how to program it. We can take all the different principles from His Word, and each come up with a different way it should be done. We should be willing to give Grace when it comes to the different programming ideas in Christian radio. We should be willing to be wrong. We should be willing to esteem others better than ourselves. We should be willing to change if we feel He would have us do so.
If we can’t love one another (which is “the” mark of a Christian) as programmers and believers, then how can we expect the world to give our message any validity. And the world is listening…Barna says as much as 30% of the Christian Radio audience is not “Born Again”. They are watching, too. Since we are a very visible medium, with a very specific message, we are watched closely.
The rule of thumb I have used for radio in general comes from a saying that has been around longer than I have…”The biggest enemy of great radio is good radio”. Over the last 10 years in Christian radio I have formulated a modified rule of thumb: “The biggest enemy of Christian radio, is good radio”.
Don’t get me wrong…I firmly believe Christian radio stations should sound just as good (read that “better”) as any other signal on the dial. It should be professionally done, using solid, proven, radio programming thought. BUT…and it’s a BIG but…if good radio becomes your sole target, you are in danger of leaving “Christ” behind.
Radio can be Good radio; Traditional Music; Contemporary Music; Talk; Teaching; Positive, and any number of other flavors.
It can only be Christian Radio if “Christ” is at the center of all we do.

Fix the Product First

2007-01-26T20:07:00.000-06:00

A lesson for radio from the supermarket industry

By: Daniel Anstandig, VP/McVay Media

My Grandfather, Myer Anstandig (a.k.a. “Pop-Pop”), was a grocer in Pittsburgh for over fifty years. In the course of his career, he went from managing the family store in small-town Donora, PA to managing several stores in downtown Pittsburgh. He was a businessman who loved people. Pop-Pop probably never realized before he made his transition last year, just how much he inspired and taught me.

He understood business in a way that transcends any particular industry—he understood the power of relationships in business. Moreover, he understood the power of authenticity in business.

The supermarket industry has changed since my grandfather got out of the business years ago, but the power of authentic marketing has not.

Case-in-point… Safeway Stores.

Grocers are faced with new retailers who are attempting to gain their share of the food market. The number of visitors to any grocery store—let’s call it “cume,” and the amount of time an average customer spends in the store—let’s call it “Time Spent Shopping,” have been declining.

Caught in the whirlwind of a changing marketplace, Safeway Stores started losing money. After over eighty years of popular food at low prices, Safeway reported its first annual loss in 2002. Declining numbers of shoppers at Safeway stores antagonized executives of the company to reevaluate their product and positioning.

Market research confirmed that Safeway was in need of a new marketing campaign. They needed to “build cume” again.

Safeway management knew that consumers would be shrewd about hollow claims and superficial marketing that could not be substantiated by evidence of real change in their stores. A new flashy marketing campaign and “redesigned window dressing” would not be enough to win over today’s skeptical 25-44 year old customers.

They needed a new image, so they started by carefully revamping the product (their stores).

They did not medicate their declining cume problem with a glitzy marketing campaign. Instead, they first invested in their stores in a way that would make the customers’ remarkable end-user experience worthy of word-of-mouth advertising.

They launched the largest remodeling effort ever undertaken by an American supermarket chain. They have spent over $3 billion in the last three years, and they have committed to spending another $3 billion in the next three years to remodel all of their 1,775 stores. Morphing the anachronistic convenience stores into new “lifestyle stores,” has included adding full service deli counters, organic produce sections, and expanded wine and floral sections.

Then, they started their marketing.

Now, combining their brand-surgery with a well-focused $100 million ad campaign to tell the story of their new position, the company is starting to see lucrative return in markets where renovation is complete.

Wall Street called them crazy. Only the customers liked the change. Sales have advanced for the company this year by 5% (Marketwatch, October 2006). According to Google Finance, Safeway’s share price is up by 30% since the beginning of the year.

There are several take-away points from the case-study of Safeway’s brand rejuvenation:

Study Your Customers

My grandfather would describe this as “knowing what’s in it for the other guy.” Get to know the core desires of your audience. What’s in it for them? If the answer is 20 minutes of commercials and lotsa-talk-about-nothing from your jocks, there’s nothing in it for them. You ought to be paying them to listen.

When people decide to listen to your radio station, it is because they have decided that listening to your station would be more gratifying and pleasurable than not listening.

What is it that your audience wants deeply? A few possible answers…
- Feeling of connection and influence
- To be seen as a generous person
- To be seen as a classy person
- To be seen as a loving person
- To be seen as a smart person

How does your programming offer validation for these deep desires?

