A sad commentary on the state of radio

[nd2023]

My friend was cleaning the snow off her car, and she broke the antenna. She told me that she didn't want to replace it because there's nothing good on the radio anymore.

Which brings me to this. There really isn't much unique programming on radio anymore, just programming aimed to keep people from switching to the other stations. Why pay upwards of $50 to replace the radio antenna, if all it will enable you to hear is 7 CHR stations, 5 AC stations, 3 classic rock stations, 6 urban stations, 4 cookie cutter rock stations, 2 stale rhythmic ACs, 3 religious stations, 3 Spanish stations, and not to mention all the IBUZ. Nothing too compelling to actually drive listeners back to radio. Where's the G-Rock, the Pulse 87, the Y100, the CBS FM before 2004, the CD 101.9 or WJJZ, the Mix 102.7, the Sunny 104.5, the Oldies 100.1, the list goes on and on for uniquely formatted stations that actually had a loyal audience that has abandoned radio because their music isn't played anymore? None of the aforementioned stations were doing poorly in the ratings.

And we are wondering why the younger generation is abandoning radio for iPods. Rather than playing new or unique music that isn't on people's iPods and having energetic, engaging, and LIVE DJs present it and interact with the listeners, you chase after the ever-shrinking audience for a piece of the CHR or AC pie. Tell me, what does Hit 106 offer that differentiates it from the 6 other CHRs in its coverage area (besides the Hit Mix at 5)? Is that a station you turn on and listen for long periods of time because the programming is interesting, or is it the station you listen to when the other stations are playing commercials? What does Magic 100.1 offer that isn't available on the myriad of other AC stations? What does 92.3NOW play that isn't being played anywhere else? Why must Magic 98.3 play the same crap heard on Z100? Has KTU ever beaten any Internet dance station to a new dance track in the past year? If HD radio on AM is supposed to make it sound like FM, why are AM stations simulcasting on FM? Why does Z100 no longer have a "local" feel in the mornings and afternoons?

If my car radio antenna breaks, I will not fix it either. Nor will I get an HD radio for it.

 

[SoulCrusher]

FM radio is killing itself. Broadcasters have no one but themselves to blame but losing their potential audience to iPods/MP3 players, satellite radio, and online broadcasts. I used to think that the blame could only go to monstrous conglomerates like CBS and Clear Channel for their bland "McRadio" takes on their formats. But the media outlets that we have in Monmouth/Ocean (perhaps the worst radio market in the entire country) prove that the same stale mentality has infected others as well.

Greater Media can apparently do only two formats from the looks of things: generic cookie-cutter rock (WMMR/WRAT/WDHA might as well all be the same station) and Soft Rock where they try to fool people by throwing around the term "variety" when everything sounds the same (WMGQ, WJRZ).

Press Communications is equally irrelevant. Let's see, we've got the token Soft Rock station (WWZY/WBHX - though they are not as bad as the rest), the token Top 40 station (WHTG/WBBO), and another Country station in an area that receives Cat Country perfectly (WKMK).

Kudos to Millennium for coming through for alternative rock fans with Shore Alternative, after Press spit in all of our faces by pulling G Rock and then didn't even put it online. That said, they've got some pretty generic FM radio stations: their takes on Soft Rock (WOBM, WFPG) and Top 40/pseudo-Hot AC (WJLK, WSJO) come to mind.

I just can't get over how many formats are being ignored in the area. For once I'd like to see someone go for something out of the ordinary and do everything in their power to make it a success (and I think we all know who and what I'm talking about by now). Whether it's Alternative or Active Rock, an 'RXP-like Adult Alternative format, Talk (national issues), an '80s format, Urban AC (I actually enjoy listening to 96.1 The Touch sometimes when it comes in - maybe we'd be able to receive it better if not for The Mouse), Smooth Jazz, Classic Hip-Hop, Classic Country - heck, ANYTHING that's somewhat different. How many stations do we need that play Nickelback, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift - I swear that you can hear all of them on about 75-80% or more of the stations in the market. Do we have the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to blame for this? FM radio will continue to be terrible around here unless we get some new blood in the market. Until that happens, I am through with radio.

 

[hubcity]

Do we have the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to blame for this?

Yes. Yes, we do.

It created the buyer's frenzy for market expansion, sale prices went up, and suddenly everyone needed to have *the* top performing station because they had a whole lot more debt to service.

