Did We Or Didn't We? Part II

Well...

No and yes.

[following up on Friday's post]

How did radio do with Michael Jackson coverage?

While impossible to know what was said or produced, I did review a ton of music logs from all around the country in markets big and small. Here's what I found:

Thursday night looked pretty rough--the effects of tracking and syndication were clearly evident. Some stations in the largest markets were clearly all over it. In smaller markets, which aren't so small, like Providence, RI (1.3 million people) radio missed the boat. I guess folks in Providence care less about a breaking story than someone in NYC. If you were there Thursday night you were hard pressed to hear anything about it on the radio--at least his music. Again, I can only judge by the music that was played.

Friday, during the day, was a different story. From morning drive onward stations seemed to be on it in varying degrees depending on format and specific station.

It was interesting to note how stations of the same format came to different decisions on whether to play Jackson's music or not and how much of it. There were stations I thought should have been all over the music and were not, and conversely, stations that would not typically expected to own it, did.

So, did we or didn't we?

Based on my research I give radio a passing grade, but as my teachers used to tell me--there's room for improvement. Overall, a C-.

Sadly, radio is so understaffed and unprepared for any event that strays from the norm. Few events rise to the level of Michael Jackson dieing, but there will be others. Next time, I'm afraid, I will write a column similar to this and I will be giving the same assessment, only worse. I hope my industry proves me wrong.

Did We Or Didn't We?

That's the question many are asking about how radio handled Michael Jackson's death. Did radio do what it does best--bring the immediacy of current events to the air? How did we do compared the to last time someone of Jackson's fame and stature past away?

No matter what the coverage was there will be some to complain it wasn't enough. And in some cases I am sure that is true. However, I have to believe there were countless stations who not only covered it, but covered it well--news, music, listener interaction, social media, and commentary.

Bottom line: News that's as big and as universal as this stations must cover it live, break into regular programming, and provide your listeners as much information as possible. When things like this happen your format doesn't matter, your clocks go out the window, and all that matters is seizing the moment in the most appropriate way for your format and station. Period.

What did your station(s) do? What did you hear around your market? Bad or good...feel free to share your experience and leave a comment.