A few months ago WCSG was shocked by the departure of their morning host co-hosts Tommy and Brook to a secular radio station in the same market. I blogged about it. I asked a number of questions. The most important question I asked was, “Do Christian radio stations put too much emphasis on their air talent, rather than on Christ?”
I also said that Christian radio was unique and that while having quality air talent is important, it’s not the only thing. Christian radio has something more important than talent, they have the Holy Spirit.
Now please — don’t think I’m using ratings to rate the effectiveness of a Christian radio station. However, I will use ratings to prove my point. My point was that Christian radio — done well — isn’t dependent on popular co-hosts to do well. In fact, I thought the departure of Tommy and Brook would do little to 91.3 WCSG — the station they left. That’s not to say they weren’t doing a good job. They’re pros and worked hard in show prep and coming up with new ideas.
The Winter books are out and it’s amazing…almost no change in ratings for WCSG — in fact, they’ve gone up in several areas. Here are the numbers:
For all people 12 + WCSG had a 6.2 share (#3 in the market)– up from 5.7 in the fall #4 in the market).
For all people 25 to 54 WCSG had a 8.2 share (#3 in the market) — up from 6.8 in the fall (#5 in the market).
The demographic information for women are very similar, but I’ll spare you the details. The interesting thing is the numbers for men were mixed. Some numbers up, some down.
What’s the bottom line here? The bottom line is don’t let your talent drive your Christian radio station. Let the mission of your radio station drive your talent. That’s not to say you shouldn’t try to promote your talent, but that does mean you need focus on them. Christian radio is about one thing — Christ. When we stop thinking about that, we stop thinking about our mission.
That’s not to say these guys excluded Christ — they didn’t do that at all. They constantly took prayer requests and did little things that made a difference. But, John Balyo has done a great job taking over — solo. That’s not easy, but he’s doing a great job.
May 29, 2008 at 4:34 pm |
Pardon my objection, but it just does not seem becoming to engage in this kind of public bashing of other people. You may say that you’re just talking about the “issue,” but as soon as you mention someone’s name in connection with it, you’re now talking about them as well. Whatever you may think of people and their motives and/or methods, you really have to be careful that you’re not crossing the line of Matt. 7:1. Oh and one more thing…you live by the sword, you die by the sword, Greg. You say numbers don’t really mean anything, so why quote them when they’re in your favor? Will you really think that your theory has been blown to bits if WCSG’s spring numbers go down, and Star’s go up? Will you watch the trend over several books, or will you go back to the old mantra, “numbers don’t matter.” I don’t think they matter so much either, but I’m not going to gloat just because they might be in my favor…this time!
May 29, 2008 at 10:08 pm |
Donnie:
I don’t believe I was ‘bashing’ anyone. I mentioned their names only because I blogged about it months ago and want to give some reference. In terms of ‘issue’ — I stuck with the issue. “Do Christian radio stations put too much emphasis on personalities?”
In terms of Matthew 7:1 — I don’t believe I condemned anyone here. I didn’t suggest the two left for any other reason than they ‘were called’ to go – which is what they told me in an email. I believe I wrote that in a previous blog. I just remember there were many who thought their departure would hurt WCSG. While it hurt internally, I didn’t think WCSG would see fewer people listening because of it. The only tool I have to prove that point is Arbitron. If I had another source, I would use that. I said in a previous blog that I would look at the next book to see if my theory was correct. That’s what I did.
I’ve NEVER said numbers don’t mean anything. What I DID say is numbers shouldn’t DRIVE what we do in Christian radio. The message of the Gospel is offensive. That will push people away. There are a few things in Christian radio that are measurable — Arbitron, Sharathon, website visits and how the station is motivating people to be involved in outreach. The last one isn’t always visible…but you can see it if you start looking.
May 30, 2008 at 1:08 pm |
Let me clarify, then I won’t bother you again. What I’m saying first of all is that it does not seem to be the Spirit of Christ to mention names in the context of slamming an “issue” or “philosophy” prevalent today, whether that be in the church or in Christian radio. As soon as you link somebody’s name to the “issue” of “personality-driven Christian radio,” it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon (thank you, President Bush, for that one!) to figure out that you’re saying those people whose names you’ve mentioned are guilty of the whole “personality-driven” thing…the response from a guy named Jeff (I think) to your first blog only confirms what I’m saying. And I’m saying that it shouldn’t be happening in a public forum. You shouldn’t have brought it up in December, and you shouldn’t be bringing it up with naming names today, either.
Second, my point about Matthew 7:1 was not meant to be applied to anyone’s motive for leaving one radio station and going to another. I know you’ve walked carefully on that one, and I commend you. What I’m talking about is judging others’ motives concerning how they “do” radio…their methodologies, etc. You’ve made judgments about people being too personality driven, and have suggested or at least intimated publicly that certain individuals were too self-centered, making it about them, rather than Christ, by the way they did their jobs. You may not care for what actually goes out over the air, but I don’t think it’s fair to assume you know their motives. And that’s kind of how it came out.
And that’s too bad. Jesus said, “If they’re not against me, they’re for me.” You may not like their methods, but to suggest or intimate that they are not interested in having “Christ in Christian radio” is itself unchristian in my mind. Again, it doesn’t strike me as having the Spirit of Christ. I wish you would just let the issue drop. They did a good job when they were at “our” radio station, and they’re doing a good job at the station they’re at now. Let’s just leave it at that and move on, OK?
And I agree with your last paragraph, just to show that I’m not disagreeable about everything!
May 30, 2008 at 1:38 pm |
No, I haven’t made judgments about motives. I’ve simply asked the question — do WE put too much emphasis on personalities? I believe in my earlier posts I said that I didn’t have an answer to this question because you need quality announcers and you need Christ in your programming. The question (in my mind) is balance. I wasn’t coming out and judging ANYONE’S motives (specifically), although I DO want people to think about how they ‘DO’ radio because it’s easy to fall on one side of the fence or the other.
August 9, 2008 at 8:46 pm |
Is WCSG actively looking for a new morning team? Seems like an awfully long time, eh?
August 9, 2008 at 10:33 pm |
Why would WCSG WANT to hire a new morning team? Have you seen the latest Arbitron numbers for their morning show? John Balyo is doing very well. I’m guessing they’ll hire a morning co-host/producer, but I’m not sure they want to replace Balyo. I wouldn’t.