Assuming that your listener has a deep desire to be seen as a loving person, do you have programming that validates that vision of them? Do you have a love songs show? Do you invite listeners to contribute to the community in a way that validates their sense of being a loving or generous person?

Help listeners get the experience they want, and you will get the ratings you want.

Tell a Story.

Safeway’s marketing tells the story of a company that had humble Idaho beginnings—but always had a vision to serve people with quality wholesome foods and a welcoming atmosphere (note the mention of two deep desires of their customers). Marketers connected the passion of the founders’ desire to serve and the evolution of their stores.

Pop-Pop was a great storyteller. He had a joke and a story for everything. E-mail me at dan@daer.com if you’d like to hear the one about the train. His storytelling and jokes built relationships… and ultimately built major businesses. He always had a story to tell about the products he offered, because he knew that the personal connection and stories were ultimately what brought people back to his shop.

What is your radio station’s story? Why do you do what you do? Look at the history of your radio station. What is it that “brought you to the dance?” Tell listeners about the people at your radio station and why they come into the station everyday.

Change the experience, not just the branding and marketing.

People are more cynical than ever. They sniff out brand-facades and superficial claims quickly.

Authenticity is a potent ingredient in successful marketing.

Take a lesson from Safeway, who upgraded the product selection and store atmosphere first. The end-user experience changed long before the new marketing campaign. They started inside-out rather than outside-in, knowing that savvy customers would sniff out superficial claims.

Daniel Anstandig is VP/Consultant at McVay Media. His experience includes stints as General Manager, National Program Director, and various on-air stops. Among the clients Daniel has consulted are Clear Channel Radio Interactive and their 800+ online brands, recording artists Jewel and John Tesh, Mental Floss Magazine, The White House Commission on Remembrance, Glencoe-McGraw Hill, Sonrise, Clear Channel R&D, Jones-TM, and various AC, Hot AC, and Christian broadcasters around the country. Daniel also serves on the Board of Directors for Radio Conclave. Reach him at dan@daer.com

A New Year and a New You?

2007-01-11T11:32:00.000-06:00

So...it's here again. The turning of a page on the calender to another year.

Do you think that God gave man the calender as a built in reflection and self-check tool?

Or is it just another way to mark the time till there is no more 3:00 AM wake-up alarm for the morning program?

As I approach middle age at light speed it seems, (I may be there already friend, and just not willing to admit it), I once again ask myself this question on the dawning of another new year, "What is the main thing?"

Well, what is it?

Please take a moment and let me know so I will know how to find the way to get there.

It seems I have been searching for so long.

Bill

So, you wanna be an independent voiceover talent? Here’s what it takes.

2006-12-17T20:47:00.000-06:00

By Pete Bunch of Spoken Word Images

Greetings brethren and sisteren, my name is Pete Bunch, rock radio ex-patriot, now small businessman, with a few minutes…,very few actually…,to expound about what I do for a living now that I’m not playing the same songs in a different order. Hey this is pretty cool, I’m gonna talk about talking!

Yes it’s the always interesting world of freelance voiceover, and Christian radio. I’m a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, my testimony and statement of faith can be found at our web sites, www.christianconcertspots.com and www.spokenwordimages.com.

Since you’re in broadcasting, I’m positive you’ve heard, or have said, “I’ve been told I have a good voice, I think I’ll do voiceover.”

Wow…there is so much more involved than just having a good, or even a great voice. The comparison is like being able to strum “House of the Rising Sun” and thinking you’re ready to tour with (insert favorite band name here). Your voice is a tool, yes even an instrument. Voiceover is a craft that truly takes years, often decades to hit your mark. And like a concert musician, one must practice every single day…with passion!

So, what exactly is freelance voiceover? Well, the best definition I can give is deriving ones sole income from the craft of voiceover. It means not having a guaranteed check direct deposited every 2 weeks. It means following up on every lead and networking contact. It means working your butt off like never before. It means taking a chance on something you love. It means having your faith challenged and stretched.

I was in secular rock radio for 24 years. I did some side jobs here and there. It was only during the last 5 years at radio did I start earning any reliable side cash from outside agency gigs. But…big pause here…it was not even in the same galaxy for what was/is needed to support a family.

Holy microphone-breath Batman! What do I do now?

In 1996 my wife Lisa and I started Spoken Word Images, Inc. while I was still full-time slogging through the cesspool of Rock 92 FM. It took one year before landing our first retainer client, WMHK-FM Columbia. (thank you for believing in us Jim!)

