Recently on a social media platform a programmer in a one station market in my home state needed help building a country library.  In his post, he indicated that he had a demand from his audience for a country music show (his format is classic hits) and that with no competition to speak of in the market, he was looking to build a library to do a “country music show” on the station.  Fair enough, right?

In this particular platform there are programmers, GM’s, jocks, all from different parts of the country.  All are likely to be in much bigger and more competitive markets than this guy looking for a little help. So instead of simply helping the guy out with some great ideas (like play AirplayAccess, New Music Weekly, SpinsTrackingSystem and other radio industry sources) they use the opportunity to tell this guy what an idiotic idea it was.  One guy even touted his “30 years” in the business as being the tipping point to just how “wrong” this idea was. As if, his 30 years experience was going to somehow change this guy’s mind.  Amazing.

While we all know the formula that is engrained in every broadcaster’s and programmer’s mind from the beginning- “play the hits”, and “don’t mesh genres or formats because you lose half of your audience”, this is something very small town radio can still do.

I know several small stations in isolated markets with “block programming” around the country. I used to work for one. I also know of a station that played MOR (music of your life) half the day and programmed in Chinese the other half of the day in a town of 1500 in extreme Northern California.  The bottom line is they did it because IT MADE MONEY.

Who are we to say in other stations, markets, situations, what others do?  It’s their station, their license, their audience. Instead of embarrassing the guy with repetitive, negative comments, one would think broadcasters would support him by giving him some ideas and simply wishing him luck.

I’ve been in radio, still programming and active, since 1974. I don’t use that experience to even begin to pretend how you run your ship should be identical to how I run mine.  It’s a whole new world out there. Radio continues to change. Corporate radio continues to be homogenized, very predictable, cookie cutter in thousands of markets. Competing with even more online and satellite based entertainment competing for a set of ears.  Different is good.

Wouldn’t it be a boring world if every restaurant you enjoyed served the same food the same way? Every movie theater had the same movie playing on the screen? Every ballgame had the same two teams?

Thinking outside the box and being different should be an easier decision today than ever before.

Randy Adams – Radio programmer

(contributor writer – The Adams File)