More of this Feature • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 • Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 • Chapter 11 • Chapter 12 • Chapter 13 • Chapter 14

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Related Resources •  Want To Work On The Radio? •  Back On The Air - And Now It's Personal •  Radio Morning Man Terminology •  So, You Wanna Work In Radio? •  Confessions of a Morning DJ •  The Radio DJ FAQ •  How Do I Break Into Radio? •  You Don't Have To Be On The Air To Be In Radio •  Be A DJ: Radio Jobs Available

I've worked in plenty of situations I wasn't thrilled about: When I was 22 I had a job on a station where I played Big-Band Swing music from the 1940s accentuated by traditional singers from the 50's and '60s (like I knew anything about that kind of music). When I was 33, I was working a Hits format, aiming at 12-34 year-old women and men.

When I was 35 I was working an Oldies format geared to persons, 25-54. When I was over 40, I worked at a Modern Rock format aimed at 18-34 year-old men. I don't think I would have survived very well if I had been temperamental or picky about format. There is especially no room for that today if you wish to stay employed.

When you do a radio show, you have an obligation to serve your primary demographic. But, if you're clever, you can present content in several layers at the same time, appealing to more than just your primary. What you present to your audience should be marketed to them. For example, men are interested in sex. Women are interested in romance.

When I talk about, say, a new sex survey, I position it as news about sex AND relationships, even if it's just about sex. The content is geared toward our men, but the marketing of our content hits home with the women who are listening. The guys hear sex, the ladies hear relationship, i.e. romance.

As another example, read this excerpt printed in “The Economist”, May 2, 2002:

Women are most attracted by infidelity when most susceptible to impregnation IT IS easy to understand why men are unfaithful. A man's reproductive output, like that of a male of any species, is limited mainly by the number of females he can impregnate. For women, the explanation of infidelity is more subtle. Women need (in evolutionary terms, as well as in everyday life) quality in partners, rather than quantity. And however admirable their main squeeze might be, it is unlikely that his genes are unbeatable. They may also need variety. If different children have different fathers and therefore different genes, the vicissitudes of life are less likely to carry away the whole brood in one go. Both of these needs mean that even women in stable relationships may not be above the occasional act of adultery.

Adultery, infidelity, pregnancy....wow! Plenty of sex for the guys, yet...it's really a story about women. This is layered content.

Let's face it: If Heinz can take red ketchup, color it purple and sell more of it, then you can certainly take any prep and stretch its potential. The key is to start thinking about the product YOU present on-the-air each day. It IS a product. The combination of your station's image and sound along with your contribution in your time slot is a product that is created everyday for market.

How much thought do you put into that product each day?

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