Being bold and curious doesn’t hurt. It’s incredibly enriching and totally fun! Scaredy-cats, conservatives and sceptics should stop reading right now…

Today I would like to reflect with you on my experience with radio makers, audio managers and employees in many different countries, cities and broadcasting studios.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been lucky enough to have the freedom to exchange thoughts and views with lots more different characters than ever before. During this time I have been learning, getting inspired and gaining new ideas. But I have also been experiencing blockades and discovering friction, branch lethargy and even fear of innovation amongst radio stations.

Thereby I have discovered a simple formula:

The brave own success.

And this isn’t just a simple figure of speech. It really is true!

Those who wait and only rely on established systems and ways of doing things aren’t brave! For this reason, fearlessness and sometimes also political independence are needed to make things happen – to lead the branch, the jobs, the trade into a fantastic future. Whether this bravery pays off is something we won’t know until later. But then confirmation is even nicer!

And it is exactly this that constitutes real leaders and great businessmen: bravery.

Those who don’t give it a try are just along for the ride.

I would go so far as to say that 30% of radio makers are innovative, resolute and real doers!

7-figure turnovers in addition to linear commercial breaks

Only last week I visited a station that really impressed me! The director, a go-getter with business in his genes (he is “only” employed), a visionary, a doer, an enthusiast, a guy with a great, well-led team, a wonderful station and so much attention to detail. And, at the same time, an absolute realist.

He showed me a chart displaying where he and “his” station are already earning money in addition to regular linear commercial breaks. And will continue to do so, indeed will have to do so, in the future. This approach is already earning him a 7-figure turnover in addition to the UKW business!

No, I’m not raving about a monster radio brand from the south here – even if some of them down there are part of my 30% thesis and would instantly come to mind as fitting the description thereof.

Conservatism as a turnover blockage

I still experience completely contrary, yet still existent methods from the past though.

Of course, I’m aware that championing traditional systems will first cause some scepticism, and for some employees in the second and third row it’ll even cause anxiety and dismissal. And yet an astonishing amount of energy is released into conserving.

I’m sure it’s different for you though!

If not, let’s start with this point.

It’s time to ask questions

Whenever I’m allowed to present the streaMonkey business platform along with the possibilities, solutions and visions it brings to the table – and I can inspire the imagination – the following or similar questions almost always arise:

  • What does that mean, what do I get out of it?
  • Can I do … then?
  • But I’ve heard that…
  • What makes your solution different from my current one?
  • What are the others doing?
  • Do you think we can manage this with our team?

So, oftentimes the sticking points come into play at this point. These are often made more striking by the technical department and sometimes the team responsible for distribution.

I say: Take it easy!

Fear and conservatism don’t bring in new cash. In the best-case scenario, they only buy more time to laze around.

My tip: Start by taking a critical look at your bouquet, your offerings and means of distribution.

  • Is the quality right?
  • How much effort are you really putting in?
  • Do you provide a listening experience with the power to generate and bind contacts?
  • What makes you different from the rest?
  • How much real cash do you get out of it?

I still see station webpages with amazing stream bouquets and, in addition to this, I’ll usually see genre offerings with 10, 20, 100 concurrent listeners on the dashboards.

That’s not pretty!

  • Why are you doing that? Because that’s just the way it is?
  • How much manpower are you investing in a truly curated audio offering?
  • Does the channel really sound good and like a simulcast offering or does it sound more like a randomized playlist with quarterly updates?
  • Did a crafty colleague talk you into a channel?
  • Are you responsible for it and did you want it to be like this?
  • Does distribution say „we can give customers a complete world of streaming” but nobody actually checks the respective reach? Hold on a minute!
  • Can you really book, report and prioritize ad inventory on your channels yourself, all from the disposition environment you’re used to, or does your marketer do it for you?
  • Have you ever thought about generating turnover from outside of your primary broadcasting area?

Questions upon questions. Those who only want to redistribute can check out here.

With a Little Help From My Friends

If you recognize the possibilities and market power of digital distribution, if you want success that is controllable in real time, if you don’t want to have your performance indicators explained to you at some point by somebody else – you will have to start dealing with it.

We can help you to easily know and understand your inventory, on a daily, live or historical basis and before monthly or quarterly evaluations.

Soon there’ll be time to think about it all at some distance to day-to-day business – at Christmas and the turn of the year.

Actually, this is also the ideal time to use audio offerings more intensively – only if they’re good of course!

Just think about your management goals of 2022, think about your content as objectively as possible, question potential and, while doing that, also think about success and the pathway to it.

If you already have a tech-shack as a partner, e.g. for your streaming, analyzing etc., if you employ a format advisor or performance guru, occasionally order a market analysis, if you have tough content creators or fillers on board, if you already have a marketing interface set up – the coins are already coming in and the gears of your business are already turning correctly – then everything is fine!

But if you don’t want to just distribute technically, you need a platform!

A business platform that

  • has mastered technological processes in unprecedented quality,
  • presents your user data to you in real time and in a transparent and understandable fashion,
  • enables you to create programs and audio offerings in the best radio quality possible for your partners anywhere and anytime
  • can expand your marketing options noticeably

You need a partner that has all-round mastery of audio distribution, numbers and data, inventory monetization and production.

The entire streaMonkey crew would love to hear from you to exchange views, share inspiration and create market-enriching challenges.

Merry Christmas!