'Jocks Away' !!

I was asked a question this week:
“Do I need to sound like a ‘Jock’ to succeed on the radio”?

Well, what IS a ‘jock’?
What do you think about when you hear that word?
Personally, I hear a guy stuck in the mid 80’s, putting on his best ‘radio’ voice and talking in cliché’s.
(Now, when I say ‘guy’ I am also talking about female presenters here. It’s just a little cumbersome to always have to write him/her, he/she all the time. I’m sure the ladies here understand).

“Yes indeed……”, “Great to have you along……”, “Alrighty then……..”.
Yep, stuck in the 80’s, when those types of sayings were more acceptable.

But guess what?
It’s not the 80’s anymore.
Cassette tapes are gone.
The Rubik’s Cubes were binned a long time ago.
Kajagoogoo are working in B&Q.
Nobody wears drainpipe trousers and white socks (at least I hope not )!.
Times change. People move on.
So what’s the deal with ‘Jocks’ still on the airwaves?

These days radio is in a transition period.
You will hear people say that the days of radio listening are gone.
Radio is on the downward slope. We hear all about the iPod destroying radio forever.
Guess what?
I totally disagree.
In fact, I believe the opposite.

I see the next few years as the start of another Golden Age in radio.
Radio broadcasting has always been about communicating.
One-on-one communication between the presenter and the listener.
Over the past twenty years or so, we have turned our backs on that idea.
Stations all over the world have been churning out their
‘9/10/11 Hits In A Row‘ philosophy.
How instantly recognisable are these sayings to you ? :
More Music Less Talk.
The Most Music Allowed By Law.
More Hits Back To Back.
Pretty familiar, I’d say.

That’s because, up until now, it was the best way for radio stations to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
“More Hits In A Row – Guaranteed”.
That was a legitimate boast and a great selling point for a radio station back then.
If a listener wanted to hear non-stop music, the radio really was just about the only place they could get it.
Fast forward to 2007.
There you are playing eleven songs this hour while your competitor plays only ten. You win right ? You’ve played more music. You get the listeners, right?
Well, no.
Not now.
Not anymore. Maybe back in 1986 you would have won.
But not now.
Why ?
Because no matter how many hits you play, the new kid on the block (the iPod) will always play more.
You can’t beat the iPod for music.
With the iPod I can hear as many songs as I like in a row and they’re ALL my favourites. I don’t need to wait for the DJ to play it for me.
So the radio station could boast about playing 150 songs an hour (!), it doesn’t matter.
It can’t compete.

So, how is this a Golden Age for radio?
It’s a new Golden Age because Talk is coming back.
Not Talk Radio.
Just Talk.
Speaking .
Being yourself on air. The ‘real’ you. An identifiable person with a real personality.
Now we can get back to what radio is all about.
Communicating. Entertaining.
This is done through the spoken word.
Through the presenter.

Radio’s role to the listener now is much freer than back in the 80’s. The formats are still in place, but PD’s are beginning to realise that in order to stand out from iPod’s we need to be more for the listener. We need to give more.
You will now hear presenters flexing their creative muscles more on air.
Presenters are now being given the chance to stretch themselves, to use their talents fully and not just read a liner card ahead of twelve songs in a row.
Will the ‘Jock’ survive this?
I don’t think so.
Unless the Jock can re-brand himself into an actual person with an actual and recognisable personality, then he’ll wither away and die.

The radio listener will demand more. More entertainment is what they will want.
Their iPod can’t provide that. It is an inanimate object. It can’t relate to you, nor you to it.
It has no personality.

You do.

The Jock has had a good run at things.
Now it’s time for the entertainers to step in.



To find out more about how to be a radio ‘entertainer’, get in touch anytime:
brian@bmacmedia.com



BmacMedia Expert On Air Coaching.
http://www.bmacmedia.com