It's not going to change until there are a pile of *huge* bankruptcies. Rolling back the Telecom Act would stop it happening again, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[gr8oldies]

You know what? Someone's antenna broke in 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1995 and the owner of the car said the same thing. Everything on the radio sucks and can't beat my (cassette, 8 track, CD collection). It's too repetitive. The DJs talk too much. They don't play cool LP cuts. Think no one thought radio sucked before 1996?

 

[8638]

FM radio is killing itself. Broadcasters have no one but themselves to blame but losing their potential audience to iPods/MP3 players, satellite radio, and online broadcasts. I used to think that the blame could only go to monstrous conglomerates like CBS and Clear Channel for their bland "McRadio" takes on their formats. But the media outlets that we have in Monmouth/Ocean (perhaps the worst radio market in the entire country) prove that the same stale mentality has infected others as well.

Greater Media can apparently do only two formats from the looks of things: generic cookie-cutter rock (WMMR/WRAT/WDHA might as well all be the same station) and Soft Rock where they try to fool people by throwing around the term "variety" when everything sounds the same (WMGQ, WJRZ).

Press Communications is equally irrelevant. Let's see, we've got the token Soft Rock station (WWZY/WBHX - though they are not as bad as the rest), the token Top 40 station (WHTG/WBBO), and another Country station in an area that receives Cat Country perfectly (WKMK).

Kudos to Millennium for coming through for alternative rock fans with Shore Alternative, after Press spit in all of our faces by pulling G Rock and then didn't even put it online. That said, they've got some pretty generic FM radio stations: their takes on Soft Rock (WOBM, WFPG) and Top 40/pseudo-Hot AC (WJLK, WSJO) come to mind.

I just can't get over how many formats are being ignored in the area. For once I'd like to see someone go for something out of the ordinary and do everything in their power to make it a success (and I think we all know who and what I'm talking about by now). Whether it's Alternative or Active Rock, an 'RXP-like Adult Alternative format, Talk (national issues), an '80s format, Urban AC (I actually enjoy listening to 96.1 The Touch sometimes when it comes in - maybe we'd be able to receive it better if not for The Mouse), Smooth Jazz, Classic Hip-Hop, Classic Country - heck, ANYTHING that's somewhat different. How many stations do we need that play Nickelback, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift - I swear that you can hear all of them on about 75-80% or more of the stations in the market. Do we have the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to blame for this? FM radio will continue to be terrible around here unless we get some new blood in the market. Until that happens, I am through with radio.

As a central Ocean County resident, I can't argue with too much of what you wrote. But, The Breeze is a nice, different, easy to listen to gold/AC that I think will grow its share, especially when compared to bland WOBM-FM. What a lame radio station that one is. Ocean's first FM, reduced to drivel. And Ocean's second FM, turned into mush. All of WJRZ's format's had merit, but this one......yak! When they signed on on 4 July 1976, I'd never have thought they'd be reduced to what they are now.

I am enjoying WJLK HD-2, but you, me, and maybe 50 others can hear it OTA. But at least it's there. This truly is a crap radio market. I'm grateful for the roof antenna that brings in Philly and NYC, not to mention my XM subscription.

 

[hubcity]

You know what? Someone's antenna broke in 1965, 1975, 1985 and 1995 and the owner of the car said the same thing. Everything on the radio sucks and can't beat my (cassette, 8 track, CD collection). It's too repetitive. The DJs talk too much. They don't play cool LP cuts. Think no one thought radio sucked before 1996?

Well, actually, if you happen to be one of the (apparent majority of the) people who actually likes hit radio, this is the golden age, isn't it?

 

[gr8oldies]

If you want non-hit radio, that's what the noncomm band and the internet is for.

 

[hubcity]

If you want non-hit radio, that's what the noncomm band and the internet is for.

Yes - terrestrial commercial radio has, save for a few bright spots, completely abdicated the role of "tastemaker for an audience interested in new and exciting music." That's no longer how radio works - it's ceded that role to noncommercial radio, the Internet, and iTunes, all of which are thriving...unlike terrestrial commercial radio. Funny, that.

Here's how radio works: Stations add a presentation layer on top of the music they know a majority of the public want to hear. The presentation layer is what means the difference between a successful station that plays the music they know a majority of the public want to hear, and a not so successful station of the same type. All of this is done to collect listeners that can be counted, so that the accounting of those listeners can be presented to a potential advertiser; the advertiser, in turn, presented with the opportunity to put their message in front of those listeners, pays the station to do so, and that's where the station makes money.

