Inside Music MediaJerry Del Colliano

What to do?

Is it worth a radio station betting the future on 70 million people between the ages of 50 and 70 or just ignore them and concentrate on Millennials of which there are 86 million?

Radio isn’t big with Millennials so to be blunt, we need them more than they need us currently.

But there are more Baby Boomers than the even younger Gen Xers (about 45 million) and no one seems to want to bet the station on Xers.

It’s complicated.

When creating content in the digital age, it is preferable to target the change makers who in this case are Millennials.

But to do so means changing radio in a way that is so radical, not one radio operator that I am aware of has taken the leap.

Some think they have but they are really radio stations pretending to include Millennials and what it will take is total disruption of what the radio industry has always been.

But, I’ve isolated specific strategies that can be implemented by any radio station, any format in any market and I’m going to get into this at my Philly conference in a little more than six weeks from now.

As you will see, these concepts – the ones Millennials value the most – will never alienate Baby Boomers and will actually please them although ironically many of the things baby boomers still want from radio will drive Millennials away.

One of the 5 things that it takes to meet the needs of the next generation is to be more authentic but radio comes off as one of the least authentic things. Almost nothing about a radio station is authentic. It’s full of hype, commercials, promos and nonsensical sweepers.

That can be fixed.

The other 4 things that young demos require and that older listeners will also welcome are just as important and we will go through them one at a time.

Dan Mason of Cox and CBS is bringing a raw list of things that Millennials want from radio and you will be horrified with what’s on that list.   Wait until you hear them in the listeners’ own words.

This is going to be a fruitful dialog because without spending one single dime, smart stations can fine tune their strategy for not only satisfying loyal hard core listeners but for the first time have a chance to win the hearts of younger ones.

Here are 7 other critical issues at our April 6^th meeting:

1. Competing with streaming music services that along with YouTube are the go to sources for music entertainment for young audiences that make music radio less relevant. Streaming services are in for big trouble that radio can take advantage of. Pandora is for sale. Need I saw more? Someone bigger may buy them. What is radio going to do about this number one source of music competition?
2. Create your own social media. We’re blowing it. Social media is in great turmoil. Younger audiences like Snapchat not Facebook and radio needs to learn how to use the best available social media better – not as a hype machine. Snapchat’s message disappears in ten seconds or less.  A new set of skills will be needed.
3. Video, video, video. Unless you have tons of money to spend on trying to figure out how to monetize digital, let me show you how to create a significant cash stream from short form video on the budget of a Millennial teenager.
4. Your biggest competitor is not the competitor you think. It’s user-generated content. Did you see how Snapchat is competing with news services (old school as well as new) to cover the presidential election in 10 seconds or less. If this sounds alien to you, come join the conversation because if they could create new age content, radio can, too.
5. There is a place in hell for any woman who doesn’t support another woman – did you see how that Madeleine Albright one-liner has set off a debate on gender. Yet, my day job is working in generational media and I’m here to tell you that gender neutrality threatens to alienate radio from even more listeners if we don’t get this thing right. Men and women really blurring the gender lines. Are you ready for this? Let’s learn.
6. Listen to any radio station and tell me if it doesn’t sound like a robot is talking to you. But go to the Twitter page of any of your on-air people and be bowled over by how eloquent they are on Twitter but not on-the-air. I have something for you to take back with you that will change all of this.

A day of information and inspiration where we work together in a positive atmosphere.

This event will not be available by stream or video – only live and in person.

I can’t wait to be with you and share my enthusiasm and knowledge with you.

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