Freelance is the toughest job you’ll ever love! I realized then, and over the next 7 years, how much is involved in marketing and making a full-time run at VO actually work. I suddenly gained tremendous respect for the folks in radio sales, as now I was the one being rejected on a daily basis. There were many prayers, tears, and sleepless nights for the first few years…and often still are! We depend on our Father each and every day for His provision, yes, but we also must go out into the field and hitch up the plow. The planting and harvesting of contacts-turned-clients takes much time and patience. 2003 was the year Lisa and I knew we had to trust Jesus more, and I had to get out of the boat just as he commanded Peter to do. Full-time freelance here we come! Learn to say “Yes” more than “No” and you’ll see doors open.

As I said earlier, freelance voiceover is the toughest job you’ll ever love. Sure, the thought of not having a “boss” is very appealing to all of us. Then again, so is the reality of a home and food for your children.

I give all credit to Christ my sustainer. Scripture models for us clearly the six day work week, and that makes me happy ‘cause six days doth I labor. A typical day at the Spoken Word Images studio starts at 6:15 AM and lasts until 5:00 or 6:00 PM, with six to ten sessions before noon, plus easily that many incoming phone calls and interruptions. There are tech issues with FTP, emails and faxes. Coffee is one of the essentials, along with a brisk half-hour walk, and time in the Word. Then back to the booth. (or my dungeon as Lisa calls it) Numerous hours are racked up daily making cold calls to GMs and PDs in Christian radio and TV. Now that Christian Concert Spots (our concert division) is open I’m calling booking agents, promo directors, advertising managers and label folks! I’m still learning this side of sales: that I’m the product! It’s hard to believe, but this is absolutely true, there are hundreds of radio and TV managers out there who ask me, “What is voiceover?” …oh brother… Did I mention I’m also a student of patience?

Do plenty of good work and word will get spread. Word of mouth is a freelance talent’s best friend. Become used to making/sending a couple of dozen calls and emails per day. Prepare for 10-12 hour days, everyday. Get good with people’s names, say please and thank you a lot! After a few years of getting your name out, and doing quality work…with a smile…those word of mouth referrals start coming back. Years ago, a friend of mine in Texas who owns a recording studio told me something that really clicked. He said, “professional is as professional does.” Integrity goes a long, long way in a solo gig like freelance voiceover. Keep your word, and like the movie says “pay it forward.” Freelance is not for everyone. It is not easy, but it is worth your effort to try. Most importantly, remember who you’re doing it for, the Lord!!
Colossians 3:23

Purpose Driven Format? Depends.../Mike Couchman of Way FM Kalamazoo

2006-12-10T22:39:00.000-06:00

Christian CHR: Purpose Driven Format? Depends on where you camp…

We all have our reasons. Why did you choose radio, your format, your daypart? I’ll start with the easy answer for me: I’m on in the afternoons because I like to wake up later than 3 AM. The other easy answer is why I’m in radio: I was always grounded from TV and going out to play, so the radio became my best friend.

Now for the hard part. It’s a hard format to be in, a hard format to define for a lot of us, and in the year 2006, it was a hard format to stay in for a few stations. It’s….(drum roll or finger tap please)….CHRISTIAN CHR. It was 1997 when I first heard the format. The WAY-FM network had just come on in Kalamazoo, MI. As I drove through the area on I-94, I heard some amazing new (to me) “Christian” songs that I liked better than the secular Top 40 that I grew up on. WAY-FM was banging out Out of Eden, D.C. Talk, Grits, Audio Adrenaline, and a lot of other great stuff that I didn’t know about. It was presented in an exciting package. I was hooked. It wasn’t long before I decided that Christian CHR was where I wanted my career to go.

By the time I got here, I had worked at a couple more Country stations and two mainstream CHR stations. It was the year 2000, and Christian CHR had changed. It was no longer a destination for young adults who liked secular Top 40. Outside of some straight up Pop and Rock-Pop, Christian CHR did not offer me the very thing that first attracted me to it: a higher quality alternative to mainstream popular music. What I got was pleasant Praise and Worship, bland Pop, and some Rock that was never too hard and occasionally too soft. It was all packaged in a way that was “safe” for my family.

These days I find myself wondering what the point of Christian CHR is. As I visit the MySpace pages of listeners in my market who are in my target (I’m @ myspace.com/waymike by the way), I look for a few things in their profile: what music they like, and how they label their beliefs. More often than not, I come across teens and young adults who call themselves “Christian” and even go into great detail about their love for God and their desire to serve Him. But when it comes to their music preferences, I’ve got at least a 70% chance that the hottest songs on one of my area’s 3 mainstream CHR stations will be prominently displayed.

