[BLOG] These are scary days in Bergweg in Hilversum. Direct competitor JOE recorded a huge market share of 7.1% last week. The week before, DPG’s old Radio 10 had already exceeded its weekly reach. That means the big red phone from Casa de Mol is ringing non-stop on the desk of channel head Dave Mennebo. Because he has two balls in the air and two in the fire: he runs both Radio 538 and Radio 10, and hopefully he won’t lead them into the abyss. The good guy certainly knows something about radio, otherwise he wouldn’t have been brought back from Qmusic to Radio Talpa for such a huge salary. But with such a big compensation comes big expectations. I hear that about two months after Gerard Ekdom left and his successor Lex Garthuis started, action is being taken again.
He can only survive, that Garthuis. And he certainly has talent. Once upon a time, about fifteen years ago, when he was still doing mornings at 100% NL, I went for pizza with him and told him that mornings are mainly about getting press for your show and your station. He has maintained that to this day, which gives him the edge. Personally, I would have thought it would have been smarter to at least ask Jeroen “in cinema” Nieuwenhuys as Gerard Ekdom’s successor, if only because of his dark brown voice that attracts women. Anyway, Lex and a number of people around him are also doing weekend shows with them. But will they survive against Quinn, Sander, Tim, Rick, Niels, Jan Willem, Jeroen and soon Ekdom? That’s the question you hear a lot.
What I also heard is that the show has already been meddled with: the division of roles has been changed, with a smaller role for the newsreader and “regional news” for team member Luuk. Which is stupid by the way, the dynamic between her and Lex is good, she’s in conflict with him. Lex and Luuk are just competing to see who’s prettier. The jingles have been modified, so that only Lex’s name can be heard, instead of Lex, Luuk and Marit. And: less bullshit, more music. I can’t help but applaud the latter, because the first speech Lex and his comrades give at the start of their new morning show is already surprising: first announcing with great fanfare that there will be no unnecessary chatter on this show, and then to sit and complain about the coffee machine.
It remains of course completely stupid, on a channel level, to adapt your music station to JOE instead of relying on your own strength. Yes 10 were touring with a lot of new music (too) just to keep 20-49ers with them, but now also to sit and play ABBA all day when they already let all this meaningless mess to the neighbors: Do it it’s a no. “Don’t be better, be different” Americans say. I can imagine Uncle Dave scratching his head and thinking, “Well, if I could have kept Quinn and Sander in Talpa back then, I would have put them in the morning.” That doesn’t work anymore, so making Lex’s morning show more of a solo act is a good move: There are plenty of group shows in the morning, but not solo jocks. Or Garthuis’ dedication This thesis is about 400 pages about radio. From A to Z, so he knows exactly how to act and put himself on the air. Success is guaranteed! This doesn’t come to you, it can be a cause, just like free advertising. Why try to reinvent the wheel yourself when it’s been widely researched and deduced on the other side of the pond? And I’ll say it again: taking this course doesn’t make you a robot, but it does make you more confident, because it confirms what you already do well and gives tips on how to approach things differently.
The man who wrote the thesis graduated with it and then wrote it later. turn it into a bookwhich is 200 pages shorter:
If you are going to order this book from Amazon, order it. this Written by a professor and several of his university students, including David Crider. And no, I gain nothing from this:
