I like to talk to our station’s listeners. I answer the phone and I try to answer their questions although I do plead the fifth if something might not reflect well on the station. For example, they don’t need to know the nuts and bolts about music rotation and that kind of thing. Those details would just seem a little insane to someone outside of the business, even though there are legitimate reasons for why we do what we do the way we do it!
It’s also funny to listen to people who are adamant that they heard something that they didn’t hear. I had a call from a guy this morning who said, “There was no reason for you to play that song twice in the last hour! You could have played PINK FLOYD! You don’t play enough Pink Floyd.”
I happen to agree that the world would be a better place if there was more Pink Floyd. And better still if there was more Def Leppard. But I digress.
Having been on the air more than an hour I knew for certain that I hadn’t played the song twice. He must have been listening to another station. Or perhaps the voices in his head were also singing the song. I looked it up in our super-computer that tracks each and every thing that goes over our airwaves and we haven’t played that song in several days, and not in this time slot in many weeks. But did I argue with him? Nope! Because a quarter century of dealing with radio station callers has taught me that challenging his memory, hearing, perception, opinion would only result in an upset radio fan who would dig in his heels and think I’m a jerk for not believing him. So I gave the equivelant of a smile and a nod (telephone style!) and promised to look into it. He goes away happy thinking he’s taught me a thing or two! And what have I lost? Nothing. Certainly not a listener, and that’s the point. Keep as many as we can! And for goodness sake, play more Pink Floyd!