BE BIG IN JANUARY

If you haven’t done this already, it’s too late. But make a note for next year.

If you work at a Country station, chances are you got killed in the ratings in December. Your enemy, the All Christmas AC station. Face it, women love Christmas music and they leave country radio for a few weeks in December and spend that time listening to the AC station. Those few weeks are enough to really have a really big impact in your December PPM or your Fall numbers. In non PPM markets, the numbers for All Christmas AC stations are so big in December, it can be enough to carry that station for the entire fall book.

Now that Christmas is over and everyone is back to their routine, it's time to make sure that January is a big month promotionally (in the past I've done "Live Free for a Year" in January). Have something big on the air and promote the sh*t out if it. Typically, January hasn't been a big month for promotions, but it's time to re-think that and have a strategy to welcome back those listeners that left you in December. Start teasing your major contest right around Christmas Eve/Day. Sell it, remember you will constantly have new cume who left for Christmas music and are now coming back. They may have no idea what’s going on with your station. Find subtle ways to welcome them back and keep them going into the New Year.