Missing from this concept is the trite and outdated notion that a station might be successful attracting a more devoted class of listeners and advertisers that all revolve around their belief in the quality of a certain type of music. In other words, a "soul".

That goes for pre-1965 oldies as much as it does for the NYC "Dance Music" crowd and the deep-alternative format I'm espousing.

Nothing personal, mind you. It's business. So's the tobacco industry.

 

[bigtom101]

Nothing personal, mind you. It's business. So's the tobacco industry.

And even with tobacco being so deadly, they seems to always find new customers. Maybe radio should take a page from their playbook...

 

[sethjamz]

The younger audience does not have the "spending power" that a more mature crowd does. Thats why these owners do what they do.
Hubcity said it...itunes, mp3 players etc give the younger audiences what they want, so why program a station to compete with the fact that the younger demos have to many choices and can't stay focused on radio because they are too busy with hooking up, video games, partying, watching stupid reality shows etc. I don't know many owner groups who buy stations to air what they think the "kids" want, they air programming that some consultant says will make them money, and with times like these, can they really afford not too?
They (owners) are catering to who pays their bills right now. It's truley business, the bottom line, MONEY!

 

[Silkie]

Sometimes I wonder if some in radio are really counting on having no listeners.

 

[gr8oldies]

If you can make money playing obscure and unknown music and trying to be everyone's personal IPod, get some investors together, buy a station and knock yourself out. Don't expect someone else to invest millions to cater to you and an individual.

 

[Prais]

gr8 said,"get some investors together, buy a station and knock yourself out. Don't expect someone else to invest millions to cater to you and an individual."

Exactly.

 

[d21ofnj]

Well, all I have to say is Microsoft is doing their best to get the younger generation into terrestrial, HD radio, and internet radio via Zune HD, which I officially have today. Greatest MP3 invention ever, wish they came up with this 5 years ago.

 

[hubcity]

If you can make money playing obscure and unknown music and trying to be everyone's personal IPod, get some investors together, buy a station and knock yourself out. Don't expect someone else to invest millions to cater to you and an individual.

In 1997 I predicted that an MP3 playing device with sufficient capacity, set to "random", would become radio's biggest competitor. My prediction now is that, regardless of the size of their MP3 player, people genuinely like to be surprised with music they haven't heard. I'm predicting now that that'll be music radio's primary purpose by 2015...if there's any music radio left.

 

[d21ofnj]

Maybe in a year they will make a home stereo system just like the Zune HD.

 

[nd2023]

Then what explains the myriad of CHR stations that are aimed at a young audience? Especially a certain CHR station that replaced an alternative rock station that targeted an older audience. Or the AC station that replaced a classic hits station?

These kids that are growing up with their iPods will not abandon them when they become adults.

 

[SoulCrusher]

The younger audience does not have the "spending power" that a more mature crowd does. Thats why these owners do what they do.
Hubcity said it...itunes, mp3 players etc give the younger audiences what they want, so why program a station to compete with the fact that the younger demos have to many choices and can't stay focused on radio because they are too busy with hooking up, video games, partying, watching stupid reality shows etc. I don't know many owner groups who buy stations to air what they think the "kids" want, they air programming that some consultant says will make them money, and with times like these, can they really afford not too?
They (owners) are catering to who pays their bills right now. It's truley business, the bottom line, MONEY!

Come again? Take a listen to one of the myriad Top 40 stations that we have around here. I know this doesn't go for everyone, but I took the time to count every Top 40 station that puts a decent signal into Southern Ocean County - the number I came up with was seven, loud and clear (WJLK, WAYV, WRDW, WZBZ, WIOQ, WSJO, WBBO - and before anyone questions some of my inclusions, I'll point out that Hot AC is now a slightly more adult-leaning CHR).

The music that plays on Top 40 stations couldn't be further away from what an adult wants to hear. Start with the exclusion of pretty much all music from before, say, 2004 or so. Go on to song titles that evoke pure juvenilia ("Imma Be", "Shake That Bubble", "Sexy Chick", etc.). Let's not forget the high percentage of acts that rely on pitch correction or vocoder to put their voices in tune - also not something that many adults want to hear. Finally, all you have to do is listen to a song from one of the following acts: Ke$ha, Miley Cyrus, Boys Like Girls, Cobra Starship, Britney Spears, etc.: All are music for children, with absolutely zero appeal to adults. And I'll say it again: We have seven stations that these descriptions apply to completely. You don't think broadcasters are going after children? Think again.

