That's an excellent point, and it's true of all media. Lots of retail chains are gone, and the ones that survive have moved to digital strategies. Of those chains you have mentioned Walmart is really the only one that's financially healthy. None of them are spending what they used to on broadcast ads.
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Declining radio audiences
- Thread starter TexasTom
- Start date
That's an excellent point, and it's true of all media. Lots of retail chains are gone, and the ones that survive have moved to digital strategies. Of those chains you have mentioned Walmart is really the only one that's financially healthy. None of them are spending what they used to on broadcast ads.
I don't understand Chimp's complaint - or maybe it's an observation; Chimp is hard to read - because the lyrics tell a story, tell it well, and give you a good sense of the exasperation of the protagonist. I don't have a problem with the song other than that, when I heard it a gazillion times in 1985 on Houston's CHR stations, I heard the line, "the queens we use would not excite you" as "the creams we use would not excite you".
This is on my dermatologist’s business card
I'm saying what I heard someone say. Probably Casey Kasem. I am not aware of how accurate the lyrics are in describing what they are supposed to because I never really listened and only remember that the lyrics were supposedly nonsense but they were never changed.
Like the theme from "Frasier".
Who knew one of the guys from ABBA also wrote the Frasier theme? "One night in Seattle and your housekeeper's your sister in law..."
??? Kelsey Grammer wrote the song.Who knew one of the guys from ABBA also wrote the Frasier theme? "One night in Seattle and your housekeeper's your sister in law..."
formerradio
Banned
I ran across this video the other day on YouTube. While not directly related to radio as an industry. The video makes a very compelling case for the dramatic fall that radio has seen in the past years. The music industry changed, major disruptors were introduced to music. And music is the main ingredient in radio. It is a six minute video and I suggest you give it a view.
It's one ingredient. It doesn't have to be the main ingredient. But sure, I've been saying this for 10 years. See post 159. The music industry changed from selling CDs to streaming files. Their entire business model changed. It's had an effect on radio. So radio is focusing on content it owns, which isn't music.
I had an eye-opening discussion with two young (25ish) co-workers Friday. Neither one of them EVER listen to the radio, and they don't stream local stations either. One said she has a radio in her car, but she doesn't even know how to operate it. She just plugs in her iphone and listens to Spotify or podcasts. The other said the same thing and said the only time she's ever listened to the radio was when she was in the car with her parents and they had it on. I asked why they don't listen and their answer was simple: why bother? They have all the music and podcasts they need and don't need to hear commercials. They get local news and weather off their phones anyway, so what's the point of listening to radio. That was their answer. It's kind of sad, but I also get it.
As part of a statistics class in college, we did a phone survey of people in our area about their entertainment options in their car. This was in the late 80s or early 90s when CDs were all the rage. We found that radio use was only marginally impacted if someone had a cassette or 8-track player in their car. But CD players were a very different story. Radio was significantly impacted by CD players because of sound quality and ease of use. I can only imagine that all the other options people have now make that problem far worse. We've now got a whole generation of people who grew up with smartphones that could stream anything they want with no commercials or few commercials. It's no wonder they don't listen to broadcast radio.
As part of a statistics class in college, we did a phone survey of people in our area about their entertainment options in their car. This was in the late 80s or early 90s when CDs were all the rage. We found that radio use was only marginally impacted if someone had a cassette or 8-track player in their car. But CD players were a very different story. Radio was significantly impacted by CD players because of sound quality and ease of use. I can only imagine that all the other options people have now make that problem far worse. We've now got a whole generation of people who grew up with smartphones that could stream anything they want with no commercials or few commercials. It's no wonder they don't listen to broadcast radio.
People often say one thing and do another. But sure, there are people who use Spotify for music. That way they get what they want, when they want it. Radio doesn't offer an on-demand model.
