Friday, March 9, 2012

Let your PD know you are on top of it. Here are a few basic reports you should ask your PD to pull for you from your music scheduling system and you and he/she should discuss.

I've met so many GMs who proudly proclaim they know nothing about programming as if it were a badge of honor and I have to call *&$#@!*^ (you know the eight-letter word I'm thinking of)....

You are the GENERAL Manager. Programming is under your charge, too. So get up to speed.

1. Ask him to pull the music clocks for prime dayparts and explain the categories and rotations and why some songs play more than others. It's all so logical. Does it look right to you?
2. Ask for a Projected vs. Actual Turnover Report. Are the songs that you set up in the system to play more, actually playing more? Are songs in fringe categories playing more than powers just because they are easier to schedule?
3. Ask her to print a log for you so you can see a day's music. Ask questions as you go through.
4. Ask him to print the coding he uses for each song that is in the system. If he is not using Sound Code, Type, Tempo and at least two or three of the other controls, you are not truly controlling your playlist.
5. Show her a reach and frequency report and compare that to your category rotations. Fairly simple exercise. Your strongest songs should have significant frequency just like a good commercial schedule ... and the numbers don't lie. If your powers don't have a three to five frequency each week, they are not powers.

You will learn a lot.