Launching a New Show Is a Strategic Adventure
Some stations launch new shows and get themselves into trouble from Day One.
The show or management believe the show needs to start with a big giveaway and trumpets blowing announcing that a new show is in town, and they immediately set themselves up to fail.
You start a new show like it’s a new restaurant in town – soft launches with no attention allow everyone to get comfortable, develop chemistry, and not highlight there’s a change. Listeners don’t like change – that disruption in their expectations and routine should be done with lots of handholding to help listeners through the newness. A managed opening strategy and patience work in your favor short- and long-term to hold on to the audience.
My phone tends to ring in only two scenarios: there’s a new show about to launch and it must be started strategically. Or the show is in the latter stages of its life cycle, and it needs to be re-invigorated. Let’s talk in this Planet Reynolds how to do the former.
Your primary goal upon launch is to endear yourself to the cume already there. Losing them is expensive to get back. Here are nine guidelines as part of a strategic plan I share with new teams just starting on the station:
- Topics (and music) should be familiar because the talent isn’t. Nothing unfamiliar for content. Topics come from: local (if you are a live and local show), pop (popular) culture, stories from your life that prove you’re just like them, and music/artist-based content. We all wake up and want to be around what we know. Because you aren’t familiar, drive that through your topics. If not, the audience will have to put in effort and that rarely works out.
- Affirm and earn images that you’re fun, genuine, friendly, and authentic in every break. They know if you’re faking it.
- Character development is very important. Here’s where all your connection points are. Introduce yourself by being honest and sharing the parts of your life that help you connect. Letting them get to know you helps form that connection which leads to becoming familiar. Can the audience relate to the story you’re telling because they’ve had a similar experience? We like to be around people just like us. Feed that desire.
- Be interested in them so they’re interested in you. Lots of phones, lots of storytelling. But land on putting the focus on the audience. You will never lose being more interested in their story than you hoping they’ll be interested in yours.
- Avoid the point-of-fatigue that happens in breaks by under-staying the welcome. Shorter breaks lead them to wanting more. Longer breaks test the patience of those there, heightening the chance they’ll bail. This is worse with breaks that are just chatter and have no destination or payoff.
- Music is your friend right now. Lots of music holds their hand through the transition. It also folds you into the brand of the radio station.
- Be careful how you do your strategic content, so listeners don’t think, “They’re trying too hard to impress me.” Ever see someone at a party trying to prove how funny or interesting they are? Don’t be that guy.
- Respect the past. What expectations did listeners have of the previous show and what fits given that? Meet those in every break.
- No promotion of the show just yet (on or off the air) because promoting something heightens expectations by users. This is a soft, quiet launch. Elevate expectations by telling listeners how great/funny you are, and the audience will say, “Not as good as they tell me they are.” Lower expectations and there’s a much better chance they’ll warm up to you faster.
We often want to call attention to change. But when we add in the hype machine in a world where consumers are skeptical of all that, we set ourselves at a deficit.
While there are exceptions to the above, the game plan for me on stuff like this is to start quietly so we tee the show up for longer term image building and success.