STOP THE SELF SERVING

There’s a radio station I sometimes listen to that calls themselves “legendary” and it drives me nuts. I love the music and the overall presentation and the jocks are OK but saying your station is “legendary” may have worked 40 or 50 years ago, but not today. Unfortunately, radio stations today aren’t consisdered legendary by anyone other than the people who work there or the owners. Listeners don’t care. They don’t believe the hype. They are too busy and don’t use radio the same way they did when legendary radio stations did exist.

That brings me to my topic, stop self serving, both as an individual jock and the station as a whole. I hear it all the time. Personalities need to stop patting themselves on the back on the air, running calls from listeners telling the DJ how great he/she is and how much they love them. Radio stations need to stop calling themselves “legendary” or “world famous” (with the exception of KROQ in LA, they have the heritage and can back up that position). 18-34’s and 18-49’s are very sensitive to hype and hate it. Very few things turn them off more. There is nothing endearing or genuine about self serving and patting yourself on the back. You don’t need to tell listeners how great you are. They know. That’s why they are listening to you and choosing your station over the competition.

One of the best ways to endear yourself to the listener is to make fun of yourself. The exact opposite of self serving. Look at Howard Stern. He made fun of himself everyday and guys could relate with him and in turn were endeared to him. When Howard started dating a super model, moved into a huge apartment in Manhattan and talked about how much money he was making and the famous people he was hanging with his audience began to lose interest, couldn’t relate and weren’t endeared to him as much as they were when he was a typical married father living in the suburbs, bitching about his life and living a life most men could relate with.

Don’t do the show, or program the radio station for you, do it for the listener. There’s a big difference between selling your station’s benefits and selling the fact you think you are great.