The Thin Line Between Mediocre and Legendary

Major League Baseball will soon bring renewed hope to fans across North America. For players, the ultimate goal is to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, a place for only the all-time great players. Much debate goes into whether players are worthy, but the difference between mediocre and legendary is less significant than you might think.

If a player hits .300 in his career, he will probably be inducted into the Hall of Fame and recognized as an elite player. Legendary. A .280 average is better than the typical player. It doesn’t mean he won’t make the Hall of Fame, but he will have to be elite in other areas. A 20-point gap in batting average sounds like a lot, but is it?

Consider:

A full-time Major League batter comes to the plate about 600 times in a season.

The batting average is the number of hits divided by at-bats.

A .280 hitter gets 168 hits in a season (168/600).

To hit .300, that player must collect 180 hits (180/600).

That’s a difference of just 12 hits a season.

Put another way: The difference between being mediocre & legendary is one hit every 50 tries.

It’s also about one hit every two weeks.

Let’s dig a bit more. An average batter hits about .250, enough to keep their job, but finding a suitable replacement is not too hard. To hit .250, a player needs 150 hits in 600 at-bats. That’s just 30 fewer hits per season than an all-time great.

30 hits in 600 at-bats is equal to one hit every 20 at-bats.

Based on six games per week and four at-bats per game, a player needs just over one hit per week to bat .300.

The difference between an average (replaceable) and elite performer is razor-thin.

Mediocre Amd Legendary Radio

Ratings research proves that the margin between average shows and market leaders is equally small. The very best listeners spend little time with a show. Get details here, but here are relevant facts:

The average length per tune-in occasion is about 7 minutes.

The average number of tune-in occasions per day = 3.

And the average number of days tuned in per week = 2.

The average P1 contributes 6 quarter hours per week (2 days x 3 quarter hours). Just 1.5 hours per week. The typical morning show is on the air for 20 hours (5 days x 4 hours per day). The best listeners hear just 7.5% of your show. They miss 92.5%.

But here’s the good news. Like baseball, modest improvements yield dramatic growth.

Gaining a single quarter-hour per day increases ratings by 33% (from 6 quarter hours per week to 8).

Add one more day (from two to three) to gain a 50% increase (6 quarter hours to 9).

Add one more day and one more quarter-hour, and six quarter hours become 12.

That’s how simple it is to Double Your Ratings. Imagine a show mired in the middle of the pack with a 4.3 share rising to an 8.6 share simply by attracting one more tune-in occasion per day and earning one more day per week.

But Wait, There’s More

Still not convinced? There’s more evidence of the thin line between mediocre and legendary.

Conversion: Most radio shows convert less than 30% of the station’s total cume audience to their show. Increasing that to 60% would Double Your Ratings yet again. It would be a ratings quadruple.

Cume: Many morning shows attract less than 25% of the station’s cume. Some reach only 15%. Opportunity knocks.

Casual Listeners: The average non-P1 listener spends only 2.5 minutes daily with your radio show. That’s 12 minutes a week. What if you could get casual listeners to listen for a few more minutes or a couple more occasions?

Leverage: Further ratings research indicates that the difference between the top-rated and #5 shows is as slim as between an average .250 hitter and an elite player. There’s almost no difference in time spent listening per occasion. The difference is the number of listening occasions.

Top shows get far more tune-in occasions than average shows by collecting more “hits.” Winning shows do a better job with compelling appointment listening times. And they do it consistently.

Conclusion

There’s one other factor, too. Baseball and radio are hard games. Slim margins can be the difference between being in the middle of the pack and being an all-star. In baseball and radio, winners who get big contracts are the ones who combine talent with a dedication to outwork and out-prepare everyone else.

There’s a thin line between winning and losing. But the rewards are dramatic. Are you prepared to do what it takes to win?