Trading Up

It is forever known as the “#1 worst trade in sports history”.

In 1919, the Boston Red Sox traded a player named George Herman (Babe) Ruth to the New York Yankees in exchange for some money to finance a musical, or pay off a loan, or something… upon completion of that deal, Ruth and the Yankees went on to dominate the baseball world, winning virtually everything for the next 18-20 years while the Red Sox did pretty much nothing.

The Babe Ruth trade just as easily could have been titled “The #1 best trade in sports history”, simply by turning the focus of the camera 180 degrees, onto the team that made out like bandits (the Yankees), rather than the team holding the short straw (the Red Sox). In other words, every trade is an exchange of one thing for something else you believe to be better. Sometimes it works out in your favor, sometimes not.

Since you can really only have one thing coming out of your station’s radio speakers at a time, everything in radio programming is a trade-off. If you are doing thing A on the radio, then you cannot be doing thing B. As programmers, what you choose to put on the radio now is hopefully more meaningful than other possible options.

But what does that mean?

When you play a new and unfamiliar song, you are trading the opportunity to play a song you know listeners love, with the hope that it will become recognized and loved quickly.

When the morning show interviews an unknown new artist for 7 minutes straight, you are trading the opportunity to say something winsome and connective that everyone will enjoy and then play a song that you know listeners will love.

When you promote the giveaway at 5:20 of the $5 pizza coupon, you are trading an opportunity to invite listener to download your app so they can listen to you anywhere. ?

Some trades are unavoidable. Playing commercials or underwriting announcements are necessary to create revenue that keeps the lights on, so we gladly make that trade. Same goes for fundraisers – we do them because the results make all the other days possible.

I’m not suggesting that we don’t make the trades, quite the contrary. Trading up is how sports teams get stronger and win more, and it is how radio stations become #1 in their market. I’m only suggesting that we give the energy and attention to making sure the majority of the trades we make are good ones, not bad ones.

If you’re stopping the music to do a break, are you as confident as you can be that what you are going to say is as good as the song you could be playing?

If you are pairing two talent together that have never worked with a partner before, do you believe that the combination will grow into something more than the sum of the parts?

Are you adding the feature because you really believe it can add value to your listeners life?

If you are airing a promo about something your station is offering, is it connected to the overall strategy and mission?

Whether it be sports or radio, trades come with risk. The top drafted quarterback who is solid for one team may just never find his rhythm with the next team. Some songs just don’t catch on, and some team shows never click. Nonetheless, trying new things is a must – but preferably with much forethought and wisdom and prior experience added into the process, so the likelihood of success is as high as it can be. Whatever you and I are going to play on our radio stations in the next :60 seconds is a trade-off… let’s both do our best to choose wisely.?