Holy crap. What happened? 😮

[davideduardo]

People have had options from the moment cars included tape players in their dashboards. And people have been using those options for 30 years. The difference now is that the usage can be quantified. Streaming is the new personal mix tape.

8 Tracks in cars go back about 50 years... cassettes slightly less. Even CD players in cars go back to the later 80's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-track_tape

 

[CLTRadio]

Most of those articles are opinion, not based in facts and data.

And there is actual measured data that shows that 89% of Americans over 18 use radio. They use it less time than before, but much of that is due to the pandemic, not to a radio issue.

The decline is in amount of time, not total person usage. And, again, we need to look at data up to February of 2000 before the pandemic to get an idea of what the "normal" radio usage is. In fact, January 2022 is about 25% higher than the same month in 2021, showing radio is gradually returning to the pre-pandemic levels.

It takes intervention. A button push, a verbal command. As people get older, that is too much work.

And country stations have been very current based for nearly 20 years. Gee, even when I supervised a country station in the early 90's we only played stuff from the last decade and were about 60% current and recurrent.

Still, the 18+ figure shows 89% of the population uses radio weekly. Sure, there are more alternatives. Back in the 90's, we believed that declining radio usage had to do with video gaming, which can't be played while listening to radio. It's not just music streaming, it is every thing from TikTok to YouTube to podcasts to Facebook and other social media alternatives... there are just more choices.

Nielsen data also shows that streaming continues to grow and is the platform of choice among an increasing number of young folks. Hell, if you look at the 6+ ratings especially in PPM markets you’ll see that the the shares for the 18-34 stations continues to decline.

I do agree that the pandemic is responsible for some of the decline, but radio is not going to be increasing their reach over 2019 levels anytime soon.

I also have to press a button to turn on the radio, adjust the volume, change the station, etc. Your argument that it’s just too much work to stream is not valid.

 

[davideduardo]

Nielsen data also shows that streaming continues to grow and is the platform of choice among an increasing number of young folks. Hell, if you look at the 6+ ratings especially in PPM markets you’ll see that the the shares for the 18-34 stations continues to decline.

That makes no sense. There are always 100 shares, as share is the percentage of radio listeners, not the universe.

The big reason for lower listening levels is the pandemic, but January 2022 levels are halfway back to the January 2020 levels. The worst was January 2021, and that was pandemic related.

I do agree that the pandemic is responsible for some of the decline, but radio is not going to be increasing their reach over 2019 levels anytime soon.

No, but it is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

I also have to press a button to turn on the radio, adjust the volume, change the station, etc. Your argument that it’s just too much work to stream is not valid.

For most people it still is.

 

[CLTRadio]

8 Tracks in cars go back about 50 years... cassettes slightly less. Even CD players in cars go back to the later 80's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-track_tape

There are some important differences. The main one being that you had to buy individual tapes, 8 tracks, CDs, etc. That can be very cost prohibitive. I would get tired of listening to the same thing over and over and turn the radio on too. You also has to deal with changing out the CDs, tapes, etc.

Now, I can pay $10 a month and stream whatever I want from a catalogue of millions of songs. Hell, my Apple Music is included with my Verizon plan.

 

[TheBigA]

There are some important differences. The main one being that you had to buy individual tapes, 8 tracks, CDs, etc.

Actually people were able to make their own 8-tracks or cassettes, and then with CD burners, they made their own CDs of just their personal favorites. If you got tired of the songs on the tapes, you just recorded over them. Tape length got longer, and of course there were car CD changers that allowed you to load 10 CDs. The decline of radio TSL coincides with the rise of personal mix tapes and CDs.

Keep in mind that radio is not in the music distribution business. The business that has been affected the most by streaming is the retail music business. No more Peaches.

Now, I can pay $10 a month and stream whatever I want from a catalogue of millions of songs.

The most interesting thing about that is even with access to millions of songs, most people have a very small group of favorites that they listen to.

 

[TheBigA]

That's true, but radio has also always had an advantage when it comes to ease of use and local personalities/info/music. Those advantages are disappearing with more and more consolidation, less local content and technology advancements.