In fact, let’s focus on profiles I randomly grabbed from my friends list: a 14 year old female, an 18 year old female, a 99 year old female (my guess is that she is fibbing : - ), and another 18 year old female. First, the 14 year old girl: Some of her interests include Jesus, guitar, singing, and her youth group. She labels herself as a Protestant. Her favorite movies include Rent and Harry Potter. Musically, she lists All American Rejects, JoJo, and Evanescence as some of her many favorites. Next, our first of two 18 year old females: She also likes All American Rejects, plus Panic! At the Disco and more Modern Rock greats. She’s a student at a local Bible college. Now the (probably not) 99 year old: she lists God and her youth group above all other interests. She’s a “Christian-other,” and she likes the All American Rejects (who did not pay me to mention them…I swear!), Black Eyed Peas, Anna Nalik, and others. Our final profile is the other 18 year old female: She’s in love with Jesus Christ. He’s tops on her list of people she would like to meet. She loves going to church. Musically, there’s a certain band of Rejects she failed to list. But she’s still cool, right? Her music list includes Cascada, Maroon 5, and John Reuben.

As I sit here looking at these profiles, I am asking myself what Christian CHR has to offer them. We’ve got the Rejects fans covered to some extent with our Pop Punk bands like Relient K and Hawk Nelson. As for the rest, I can’t think of any artist that Christian CHR stations can agree on. Some might try to match up Jo Jo with Stacie Orrico, or the Black Eyed Peas with Group 1 Crew, but not even half the format believes that those artists fit their brand of Christian CHR.

Fine. I’m not here to propose that Christian CHR should be imitating mainstream CHR, or that we should have a tit for tat artist match up for every secular artist on the mainstream charts. What I am proposing goes back to what attracted ME to Christian CHR, and in my opinion it even goes back to the purpose of Contemporary Christian Music.

As I understand it (and I’ll admit to having a skewed view), CCM came about out of a desire from those in youth culture who couldn’t morally connect the hottest music of their time with their own morals. They created what some considered cutting edge music with a whole different purpose. Maybe we have regressed since then?

From asking around, it is alleged that the product wasn’t there to sustain that kind of approach to Christian CHR. Another angle is that once stations started doing research, they learned that their audience wasn’t into their CHR “mix” or whatever. Certainly plenty of stations didn’t find it as financially viable as the option of zooming in on CHR’s upper demo, or even zooming out altogether to focus on 30+ listeners. Other stations simply had no direction or purpose in the first place and discovered that the ratings and revenue were prettier when they got rid of their CHR mindset.

These days, CHR seems to be split into two camps. Camp 1 says research proves their way is the most viable way to get the biggest numbers and impact. Camp 2 says a mainstream approach is the most viable way to realizing our potential. I think I am in Camp 3. I agree with Camp 1 that research can help to maximize our effectiveness. I also agree with Camp 2 that our greatest harvest lies with Christians who have mainstream tastes. In those profiles I listed, I didn’t see many of Christian CHR’s core artists (No mention of Third Day, Jars of Clay, Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, or even Sanctus Real). Yet each of those people were clearly in the target lifegroup of Christian CHR.

Maybe you’re thinking “show me the proof.” I wish I could, but few of us have set out to prove it. Some stations didn’t stay the course long enough, some never had proper leadership in place, others put the art ahead of the science (or vice versa), and many have signals that prohibit them from making a loud statement in their markets. However, a few stations have tried a Camp 3 approach and seen some intriguing results. I have heard of a few Christian CHR stations who are #2 in their target, and a couple of years ago I got word of one who pulled a stinking 10 share among people 12-24. These were Camp 3 stations! However, none of us (no matter what camp we are in) have been publicly known for consistent success. It has come in spurts, thanks partially to Arbitron, signals, and likely our own choices. Yet the format has had enough glimpses at success through a great performance here or there that we know there is an untapped flood of success just waiting for the right approach to cause it to overflow.

If you’re still reading, I am grateful. Can we redefine, or perhaps define for the first time, what we’re all doing in Christian CHR? I am here to be a part of the lives of people like the ones I introduced you to above. If I can’t offer them a better product more relevant to their tastes than the stations who thrive on “My Humps” or “Sexyback,” then what can I offer them? Why am I here?

Your turn! Let’s make 2007 a pivotal year in Christian CHR. Please leave your comments on ways we can all come together and blow the format wide open for the teens and young adults that need it most, or at least e-mail me privately and help me learn from you. (mike AT way.fm). Thanks for reading!

