AM - Where are you going? Best formats for future

[joshzz]

Now that the sports format is landing on FM in most markets, it's time to rethink what format will thrive on AM.

My picks are:

1) CHEEZY FM http://www.cheezyfm.com/ -- IN THIS CASE CHEEZY AM

2) Brokered radio - my friend makes a fortune brokering his stations to people that just want to be on radio-- he puts up lots of billboards with sayings like.. "Host Your Own Radio Program call..." , "Radio Personalities Wanted No Experienced Required" etc., I think half the population would like to have their own radio program... Single guys and gals looking to impress? "Tell them you have your own radio show" ...

3) Foreign language - another small but loyal following though Spanish radio has a large number of listeners- but you'll never get a true & reasonable, Arbitron rating as many hispanics are illegally in this country.

4) Disney- kids are listening

5) Real community radio.. country store, a fishing program, polka, lots of remotes etc.. best example of that is WSNJ 1240 in Bridgeton, NJ http://www.wsnjam.com/

6) news

7) political talk - A MAYBE - though the format thrives on Am as Sports has done in the past .. I expect Rush, Hannity and the like will find a much, bigger audience on the FM dial


I do like the idea of Jazz on AM-- run a satellite feed, bring in a couple of local guys/gals to augment & hire anyone that wants to sell radio (forget that last comment - every station owner is on the look out for anyone that has an interest in selling radio.)

josh .. sometimes i'm too long winded ..

Are there other formats that you think would thrive on AM? ..If so, which ones??? josh

 

[landtuna]

I fail to understand why people think brokered radio is a viable format. It might pay the basic operating costs of a struggling AM but it sure won't add anything to the bottom line nor will it draw more than a minuscule cume. Actually, the word 'cume' seems wildly inappropriate for this format.

I guess it is possible that a wanna-be personality could hit it big airing his/her own show, be discovered and hit the big time. But on a high-freq AM? Nah.

And music (jazz) on AM? No.

I would however love to learn the reasoning behind the FCC thinking infomercials are 'in the public interest' (for both radio and TV) - other than an alternative (and irritating) form of advertising.

 

[joshzz]

hi landtuna,

thanks for your reply. Actually, my friend that runs two brokered radio station makes more money than most other owners in the area. he is doing phenomenally well with the format. ..

 

[blue67ccm]

How long has the brokered format been on the air and profitable? How's the ratings? Long-term growth potential?

 

[joshzz]

The station has been profitable for as long as they have owned it - They bought it during the nineties.


Initially my question was also, "How are the ratings?"...... The answer is that they are irrelevant and meaningless when it comes to brokered radio. The guy buying time believes a lot of listeners will want to listen to him, ergo he just needs to be on a station that has the potential to reach a lot of people.

In essence, each block of time is being bought buy someone who will be essentially a radio personality, a producer, and a program director for that one hour of time per week.

Just a few years ago - major market television would never sell blocks of time during the day but now all of the majors are doing it ABC, CBS FOX, etc.. Over the next year you're going to hear more informercials on the major radio networks .

 

[radioboy]

In response to your original question, our area has three black gospel stations. One has been doing
the format since 1995.

This particular station, which is a rimshot, showed in our Arbitron book, while the other two did not.
It has a lot of local ministries and churches on the air and is live and local (it is a daytimer.)

The other two run satellite feeds. One has some local programs (preachers). The third one, I have no idea how it survives, but it has 4 sister FMs. The first two are standalone AMs.

Brokered radio makes money. However, the only people that really care about these stations are the owner(s) and the people buying the time slots.

There is no "one size fits all" answer. There are too many market variables. If no one else is doing it, a variation of "full service" with heavy news and information can work.

____________________________________________________________________________

Personally, I used to listen to country on AM until all those stations disappeared. Then for a time I listened to contemporary Christian on an AM until that disappeared (but I bought out their music library, which went back into the 70s.)

I almost never listen to terrestrial radio at all these days, as has now been the case since 2001. I do listen to my stream (classic country, mostly) which also runs over a low power AM Part 15 transmitter. Of the 244 country stations on Live365.com's network, it is ranked around #12.

 

[pabsungenis]

Here's one I've wanted to try for a while. You'd need to do it in a fairly major market, perhaps on a rimshot:

Comedy radio.

Except for some long-form programming on weekends, the station is completely short-form stand-up, sketches, and novelty. Mostly automated, but hosted drive time programs.

Clock structured similar to the CBS all-news stations like KYW and WINS: One 60 second commercial every 6 minutes, so while we have more breaks they're shorter, and people are less likely to tune out during them.

