-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
AMP 103.3 is flipping at 10am on 5/28
- Thread starter bostonradio
- Start date
Problem solved. Poof.
I noticed a few responses to this continue to be on the defensive side, but MarkW hit this spot on. Anyone who had dared to say that AMP's ratings were poor and that something needed to be done was immediately shut down with any/all of the pat responses above. To me, the most overused and, coincidentally, the most offensive was "It bills well!"
With apologies to Ray Charles: "Hit the road, AMP, and dontcha come back no more."
Why is that "offensive"? A lower rated station that achieves high billing is not going to be flipped because this is a business.
And a lower-rated station that blocks competition to the whole cluster is also effective. Anyone who has owned a cluster of more than 4 or 5 stations is aware of how their own stations are maneuvered like a fleet of warships, each with a particular function in offensive and defensive situations.
I had a 9 station cluster long ago, and everything I did was based on cluster strategy, not station strategy.
Do you like what's there now better?
Keep in mind, regardless of what you think, this station is a place of business, and some employees got fired as a result of this change.
This is entertainment for you. But it's also someone's source of income.
It's not as dramatic as that.
I went back and averaged Persons Using Radio (PUR) for October to December of last year in LA.
18-34 was 5.8. 25-54 was 7.5. 35+ was 8.1
So 18-34 has less usage, but it is still huge.
And in cume, 18-34 averages 90.0, down from 94 around 20 years ago in the diary system. 25-54 averages 92.4, down also from 95 two decades ago, and 35-54 is 92.9.
So, the real truth is that 18-34's listen less time, but as to being radio users, there is only about a 4% to 5% decline in two decades. They are radio users. But they have more things to divide their time with that they did two decades ago.
I think you are awfulizing a situation. This is not the Titanic; it is a leak that needs some good caulking.
Note: I looked at a half dozen other top 20 markets other than NYC and the numbers are in the same range.
Nielsen PPM participants most likely are very interested in OTA radio. Hence, there is selection bias! If that is what you're using to assess listening levels for an entire population of millennials, then you are relying on skewed data.
Scroll about one-quarter of the way down this page (to topic #8 in Edison's reverse countdown):
https://www.edisonresearch.com/edison-researchs-top-ten-findings-from-2019-so-far/
I will agree with you on this point:
That's definitely true, but their usage of radio is considerably less than the generations who precede them. On top of that, they almost assuredly aren't going to sit thru a boatload of commercials, unless they are listening to their favorite morning show.
Scroll about one-quarter of the way down this page (to topic #8 in Edison's reverse countdown):
https://www.edisonresearch.com/edison-researchs-top-ten-findings-from-2019-so-far/
I will agree with you on this point:
That's definitely true, but their usage of radio is considerably less than the generations who precede them. On top of that, they almost assuredly aren't going to sit thru a boatload of commercials, unless they are listening to their favorite morning show.
Yes, the discussion is about 12-24. Not an advertiser target, so not a radio target.
And if you remove 12-17 from 12-24, you get a lot different perspective.
The younger a person is, the more time they prioritize to finding and listening to songs. At some point in early adulthood, that changes to letting someone or something else find music for them. They either use random select but focused online sources or radio stations.
Radio's issues are more about competing with streams with few or no commercials but which program the content for the listener. The issue radio has is reconciling the need to run commercials with listener needs for music with few or no commercials.
As to "no commercials" there is generally a cost, while radio is free. Few or less commercials means radio has to find a commercial load that is both profitable and sustainable. On the other hand, no stream is profitable due to the extreme costs of music rights fees.
The quandary is most likely to be in the area of where radio can be profitable while comparing favorably with streaming services.
PPM participants are not "interested" in radio. They are interested in the incentives they get for carrying the meters. And the interested party is generally going to be the mother in a traditional family or the head of household in a non-traditional one.
PMM does not accept partial "households". Every member must participate, or the whole group is removed from the panel. So if there are non-radio users in the group, they carry the meter anyway because mom wants a new appliance or some of the other incentives.
That means that the lesser or non-radio users are included. That is because the family leader makes them comply to get the incentives.
The fact that the meters show much lower radio usage among teens and pre-teens demonstrates that there are plenty of non-users in the household or family unit. But they get included in the panel because they are part of that unit. For that reason, there is no "skew" as you suggest.
Further, Nielsen is now using the term of "Persons Using Mass Media" and not PUR anymore. That is because the meter has the capability of registering all audio sources. In fact, when some of us were on the original PPM development panels, there were representatives of both radio and TV and the project was shared by Nielsen and Arbitron. The meter is positioned to measure all audio and, of course, can be used to measure TV/Video services based on audio encoding... the original intent in fact.
The “radio pros” On here are wrong more often than not. That’s fine, what’s bad is they can’t admit it.
Cocky and cocksure for no reason at all.
The principal difference is that the "pros" base their opinions on a combination of ratings and revenues. This is a business.
Since most folks here don't have access to the relevant ratings and the revenue figures, the calls are way off.
