Morning Radio Is Prime Time

Michael Hedges April 11, 2011 Follow on Twitter

For many radio stations, the most important branding element is the morning show. It’s all about the numbers; more radio listening takes place in the morning. Stations, typically, invest more between six and nine in the morning than any other day-part, sometimes more than the rest of the day. Even stations branded as all-music will add services and a stronger host, so important is the morning slot.

Finding objective criteria behind listeners’ choice has frustrated radio broadcasters for decades. The languages of consumer research and radio programming are distinct and more so from the terms listeners use to describe preferences and choices. It makes for long, late-night debates.

A seminar organized by the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting (Bayerische Landeszentrale für Neue Medien - BLM) (April 7) underlined the importance of morning radio and the challenges in understanding it all. For the event – Radio in the morning: between information and personality - the BLM commissioned a qualitative market study to give broadcasters more insight into morning radio listening.  The study concludes that morning radio listening choice is quite subjective.

What’s presented on radio morning shows ranges from content-rich to not. The German focus groups showed a range of preferences in content: listeners preferring lots of content like stations offering lots of content. The demand for lots of diverse information and entertainment is apparent and the framework – there’s only 60 minutes in an hour – forces brevity on morning show hosts and teams. Listeners, generally, like that.

Then, too, some morning radio listeners seek very specific content.  In terms of information that could range from local and international news to weather reports, sports scores and traffic reports. The presentation form, said the focus groups, is less important than the information itself. Some preferred “no disturbing background noise.” So, maybe all those production effects aren’t a big deal.

Responses from this particular set of focus groups, conducted by MS Medienbüro of Cologne, were notably “homogeneous,” opinions about the relations between form and content didn’t vary significantly. Subjects’ decision criteria was almost entirely determined by “topicality,” “relevance” and “conciseness.” As the study was conducted entirely within one geographical area, the researcher observed it is representative of the Bavarian radio market.

Morning show listeners tune in to be entertained and informed. “We want to know what’s going on in the world,” said the focus group subjects. More importantly they said, “We want to know what’s going on with us.” People know what they want and want what they know.

This particular study was designed to examine only the speech aspects of morning radio programs. Music content on Bavarian radio stations is reasonably diverse. For radio programmers and listeners, music content is a key brand characteristic, setting one station apart from another.

Along with a preference for “concise” and “brief” content on morning radio programs listeners in the focus groups expect a “lively” presentation. The role of the morning show host rises to the surface, arguably the question most debated by program directors, managing directors and show hosts themselves. Some are comedians, some are moderators and others are like circus ringmasters. Within every diverse radio market there’s something to fit every listeners interest.

When the focus group subjects were asked to identify specific stations along the dimensions of “best show host” and “local relevance” big regional broadcasters – also with the “biggest” morning shows - rose to the top. Regional commercial channel Antenna Bavaria, nominally an adult-contemporary music station, is a ratings leader with a multi-member morning team and plays little music during that day-part.

Discussion at the BLM Forum after the study findings were presented followed two themes, one new and one quite evergreen, both connected. At a time when social media and Web 2.0 is all the rage in media circles, radio audience reach in most of Europe continues to grow. New media’s rise, said one participant, has further blurred the line between information and entertainment.

What has boosted morning radio’s attraction for listeners, said consultant Patrick Lynen, is the morning show host’s role as a “beacon” bringing listeners together around the “campfire” of storytelling. The “community” building that new media people claim for their own is important to many and they’ve been there before with the radio.

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