Transitions

2006-12-04T08:31:00.000-06:00

By: Melody Miller

Are you facing a transition in your life or in the life of your radio station? Personal transitions; professional transitions; transitions taking place in the Christian radio and record industries; transitions in many radio markets as clusters of radio stations are for sale; the transition to HD Radio; transitions in the lives of individual radio stations; and, the transition into a new year as many people make New Year’s resolutions, desiring to make a change. Perhaps you relate to one or more of these transitions in your life right now. What I have learned and been reminded of over and over again through the transitions in my own life experience is that preparation is the key to sailing through the transition and ending up at your intended destination. Here are some things I have learned about preparing for transitions:

1) Seek God First.
Sometimes transitions come our way in the form of challenges we must face. Sometimes transitions come our way because of an intentional choice we made. Sometimes transitions come our way because we finally decided to give legs to our dreams and move forward in pursuing something new. However the transition comes about, the first step should always be to seek God first and to seek Him continually. If we seek Him, we will find Him. If we ask for wisdom, He will give it to us. Scripture is full of examples of men and women of faith who faced overwhelming obstacles and challenges, who walked through transitions in their lives and in the life of their people.
Are you seeking God first? Are you seeking His wisdom and guidance in
the transitions in your life?

2) Make a plan.
We’ve all heard the old adage those who fail to plan, plan to fail. We say it with a smile on our face, perhaps a bit sarcastically; but, it really does hold an important truth. At least 90% of New Year’s Resolutions fail. Why? Because the resolution was just a resolution, a happy idea, a goal without any substance. Reaching the intended goal requires a plan. I believe that there is something powerful to having a plan written down and in front of you so you can revisit it often and gain the motivation to continue moving forward on your journey. Keep the plan flexible – new and often unexpected obstacles may come your way or you may learn something new on the journey that requires for the plan to be revised. Whether you are preparing for an upcoming wedding, a big station promotion in 2007, or a refocusing of the direction for your station – make a plan. If you have a plan, you will be successful because the simple act of having a goal and establishing a plan will set you apart and keep you moving forward.
Is your goal written down? Do you have a plan of action with action steps
you can begin to take today?

3) Walk in faith - Overcome the fear.
Don’t be afraid to walk into what seems like uncharted territory. Don’t be afraid to set or even reinvent the trend. You don’t have to stay stuck just because people around you are satisfied with the status quo. Often fear holds us back when we should be acting, living, and walking in faith. Let faith be the force in your life that pushes you forward, instead of fear. Dare to be different than the crowd. Dare to set an example of integrity and excellence in your community. Dare to live by faith, to live the life you are called to live, to live today for His Glory.
Is fear holding you back? What step of faith are you being asked to take?

4) Talk to those who have already traveled this journey.
Have you ever been planning to go on a vacation and suddenly you run into someone from your area who has also vacationed there and the conversation turns to telling you the best way to get there, the best places to stay or to eat, where to find affordable parking, things that aren’t worth the time or the money, and unexpected treasures that most tourists don’t know about unless they talk to someone who has been there before? You find yourself walking away from the conversation amazed at the information and wisdom that was just imparted to you. The same is true in our life transitions – whether it is something personal, a new professional goal, or a new phase of growth or change for your radio station, chances are there are people in your circle who have already traveled a journey that is very similar to the one you face and have reached the other side of the transition. Talk to those who have already traveled this journey. This affords you the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, to gain from their wisdom, and to find out about the unexpected things that you may not already be planning for that perhaps you should.
Who in your life has already traveled this journey? Make a list of people
you can contact to ask questions about your transition; and, then watch
for people to come into your life, sometimes from unexpected places.

5) Prepare relentlessly; then, watch for the opportunities.
One of my favorite quotes is from Oprah Winfrey. It says “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” No one achieves success overnight – it may look like it to some; but, it just doesn’t happen that way. The day before the Sabbath in the Jewish tradition was Preparation Day, as the nation of Israel prepared for what was to come - a day of rest. In our fast-paced, instant-access society, we often forget the importance of preparation and instead look at other people and other radio stations that we consider to be successful, discounting the tremendous preparation that was required for that to take place. Personal success, professional success, and the success of your radio station are achieved through relentless preparation. If you prepare relentlessly – completing the items on your action plan and preparing for all of the details, learning from the wisdom of those around you, and studying to learn what you do not yet know – when opportunities come, you will be ready to take full advantage of them.
What can you do today to prepare for your intended destination? Do you
think of your goal daily? Do you have a list that you are working on? Are
you preparing for all of the details?

