Can a PD Program Without a Budget?

[Uncle Buck]

Can a PD really Program a station without a Budget?
I know of a PD job opening where the PD does not have control of his programming and promotion budget. Is it just me or is that a huge problem? The GM controls everything at this particular station and his initials are E.S. (scrooge). Maybe it wouldn't be a problem for some, but for me it's a Giant Red Flag. This GM is known to have invented copper wire (he and his Sales Manager were fighting over a penny, and that's how copper wire was invented) Would any PD take a job knowing that they don't know how much they can spend. By the way this station has No T-shirts, keychains, can coolers, bumper stickers, hats, sweatshirts, etc etc to give away at all. Chime in and let me hear those comments.

 

[lloydpalmer]

I think programming without a budget is done everyday is most large (top 20) markets. The bigger the company the less they want to spend on junk like t-shirts and key chains. Are they really a staple to survive in radio or are they a staple because that's the way it's been? With the proper connections and creative Promotions directors most SWAG can be trade deals so no money needs to be spent. Granted it's a royal pain to propose trade but it can be done.

Is this job in a small market?

A creative and enjoyable on-air presentation and great interaction with your listeners is what gets ratings. Do something that generates buzz in the market (and not all buzz is negative, even playing family friendly music has worked for some stations) and let the listeners do the work for you and tell their friends. And when a Jock is out at an appearance he or she should be shaking every hand and providing an experience with a listener or potential listener that they will remember for a long time. You'd be amazed how well that works. How many times have jock's had a listener come up and say "Remember me?" "I met you at the Santana concert and got my picture with you. It is hanging on the wall next to the stairs in my place right now." That's how a station wins. Being fresh, unique and friendly (or depending on the format) edgy... T-shirts, keychains and hats please prize whores and sales people.

thats my 25 cents....

anyone agree?

It's a good day to be in radio,

Lloyd

 

[zDaveKing1]

#1 - If the GM won't give you budget, then see if you can trade out a remote or some spots for some pads, bumper stickers etc.... I would recommend just doing it and then apologizing to the boss if he has a problem with that. Better to be apologize then to ask permission. You also can do it right away when you first get hired and pull the whole, "oh I am new...I didn't understand. I mean I assumed that if you wouldn't budget that I could trade for it"

#2 - Sometimes having budget discourages creativity. If someone is waiting on, pens, papers, bumper stickers to sell their station then they don't understand radio. Here is an example of where creativity would come into play when there is no budget...... Look at how much you could do with nothing.....

1. Promotional Liner --- Something big is coming....a huge opportunity...is on the way.....etc....

2. Release the event --- "It's [insert station here] big break for a day" Your chance at being a deejay.....

3. Send interns on-site all around the city signing people up for a lottery style drawing.....You can even have sales sell out the some on-location cell casts for the drawing which will also give sells some new contact opportunities.

4. release the event on like Saturday night....or evening shift...

5. Have people vote online who they like.....drag it out over whole month....(obviously have a vet in the studios co-hosting with them)

6. Run liners without highlights from the experience...throughout the dayparts....for a week after the event...

There are other tricks/ways of desiging interseting interactive programming without promotional budget. If you can program without budget, imagine how muc that is going to sharpen your creative thinking. Once you actually get the budget, you will be outstanding. So I would recommend taking the gig, going hard for a year, then look to hop to a bigger market.

 

[Ghost of ER Murrow]

What's worse is being brought in to program a station with a budget, then having your GM leave and the new guy wants to be a hero with his BCF and suddenly everything you planned gets cut. Here's a hint: when you are a PD candidate, ask hard questions about the sales department, how many sellers, turnover rate, etc. before you take the gig. If you don't like the answers you here, chances are you walked into a potentially short term situation.

 

[scottm1025]

Yes.. Yes you can..

 

[ruger22com]

Key chains, tee shirts and frisbees have absolutly nothing to do with getting someone to fill out a diary.
Most give-a-ways are just junk to help promote and sell remote broadcasts to a location sponsor (which is radio hell to ratings anyway).
If you have a good signal, and the financial resources to hire a good staff, you can win with those alone (though a little TV or outdoor ad space also helps).

