I find lessons from sports are valuable life lessons. A friend sent me a clip from Kara Lawson’s press conference during the NCAA tournament, and her words rang so true, especially with the kind of headlines we’re reading about the radio industry these days.
In case you don’t follow women’s basketball and know who Kara Lawson is, here’s the short resume. She was a player on the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and began her coaching career as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics in 2019. She currently coaches the Duke and U.S. women’s national teams.
She says that we are in a season of prosperity or a season of adversity. She claims that when you’re in a season of adversity, it’s important to know what’s real and true. For her, in basketball, one of the things that is real and true are analytics. Same for us in media. What’s the size of the audience — is it growing or shrinking? How are we monetizing that audience? Are the advertisers getting results from their campaigns?
Instead of listening to the naysayers who claim that our medium is over, focus on what we see and experience every single day. From the millions of dollars we raise every year for hospitals and charities around the country, to the phone calls, texts, and social media from listeners who use us every single day to elevate their lives.
Radio works. I know that because of the emails I get every day in my job. How about 15.2 million social media views in a month for content from a morning show in a large market? They’re working hard doing compelling, creative content every day they’re on the air. They’ve created audience engagement at a very high level. Their listeners want to hear the content again on their own schedule and share it with their friends. What they’re doing is not easy — it’s a major task to be that creative. They never just call it in.
How about this email from a New York salesperson? I asked him how his business was, and he told me he’s written $1.7 million in direct dollars so far this year. He’s going to hit his budget. But I know this man — he was always the first one in every morning. He would always stop by my office for ideas and thoughts on the future of our business. Every day for the past 20 years, he busted his ass for revenue and succeeded.
There’s even the station that got almost 2,000 people signed up for a Bingo night in 15 minutes. Yup — Bingo!
And yes, the analytics work well for the radio industry in seeing specific trends. In New York, we have enough information from PPM that we can see listeners flock to 1010 WINS when there is a snowstorm or airport tragedy. We can see the audience growth of WFAN when opening day of baseball season hits. We can see audience growth when we market a radio station and offer listeners compelling reasons to tune in. We know radio has a large, healthy audience.
If you’re in a season of adversity on your own show with poor Nielsen ratings, what do you know to be true? Kara Lawson talks about film as well as analytics in her job as a basketball coach. Your “film” is an aircheck of the show you just finished. Are you being authentic? What’s in it for the listener? Are you treating a topic in a unique manner that makes it compelling for the audience? Did your show today create the feeling that if someone didn’t listen tomorrow, they would be missing something?
As a programmer and talent coach, I’ve learned that our Nielsen analytics system sometimes takes longer to show what I find apparent in listening. I’ve said to shows, “You don’t have a content problem — you have a Nielsen problem.” A specific show I work with started the year several ranks below their norm, thinking they were in a season of adversity. But what I heard told me otherwise.
Now in March, Nielsen says they’re a success. In those cases, you remain mentally in your season of adversity because immediate ratings gains are out of your control. But if what you and your coaches hear coming out of the speakers is on target, stay focused and avoid distractions.
Quoting Kara Lawson: “The fastest way to get from a season of adversity to a season of prosperity is to lock in on what’s real and true. Figure out where you need to work and get better, and then it will turn at some point.” When adversity hits, the only thing you can control is how you handle it. Don’t let negative industry stories or a bad Nielsen month be a distraction. Keep focused on your goal, and success will come.
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Jim Ryan is a Music Radio columnist for Barrett Media. In addition, he runs Jim Ryan Media LLC, a consulting company which assists major market radio brands and top talent including national radio personality Delilah. Prior to relaunching his consultancy in 2025, Jim spent 15 years with Audacy/CBS Radio, serving as SVP of Programming. Among his responsibilities included programming WNEW-FM and WCBS-FM. His career includes additional programming stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston. Jim was voted the #2 PD of 2024 in Barrett Media’s Top 20 series in the AC category. He can be reached by email at Jim@JimRyanMedia.com.