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Zee 103five format tweaking

I like to argue that it doesn't have to be dance music at all (or as much) for a gay radio station.
Do a proper music test with songs that have no proof of who the person is singing to or about.
Songs that say "love" without mentioning a person's name.
I'm trying to think of a good example, but the only song that comes to my mind right now is Right said Fred's (a dancy tune anyway)
Don't talk, just kiss.
It's a woman in the music video, but Fred is gay in real in real life anyway.
It's just a song...a "let's kiss" song.
Not a single mention of the woman's name anywhere in the song.
Just a simple song about kissing...which can easily apply to gay men or lesbian women just as well as anyone else.
Therefore, it fits the format of a gay radio station without question.

There may be other songs, possibly better songs...
 
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That kind of fence-straddling logic reminds me of when Melissa Etheridge was just getting some attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She used to deliberately write lyrics that did not blatantly apply to her own experience as a lesbian, but (wink, wink) everyone knew anyway.

She later said that when she released her 1993 album "Yes I Am" she "knew at the time that I wanted to come out" but denies that it was intended as a double entendré or inside joke. Nevertheless, it's possible that there was something unconsciously subliminal there. From that perspective, just about any soft AC station's playlist would work for LGBTQ+.

It's all in the marketing. Note that most of the successful LGBTQ+ stations are in gay-friendly markets to start with.
 
K.M. Richards said:
Note that most of the successful LGBTQ+ stations are in gay-friendly markets to start with.
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Yup. That was the intent of 103.9 FM in Toronto. Not a care in the world about how weak or strong the signal is, just as long as it served the Church and Wellesley community of Toronto loud (Proud) and clear.
 
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, that is something that has always frustrated - though not surprised - me about "LGBTQ+" commercial media...they seem to focus on cis gay men, or maybe trans women, in exclusion to everyone else, and they assume that everyone in that demo listens to nothing but dance music and worships Britney Spears. They don't reflect the diversity of musical tastes and experiences among LGBTQ+ people. On the TV side, the same was true of Logo before it stopped producing original programming and became "all RuPaul's Drag Race all the time." But of course, it's commercial media, and therefore a business, so I guess this is to be expected. The case could also be made that LGBTQ+ listeners hoping for more serious and thoughtful discussion of issues relevant to the community are listening to NPR or to non-radio sources.
 
CCBInMI said:
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, that is something that has always frustrated - though not surprised - me about "LGBTQ+" commercial media...they seem to focus on cis gay men, or maybe trans women, in exclusion to everyone else, and they assume that everyone in that demo listens to nothing but dance music and worships Britney Spears. They don't reflect the diversity of musical tastes and experiences among LGBTQ+ people. On the TV side, the same was true of Logo before it stopped producing original programming and became "all RuPaul's Drag Race all the time." But of course, it's commercial media, and therefore a business, so I guess this is to be expected. The case could also be made that LGBTQ+ listeners hoping for more serious and thoughtful discussion of issues relevant to the community are listening to NPR or to non-radio sources.
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I believe it's Rainbow media that agrees with you 100% (I may have the name wrong) They publish a magazine for the gay community. They were supposed to team up with Evanov, but instead decided they do not agree with what Evanov is doing, so they pulled out and took their advertising elsewhere.
 
Speaking of LGBTQ+ radio in Canada, I believe it was Evanov who did a similar format in Montreal, except on AM (I believe the former CKGM 980 frequency) and in French. Being on AM may be a good part of the reason that didn't last.
 
K.M. Richards said:
It's all in the marketing.
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Speaking of marketing, I don't see any billboards or subway ads for Z 103.
Good news: Z 103 brought in a 4 share for the Winter book (they usually pull in less than that)
Bad news: They changed mid book (it seems)
It will be interesting to see what future ratings will be like for them...
 


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