The music industry completely changed their business model 20 years ago. The emphasis on physical product was replaced by streaming. So yes, we know all about how radio listening has been impacted by technology. That's why radio companies have been redirecting resources to other platforms, spending less on broadcast and more for streaming and podcast. Real-time programming is being replaced by on-demand. So we're spending less on traditional distribution.
I have a different view about the decline of radio.
Maybe it's because I'm lazy! I'd rather tune to a station with content I like than search for one podcast after another, constantly having to decide what to listen to. Radio made it easy for us.
Radio took a wrong turn 20 years ago, IMO, by constantly pushing listeners toward their websites rather than trying to keep them engaged on the air in real time. What kept people engaged was 24/7 LIVE content.
But they sold out to the easy infomercial money, driving away listeners on the weekends and other non-drive time periods. Once listeners couldn't depend on reliable 24/7 content they started to look elsewhere.
BTW, radio is radio whether it's received OTA or via an Internet stream. Radio has done a good job of nearly destroying itself.
Maybe it's because I'm lazy! I'd rather tune to a station with content I like than search for one podcast after another, constantly having to decide what to listen to. Radio made it easy for us.
Radio took a wrong turn 20 years ago, IMO, by constantly pushing listeners toward their websites rather than trying to keep them engaged on the air in real time. What kept people engaged was 24/7 LIVE content.
But they sold out to the easy infomercial money, driving away listeners on the weekends and other non-drive time periods. Once listeners couldn't depend on reliable 24/7 content they started to look elsewhere.
BTW, radio is radio whether it's received OTA or via an Internet stream. Radio has done a good job of nearly destroying itself.
It depends. Some people think what keeps people engaged is interaction. That's what happens here at Radio Discussions. That's what radio stations can do with their social media platforms. Two-way communication. The value of the station website is you can provide MORE content without regards to things like Nielsen ratings. That's why stations push listeners there.
The only format that runs informercials on weekends is talk. Music stations don't run infomercials. The reason they do it is because the advertisers feel they need more time to sell customers than :60. Especially when you include all the disclaimers. It's not easy money. It's the only way they can make enough money to pay the local talk hosts during the week. There is no "easy money" in radio.
This is why I still use radio quite-a-bit. I tend to consume radio more over the internet than over-the-air these days, but, as you mentioned later, it's still radio.
Counterpoint 1: The website was another source of revenue, and it got advertisers who wouldn’t advertise on traditional radio. You see Walmart advertising on websites and audio streams. You never hear it advertise on commercial radio. Same for Dollar General and Tractor Supply Company. Radio found a way to make customers of businesses that otherwise weren’t customers.
Counterpoint 2: You can’t stop progress. Internet use was going up at the time and continues to go up. Your audience isn’t going to seek you out if you’re not where it wants to be. As you mentioned, one of radio's biggest advantages is ease of use. Not being where your audience is makes you harder to use, and it drives them to Pandora and other alternatives. Plus, AM, in particular, has always had problems with building penetration, same for rimshot FM's. Being on the web put them on equal footing with their competitors.
I haven’t known many music stations to do that. Talk stations certainly have, but how many people were listening to the timeslots that were sold to infomercial clients?
Not to all, but obviously you want broadcast. Other people want something more. We can walk and chew gum at the same time.
When I was younger that's just about the only time I listened ... weekends and evenings when I was staying up 'till the wee hours working on the fixer-upper house we just bought. When your dial is set to a station on the weekend it's still there on Monday morning when the premium ads are to be consumed.
For some stations, the premium ads are the infomercials. Some stations are now running infomercials in mid-day slots on weekdays.
I want continuous content ... preferably streaming rather than OTA broadcast.
Lots of companies have lost their way by expanding to the point where they lose focus on what they do well and what their customers want.
At some point, companies have to invest in the future. They're doing it gradually. The growth is in online. That's what their customers want.
Also remember that their customers are the advertisers, not the listeners. Listeners prefer content on THEIR schedule, not the station's.
If that's all they do, they likely won't stay in business long.
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