Living With Overlap

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Who's playing more Nirvana-- you or your sister station? Who gets to play "Plush" more? And while we're on the subject, who decided who would be the first to play the new Live record? If you're quietly fretting, or, loudly fighting over shows, artists, releases, and promotions with your supposed "sister station" you are not alone.

Most radio station multiopoly formats are, in some way, designed to overlap. While overlap is good for sales it can be lousy for programming. What was once fought for with the villain across the street must now, in many cases, be negotiated with your new buddy across the hall. Success is key here because not only do you risk ratings, you also risk the perception that you are not a team player--not a good image to have these days.

So how do you decide who gets what? If naked mud wrestling is out of the question, I have some suggestions.

Decide if you're on a team or not

This may seem obvious....it's not. A conscious strategic decision must be made regarding how programming will be managed. Right now it appears there are only two valid choices: align stations and build synergies, or keep them separate and let each station fight for share on their own. By not defining a specific plan, too many companies are telling their stations to compete as if they are a stand alone by default. This occurs even as management moves everyone into one building. Those tactics will not mix. To program competitively as a stand alone you must have secrets. That creates counter-productive conflicts when everyone is sharing a crowded work space.

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