“What Time Is It?” With Jerome Pineau On What Time Radio
A little over a month ago I decided to create a new web radio project and called it “What Time Is It?” – It’s a web radio show live on the air every Thursday afternoon at 4:30PM Swiss time (7:30AM PST and 10:30AM EST). It stands out as “the first live international web radio show about watches and the people who love them”.
Since January 13th, we’ve had Max Busser, Jason Wilbur, Jorg Hysek and Stephen Forsey on. This week, Jean-Claude Biver, Hublot CEO, is talking with us from New York City. Following are Nathalie Veysset, Jeff Kuo, Peter Speake-Marin, Richard Piras and many more surprises after BaselWorld 2011.
For a full list of past and future guests, check out our website here.
To come on the show, you need to be a major “player” in the industry. Someone who has made a real difference in the watch world. I’ve brought on CEOs, founders, designers, and watchmakers so far. In the future, I will be pulling in other industry segments like bloggers and journalists, or marketing people, for example. The show lasts 30 minutes and stays no-nonsense and fast-paced. It’s basically a conversational 15-20 minute interview, but not scripted. Additionally, people can call in during the show and ask questions or simply speak their minds.
People often ask me why I did this and how I picked that format. Here are the answers.
First, radio is a medium virtually never used by the watch industry. I’m not sure why, but brands seem to prefer text, image and video communication.
When I first started researching audience metrics for web radio in the USA, I quickly learned 70,000,000 people listened to podcasts throughout the United States. If you want to see some interesting numbers, just Google “how many people listen to podcasts” 
The platform I use, BlogTalkRadio, reports 84,000,000 listens nationwide (live), 124,000,000 listeners (live plus downloaded playbacks), 550,000 shows created and 39,000 unique hosts for the year 2010 alone! Theirtotal listens are up 118%, unique listeners by 134%, and new shows by 36% (again, year-to-year 2010) – Now, even supposing those are “marketing” numbers, that’s still nothing to sneeze at – and that’s only one of numerous such platforms out there!
Second, radio is an easy format to listen to when on the move. It’s easy to pull down a podcast or listen to the show live while driving or on the train. And then, the “live” format of the show adds an element of “unpredictability”. It’s what makes the show unique and spicy. I believe this is compelling because people like to watch acrobats perform without a net. And that’s pretty much what I do every week. And if you’re wondering, yes, it’s stressful – but also uniquely exhilarating!
Third, I chose to make the show about people and not just products – I’m a social media guy, it’s what I do. To me, it’s all about the human side and so I prefer to create “informational entertainment” more than pure technical shows. Those already exist anyway.
I believe watch product are already marketed and pitched to death every which way, so why repeat on a radio show what people have already read, seen, googled, or heard elsewhere? Instead, I like to keep it on the human level, and conversational – the same way I would talk to someone at a bar or other relaxed social setting. Because the men and women of the watch industry are very often just as, if not more, fascinating than their own creations.
Fourth, my primary goal in doing this show was to connect the A-list actors of the horology world directly to the public at large. A bridge very hard to come by in the watch industry. A strange situation if you ask me, because insiders love to talk about their companies and themselves. And the public is thirsty for honest, no-bullshit information about the watch world. It shouldn’t be so hard to sit and chew the fat with the top actors. And it shouldn’t be so hard for them to get an earful from their customers up closeand personal!
And so thanks to technology, and the magic of web radio (also known as “the theater of the mind”), it has now become convenient as well – if you have a browser and 30 minutes to spare every Thursday
At the end of each show, my goal is simple: both the audience and, very importantly, the guest, must have had a good time! So far all our guests have been very happy with the experience (I know because it’s what I ask them every time). If the audience also learned something about the guest never revealed before, then I scored a home run.
This Thursday we have industry legend Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot on the line at 4:30PM Swiss time, 7:30AM PST, 10:30AM EST and I sure hope you’ll join us then and let us know what you thing about “What Time Is It?” – You can also reach us on Twitter at twitter.com/whattimeradio and on our Facebook page at facebook.com/whattimeradio.
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