The Social Media/Digital Content tidal wave.  It seems like the entire radio world seems to be dwelling on this now, but frankly, without a lot of progress.  There’s a lot of activity, but not much in the way of results.

Here’s why: Facebook (and all social media) is what people do to kill time; but radio is what people use as a companion while they’re actually DOING something.  (And for purposes of this discussion, let’s not even talk about podcasts.  Their rate of success is minimal, and they’re not even going to begin being monetized to any successful degree for another decade.)

But here’s what DOES work, in my opinion: SHOW ME MORE THAN WHAT I HEARD (on the air).

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The National Football League may not be what you’d think of in designing a great radio station – but it’s an excellent example of what CAN happen.

The “old” NFL was grind-it-out, three yards and a cloud of dust, run the ball most of the time, pass when you had to, cautious. In a word, BORING.

The new NFL is “let it fly” quarterbacks who’ll throw in ANY down-and-distance situation, “go for the ball” defensive backs, “sack the quarterback” pass rushing linemen, trick plays.  Pinball-fast pace.

So which description fits your station?

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Man, there’s a lot of “Foghorn Leghorn” loudmouths on the radio these days – especially in Sports and Talk formats, but they’re honking away at full blast in other formats, too.

You do know you have a microphone, right?  And the mic is the Listener’s EAR, so there’s really no need to shout into it.

Turn on the Game Show Network sometime and watch “The $25,000 Pyramid” and you’ll see the great Dick Clark.  Dick was really the first “veejay” doing American Bandstand, became known as “America’s oldest teenager,” did countless other things (his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve broadcasts were legendary), and was a terrific guest, if you ever had the chance to get him on your show.

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In a coaching session this week, it occurred to me that most talents today might not have been as fortunate as I was in terms of who influenced them.  The names might not mean much to you, but I started off working for a wonderful P. D. named Larry Ryan in Shreveport, my home town, whose mantra was “Do something!  Any idiot can intro songs.”  That gave me permission to try – and equally important – permission to fail.

Then I worked for radio pioneer Gordon McLendon (who, with Todd Storz, INVENTED Top 40).  Gordon was all about Creativity, too, and P. D. Michael Spears taught me tight, concise formatics to harness that creativity.

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There’s a famous story that David Letterman tells about Johnny Carson.  One night on The Tonight Show, fairly early in his career, the young Letterman was a guest.  And he and Carson got on one of those rolls where everything each of them said was funnier than the last thing.  The audience was in stitches laughing at each line, and finally Carson broke into the “patter” he had used as a magician when he was young – the absurdity of which resulted in uproarious laughter that led perfectly into a commercial break.

During the break, with the set darkened, Carson, who was a mentor to Dave, leaned over and said, “You’ll use everything you’ve ever known.”

Truly great air talents know this, and it’s a really interesting parameter to work on as a coach.  But the key is IF you can figure out exactly what the “fuse” is to light that “nugget” up.

Often, I see air talents with a good concept, but no idea of how it might work.  Using something just because you have that bullet in the chamber doesn’t mean that you can just fire it indiscriminately.

Think “What would facilitate this?”  Because it has to make sense in the flow of the conversation, or it’ll sound awkward.