• 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

Could a Taylor Swift format work?

Could a 24/7 Taylor Swift channel work on terrestrial radio. I don't know of any other artist that has the power that she has right now. Would her fan base listen or even care.
 
That's what CHR stations do when her tour is in town. It's a great one-day diversion. But she really doesn't have enough hits (even if you include the country stuff) for a 24/7 format. I tracked one station (WTDY Philadelphia) that did it for a few days, and her hits were getting 40-50 spins over just a few days. That's a lot of repetition. After that, the station flipped to Hot AC.

TBH there really is no upside for an FM station to only play one artist, no matter who it is. A station in Dallas did an all-George Strait day for his birthday, and he has more hits than Taylor. The point of FM radio is to offer variety. That single artist thing is best done either by Sirius or some streaming network.
 
That's what CHR stations do when her tour is in town. It's a great one-day diversion. But she really doesn't have enough hits (even if you include the country stuff) for a 24/7 format. I tracked one station (WTDY Philadelphia) that did it for a few days, and her hits were getting 40-50 spins over just a few days. That's a lot of repetition. After that, the station flipped to Hot AC.
If you are targeting the swifties who know every lyric to every song, does it matter if there are hits or not.
 
To answer the question in simplest terms: Not from a financial perspective.

I think people are becoming so comfortable with streaming radio and how it operates that they forget the goal of traditional radio. If there were no ownership limits and companies could own unlimited radio stations in a market, all of these ideas would probably work. But if you're limited to five FMs in a market, you pick the best five formats you can find, and run with it. You may do a Taylor day when it fits, such as when she's in town or has something new. The rest of the time, you play everyone else, because you're aiming for a mass audience, not the fringes.
 
oh god no... no no no no. even her biggest swifty fans would tire of her after a month or two, if that.. and youd run off 90 percent of your listeners or better in just a few hours. and all of your advertisers. for a 1 or 2 day special, sure.. but other than that.. this is one of the worlds worst ideas ive ever heard for a radio format.. and ive heard plenty of doozies in my life.

Quickest way to flush all your revenue down the crapper and clean out your listeners for a format flip that i can think of
 
I think people are becoming so comfortable with streaming radio and how it operates that they forget the goal of traditional radio. If there were no ownership limits and companies could own unlimited radio stations in a market, all of these ideas would probably work. But if you're limited to five FMs in a market, you pick the best five formats you can find, and run with it. You may do a Taylor day when it fits, such as when she's in town or has something new. The rest of the time, you play everyone else, because you're aiming for a mass audience, not the fringes.
That, and what casual observers don't realize, is it's not a trivial, nor inexpensive matter to change, let alone launch, a new format on traditional radio. Certainly changing for the sake of change without adequate research as to determine whether one stands a chance.

Back in the late 80's there was an AM station outside of Portland, OR that launched an all-Elvis format. The station had been circling the drain financially for several years, struggling to find a niche. They decided to throw the ultimate Hail Mary. The all Elvis thing got them about thirty days of listener notoriety, but not advertisers. About two months later I purchased a great deal of their equipment at auction.
 
There have been all Elvis and all Beatles stations that quickly ran dry. Is Taylor more popular than those artists were? By the way, the Portland station was smack in the middle of town, not outside.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom