Radio To Go case history: Coast 106
Coast 106 Southampton, 2008 –
“Prior to Robin’s first visit in 2008, my understanding of RCS Selector and its powerful engine was average, and, put simply, there was so much more we could achieve. Following the first visit, the understanding, appreciation and results were phenomenal. The programming team at The Coast has simply gone from strength to strength, with added expertise that could ordinarily take years to accumulate. It is thanks to Robin and his patience and discipline, I am now a power user of Selector and can fully realise the systems potential.
This expertise has enabled us to programme smarter and be ahead of our competition in implementing new features, ideas and scheduling our music in a clever and well constructed way. This success has been measured by a confident and competent programming team, great Rajar results and fantastic feedback from our listeners! Thanks Robin”.
John Clayton – Programme Director, The Coast, February 2010
Background
Coast 106 is a regional radio station covering the Solent region of the UK (Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight). The station was launched when Celador Radio bought Original 106 in August 2008, and rebranded it as Coast 106, with a soft-rock format.
Objective
The goal was to take the programme director and his assistant rapidly through the fundamentals of Selector, adding to their basic grounding, and analysing and fixing scheduling conflicts.
Approach
Both the members of staff I worked with are highly competent and professional. However, an outsider’s perspective can sometimes be very useful, and that perspective is what I sought to provide, in addition to basic training and trouble-shooting work. As the database expanded, I undertook some analysis to ensure that the station could hit its promise of performance and at the same time focus its repertoire. Having tested this approach successfully, I worked with the programme director to pinpoint the strongest items in the repertoire, and then rotate these to best effect. I forwarded several repertoire lists for consideration, which meant the station had the option to select fresh material to add to the database. Additionally, I devised a series of maintenance routines, built as saved searches in Selector, which can be periodically run to review the database. I have visited Coast 106 five times since November 2008; on each occasion I worked two days on site, in addition to doing remote database analysis work. Each visit was a combination of training, database analysis and reconfiguration, and scheduling trouble-shooting, working to deliver the freshest possible sound through effective rotation.
Result
Coast’s programming staff are now highly proficient Selector operators, and are a pleasure to work with; as indeed is the entire staff. Coast 106 listening figures have shown an uninterrupted growth in both reach and hours for the past six Rajar periods, and as of 2009 Q4, have hit an all-time high.