The Program Doctor announces a new training tool – an advanced program Intensive dedicated to creating the most important program enhancement, the Signature Segment.

 There’s no doubt that the Signature Segment is the most effective tool available to rapidly improve the audience appeal of a locally-produced show. The basic Intensive covers this subject in depth, including brainstorming about possible subjects. But, what this first-level Intensive doesn’t have time for is the actual creation of viable Signature Segments … inventing them, describing them, creating the “recipe” for their construction, piloting and evaluation. For that reason, we have been asked to offer a more advanced training session devoted exclusively to turning ideas for Signature Segments into reality.

Check out the details on the Signature Segment Intensive.

“People don’t fall in love with distribution channels — they fall in love with content. … Great content is unbounded by distribution channels.” Mark Ramsey, President, Mark Ramsey Media

“If you don’t care, how the hell are you going to make a listener care?” Valerie Geller, Consultant & Trainer

“Be a change agent in your community – convene the top conversations. Go big or go home. BE the change!” Jody Evans, President & CEO, WCQS – Asheville, NC

Back in the day when young writers were pitching magazines to publish their work, there used to be a common complaint by magazine editors: “Some of the writers have never even seen our magazine! Don’t they realize how rude and disrespectful it is to pitch us stories that we would never publish, because they’re just not us!”

I have been working on recruiting a journalism staffer for a major public radio station. And, frankly, after sitting through a bunch of interviews and reading even more applications, I am stunned that almost none of the applicants have taken the time to do basic homework. This would include:

1. Familiarity with the station.

2. Knowledge of the job they’re applying for.

Both of these are absolutely basic. In this time of easy Internet access, they could both be accomplished with a few mouse clicks.

Applicants should go to the station’s web site/s and find out the history of the station, what its major programs are, what its declared mission is. They should look at staff lists to find out who’s who there. They should look on the web for articles (Wikipedia is a great start) about the city and region the station is located in, what the major policy questions, demographics of the population and civic challenges are.

Finally, applicants should thoroughly review the job description. They should articulate clear questions, and most of all — they should imagine themselves in the job and spend a little time thinking what they’d like to do with the job. If the job is journalistic, they should think and even talk to people to get some provocative and timely story ideas.

To not do this fundamental homework is foolish. You’ll be forced to punt, and you won’t fool people into thinking you’ve done your homework. Instead, they’ll just conclude that (a) you don’t respect them enough to know the difference and (b) you don’t really care about the job. Word about performances like this gets around — broadcasting is a small community. You will be the big loser.

We’re proud to be working with these active clients:

• At Sixes & Sevens: a planned weekly program about remaining vibrant and active during aging. For the  11-million+ people in their sixties and seventies.  
• ROI – Return on Investment Analysis: a joint project with John Sutton to examine the return on investment for $$$ spent by stations on local productions.

• Safe Space Radio: a weekly program produced and hosted by Dr. Anne Hallward, dealing with stigmatized people talking honestly about their struggles

• Mountain Lake PBS, the public TV station serving Plattsburg NY, the Adirondacks, all the way north to Montreal!

• ideastream’s Sound of Ideas radio program and Ideas TV program.

 Check out Jim’s entire Client List.

In an article titled “The Philosopher King and the Creation of NPR,” writer Steve Oney excerpted his own book beiing written for publication by Simon and Shuster. In it, Oney tells the story of NPR’s first day in May, 1971 when the nation’s capital was under seige from anti-war demonstrators. He tells a funny (in retrospect!) story about how I was sprayed with tear gas. “Protesters urged (me) to urinate into a handkerchief then hold it over (my) nose. The ammonia, they said, would neutralize the poison. Russell replied, ‘I’d rather die.’”

Writer Oney also quotes me as saying about Bill Siemering, NPR’s first Program Director and the inventor of NPR’s first program All Things Considered. “Siemering had this vision of radio as an instrument of education in the finest sense … He saw radio as a totally different animal.”

Finally, Oney quotes me describing the unusual staff assembled for the early NPR: “It was an odd assortment of folks,” said Russell, who at least had wire service experience. “He hired me as a safety in case these crazies went off the deep end.”

You can read the entire article here.

June 9th’s edition of Current Newspaper carries this ad, written and placed by me in honor of Marketplace’s 25^th anniversary year. (Click on the image, to read it.)

Who knew that the program would survive a quarter of a century?! Indeed, those of us who were there at the beginning often doubted whether it would survive a quarter of a year! I will always remember Marketplace’s first Palo Verde site in Long Beach, next to the Merry Maids. As we prepared to launch an ambitious new show in just three months, I observed that the balcony was only one story high – so jumping off would mean only injury, not death!

I want to thank all of those named for their commitment and faith. Together they are responsible for creating an enormous success, one of the triad of top programs in public radio. No matter the aggravation it and we caused each other from time to time, let us never forget our enormous pride in the child we bore. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Jim

Is radio dead or dying? That’s a constant refrain, despite the fact that 92% of Americans listen to radio every week according to Arbitron. As Mark Twain once said, “the rumors of my death are exaggerated!”

A more interesting discussion, though, resolves around the question: what IS radio? Once it was an analog sound delivery system, “broadcasting” from a fixed antenna atop a rusting tower, to a radio receiver at a specific time, on a fixed frequency. But, that’s all changed with the digital revolution.

