I’m a big believer in what I call The Hallway Ratings.
The Hallway Ratings are an unofficial metric of internal buzz as judged by what your coworkers mention to you on their own. Often this would happen by the elevator, on a stairwell or even in the men’s room.
When I was with SiriusXM, Howard Stern had huge Hallway Ratings. You would walk down the halls and many people had Howard on at their desk. Folks would talk about the show around the proverbial water cooler. Other shows like (be nice John), not so much.
Bad Hallway Ratings would come when someone said something like “I didn’t even know he had a show.”
The Hallway Ratings were invented by me in the 1990’s when I would work with Bob Grant.
As Bob aged he had days where he would coast a while, and I had picked up on it. I pointed out to him that when he was at his best he would lean forward into the mike, like a tiger waiting to attack. At other points he would lean way back in the chair, intro the next caller and just let the caller ramble.
From my side of the glass I tried to keep Bob engaged. Whoever would piss him off would go next. Some days I would screen the show to be about “nothing” to keep Bob sharp. For example….
Yeah sure we could have done another half hour of bashing Bill Clinton, but man that’s so predictable.
I learned a heck of a lot working with Grant. The difference between handing in the show you’re “supposed to” and handing in entertainment.
Start with the people in the room. Are they interested in the show or is the board-op reading the newspaper (or I guess now that it’s 2014, playing with his phone?) Has any coworker even acknowledged the show to you or are we just filling a timeslot because we have to?
Grant would have great hallway ratings on those silly days. I hope your show does too.