6) Surround yourself with the support you need.
It is essential to have the support you need around you as you face life’s transitions. Whether this is creating a great team of volunteers to be able to tackle your community outreach or grassroots marketing campaign at your station, creating a team of experts to pull from for your show, or creating a team of support in your own life as you prepare for a personal transition - intentionally finding these people who bring encouragement, resources, and a reminder of why you are doing what you are doing on the days that you need to be reminded is vitally important.
Have you created a supportive community? Do the people that God has
brought into your life know about the transitions you are facing so they can encourage you and pray for you?

7) Take the time to be grateful each step of the way.
Gratitude is imperative to making it through the transitions in our lives. Sometimes what we learn and who we become on the journey to whatever goal or life milestone is in front of us is just as important as reaching that milestone itself. Take the time to be grateful for all of the blessings that come your way, providing help and hope for the journey, pushing you forward into all God has for you.
Are you enjoying the journey through the transition? What are you
grateful for today? Stop right now and count your blessings – think of 5
things that you are grateful for in the transition that you are
facing today.

I pray that in whatever transitions you and your radio stations are facing that you will be tremendously blessed; that you will see today all God has for you and what He is teaching you through the transitions; and, that, most of all, you will be reminded of God’s faithfulness. Keep moving forward on the journey!

Melody Miller is the former Program Director and Morning Show host at 101.1, KLRC (Fayetteville, AR). During her time as Program Director at KLRC, the station became one of the top 5 radio stations in Northwest Arkansas and was awarded Gospel Music Association’s Radio Station of the Year Award three times (2001, 2002, 2006). Melody is involved with Christian Music Broadcasters, Women in Christian Media, Gospel Music Association, and the National Religious Broadcasters. She currently is enjoying her own life transition as she takes some time to pursue new opportunities in Christian radio and works toward the completion of her first book.
E-mail: radiomelodymiller@gmail.com

Are You Real?

2006-11-20T14:55:00.000-06:00

WHAT ARE OUR DREAMS TODAY, ARE THEY THE RIGHT DREAMS? AND HOW CAN WE MAKE THEM OUR REALITY?

Recently James Patterson & Peter Kim, in writing their book, “The Day America Told The Truth”, asked a panel of regular people like us this question:

What are you willing to do for $10,000,000? Two-thirds of those they asked, would agree to do at least one, and some to several, of these things:

Would abandon their entire family (25%)
Would abandon their church (25%)
Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)
Would give up their American citizenships (16%)
Would leave their spouses (16%)
Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
Would kill a stranger (7%)
Would put their children up for adoption (3%)

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?
~~ P. T. Barnum, entrepreneur, d. 1891
Damn it . . . Don't you dare ask God to help me.
To her housekeeper, who had begun to pray aloud.
~~ Joan Crawford, actress, d. May 10, 1977
Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub
~~Conrad Hilton, Hilton Hotels Founder d. 1979

In Tom Heymans book, “In an average lifetime”, he compiled these statisctics :

In the average lifetime of 70 years, the average American spends :
3 years in business meetings
13 years watching TV
16 Years Working, compared to only 10 Years Travel & Leisure
Makes 1811 trips to McDonalds
Spends 2 Years just dressing!
23 Years Sleeping

God's Plan
[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

Romans 12, verses 1 & 2 has this to say about our hopes and dreams:

Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. (CEV)

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident. It wasn't a technology problem like radar malfunction--or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship's presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first. By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.

GOD HAS DESIGNED A PLAN FOR OUR HOPES AND DREAMS TO COME TRUE, AND IT IS ONLY THROUGH LETTING HIM BE OUR CAPTAIN.
IF WE LEAD, WE WILL ALWAYS SHIPWRECK.

Welcome Back

2006-11-10T10:53:00.000-06:00

I feel like John Sebastian should be chiming in with the theme, and Horshack should be gyrating with his arm in the air saying, "Oh, Oh, Oh, I know, I know!" Yes, the Christian Radio Feeback Room is back, after taking the summer off to watch TV Land re-runs of Welcome Back Kotter. LOL, wish that was really the case.

We are here for the people of radio. You.

There are dozens of radio forums out there.

What will make this one "the one" you come back to frequently? It is up to you, to decide the answer to the question.

So let's get it started.

My name is Bill Lurwick, and I have been in Christian Radio since 1996, and in radio since 1989. What a ride...As I look back on my first 10 years of serving God in this Alabaster Box, I wonder, who has gotten more out of it, me or Him.

So, for my inaugural post to the Christian Radio Feedback Room, I want to challenge you with this question:

Why do you do what you do, and why have some of us like me done it for 10 years or more?

Happy Posting!