I grew up listening to radio. I continued to listen, until last year when the only station that appealed to me changed formats to sound more like everything else on the radio. I guess I'm one of the people that broadcasters just don't care about anymore. There is no reason at all why our area must have 7 CHRs and 6 Soft Rock stations (WOBM, WFPG, WBHX, WJRZ, WBEB, WWZY). Between these two female-oriented formats dominating the FM airwaves, what is left for the male listener? Maybe we're not all into the safe, bland classic rock-dominated Greater Greedia stations. Heck, regardless of what your age or gender is, if you don't like soft rock or hit music, you have very few choices.

I have an MP3 player. I listen to online radio, but that's mostly because there's not even one FM station that I find even slightly appealing. If there was, believe me, I would listen. There's a lot you can get from FM radio that you can't get from MP3s or online radio - news, traffic and weather, concerts, information on local events, to name a few things. But I'm certainly not going to listen to shallow, childish drivel or sleep-inducing soft music for that. I'm an alternative rock fan first and foremost, but if there's anything different out there, I will support it. Blaming technology is just a copout that broadcasters like to use to cover up their ineptitude.

The broadcasters around here are a lot like politicians. Instead of accepting the blame for any shortcomings on their end, they take it out on the people. If you really have your heart in making a format that you believe in a success, it's up to you to make it happen. Press Communications clearly didn't have their heart in G Rock, and that's why they dropped it so abruptly without even making it an online station. Top 40 is obviously more their cup of tea, because they're actually trying to make it work. My hope is that one day we'll get someone who will do that for an alternative rock station - or anything that isn't Top 40, Soft Rock, Classic Rock or Country, for that matter.

 

[sethjamz]

Not all kids are filling out their parents diarys. Look at the ratings.
I never said they (owners) were not after "children", I said the younger audience does not have spending power.
So programming/advertising goes "through" the parents. Advertisers will not buy enough time on a "kid" station to support it.
It's really a simple formula, that's why stations like WJLK, WAYV, WRDW, WZBZ, WIOQ, WSJO, WBBO do what they do.
Listen, you like Alt. music, that's fine, and that's why you want an Atl. station, but that's not the "mass audience".
Hell, I like ALL music even Black Eyed Peas and groups like that and I am in the 50 year olds bracket, but I am not the mass audience.

Most 30 & 40 something women and moms are trying to hold onto their youth, so they listen to the Hot AC's and Top 40 (even Classic Rock), because it's dancable. Go to a club and ask the DJ what these women are asking for. It's just one of the small trickle down effect of the business results, they hear it on radio, they go buy an outfit from a store they heard of on radio, and they go dancing and buying drinks at a club they heard on the radio. The big business of radio is of course a much broader result, but I hope you get the picture.

Now TV on the other hand, goes right after the KIDS with visuals and flashy spots. Until radio figures out how to do that, you will hear what you hear.

 

[hubcity]

Then what explains the myriad of CHR stations that are aimed at a young audience? Especially a certain CHR station that replaced an alternative rock station that targeted an older audience. Or the AC station that replaced a classic hits station?

These kids that are growing up with their iPods will not abandon them when they become adults.

I happen to be a parent of one of "these kids", and I get to hear her complain repeatedly about hearing a track on a Top 40 station "again". This is usually followed by button pushing until either she either hears something that isn't quite so burnt out or she gives up and turns off the radio.

The process is slower when there are friends in the car. Tracks don't burn out at the same rate for everyone, and they'll generally abide hearing something that's stale if someone else in the car still wants to hear it, unless the majority don't, and the odd person out concedes that, yeah, they should switch the station.

They stop when they hear something new that appeals to them, that isn't already on their iPod. At the same time, they're also clued in to the meaning of the word "derivative" - if it sounds exactly the same as the last hit from the same artist (or from some other artist) it gets dismissed.

The fact that they've got itchy preset button fingers, of course, means that they DO NOT tolerate advertising unless it's entertaining in and of itself.

None of this has anything to do with the popularity of hit radio from a programming perspective. Hit radio is simply an easier thing to sell to advertisers, full stop, and it will continue to be easier to sell until the advertisers get wise that their perception of hit radio's popularity isn't backed up by the numbers for the station they're able to afford to advertise on. Whether that means they stop radio buys altogether or they realize they need to support a different paradigm is difficult to say - I suspect the former.

I see a better future for noncomms that cater to their audience.