Marketing: the alternative to everything else on the dial. Need a quick pick-me-up during the day? Tune in to Comedy radio. Commercials would show the face of a car radio giving a typically horrible traffic report, in the middle of which someone pushes a button and switches to Comedy radio. "Take a break from reality."

Anyone wanting to try this, please PM me. I'd love to talk more about the idea and make it work.

 

[scottwmro]

I own a 1,000 watt AM daytimer, with only 3 watts at night. My station is fully paid for, and I'm on disability. My station was Oldies for about almost 13 years. One day, I just got tired of hearing the same 400 songs being played over Dial Globals "Kool Gold" format, which I was an affiliate of. I changed the format to "Hot AC"! At first, the 55+ complained, but as time moved along, it's been a success for me. I have no trouble selling the format. I made the change in August of 2006.

I have a Broadcast Electronics Transmitter with an AM Tower with good bandwidth. It sounds great on good car radios. Today's "Adult Top 40" will work on AM. I'm an affiliate of Citadel Media's Hot AC Format. Citadel is going to file bankruptcy, but they will come out of it. The format is working great for me on AM.

I have nothing to lose, so I consider myself very lucky and blessed to have what I got and be able to play a format that has drawn attention in the community.

 

[joshzz]

Scott,

Great post! I enjoyed talking with you.. josh

 

[gr8oldies]

We have a classic country trimulcast on 3 daytimers near Dayton OH (FM translator for one) that is very old timey (including tradio) but doing well with local direct. Demos have to be 65 plus.

 

[ok walters]

sports - the more local events (high school, little league sports, fishing, etc) the better. if it is not local coverage as much as possible, don't waste your time though

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

For a large market, Rainbow Radio might be a money maker. I don't say this pejoratively. Talk radio that serves the needs of the gay community could generate dollars and develop a loyal audience. In smaller markets, local wins and it doesn't have to sound hokey. A small market AM that does local high school sports and makes it sound like it's ESPN (it's not hard these days with a laptop, USB mic and Adobe or ProTools) can generate some money. Of course, you have to spend some money to make some money. Too many operators have discovered that doing things on the cheap turns out to be pretty expensive.

 

[Whiplash]

gr8oldies! You guys do a great job. And adding the FM translator was brilliant. What you are doing is one of the fantastic ways to keep AM alive and well.

 

[12 In a Row]

sports - the more local events (high school, little league sports, fishing, etc) the better. if it is not local coverage as much as possible, don't waste your time though

A business disaster plan. How do you sell this format?
How many folks will be tuning in to hear little league and local fishing shows?
The only potential listeners, Mom, Dad, Grammy, are at the game.
Best be left to Public Access and it's 10's of viewers.

 

[nolaradiobuff]

High school sports makes money, even in medium-large markets. Football is huge; basketball, only if I can't run college; and baseball, wouldn't touch it.

If the alternative is reruns of Rush/Hannity/Beck, or some other show that doesn't generate revenue or is time-shifted (Savage in many markets, Levin, Miller or the multitude of weekend shows that are filler), why not try high school sports? There's an audience for the larger schools and a built in loyalty base of advertisers.

Little League Baseball? I don't think so.

Sportsman shows (hunting, fishing) work well here (Louisiana - The Sportsman's Paradise, according to our license plates). Updates from fishing rodeos are also very saleable.

 

[joshzz]

High School Sports really depend on the market- in NJ depends on the particular towns - use to be very good but times have changed.

We have had kids ask us to offer video of games. unfortunately, no can do currently, but we're looking into ustream. josh

 

[Tom Wells]

LOUD music excels on AM. Jazz could work if it's loud, fast, dancing, dangerous, 1927 jazz.
HONK them saxophones.... Not 1950's or 1970's sparse and "head" jazz.
Rock and Roll excels on AM, because it's all "supposed to be" loud.

At least for average Joe listening, with average radios.

A station with a good music base could easily break in at any time with local live elements and satisfy a lot of listeners.
WLNG comes to mind, but there are others.

Gotta split daddy-O "Black Slacks" by Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones is on....Gotta dance. TWINSPIN!!!!

 

[davideduardo]

A station with a good music base could easily break in at any time with local live elements and satisfy a lot of listeners.
WLNG comes to mind, but there are others.

But WLNG is no longer on AM... hasn't been for a looooong time when. They are FM only.

 

[Tom Wells]

A station with a good music base could easily break in at any time with local live elements and satisfy a lot of listeners.
WLNG comes to mind, but there are others.

But WLNG is no longer on AM... hasn't been for a looooong time when. They are FM only.

Yes, I know that, but they are the best example of such a format that I can think of.

 

[joshzz]

Sounds good, but we can't regenerate that audience. Would be nice if we could do a time travelling though.