In the 60s, 70s and probably the 80s, "Top 40" stations often dayparted songs. Some only played during the day and some only at night. Does Classic Hits radio audience research show the audience still listens only at certain times? This could mean larger libraries (that we all are screaming for) as some songs would never be heard at certain times of the day. So, the night-time audience could get their "oh wow" songs that would scare away day-time listeners, and vice versa.
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Dayparting Classic Hits (like in the old days)
- Thread starter PirateJohnny
- Start date
Radio today is a lot different then say in the 60's 70's and 80's what I mean by that is people have different avenues to get their music from then back in those days I don't really think day-parting would make any difference but I understand where you are coming from.The problem with radio now days it depends to much on "Focus groups" and research.Radio should be like music it should be created and not researched. This is just my opinion but I think the classic hits format could be huge if more effort was put into it but there seems to be a lot of apathy toward the format from the PD's in the big radio groups it doesn't seem to be priority.
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Avid Listener
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R_F_Burns is right about radio being different today. I also think that the biggest obstacle to "dayparting" having much impact is that many listeners only listen to radio that they have control over when they're in their cars. They might have a radio station playing at work, depending on where they work, but they often don't get to control the station. When they're at home, there are too many other entertainment options more appealing that just turning the radio on.
On the other hand, I disagree with his observation about "classic hits". As someone who was listening to music in the era when the classics were becoming hits, I often bought the albums that the hits were on. And once I owned the albums, I listened to the entire thing. This caused me to find additional songs from that era that I liked as much or better than the "hits" that some executive in a suit decided should be the single that got airplay. Looking back, I have a lot of personal favorite songs from that era that I cannot remember if they were radio hits or not. I only remember that I like them. When I'd make mix-tapes for in my car, and then mix-CDs when CD players replaced cassettes, I'd include all of the songs I liked, regardless of whether they were hits or not. And when other people rode in my car, they'd often comment on how much they liked the songs they never heard before, because they didn't own the same albums I did. It was the same for me when I'd hear album cuts from old albums that were "new" to my ears.
I've said this often in forums like this one. To most of us, what makes "classic rock" (or the music of the 60'/70'/ and 80's) our favorite is the basic sound of the music. When we hear music that sounds similar to our favorite songs, like a cut from an album that we never heard before, we tend to like it.
On the other hand, I disagree with his observation about "classic hits". As someone who was listening to music in the era when the classics were becoming hits, I often bought the albums that the hits were on. And once I owned the albums, I listened to the entire thing. This caused me to find additional songs from that era that I liked as much or better than the "hits" that some executive in a suit decided should be the single that got airplay. Looking back, I have a lot of personal favorite songs from that era that I cannot remember if they were radio hits or not. I only remember that I like them. When I'd make mix-tapes for in my car, and then mix-CDs when CD players replaced cassettes, I'd include all of the songs I liked, regardless of whether they were hits or not. And when other people rode in my car, they'd often comment on how much they liked the songs they never heard before, because they didn't own the same albums I did. It was the same for me when I'd hear album cuts from old albums that were "new" to my ears.
I've said this often in forums like this one. To most of us, what makes "classic rock" (or the music of the 60'/70'/ and 80's) our favorite is the basic sound of the music. When we hear music that sounds similar to our favorite songs, like a cut from an album that we never heard before, we tend to like it.
Actually, about a third of listening is done at home, another third at work and a third in the car. And, while many think of at-work listening is often thought of as group listening, most of that is actually done individually by people who are in the stockroom, in a delivery truck, in a cubicle, etc.
That assumption is not born out in research. People don't want to hear "it sounds a little bit like a song I like". They want to hear "my favorite songs." MScores and PPM data in general show how less familiar songs drive listeners away in droves, and how only the biggest mass appeal songs retain listenership with no loss.
Dayparting is done when stations have different available age groups listening at different times, or when they want to control things like tempo, long songs, etc.
A CHR might daypart older recurrents to mornings and middays only, when mostly 18-44 females are listening. A classic hits station might daypart slower songs out of drive time, or limit their exposure. In some formats, longer songs might be dayparted to nights and weekends so they don't cause stopset times for all out of the optimum placement.
That's just a couple of examples. Dayparting is widely used today for a variety of reasons.
