Things That Happened in 2012: The Wreck of the FM News

From Rob Hart for The Rob Report:

No one wakes up in the morning and says “I want a younger sounding news station!” 

The alarm clock goes off, and Pat and Felicia tell you the following:  the weather for the day, the traffic, and whether the United States still exists as a global power.  As long as they answer those three questions, there’s no real reason to go anywhere else. 

“Younger, faster, smarter,” was our catchphrase for a while.  It didn’t work for several reasons:  1- No one thinks they need a younger or faster all-news radio station, and 2- it offended people who considered themselves old. 

Last April, I was on a United flight from London to Chicago.  The flight crew was based in Chicago, and I spent an hour talking to a flight attendant about the awesome new all-news radio station I worked at.  It ended with me giving her my business card and her promising to give us a listen. 

Then she heard the “better, younger, faster, smarter” tagline. 

I got an e-mail. 

“I’m 50, and you’re saying this radio station is not for me.  Sorry.” 

One of the things that I learned from my FM News experience is that if you’re competing against an established brand, the point of differentiation has to be breathtakingly obvious. 

I didn’t figure it out until after we folded.  In September, I was driving down Lake Shore Drive to a White Sox game.  Traffic sucked.  It was a Thursday night and the Bears were playing the Packers.  I flipped over to ‘BBM “on the 8’s.” 

No traffic.  Bears pre-game. 

EUREKA!  Forget Rod Blagojevich…the billboard campaign should have been “TRAFFIC AND WEATHER ON THE 1’S.  EVEN DURING FOOTBALL SEASON.” 

Ahh…hindsight.

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Rob Hart is a graduate of Marquette University.  He’s been in radio since April of 2000.  He’s worked at WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee, WGN-AM in Chicago, and the former FM News 101.1 in Chicago.  He is currently the morning sports anchor at WLUP-FM in Chicago.