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Why are chr stations struggling in the ratings?
- Thread starter tall_guy1
- Start date
My view is there's very little in current CHR music that appeals to men. Harry Styles and Taylor Swift are great for women. But I don't see much for men, so they go elsewhere. That may be outside traditional radio, where they can hear music with language & topics that the FCC considers obscene. Country had this problem a couple years ago before the return of Morgan Wallen and some of the harder male singers.
Having said that, CHR numbers are pretty good when you isolate on 18-34. But they're overwhelmed by older listeners who are powering formats such as classic hits and classic rock.
Having said that, CHR numbers are pretty good when you isolate on 18-34. But they're overwhelmed by older listeners who are powering formats such as classic hits and classic rock.
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In a breakdown of that demographic - male listeners v. female listeners......does it appear that they listen or purchase different genres of music? For example, would you say that females purchase or listen to music by both male and female artists, but males purchase music only from male artists? It's an interesting study of demographics.
In northern California last month, KOIT-FM which plays CHR did very well........and there was a discussion here on whether or not they did well due to playing a lot of Christmas music. One might think that females purchase or listen to the bulk of Christmas music because it is "romantic" or "sentimental, appealing to emotions", but apparently Christmas music has a universal appeal.
I know that you have access to the Mediabase research, because you have helpfully provided answers to questions about playlists. Does the Mediabase show the breakdown of songs done by female artists v. male artists? Or is that programmed on most stations by day parts. We did have some discussion that stations play quieter songs during mid-day shifts when the traditional housewife segment is allegedly listening. Although, with so many women now in the workforce, midday shifts can no longer presume to have a preponderance of female listeners.
For example, on stations playing urban contemporary, or hip-hop, or rap, they play predominantly male artists, but there are some female rappers that might bring in listeners, such as Nicki Minaj, or Cardi B. Or on country stations, which have some female artists like Carrie Underwood, who might appeal to male listeners.
Not sure why Taylor Swift does not appeal to male listeners, unless it is the content of her songs where she often sings about relationship break-ups.
Not sure why Taylor Swift does not appeal to male listeners, unless it is the content of her songs where she often sings about relationship break-ups.
The song "Victoria's Secret" exemplifies that notion, almost exclusively aimed at young women.
Mediabase is not really "research". It is just a tabulation of what stations play based on actual electronic monitoring. It's just a listing which can be sorted however a subscriber wants. What you can do is look at songs (or a song) by station, by groupings of stations or by whole formats. Labels can look at specific artists, too.
I can't find a way to do that in Mediabase. I am new to Mediabase, as I used to get the other service and that option was not there. You can do things like see songs played 10, 15, 20 years back, too. And you can create you own custom lists based on stations you like to follow.
Most of us, recognizing that there are fewer female hits, try to space them out. If we have 70% male or male groups and the rest female, we will try to keep two male songs between each female just so the fewer female ones don't cluster.
Obviously, most single stations can't change the mix of male and female songs alone. There is, of course, a considerable issue of parity, fairness and equality here that needs to be addressed. One thing all programmers should consider is giving a tiny preference to female artists in cases where we can just make one add, but have several songs we think are "right": pick the woman if we can.
In most formats, that practice is very minimal. What you do have is more intense, new, young leaning songs being played nights and, maybe weekends until they become more mass appeal. And that is only something you might see in Hot AC and a few other formats.
The dayparting of songs is done less today. More common is to daypart older gold into middays, not playing brand new songs in AM Drive, and things like that.
Let's hope others with program experience add their comments. Each of us has slightly.... or considerably different techniques as there is no rule book and no "best way" to program.
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I question how Carrie Underwood could be more appealing to men than Taylor Swift. Is it because she's far more conservative?
With that being said, despite the popularity of hip-hop, Rhythmic/Urban CHRs aren't having better ratings than mainstream CHRs, given that, as said before, radio stations cannot air obscenities.
And even though mainstream CHR is far from its peak, stations like Z100 and KIIS are doing well, given the circumstances. Also, Atlanta and San Francisco both manage to get by with two CHRs that are at least performing substantially. But, in certain markets like Houston, mainstream CHR is underperforming within 18-34.
Dont think she is conservative. She doesnt say her politics, but shes vegan, so Im guessing no.
Remember that the focus of greatest appeal of a song may be "young women" or some other category, lots of songs have broader general appeal where the only difference is that older listeners or those of another gender just "like" them rather than "love" them. Still very playable.