 

[hammondo]

King said;
1 - If the GM won't give you budget, then see if you can trade out a remote or some spots for some pads, bumper stickers etc.... I would recommend just doing it and then apologizing to the boss if he has a problem with that.
___
No disrespect here but...YOU'd BETTER BE KING If you did that where I was the manager YOU'D BE FIRED - GONE - OUT - KAPUT - OVER. No trades without my permission. Tell me about commission you'd expect from that trade? It better be none if I did not approve.Tell you what I'd give you a bumber sticker. You can write your apology on it and stick it on your forehead.

King said; 4. release the event on like Saturday night....or evening shift...
____
WHY? So nobody hears it??

King said; 1. Promotional Liner --- Something big is coming....a huge opportunity...is on the way.....etc....

I hope etc. is good because what precedes it is ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ tired!

 

[ricoontheradio]

#1 - If the GM won't give you budget, then see if you can trade out a remote or some spots for some pads, bumper stickers etc.... I would recommend just doing it and then apologizing to the boss if he has a problem with that. Better to be apologize then to ask permission. You also can do it right away when you first get hired and pull the whole, "oh I am new...I didn't understand. I mean I assumed that if you wouldn't budget that I could trade for it"

What kind of advice are you trying to offer here? "Oh I am new..." Do you mean, "Oh, I am stupid and ignorant, and have no common sense. Fire me now."?

I've never worked anywhere where an apology of trading out station airtime in trade is acceptable. And NO, I haven't asked at every place I've worked. It seems like common sense to most...

 

[RonRoberts]

I spent five years programming in a sub-200 market with usually ZERO promotional budget and a diminishing programming budget. You HAVE to be creative and let's face it, with the advent of voice-tracking technologies, the bigger companies are down-sizing their staffs and reducing their overhead, so they can drop their rates, which forces the smaller guys to do the same to compete.

I STILL believe that if you put out a better on-air product, you'll get the buys, especially the nationals. But I've talked with folks, lately, who hear of PDs complaining about not having bloated promotional budgets and having to actually (gasp) multi-task.

The era of "off-air" PDs is almost done, I think. That's where ya hear a lot of complaints. Heck, I'd RATHER have an air shift if I were programming a station.

The era of promotional "budgets?" I think you should GET what you EARN, frankly. TV time is easy to swap out when the TV stations want sweeps radio time in return. And as for contests, without fail, every promotion I put together at my last gig (five years, by the way, and tops in our demos every book, #1 12+ last book) was "sale-able." Every promotion we cranked either WAS or could have been sponsored out - thus covering the prize costs.

What's ESSENTIAL is having a sales department that "gets" that. If your GM or market manager "gets" it, they'll apply the pressure to the sales department to "get it," too, because it saves the company promo budget money. Just so long as you don't lose sales revenue in doing so.

Clients WANT to be involved in promotions that make sense for their business. Look at American Idol. Coca-Cola and Ford are all over that show. Watch a bowl game and TRY to avoid the sponsor logos and tie-ins or halftime gimmick games where they give away thousands of dollars with the big cardboard check. It's all in how you package it.

My advice is to do what you can with what you EARN, promotionally, but try not to do anything that will defile your station's integrity. Because while your client/sponsors want to enhance their image, you DON'T want to damage your station's image in the process.

 

[meanspirit]

Sure you can program a station without a big budget. my station has no budget and we do just fine. just be creative and keep your people on the streets!!!!!

 

[chadd]

Most replies have dealt with promoting with no budget. No one's brought up the ALL IMPORTANT research. Plenty do it without, plenty could use more of it.

Worry a little less about bumper stickers (and anyone who's following the trends would do MAGNETS anyway... more books are filled out in the kitchen.... where those magnets eventually end up), and a bit more about how you're going to program. The idea that a station that can subsist entirely on a massive promotions budget is beyond my inferior intellect.

Use the promo money wisely. Create viral no-cost campaigns like a twisted scavenger hunt with a cash prize (even if that cash blows your promo wad, the unmeasurable echoes of the weirdos calling all around town explaining how your radio station's having a contest and they need to get a dollar bill with your frequency in the serial number should reach pretty far if done right). More about the word-spreading than the giveaway.