Radio Lessons From The Real World – #18 Netflix

UK band Queen sang “I want it all and I want it now”.

Now before we wax lyrical on the sheer genius of their wordsmithery lets concede they also wrote “scaramouche scaramouche will you do the Fandango?”; so for the purposes of this, lets stick to the prowess of the first phrase. When they wrote ‘I Want It All’ they were singing in four part harmony of unquenched desire but that line has become the mantra by which we all live by in this new world of instant gratification.

Conventional television is struggling to evolve and digital streaming services like Netflix have answered the call for immediacy with a shift in control from the content provider to the consumer. They saw the movement in audience behavior away from weekly tuning to the new normal of binge consumption, and they met that need with a platform that allows simple delivery of shows as the consumer demands the content. Then they took it one step further.

As the platform took hold they started the production of first run programs like ‘Making A Murderer’, ‘Orange Is The New Black’ and ‘House Of Cards’ and delivered them in complete seasons allowing viewers to enjoy the episodes when and how they wanted rather than on a dictated timeline as it was in the old model.

What does this teach us about hooking and teasing? Have the days of stretching tuning sessions from 11 minutes to 15 minutes gone? Yes. HD personalities have the trust of the audience and can perhaps pull this off but most simply broadcasters don’t have the gravitas to adjust the behaviour of listeners stuck in the groove of their busy lives.

The new rule is simple – during breakfast the talent should deliver music and tease content; but for all other day parts the talent should deliver content and tease music.

Outside of mornings, in an instant gratification world, a good content tease is not going to attract a longer tuning session; it will send the Smartphone generation scrambling for Google to get the answer immediately. Think Netflix, respect the pace of your audience’s life and give them what they need on their time frame – it’s the only way we stay relevant.

About Ronnie Stanton
Aussie kid living in Canada. His office job is VP – National Brands and Programming for Corus Entertainment . Ronnie also consults radio stations and coaches morning shows all over the world. He can be reached at [email protected]

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