Declining radio audiences

[wadio]

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.

I'm not talking just about radio companies.

 

[TheBigA]

If that's all they do, they likely won't stay in business long.

Staying in business means making money. Infomercials pay the bills. Once that stops, they go out of business.

There are lots of AM stations operating with very few listeners but lots of infomercials. That's how they stay in business.

 

[davideduardo]

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.

The sale of infomercials is basically concentrated among news and Newstalk stations. Well, some music stations may sell some time early Sunday morning or late Sunday evening. The prevalence of such content on music FM is almost nil.

News and talk stations have sold block time on the weekends for decades. It is very hard to find enough programming to fill Saturday and Sunday daytime hours and there are not enough syndicated shows to really fill that time. And syndicated shows have a good deal of difficulty finding advertisers because sponsors are not as interested in weekends as they are in weekdays.

 

[wadio]

The sale of infomercials is basically concentrated among news and Newstalk stations. Well, some music stations may sell some time early Sunday morning or late Sunday evening. The prevalence of such content on music FM is almost nil.

Yes, I should have specified talk.

News and talk stations have sold block time on the weekends for decades. It is very hard to find enough programming to fill Saturday and Sunday daytime hours and there are not enough syndicated shows to really fill that time. And syndicated shows have a good deal of difficulty finding advertisers because sponsors are not as interested in weekends as they are in weekdays.

If you're right, which you probably are, then radio is done.

But keep an eye on WABC. Personally I don't like most of the programming but I have to say they're serving their audience the way a talk station should.

 

[tbolt909]

Staying in business means making money. Infomercials pay the bills. Once that stops, they go out of business.

There are lots of AM stations operating with very few listeners but lots of infomercials. That's how they stay in business.

Don't these infomercial people expect some response or ROI?I If nobody is listening, what's point? It's sort of like a newspaper continuing to print hard copies that no one buys or reads. AM Radio stations running infomercials at a "Dollar A Holler" may keep an independent operator going for a little while. It's a spit in the ocean for the Corporate groups. It won't help Audacy...

 

[TheBigA]

Don't these infomercial people expect some response or ROI?I If nobody is listening, what's point?

I said "few listeners." Not none.

 

[Kent]

If you're right, which you probably are, then radio is done.

Radio's obituary has been written many times over the last 75 years. Not that it might not eventually happen, but I'd save the ink. Radio, in my opinion, has a much brighter future than TV, or at least TV as we know it today.

Don't these infomercial people expect some response or ROI?I If nobody is listening, what's point? It's sort of like a newspaper continuing to print hard copies that no one buys or reads...

They obviously get something from being on the radio. So long as the people who listen buy, they don’t need many listeners.

 

[davideduardo]

Don't these infomercial people expect some response or ROI?I If nobody is listening, what's point? It's sort of like a newspaper continuing to print hard copies that no one buys or reads...

But the infomercial accounts Measure audience by station and time and know whether there is a good ROI

 

[EricStein]

But the infomercial accounts Measure audience by station and time and know whether there is a good ROI

Are there still actual listeners out there still gullible enough to buy stuff from Purity Products and the like? They seemed to be the only radio infomercials I hear.

 

[radiofan2023]

For some stations, the premium ads are the infomercials. Some stations are now running infomercials in mid-day slots on weekdays.

The sale of infomercials is basically concentrated among news and Newstalk stations. Well, some music stations may sell some time early Sunday morning or late Sunday evening. The prevalence of such content on music FM is almost nil.

News and talk stations have sold block time on the weekends for decades. It is very hard to find enough programming to fill Saturday and Sunday daytime hours and there are not enough syndicated shows to really fill that time. And syndicated shows have a good deal of difficulty finding advertisers because sponsors are not as interested in weekends as they are in weekdays.

Now that KMBZ has an FM signal, they run/were running a real estate investing show in morning drive on weekdays on the AM signal, as of a few months ago.

 

[Radio Bob]

Are there still actual listeners out there still gullible enough to buy stuff from Purity Products and the like? They seemed to be the only radio infomercials I hear.

I worked with a former big time Jock who took over as manager of a station and thought he had hit the golden goose when he signed up a bunch of 30 minute infomercials on year paid contracts . He was patting himself on the back until they all cancelled in three months saying the station didn't get them enough leads.

 

[Hyrum]

It wasn't much of a paid contract if they could walk away after three months and take the paid cash with them. Sounds like a bit of litigation is in order.

