Frost Advisory #410 – Every Station Has A Season: Turn, Turn, Turn

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1

I’ve heard it said that there are no straight lines in nature.  Every shoreline curves and winds.  Every path is jagged and bumpy.  Every landscape has heights and depths.

Over the years I’ve learned that radio stations go through seasons.  Often we have the illusion of stability until we’re jolted by change.

K-Love comes to town.

Your morning team breaks up because they can’t get along.

Your PD decides to become a monk.

Through these seasons I’ve noticed that stations have certain defaults when left unattended.  One station might become softer and more serious.  Another might default to cluttered and inconsistent.  Still another might become generic and lack broader emotional dynamic range.

“If you leave a thing along you leave it to a torrent of change.  If you leave a white post along it will soon be a black post.  If you particularly want it to be white you must be always painting it again; that is, you must be always having a revolution.”

G. K. Chesterton

No radio station performs at a high level for very long without the regular care and feeding.  A great program director is like a master gardener diligently picking the weeds and tilling the soil every day.

A remarkable program director motivates his talent to create winning moments that keep listeners coming back time and time again.

A winning program director doesn’t cling to the status quo; he prepares for the inevitable next season.

“To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven”

The Byrds


John Frost

John has been a successful major market DJ and Program Director for such companies as CBS, Gannett, Cap Cities, Westinghouse, Multimedia, and Sandusky and publishes the Frost Advisory.

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