I've been particularly amused by the idea of doing Spanish Adult Hits in Boston, which still has me giggling.
"you are only as good as your last book"
Radio, the only job you take knowing you will be fired at some point.
Radio has been decimated for over a decade now, and before that the yearly third quarter firings at Clear Channel were so predictable you could mark your calendar with them in January.
If you have been in the business for more than a few years, and you have not been making plans for your career after Radio uses you and boots you to the curb, you have planned poorly.
There is a reason that in the late 1970's, I put my effort back into my college studies while I was till in the business.... I was 19 with a "First Phone" and was the C.E. for a small station.... and on the verge of flunking out because I was spending too much time doing radio and not enough time doing homework. My Dad told me "radio is a bunch of people stabbing each other in the back for a minimum wage job", and that was enough for me to hit the books.
Radio has always been a hobby for me, my career path took me in another direction... I pretty much retired when I was 49, I dabbled professionally in another hobby (cars) when I retired from the day gig on a part time basis eventually forming my own company. Getting to work with cars valued north of a million dollars and getting paid for it is a great gig if you are a gearhead.
I would not want to be in the position of having nothing but radio on my resume and sitting on the beach right now.
I know people over 50, some closer to 60, who spent their whole working career in radio, only to get blown out in the last year or so.... I am soooo glad I am not in their headphones.
It happens, but it should not be a surprise, there is no loyalty, there is no job security,it is radio, it is temporary.
We know that when a station changes format, a lot of good people lose their jobs.
All you care about is being able to hear your favorite music for free.
If someone loses their job, you don't care.
Yes, I think that was the ultimate reason why I didn't end up "in radio", although I came pretty damn close when I ended up getting a job at media relations firm, where I had worked with people who used to be in Boston Radio instead.
That's a very limited view. Radio is no different than any other line of work. People have been losing their jobs in radio since the 1930. There was a time when radio stations had live bands because they weren't allowed to play recorded music. There was a time when every radio station had a full team of engineers on staff, several just to run the transmitter, others to maintain the studios. But then again, there was a time that the only way to withdraw your money from the bank was to go in to a building, wait in line, and speak with a bank teller. No such thing as an ATM. Lots of jobs in lots of lines of work no longer exist. There really is no such thing as job security. Watching the riots and looting going on this weekend, all I could think of was all the people who will be out of work.
I care the radio serves its community by playing music people want t hear and discussing topics people need and what to heat that affect them.
I 100% don’t care at all that someone loses their job. People lose jobs all the time. If you work for a crappy station in a crappy industry...you will get got eventually. Know that and plan for it.
My wife asked me the other day-“why don’t any radio station Just try playing good music and see what happens?” I told her there’s a forum of guys who’d be happy to talk you in circles about that.
That's a very selfish view.
To you, it's a "crappy" station because they didn't do what you want. So you don't care if people got fired. But there were thousands of people who listened who are now upset that their favorite station is gone, replaced by another station playing 80s music. Explain to me how that's better.
Everyone thinks what they like is "good music," and what other people like is crap. You can't run a radio station that way.
FACT: Every job has a shelf-life. I don't care which industry you're in. If you're not constantly working to better yourself, you won't last. I worked as a software developer for a data center for several years, and, shortly before I left, they walked the guy who created their system out. He didn't know it was coming. I ran into him on our morning break and chatted with him. He wasn't the least bit nervous or concerned. At the end of break, we were told he was let go. At that data center, they were hiring all-the-time, and only two people worked there in its entire 30 year history long enough to retire.
When I worked in radio, I made sure I was developing other skills constantly. Before working in radio, I worked for a local telephone company out of college. I took IT courses on the side. Nobody who worked with me at the local telephone company is still there today. That industry was a guaranteed money maker for decades, but it's been in a constant state of contraction for at least 15 years. I'd be surprised if there were even half as many companies today as there were when I worked there. I kept taking IT courses while working in radio; my schedule in radio made attending college easier. I got a second degree in IT, and it benefited me almost immediately. Three months after graduation, Cumulus bought my stations. I lasted another three months under Cumulus and got out right before I would've been fired. I found out after I left that my replacement was hired before I tendered my resignation. After I started working in IT, I kept working in radio part-time while also working on improving and broadening my IT skills. If I didn't have what it took to work in IT, I was going to make sure radio could still be an option. I still work in IT as an IT manager. So, in addition to continuously trying to improve my IT skills, I'm now working on my management skills. That's what you have to do to say employed anywhere.
That's a very self-centered proposition. (Which is what I expect a listener to be.)
There is no consensus on what "good music" is. You might think Eminem is "good music"...and I may think it's the antithesis of 'good music'.
Does "good music" mean music that the most people would enjoy? Then they only way to determine that is by the research that radio does continually. Finding songs that the most people like (and then broken down by this age group or that age group. What songs do most people between 18-34 like, women 25-54, etc., etc.)
Is your wife assuming that the songs she considers "good music" is considered such by everyone else?
- Status