The Dos and “Don’ts” of Gospel Radio – Part 1
In order to keep the history of southern gospel music “alive”, I feel it’s vital to make it “accessible” to newer generations. I’ve mentioned countless times how, sadly, scores of “classic” southern gospel albums are nowhere to be found on popular streaming platforms, and the LPs and CDs have been out-of-print for many years. That’s why southern gospel radio is so important, especially when a station (like WBTX) has access to such an invaluable archive of music.
That being said, southern gospel radio has struggled over the years (and, quite frankly, still does). Interestingly, many of the same problems that “plagued” gospel stations back in the 1980s and 1990s are still commonplace today.
I have the utmost respect for the late Paul Heil. Paul’s syndicated program, The Gospel Greats, is credited by many to have brought about the “professionalism” that was lacking in southern gospel radio when it debuted back in February of 1980. In the late 1980s, Paul would begin writing a monthly “Radio Forum” article in Singing News Magazine, providing guidance and insight for gospel DJs and station managers.
The “culmination” of this was a brochure that Paul distributed through the Southern Gospel Music Guild around 1990 entitled Helpful Guidelines For Today’s Gospel Radio DJs. He prefaced these guidelines by posing this question: “Why should gospel radio be less well-done than the best secular station in town? If it is less than the best, how does that reflect on the Gospel message presented in the music?”
Let’s take a look at some of Paul’s “tips”, and how they are still relevant some 30+ years later….
“Do let the music minister. Do not, as a regular gospel DJ, get on the air and preach. (If you want to preach, buy a half hour and preach.”
Paul addressed this at length in the December 1990 issue of Singing News. He stated, “music programming can spread the Gospel most effectively when the highest standards of professionalism are applied.” Furthermore, he emphasized, “A Southern Gospel Music station should minister primarily through its music.”
Paul goes on to quote a DJ from a station in Panama City, FL: “When DJs are allowed to preach on the air you get involved with doctrine. Some doctrine may scare the many non-Christian listeners right out of the interest of being saved! But God’s word says that His Word will not return void, and if the music does the ministering, it will draw new listeners and folks will be saved.”
Personally, I have always been taught to “let the music minister”. Aside from sharing a daily Bible verse and devotional, I do not preach on-air, nor do I have any inclination to do so. One ‘trick’ I’ve developed is to “quote” the lyric of a song to emphasize the message. For instance, just this morning, I “back-announced” a song as: “without a second thought, “He Thought Of Me” – that’s Brian Free & Assurance”. (This also lets the listener know that you’re paying attention to the song you’re playing!).
Now, that’s not to say there’s not a place for peaching programs on southern gospel stations. In fact, in the March 1990 issue of Singing News Paul writes, “preaching/teaching programs are important – and always will be part of a balanced program schedule.”
Balance is key. For instance, here at WBTX, we have our long-form daily preaching programs “grouped” together in a “block” from 9:30am to 12:00pm. We feel this is the perfect time to air these programs, as mid-morning is a great time for many of our listeners to set aside 30 minutes to hear their favorite program.
One “trap” that some stations fell into back in the 90s (and even today), was airing such long-form programs during prime “drive time” (i.e. 7:00am to 9:00am, 4:00pm to 6:00pm). Paul noted that, during these times, most listeners are either on their way to or from work or going about their daily routines, not necessarily having the opportunity to devote long periods of time to any given program.
But, alas, Paul was not without opposition. Several stations reported the need for preaching programs, especially locally-produced programs, simply because they provided the station with stable income. The meant, though, that some stations were devoting 8+ hours each day to talk programming. To this, Paul offered an interesting solution…. how about offering local pastors short-form daily programs (say, 2-3 minutes), as opposed to a single 15-minute program each week? These short-form features could easily be placed within music sets, without interrupting the overall “flow”. Case in point, here at WBTX, between 8:00am and 9:00am each weekday, we air 3-4 “short-form” programs within an hour of 13-14 songs.
Next month, we’ll tackle what is perhaps the “biggie” when it comes to southern gospel radio. It was a very controversial topic back then, and quite frankly, still is today…
“Do be consistent in maintaining high quality in the music you play. Do not play songs by artists whose musical talents fall short of the mark. Do not feel compelled to play songs by local groups (or any artists, for that matter) whose hearts are in the right place, but whose voices are not”.