Radio Bill

Let's Celebrate Christian Radio - Doyle Brewer KLVV/KJTH Ponca City, OK GM

2006-06-21T21:54:00.000-05:00

May I offer a suggestion to all decision-makers within Christian radio? Join me in celebrating what God is doing through our stations and in getting the word out via a National "Christian Radio Week."

God has given us a great gift in Christian radio, and He is using it to not only reach out to a lost world but to build up the Church. However, we need to do more to introduce Christian radio to the masses and I suggest we consider an industry-wide "Christian Radio Week". This would offer an outstanding occasion each year to share with our communities the story of what we all exist to do – facilitate biblical life change.

Do you know that you can "officially" celebrate National Love Your Files Week, Celebrate Your Name Week, and Sky Awareness Week? Even Amateur Radio Week was endorsed by the Alabama Governor! National Adoption Month has deservingly received outstanding coverage in Christian magazines and on programs like Focus on the Family. However, no official recognition exists for Christian radio.

Dream with me. Christian Radio Week could include:
Proclamations by state and local officials
Press releases to print media and feature stories in magazines
Listener feedback solicitation
Studio open houses
Visits to Christian schools and colleges
Recognition of Christian radio by ministries
Local church bulletin inserts and station staff speaking engagements at those churches
Many churches and Christian business people simply aren’t aware that God is using Christian radio in dramatic ways. Christian Radio Week could be the eye-opener for them to wrap their arms around the value of our stations.

Listener feedback to our stations and programs is continual confirmation that Christian radio is being used by God to change lives every day. Through our content and events, spiritual transformation is occurring! Recently, I was very encouraged by the Rebecca St. James concert we sponsored, during which 120 decisions were made for Christ! Post-event, the radio station worked with area churches and requested follow-up visits on those decisions.

Like you, I am greatly encouraged and blessed to hear from prisoners who listen to Christian radio. Robert writes: "I have been locked up 21 years now and I assure you my faith in Christ has kept me and being able to listen to Christian music has made the difference".

Communities need to know that many local radio stations have now become international ministries due to Internet streaming. Listeners are astounded to discover that their local station broadcasts the message of Christ to dozens of countries. It is wonderful to get an e-mail from a serviceman or missionary describing how Christian radio is a lifeline for them to the states. One listener wrote: "Cut off from almost every sort of spiritual encouragement here in Turkmenistan, Christian music is one of the few things that I have left. Your online radio has been a blessing to me in that way; the encouragement you have given me has been and is wonderful".

If you have a passion for Christian radio – all of Christian radio – as I do, would you consider joining the effort to establish a Christian Radio Week? I believe that this could be a tremendous tool to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. What do you think?

Please post feedback on ways to promote Christian radio and the possibility of starting a Christian Radio Week at www.TheHouseFM.com/NRB.

Doyle Brewer is General Manager of KLVV/KJTH (The House)/Ponca City, OK, and can be reached at Doyle@TheHouseFM.com.

All My Life's Passions: John Frost - Goodratings Strategic Services

2006-05-30T09:20:00.000-05:00

Friends-

Here is a real thought-starter. Although not intended to be, this is an article about why our stations exist. What connection do we make with strangers on the plane (new listeners)?

The author is Matt Burchett, to me a forever thirteen year old shooting hoops (till all hours of the night) just outside my bedroom window in Garland, Texas. Matt’s parents are our dear friends Dave and Joni Burchett who are dealing with the new news of Joni’s breast cancer and treatments. Dave, you may recall, is the author of “When Bad Christians Happen to Good People”, and has appeared with his former neighbor at GMA. He is also a baseball guy in reality and a radio guy at heart (two of my favorite things).

My pastor yesterday said a couple of “grab a stubby pencil from the pew and write it down” comments that are along the same theme. He said it is community that will bring people in (to the church). He said it is our responsibility to create an atmosphere so that those who are hearing about Jesus are welcomed. (I highly recommend John Burke’s book, “No Perfect People Allowed”.)

Do our stations sound welcoming? Do we sound like the kind of people new listeners want to be with? To paraphrase a simple piece of wisdom from my own father, people generally do things because they want to. Most Christians don’t want to listen to Christian radio (not to mention non-Christians). Too many stations have a “we’re gonna make them listen” attitude.

Thank you, Matt Burchett for your wisdom that will help many, many Christian radio stations today. I’m sure that Matt and Dave, and brothers Scott and Brett, would also appreciate your prayers for mom Joni’s healing.