Yeah, it's a terrible idea to ask listeners what they want to hear. Better to dictate to them what you want them to hear.
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andreajesus
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Dayparting?
they tried that already, David - it was called "Jack" (or Ted or Bob) and was a BIG flop no matter where it was - 'specially in the Big Apple.....
they tried that already, David - it was called "Jack" (or Ted or Bob) and was a BIG flop no matter where it was - 'specially in the Big Apple.....
Actually, Jack achieved higher 25-54 numbers than the last few years of the "old" CBS-FM. It was not a flop.
However, the reasons for the change to Jack were not listener based... they were based on a CBS initiative to put Jack in multiple markets. In some places, like LA, they were enormously successful, and still are a very high biller with that format.
While Jack's music was and is research based, the format decision was not... Jack is a licensed concept and CBS bought the concept.
The only reason that Jack was killed in NYC was that CBS learned from the early PPM "test market" results in Philadelphia that a more 70's based oldies format with changed formatics was a killer in the new ratings methodology. CBS rushed to adopt the format in a number of markets before anyone else saw the PPM results (remember that the Philly PPM test was not released to the industry and agencies, but those of us on a select list of folks Arbitron wanted to get feedback and buy-in from got the data... CBS had a place on that list).
On the other hand, the Jacks that were doing enormously well tended to decline in PPM as they were very TSL driven and tended not to fare as well in the new methodology. But to say that Jack was not a very successful and very viable format is just inaccurate
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But, I asked if any Classic Hits or Oldies stations daypart. I don't seem to hear any semblance of "oldies" dayparting in Nashville, TN.
It's a station by station decision. I use it on that format, other programmers may or may not.
Or when people hear album cuts that sound similar to songs they like, the say "What a rip-off! Who's the dope stealing licks from my favorite song?" I see that a lot in iTunes reviews. They never say positive things about it.
Once again, it usually depends on the specific station. The syndicated Tom Kent show believes in the "oh wow" song, and does a regular nightly feature with it.
Ok genius putting 20 people in a room and playing a few songs is not dictating what people hear on the radio? Okie dokie got ya.
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Avid Listener
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Clearly, you misunderstood. If someone likes "Whole Lotta Love", chances are they'll also like "Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)" and "Heartbreaker". And yes, Jimmie Page did steal more than a few licks. Anyone who liked "Born to Run" would probably also like "Thunder Road" or "Jungleland". Then again, considering the musical credentials of those who write iTunes reviews, gross factual errors are to be expected.
If you're a fan of an artist, so much so that you want to hear album cuts, then you should BUY the album. Maybe support that artist financially. Maybe see the artist perform a full show. Radio is not in the business of providing entire albums to listeners for free. We are the free sample, so that you'll be interested in hearing more, and perhaps purchasing some of that artist's music. And we find that a lot of people do this.
It's not 20 people, and generally the group represents a larger sample of a station audience than the number of meters that use it in the PPM.
20 people is two forcus groups, not an Auditorium Music Test. Take a look at http://www.americanradiohistory.com/research_AMT.htm to see how it is done.
To get an idea of the dimensions of a test, the cost can be from $30 thousand dollars up to over $50 thousand dollars for a single test. And the results are precise enough to "bet the farm" on... meaning that the most successful stations have, for decades, trusted their future ratings and billings to the results of AMTs.
In any case, it's the listeners calling the shots.
Tom Kent is now heard here in Nashville only on Friday and Saturday evenings, and on the AC station, interestingly enough, in a couple of Duh-lilah's old time slots! It is one of the few times that I listen to the AC station all week!
I have listened during the overnight hours, and (other than the absence of inane dj chatter) the song selection seems to be the same as any other time of day.
It depends on the station, the PD and other factors. There is no industry-wide rule, even within specific formats.
The most common overnight use of dayparting I have seen is to be a little broader in the age range of the songs. A station that plays few late 60's songs in a classic hits format might have a few more of those in overnights in order to fill out hours that generally have few commercials and where the station might play 2 to 3 more songs an hour.
Maybe his argument would have worked better on the classic rock board. I can tell you that EVERY track from Boston's debut album has indeed received regular classic rock play. And only three of them were singles.
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