 

[gr8oldies]

It seems to me that both broadcast radio and TV need to find ways to counter those arguments, because at the rate that things are going the only audience that they're going to have left in any significant quantities is going to be those who are over 54. I saw some statistics regarding the average age of viewers for broadcast TV programs and how rapidly those average ages have increased in a very short period of time (five or six years) -- it's not that younger people aren't watching these shows, it's just that they're watching through streaming services instead of broadcast (or cable) channels. I don't get the impression that radio's average audience age is going up quite as fast, but it is going up.

So what are broadcasters going to do when 90% of the available audience is 55+? Chasing the splinter that is under that age isn't going to impress those advertisers that want young viewers and listeners much, so broadcasters are going to have a figure out a way of pitching advertisers on the value of the audience that they can get. An audience that has a lot of discretionary income and substantial amounts of personal wealth. An audience that may not buy diapers and baby food anymore and which may not be persuadable on what brand of deodorant to use -- but which certainly does spend money on things like cars, travel, and dining out.

And of course absolutely no one has tried that.

 

[PTBoardOp93]

Are there still actual listeners out there still gullible enough to buy stuff from Purity Products and the like? They seemed to be the only radio infomercials I hear.

Very much so. I'd say these products are more popular now than they were before the pandemic because of an increase in interest in "alternative" medicine.

Whether they are selling well through radio infomercials may be a different question ... but you can find lots of purveyors of such products advertising on Instagram and other online media.

 

[b-turner]

The difference between over the air radio and online media is radio offers a level of credibility to the product. The same product advertised online is considered questionable compared to it being advertised over the airwaves. Online is still the Wild West. You can say anything online whether truth or not but we have instilled in us a bit of credibility for what we hear over broadcast radio. I have no figures to support this and it's not just my thinking.

Oh, and when they cancel at 3 months, you let them if you can't convince them to a few bonus airings to bolster lackluster sales. Tick them off by taking them to court or trying to force them to pay the whole year and you will never sell them again. If you offer to let them out, they'll likely give you a shot with every new product they market. Business is business but it's good for business to show some flexibility and grace to clients. They'll remember that.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Also remember that their customers are the advertisers, not the listeners. Listeners prefer content on THEIR schedule, not the station's.

And we're the product.

 

[boombox4]

Are there still actual listeners out there still gullible enough to buy stuff from Purity Products and the like? They seemed to be the only radio infomercials I hear.

In the late 2000's I knew at least one person who bought a Purity Products supplement. They were happy with it. And they're not alone, obviously, or the infomercials wouldn't run.

There are also a lot of internet ads are for similar supplements, diets, pharmaceutical drugs, etc., so it's not just a radio issue. As soon as you're over 50, that sort of thing starts crowding your web pages -- Once I scroll down past a news article the spam adverts kick in, all promoting stuff like that. So it's not just happening in radio. Page after page of spam video and banner ads, all for stuff that's not too far removed from what infomercials on radio promote.

There are also a lot of 'buy real estate' or 'buy these hard assets' or 'buy and sell these stocks' informercials on radio, and some of the more 'legit' shows, like Ramsey, are infomercials in disguise -- at least in my opinion they seem that way.

 

[TexasTom]

There are also a lot of internet ads are for similar supplements, diets, pharmaceutical drugs, etc., so it's not just a radio issue. As soon as you're over 50, that sort of thing starts crowding your web pages -- Once I scroll down past a news article the spam adverts kick in, all promoting stuff like that. So it's not just happening in radio. Page after page of spam video and banner ads, all for stuff that's not too far removed from what infomercials on radio promote.

Indeed, there are a lot of supplements being pushed online. As an example, that's how Alex Jones monetized his audience was by pushing supplements. I'm not sure why anyone would want to buy "health" supplements from someone that looks as unhealthy as he does, but I guess it isn't a rational market.

 

[b-turner]

vchimpanzee, correct the listener is the product radio sells to the advertiser. So, while some people think this is not a win-win, here's some reality: radio tries to create as much consensus on whatever the format they air. This way they reach the greatest number of listeners in that format or demographic. That makes the station an attractive advertising venue to the business. The listener gets the format everyone likes and the station can command a good price to reach those listeners. Everybody wins...the listener, the station and the advertiser.

 

[vchimpanzee]

vchimpanzee, correct the listener is the product radio sells to the advertiser. So, while some people think this is not a win-win, here's some reality: radio tries to create as much consensus on whatever the format they air. This way they reach the greatest number of listeners in that format or demographic. That makes the station an attractive advertising venue to the business. The listener gets the format everyone likes and the station can command a good price to reach those listeners. Everybody wins...the listener, the station and the advertiser.

I was told this on this site.

No, not everyone wins because I won't ever like the consensus format.