Tuesday, 27 July 2021

Don't just tease me, surprise me!

Matt Deegan’s blog this week has really got people talking. It’s titled: "Your radio station bores me" - so it’s not surprising.

Matt argues there’s very little on-air at the moment that makes him excited as a listener because very few stations take risks or do anything press-worthy.

There’s little or no stunting, no DJ’s said anything outrageous or even particularly moving.

One of my favourite quotes from the piece is:

I think sometimes there’s a view that the growth in digital media means its almost impossible to cut through and so just being consistent is the best option. I think that’s bollocks.

There’s clearly a place for the consistency and polish that makes pleasant background listening. It’s a popular choice, it’s profitable - it totally works. But when you genuinely don’t know what the presenter might say or do next, that’s exciting.

Speaking as a listener, I feel there’s a real lack of surprise.

These days, I mostly listen to Radio 2 in the car and usually only speech radio at home, but even phone-in radio is relatively predictable when it’s current affairs topics.

The likes of Tommy Boyd, Pete Price, Alan Robson and Iain Lee & Katherine Boyle are missed regularly on the airwaves.

I don’t blame the talent. There are some excellent content creators out there - and my heart sinks when I see they’re attracting big audiences on socials with their personality but they’re playing another five in-a-row on their radio show.

How can we be sure most listening isn’t just a habit?

Let’s give people more reasons to choose radio over other media in the future.

No comments:

Post a Comment

A Swift boost for radio

If you were anywhere near a radio this morning, you’ll know it was Taylor Swift’s world and we were all just living in it. The billionaire s...