Countering The Queen
Radio's Continued Struggle with Content.
There is no question that the passing of Queen Elizabeth II has been a massive story around the globe, and frankly most media outlets have been prepared for her death for quite some time. That’s how it works in newsrooms, often you discuss who could potentially die and you start preparing the obituaries in advance and hopefully they don’t see the light of day until the appropriate time, i.e., the person’s actually dead. It can be a tricky thing because media outlets & newsrooms often will prepare copious amounts of content in preparation for someone’s passing, but if you don’t properly “hide” the content it could accidently, or purposely be aired or published. Typically, there are only one or two trusted people that know where the obituary content is stored and therefore the risk is low. But it could be an epic way to lose your job if you wanted to “accidently” air an obituary prematurely. Strange things happen when you hand over the controls of a 50,000-watt radio station to someone that is making minimum wage and hates the company. Preparing an obituary in advance is also a strange and uncomfortable thing. Having to call friends, or maybe family and ask if you can speak with them in advance of a potential death. As DJ Pauly D. would say “awkward!”
My question is not about preparing content for the passing of Queen Elizabeth but in the handling of her funeral. Scheduled to happen Monday morning right in the heart of commute. Right in the middle of when listeners are starting their day and their week. I’d be willing to bet that many news & talk radio stations across Canada will carry a live-feed. It will be full coverage of every second of the funeral from start to finish. Sure, stations will try their best to “localize” the content by having their own hosts comment and provide play-by-play but, it won’t make a difference. It will still be some of the most boring content to hit the airwaves. I understand the struggle, I understand the conversations happening about whether or not to provide coverage and the, “but it’s what we do and it’s what our listeners expect” argument. But here’s my argument; you know the ratings will tank so why are you still going to do it? You know that it’s a television event. And you know that people’s work schedules are more flexible than ever and therefore can watch from home. Heck they can likely watch most of it from home and still get to work.
So, my suggestion is that you “Counter The Queen”. Don’t provide longform coverage. Don’t turn your morning show over to an event aimed at an aging population. Stick with your regular morning show plan as if it was a typical Monday BUT with advanced notice of a major story. Provide updates from London. Provide unique tidbits of information about the funeral and the Royal Family that listeners won’t get elsewhere. Tell them about the interesting people in attendance and those that didn’t make the cut.
So don’t do it. Trust me I know from experience of airing a couple funerals and the wedding of Will & Kate. Don’t do it and don’t pay attention when a small fraction of your audience complains. But most importantly provide your audience with companionship and entertainment. Which frankly the funeral of an old Queen ain’t.