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The
thought occurs to me as I write this that I must do so quickly and
send it to His Air as it could all change before anyone reads it.
Things change instantly in this computer age and we need to have
mobility to adapt to new trends. However, at the same time
understand that many habits and trends change more slowly. Solomon
said in Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, “That which has been is what will be,
that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new
under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See this
is new’? It has already been in ancient times before us.” The
message and attitudes of the heart do not change, but the way it is
delivered or communicated changes quickly. So, let’s say, I am here
addressing some major issues of which I am aware at the moment. This
report is by no means exhaustive.
Radio is changing as a media source of choice by listeners. People
have many more listening choices in this mobile electronic age.
Radio needs to work to be a participant in new media outlets. We are
engaged in the world-wide connection through the internet and
streaming-audio. I presently have in my home an internet radio
allowing a choice of 8000 stations. This radio is smaller than some
of our conventional radios around the house, but it can pick up
streaming-audio signals without the use of a computer. The cost is
about $125. Radio needs to be involved in telephone applications
that make listening possible through cell phones. Vehicles are
starting to be equipped with internet, and this will make it
possible to listen to your own station(s) while driving across the
country. This could be the demise of satellite radio by having so
many choices in a vehicle with the internet connection and people
could be reluctant to pay the fees for use of satellite. This would
be a good thing for local stations.
Young people are using the large number of choices available to them
for electronic media. Varied avenues of listening are more common
among young people, while older people tend to still tune to
traditional forms of media. The dividing line is probably somewhere
in the 25-30 age range. I have told my sons if they can come up with
a way to make radio the media of choice for their age group they
could make a lot of money. I feel that Christian radio will maintain
a hold on the market longer than other formats; however this is a
serious area of concern for radio.
Radio needs to work on being active on various platforms. My own
Board of Directors had a meeting last year where I talked about
Facebook and there was concern expressed that announcers are on
Facebook while they are on the air. Broadcasters need to be in
contact with listeners as many ways as possible. We are doing on-air
contests via Facebook. We now have over two thousand listeners on
our Facebook Page and communicate daily through this platform.
Occasionally there is the “Question of the Day” and we will receive
fifty or more responses. An example of a question of the day was,
“Are you involved in a Church activity on Wednesday night? If so,
what is it?” People responded instantly to this question. Seventy
percent of Facebook users are female and seventy percent of
Christian radio listeners are female.
Your web site needs to consistently be updated. You need to consider
a full-time person to handle the website and other interactive media
sources.
A huge increase in Performance Fees could be implemented. We are
charged fees by BMI, ASCAP and SESAC for broadcasting music. There
are also fees for streaming-audio. Due to file sharing and other
such duplication of music that deprives artists and record companies
of income from the sell of CDs, they are trying to push through
having radio stations pay the artists for use of their music. Radio,
for over half a century, has played the music and made the stars.
Now, however, the music industry wants radio to bail out their
slumping sales. At this point, we don’t know the outcome of this
movement or what fees we may have to pay if the music industry
prevails on this issue. Alert your listeners concerning this matter
with announcements on the air. Also be involved with organizations
that are addressing the issue with Congress.
Funding! I learned along time ago that you need to make it
convenient for listeners to send in a donation. We do a number of
things for mailing list acquisition to identify our listeners by
name and address. We do talk about funding on the air and give our
address, however very few people will hand-address an envelope and
mail it in, therefore we make an effort to identify our listeners
and send them something in the mail with a return envelope. About
once or twice a year, we acquire a good book and open the phone
lines to give away five hundred or more copies. The book is
ministry-oriented, but it also serves to try to attract new people
to contact us. We give away other Christian material almost on a
daily basis and obtain contacts through this source. Selling tickets
to events perhaps gives us the best names and addresses as they
represent people willing to put forth money for their family to
attend an event. These would also likely be people who would become
a contributor. Annually we conduct a Kid’s Coloring Contest with a
place on the form not only for the child’s name, but also the
parents. The kids name is added on the birthday list and the parents
on our regular mailing list. This year represents our 15th year
conducting the coloring contest. It is my hope that kids will
remember us announcing their name on the radio, receiving a birthday
card or winning a prize, and will have fond memories of the
ministry. Perhaps when they are older they will continue to listen
and maybe even become a donor. Basically, if you want to increase
donations then increase the size of your mailing list. Also, you
need to work to increase electronic methods of giving.
As Christian broadcasters we are aware of where most of our
listeners are located on Sunday morning. It is important to be
involved with the local church. We have developed an e-mail list of
churches for instant communication. The only way to acquire a good
list was to call them on the phone and ask. Our church e-mail list
is at 1150 and growing. We have an on going program of trying to
call every donor and tell them, “Than you,” and ask them how we
might pray for them. We send them a card signed by the staff members
who gathered to take that request before the Throne of Grace. Each
year we take a section of a listener area and do a saturation
mailing to every home to tell them about the ministry and present
the Gospel. Each effort we make brings forth some new contacts.
The economy is a concern. Various sources indicate that big banks
are still involved in risky investments with a large margin and
little collateral to back up the investments. The decline of housing
values and derivatives were largely responsible for the problems
that developed in September of 2008. As you well know, the
government funneled money to the banks to overcome the problem;
however, there were very few reforms to change this type of
investment. There are huge investments now referred to as “carry
trades” where people are making money from the decline of the value
of the dollar, low interest rates and the stability of other
currencies against the dollar. The return is small, but the
investments are large with huge margins. According to a study by the
Roosevelt Institute, Rob Johnson of the United Nations Commission of
Experts on Finance says that regulatory reform measures proposed by
the Obama Administration will do little and need to be more
stringent to prevent big banks from continuing to engage in high
risk investing that precipitated the near collapse of the U.S.
Economy. The report warns the country is in a doomsday cycle,
wherein banks use borrowed money to take massive risks in an attempt
to pay big dividends to shareholders and big bonuses to management.
If it goes wrong, they will once again depend on the government to
bail them out. I am concerned that another event like this will be
magnified and greater than the event of 2008. Issues like this, of
course are not in our control but something we should be mindful of
occurring. Prayer for God’s intervention and guiding hand is
mandatory of us this ministry.
I have learned in my broadcasting career of more than forty years,
we need to reinvent the ministry every seven years to keep up with
change. A little changes every year, but overall what we are seven
years from now needs to be totally different than what we are now.
We have strength from both change, and those things that stay the
same -- like the message of Jesus Christ who said, “I am the way,
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”
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Don is observing forty years in broadcasting in 2009. Great
Plains Christian Radio consists of seven full power stations and
thirty-six translators. The flagship station, KJIL, has been named
Station of the Year most recently by NRB and in the past they have
received that honor from GMA, NAB (Marconi), Focus on The Family and
the Kansas Association of Broadcasters. Don Hughes and his
wife Polly have been married for thirty-one years and they have six
children.
Don Hughes can be reached at
[email protected] |
