The TSL Solution You Will Hate

By Tom Barnes
March 2004

(Part 2 of 3) If you missed it, read Part 1 here.

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I told you I had a solution to your TSL problem that you would hate. By now, hopefully you've listened to "All Things Considered" and checked to see how it performed against your morning show. Told ya.

The more advanced among you have even caught Ira Glass (who reaches 1.5 million listeners every week) and are now perhaps, ready to re-think the way you approach things.

Or, maybe not.

See, NPR is still kinda boring. And erudite, and pretentious. They still don't play commercials. "How is this going to help US?" you say. "Our listeners have SHORT attention spans." "We have UNITS to run." "We have to play NIRVANA AGAIN!!"

I know.

But WHY is NPR gaining while our TSL is eroding? Are there more smart people than there used to be? I propose some of NPR's TSL growth comes from being better produced. Simple as that. They communicate more efficiently than you do. They make better use of the listener's time.

That's why they are gaining TSL and you are losing it. Markets love efficiency, so do audiences. Markets continually demand more for less. Ask WalMart.

While you're blowing valuable time bragging about being "off your medication", NPR is communicating, informing and--dare I say it--entertaining. While your morning show is howling at the hilarity of their fart joke, someone at down the dial is editing the crap out of a 15-minute interview to get 45 seconds of genius.

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If you missed it, read Part 1 of this series here.

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