-John Frost

ALL MY LIFE'S PASSIONS ARE BEING CARRIED UNDER MY ARM

Dave writes: Today you get a break. I am pleased and proud to turn these humble ramblings over to a guest rambler. And a pretty special one at that. Eldest son Matt came home a couple of weeks ago to join a weekend home edition of “Makeover for Mom”. The boys decided to show their love for their wonderful Mom by updating a tired bathroom, cleaning out a cluttered garage, and stripping some outdated wallpaper. They worked almost around the clock and the results were wonderful for both the house and the heart of a Mom who felt very loved. On his way home to Nashville Matt put these thoughts together. I proudly turn my space over to my Son. Enjoy.

We carry a lot. In our hands, hearts, souls, minds…we always have baggage. While walking through the airport recently, bored and exhausted, I started trying to figure people out. Briefcase, loafers, Blackberry…small business owner. Backpack, flip flops, Nalgen bottle…college student. Shorts, laughing, holding hands…honeymoon. This game is easy! I wonder what people are thinking of me? Do I appear to be who I really am? I am wearing jeans, flip flops, a backpack, and carrying a Sports Illustrated, Backpacker Magazine, and Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis.

Then it dawns on me. It is like the times when you are hiking and you see the sunrise. Even though you knew all along that sunrises are beautiful you suddenly notice it, and it makes sense to you. Those moments when mindless clutter is replaced with abnormal clarity. In this brief moment, in the middle of an over stimulated, crowded, stressed out airport terminal, I realized that my life's passion, loves, and purpose were being carried under my arm. I love my wife, hiking, baseball, and Jesus. I am passionate about being a good husband, enjoying a great game, seeing God in the mountains, and pursuing Jesus in all that I do and all of who I am. It struck me that I was carrying all of me in one hand. I was holding a key to everything that had power in my life. Can others see it? Would anyone notice? I might as well give you my Social Security number. Look at what I'm carrying! My life. My passions. My loves. All simplified and offered to the careful observer for deconstruction and criticism. I put my things in the backpack. I sift through a Bill Clinton biography and a book about chronic shopping habits at the airport bookstore to throw people off.

After boarding the plane, I remove from the backpack my “life”. I began to observe passengers boarding to try and guess my traveling companion from the options coming down the aisle. Is it the one with the laptop or the one talking on the phone? I hope it is not the one that is jamming his luggage at the front overhead compartment even though he is sitting in the back because he thinks the plane will unload faster if his luggage is at the front.Then I realize with a bit of a sinking feeling that the only traveler that can interrupt my reading, sleeping, and Sky Mall shopping time is the guy that is coming down the aisle now. Nothing in his hands, no briefcase or backpack or Burger King bag or cell phone. Nothing.

He brings only himself to the chair next to me. How am I supposed to figure him out? He sees my life. But he's not playing the game. He starts it. The conversation begins with small talk. I am an unwilling, tired, frustrated twenty something that doesn't want to talk about jobs, hometowns, or those small talk things that fill gaps in between awkward silences as I try to return to Velvet Elvis or Backpacker or Sports Illustrated only to be interrupted again.

He rambles some more about life and love and all the things I don't want to talk about. A tear wells in his eye. Divorce. Kids. Lost jobs. Bankruptcy. Grace. Forgiveness. Redemption. Hope. I was wrong. He was carrying a lot. My backpack had some books and magazines but he is lugging a broken life. He was carrying it in his heart, soul, mind…and he needed to let someone know. I couldn't see it. I didn't even ask. Did I even care? This game we play. When we try to figure someone out, compare ourselves, say the right thing, and strategize the relationship. It's ugly. It's human. We play that game. We play that stupid game everyday. Why? Baseball, hiking, Jesus, marriage…those are great things to know about me. They bind us, a community of diverse and weird people, to common passions.

Those things allow us to be known. They are insights into the truth about us. Home runs, vows, the Appalachian Trail, and church affiliation do not define me. You won't know me. But you can know about me. I have been walking around differently the last couple days. I still notice the things that help me know about people. They carry what they want me to know. They carry what they want me to think about them or ask them about. The things in their hands can define, cover up, expose, or become keys that unlock questions that perhaps have never been asked. My favorite scripture is I Thessalonians 2:8…"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." Actually, Paul's life was lived the other way.

It was life first, gospel second. Know someone, be known. Seek authentic, honest friendships where people are loved because of what the gospel has done for us and because we genuinely want others to experience that joy.Today, my challenge to you is to be observant. Look around at the people and what they carry. Ask the question. Make a connection. Help someone be known. You never know what they are carrying. They may need a hand with the load.

Contributed by Matt Burchett, Coordinator of New Student Programs, Belmont University
www.daveburchett.com