But my point is it ceased to be an "advantage" the minute people could make their own playlists. That was 50 years ago. This is not a new phenomenon, and has nothing to do with "consolidation." If it was, it would also affect SiriusXM and the streaming services, which are far more "consolidated" than radio. If you want a real experience in consolidation, call customer service at Sirius.

 

[CLTRadio]

Actually people were able to make their own 8-tracks or cassettes, and then with CD burners, they made their own CDs of just their personal favorites. If you got tired of the songs on the tapes, you just recorded over them. Tape length got longer, and of course there were car CD changers that allowed you to load 10 CDs. The decline of radio TSL coincides with the rise of personal mix tapes and CDs.

Keep in mind that radio is not in the music distribution business. The business that has been affected the most by streaming is the retail music business. No more Peaches.



The most interesting thing about that is even with access to millions of songs, most people have a very small group of favorites that they listen to.

Constantly having to go and hold your tape recorder up to the radio and wait for your favorite song to come on is definitely not as simple as pressing a button and telling your phone to play your favorite song. Y’all are really stretching it with these bad arguments 😂

 

[CLTRadio]

That makes no sense. There are always 100 shares, as share is the percentage of radio listeners, not the universe.

The big reason for lower listening levels is the pandemic, but January 2022 levels are halfway back to the January 2020 levels. The worst was January 2021, and that was pandemic related.

No, but it is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.

For most people it still is.

How does it not make sense? The stations targeting younger audiences are consistently near the bottom of the overall ratings in nearly every market. They’re getting less market share than the stations going after older audiences.

 

[TheBigA]

Constantly having to go and hold your tape recorder up to the radio and wait for your favorite song to come on is definitely not as simple as pressing a button and telling your phone to play your favorite song. Y’all are really stretching it with these bad arguments 😂

Huh? What world do you live in? Forty years ago, tape recorders were built into radios and you could record directly. No mic required. Most people simply recorded their friend's record collections. They didn't record off the radio. I'm not saying streaming isn't easy. I'm just saying that people have been able to create their own playlists for a long time.

Radio stations create curated playlists. If they suit your taste, great. If not, go somewhere else. No one is forced to listen.

 

[davideduardo]

How does it not make sense? The stations targeting younger audiences are consistently near the bottom of the overall ratings in nearly every market. They’re getting less market share than the stations going after older audiences.

But the stations with more gold based music are way up in 18-34. KBIG beats KIIS in 18-34 in LA, as one example.

There are always 100 shares of radio listening. "Share" measures only people who are listening. "Rating" measures everyone. But ratings are not publicly released. What the public calls "ratings" are really "shares".

If you look at 18-34, there is simply a realignment of what stations that demo is listening to. This often happens when there is poor new music, as is often the commentary over the two pandemic years. The 18-34's are listening, but they are not listening to the same stations or are listening more to some stations and less to another; the average PPM panelist hears 6 station in a week, and even more over a longer period.

 

[jt99]

But the stations with more gold based music are way up in 18-34. KBIG beats KIIS in 18-34 in LA, as one example.

There are always 100 shares of radio listening. If you look at 18-34, there is simply a realignment of what stations that demo is listening to. This often happens when there is poor new music, as is often the commentary over the two pandemic years.

Hell, KRTH was even #1 18-34 in Los Angeles in the last non Christmas book!

 

[davideduardo]

I'm just saying that people have been able to create their own playlists for a long time.

And, in the past, what seems like a lot of work today was the only solution so people did it.

And like today... the more mature the person is, the less likely they are to devote much time to self-curating their own music library..

 

[TheBigA]

And like today... the more mature the person is, the less likely they are to devote much time to self-curating their own music library..

It's not necessarily a function of maturity. The fact is that for the majority of people, music simply is not that important. They have wives, families, mortgages, and more important things to worry about. So whatever's on the radio is usually just fine for them.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Frank Ski left WVEE and is now at WALR. So now for the first time, WALR is #1.

It's not that simple. What's happening in Atlanta with Urban AC vs. Urban is happening in a lot of markets.