I'm outside the young, female pop demo. Very outside. But I happen to like a lot of K-pop and like regularly checking what the rising hits are. Strange, but then again in 1977 I was asked by Edgardo Díaz to become the administrative manager of a new teen boy group he was forming in San Juan... probably one of the two biggest opportunities I ever turned down!
I'm guessing that must have been "Menudo", a hugely successful boy band, with a very danceable sound. They were fun !
Yes, I was asked to leave my very well paid GM position at two of Puerto Rico's leading stations to become a partner in a "group of kids" that still did not have a name yet and which was modeled after "La Pandilla", a Spanish group that Edgardo Diaz had represented in The Americas before it broke up.
I even went to some of Edgard's recruiting sessions with kids who "could sing and dance" (sort of) but I imagined that I'd be dealing with young post-pubescent kids all day long and that did not sound like a lot of fun.
If you are looking at the ratings for CHR/Top 40 stations, it would be wise to skip December and the Holiday ratings too. Nowadays, most listeners to CHR are young adult women. Many of them tune in Christmas stations during that time. Check back again in January.
When you think CHR, the big morning shows are hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Elvis Duran. Clearly they are aiming their shows at young adult women, not teens or young adult men.
In NYC, in October and November, Z100 was #5 both months. That's OK.
In LA, in October KIIS was #7 but in November it was #9. So that's not as good as it once was. KIIS had reliably been in the top 5.
In Chicago, where there are two CHRs, the story isn't good. WKSC is usually in the 2 point somethings and WBBM-FM is in the one point somethings.
Maybe we need to go to Syracuse, Market #100. It also has two CHR's. Cumulus-owned WNTQ is #3 and iHeart-owned WWHT is #4.
When you think CHR, the big morning shows are hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Elvis Duran. Clearly they are aiming their shows at young adult women, not teens or young adult men.
In NYC, in October and November, Z100 was #5 both months. That's OK.
In LA, in October KIIS was #7 but in November it was #9. So that's not as good as it once was. KIIS had reliably been in the top 5.
In Chicago, where there are two CHRs, the story isn't good. WKSC is usually in the 2 point somethings and WBBM-FM is in the one point somethings.
Maybe we need to go to Syracuse, Market #100. It also has two CHR's. Cumulus-owned WNTQ is #3 and iHeart-owned WWHT is #4.
KMXV in kc has been doing very well for some time and thats on top of a smaller chr and a very chr-skewing hot ac in town. Kc loves pop music.
But the strategy in LA is different. KIIS and KYSR and KOST are iHeart's Wall of Women and as long as the total shares add up to the same thing together, they are fine. The three get around 12 to 14 shares in 25-54, and much more in 18-34 and 25-54 women... so combined, they have greater shares than needed to get on nearly every targeted buy. The three bill around $85 million, which is more than the billing of all combined stations in every market below #25.
Its not a bad song...I dont mind it, but its not aimed at me. A song I'd cringe at is something like Asher roth's "I love college" though (it came out in 09), and wasnt a big hit (Im guessing those outside the hyper-targeted teen/very young adult werent fans.) Not to mention, it was an awful song. (My chr didnt play it.)
You make a good point that songs that "sound" like young adult or teen records don't fail with other groups unless the lyrics are about teen-only subjects. A lot of the early Taylor Swift songs were very "immature" in lyric content and they ceased to be fun quickly as they did not relate well to anyone over about 22.
Taylor swifts older stuff I thought had broad appeal though and I still like some of them (except for maybe "fifteen" or "today was a fairytale.") The asher roth song only got to #36 on the charts and callouts were awful I see! The lyrics for victorias secret seem more mature at least.
I think the real answer is in markets where it is underperforming it’s one of two things:
1. It should be Rhythmic instead and it’s mainstream.
Or
2. (And probably the most common reason) There is just too much of it. When you get too many CHR outlets in one market it splits the shares down. Everyone is trying to do it right now but this phase will pass and the underperforming properties will be adjusted or flipped.
1. It should be Rhythmic instead and it’s mainstream.
Or
2. (And probably the most common reason) There is just too much of it. When you get too many CHR outlets in one market it splits the shares down. Everyone is trying to do it right now but this phase will pass and the underperforming properties will be adjusted or flipped.
She was involved in a few COVID-related controversies.
Besides that, though, she seems to resonate strongly with the Baby Boomer generation the most. Even public figures 20 years her senior are not the strongest among Boomers (in relation to Gen X and Millennials). As strong as she is with Boomers, she may be in shaky ground with Gen Z, and they are gradually making a higher proportion of 18-34s.
Places like the Central Valley, El Paso, and the Rio Grande Valley really love their Rhythmic stations.
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