Today, radio is digitally-encoded information, delivered by any technical means available, to a consumer when and where he/she wants it. A recent quote from veteran radio guru Norm Pattiz, “the man who created and turned Westwood One into one of the biggest and most recognizable radio networks in the country,” says:

“You can’t look at radio as a bricks-and-mortar operation, and consumed on a radio over a certain frequency. That’s a recipe for disaster. So much of radio is being consumed online, and on the Internet.”

If you accept Pattiz’s redefinition of radio, the medium is alive and well, with a great future. With this more accurate definition, National Public Radio had no need to lose the word “radio” from its title; all it had to do is redefine radio as the all-inclusive medium it has become.

In March of this year, the New York Times published the results of its intense study of Innovation. The report contains one of the most concise and clear definitions I have seen of the much-talked-about concept of disruption. Here are some important quotes from that report:

“Incumbents treat innovation as a series of incremental improvements. They focus on improving the quality of their premium products to sustain their current business model. Disruptors introduce new products that, at first, do not seem like a threat. Their products are cheaper, with poor quality – to begin with. (But), over time, disruptors improve their product, usually by adapting a new technology. The flashpoint comes when their products become ‘good enough’ for most customers. They are now poised to grow by taking market share from incumbents.”

The report also lists five significant characteristic of Disruptive activities:

• Introduced by an “outsider”
• Less expensive than existing products
• Targeting underserved or new markets
• Initially inferior to existing products
• Advanced by an enabling technology

The full report is here: 224608514-The-Full-New-York-Times-Innovation-Report

Successful programs these days are “sustainable.” That seems to be the way we describe programs that appear to be viable financially. Through underwriting sponsorships, grants or pledge support, a sustainable program attracts support for its staff and expenses. It isn’t considered a drag on the station’s overall resources.

But, other than using “belly-button logic” or intuition, how would you actually know if a program is truly sustainable?

Financial Sustainability:

Well, you can start by counting. What does it cost to produce the show? What are the direct expenses — like staff — that you would not incur if you didn’t produce this program?

In doing your counting, though, it is easy to fool yourself that these direct costs are the total budget of the program. They’re not. In order to know what you’re really spending on every show, you need to make a “fully loaded budget” which includes all costs. For example, do you use studio time? If so, how much and what does it cost? You need to identify the program’s fair share of the station’s general expenses. These would include a small portion of all of the station’s support staff. A share of the rent and utilities. Office supplies, insurance, legal, etc.

There are two ways to handle these additional expenses:

1. If you can, identify the expense … like long distance telephone or office supplies and postage … and list them as a direct expense in your budget.

2. If you can’t identify them precisely … like a share of security or management staff … add up your estimates and determine the overhead as a percentage you will charge each project to help pay the overall bills.

You may ask, “Why is this kind of budgeting necessary?” Here are a couple of answers:

• Anything you donate to the program, like studio time, is an “in-kind” form of funding and will count when you’re trying to match cash donations;

• You’ll want to know what your show really costs so there are no surprises down the road. For example, you count studio time because at some point, your studios will be “maxed out” and you may need to buy studio time elsewhere.

• Studio facilities need to be replaced. Have you been depreciating and “escrowing” the cost of replacing that board?

I have attached a template I developed for calculating overhead.

Intellectual Sustainability:

There’s another kind of “sustainability” that a program needs to have. It is intellectual sustainability. Is the idea of the show deep enough, rich enough, to sustain listeners’ interest?

Lots of ideas are exciting and engaging the first few times you hear and consider them, but don’t “have legs” to sustain interest 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. The best way to test this is to have a brainstorming session with creative/editorial staff and Indies. User them to come up with manifestations of the idea – stories you could do to illustrate the central theme. In the brainstorming session, do the ideas come fast and furious? Can you come up with 50 ideas in an hour? Does it feel like there are many more that would be really gripping to the audience? Or do you find yourselves petering out and losing touch with the main idea? Other examples include exciting minds you can tap, great intellects or storytellers.

The best test of “intellectual sustainability” is to pilot segments or the entire program. Then you can put it on the air, telling your audience it is a test and one you need their reaction to. You can put up a short survey on you web site and invite listeners to go online and indicate whether they liked the pilot and if they would like to hear this kind of program on an ongoing basis. More and more stations are including “the public” in such testing. You could even produce a call-in show following the pilot to allow listeners to quiz you about this potential new program.

Mission Sustainability

Finally, not every worthwhile program will attract a lot of underwriting or even pledges. Some programs you do because they are central to your mission as a public radio station, serving your community. In judging sustainability, be sure not to ignore “mission fulfillment” as a measure. While it is hard to quantify, it certainly can be a “tipping point” when a program is viable financially and sustainable intellectually. If it also contributes to fulfilling your station’s mission, you probably have the winning combination.

Continue reading →

Many clients have asked me if there is an introductory package, a way to get started working on improving a local program, without committing to the whole 9 yards (“The Intensive”).

I am happy to say, “Yes.” There are three ways to try out The Program Doctor’s services to see if they meet your needs … before taking on the cost and time commitments of “The Intensive.” See which of these looks like it might meet your needs. You can see descriptions of each by clicking on their title below.

The most important thing is … to get started thinking about and improving your programs, making them sustainable. I am happy to apply my experience and skills to help you begin this process.