Wouldn't that be a good place for non-commercial operators? It baffles me that more stations don't try running non-commercially with a format that will pull good 6+ numbers but maybe not perform well in demo. To me, it seems logical that a 70 year old who grew up with 50s and 60s oldies would donate to a station playing that music, but I see very few opportunities for such a station. Meanwhile, public stations continue to focus on jazz and classical, which are aging even worse than oldies, smooth jazz, or Soft AC.
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Audacy Introduces Emma To Seattle (KSWD Flips to Hot AC)
- Thread starter speer360
- Start date
Sure, and it's being done in a lot of places. One that sticks out to me is WUMB in Boston. They consider themselves folk but they spend a lot of time with 60s music. There are a lot of LPFMs that play older music, and their only income is from listeners. So yes, I see the future for this to be in non-com radio, not commercial.
Yeah but for perspective, KPNW was a hot topic on this collection of radio nerds Kabal, and it didn't seem to help.
Somehow I don't think a handful of folks talking about it on a radio forum even move the needle.
They also did a lot of promotion at music venues and places where music fans gather. So they did a lot of community outreach.
It gets back to why I said Seattle doesn't have a good track record for new formats. Nobody is looking for a new radio station.
Spending money on advertising won't great new demand for a product people aren't interested in.
I agree. Even back a few years ago the group I worked at paid a pretty penny for TV going into the (at the time) a Fall book. As I recall there was a tiny blip that appeared some short-time sampling, then ratings settled back into their typical pace. That was the last time we did TV unless it was a straight-up promo trade.
I’m not sure all of the panic is necessary. What you’ve basically got here is a radio station shifting their format a bit to fill the hole that Star 101.5 left. Time will tell if it’s the right move or not, but Audacy probably sees this as an opportunity to be more competitive against Warm 106.9.
The previous soft AC approach wasn’t that bad, but they probably have more latitude to play more upbeat music with their new direction. Even stations that still identify as “soft” can’t get away with avoiding upbeat and current music in 2024.
The previous soft AC approach wasn’t that bad, but they probably have more latitude to play more upbeat music with their new direction. Even stations that still identify as “soft” can’t get away with avoiding upbeat and current music in 2024.
If you can find a press that hasn't already been stopped ... permanently.
Oh yeah.....I remember reading you were headed to the Cascade/Donnelly/McCall Idaho area. I'm a former Tri Cities and Boise jock. What's your take on radio here? Are the Boise stations coming in like BoiseEngineer said they likely would? I haven't been up to McCall in ages, but 101.9 The Bull had a great signal up there, and they have two HD-subchannels. Are they coming in?
The Audacy page is their streaming page. Maybe that's effective enough, but that would depend on the numbers of new potential listeners that are actually using Audacy, compared to potential new listeners using Spotify, Pandora, YT, etc.Audacy is on the internet. They own that platform and they're using it to promote this station. Streamers can stream it here:
Emma 94.1 Seattle | Seattle WA
Emma 94.1 Seattle, Seattle. 43,018 likes · 7 talking about this. Music from the 90's, 2000's and Now to get you through the workday. Emma is your PNW Bestie!www.facebook.com
You can pound people over the head all day, but they're not giving up their smart phones.
Also, people on the internet want to avoid advertising. They find ways to block those messages.
The best advertising is word of mouth, and that's what we're doing right here, right now.
Promoting just inside your platform -- be it the station's streaming platform, or on the FM broadcast -- is an example of 'build it and it will come'. Millions of content creators will tell you that's not the way to effectively promote a new content channel. Maybe with Radio content it's different.
The FB promotion is outside the platform, so that might help.
I typed in 'Emma 94.1' on two prominent search engines and the first two pages of results were radio geek websites like this one -- and Audacy's PR piece, which was not on their streaming site, but on the corporate site, where listeners don't go.
Radio listeners, on average, don't go to radio geek websites. The IG did come up, though. That's a positive. 3K+ followers.
We've gone over this subject in the past, and I'll just leave it here. Radio will have to figure it out one way or another, regardless of what I think.
On people not giving up their phones, absolute agreement. And that's why I think that Radio should be promoting outside the platforms. Because the potential listeners are elsewhere, on their phones.
And I think that would be a huge mistake if any station went mostly down-tempo. All one needs to do is look at the history of 'low energy' stations like Smooth Jazz. Anecdotally people will claim they like that sort of music mix, but it's been proven in reality they're lying. In theory, they like it, but they don't actually listen much, or for very long. Since most radio listening has gone in-vehicle, listeners don't want to be put to sleep or distracted by long sets of down-tempo music.
This imaginary image of someone coming home, putting on headphones and relaxing with a glass of wine is bullsh*t. Even if they do, there aren't large enough numbers and they aren't listening to a terrestrial radio station. More like a smart speaker with Spotify.
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What makes you think they're potential listeners? They've already made their decision. It's not as though the music being played on Emma isn't also available in other places. This isn't the format to use if the goal is to win back former radio listeners. That format would have been KPNW, and we saw how that went.
The only hope for Emma is to take listeners away from other existing OTA stations.
Radio remains a viable business just at a different level than prior to digital attacking with streams and more important eating up advertising dollars that previously went to TV, Newspapers and Radio. Most recent studies have weekly tune in to local terrestrial radio stations somewhere between 70-85% of the population, down from 90's a decade ago but still viable. TSL has also declined due to non-radio competition as well. Plenty of audience to still create opportunity for success and you see it done well all the time. Stations like KISW, KQMV, KZOK, KJET, KBKS and KIRO-FM are consistent performers in Seattle with local morning talent and strong brands and listenership in demo's that matter. Many other stories across the country of great radio stations that continue to invest in talent, community and deliver revenue.
As for Emma, smart move. KSWD looked great 6+ but was 20th 25-54. 6+ is really worthless. (shocking). If you look at the last book 25-54 6a-7p you will see stations that are middle of the pack or lower 6+ on top like KQMV, KISW, KBKS, KKWF and KPNW. Top 6+ stations do not necessarily do well in core advertiser demos. HOT-AC is a 3-share format but if done well has delivered top 5 female and adult demos for years in Seattle and in other markets.
As for Emma, smart move. KSWD looked great 6+ but was 20th 25-54. 6+ is really worthless. (shocking). If you look at the last book 25-54 6a-7p you will see stations that are middle of the pack or lower 6+ on top like KQMV, KISW, KBKS, KKWF and KPNW. Top 6+ stations do not necessarily do well in core advertiser demos. HOT-AC is a 3-share format but if done well has delivered top 5 female and adult demos for years in Seattle and in other markets.
I think you nailed it here. The stations you bring up all offer something unique, and give listeners a reason to seek out the programming with effort.
I will listen specifically to KISW to hear the Men’s Room during afternoon drive. I’ll do the same thing with KIRO-FM. In the morning, KZOK and KJEB have morning shows that interest me, and I make a point of tuning in to listen every day. And the old adage about listeners sticking around to listen for the rest of the day DOES apply to a lot of people. I have a physical radio in my office that is set to 95.7. Once the morning show concludes, there’s a huge block of commercial free classic hits that I usually end up listening to.
I’m not a KQMV or KBKS listener, but I do believe the same principle applies. People will tune in for the morning show and then decide to stick around.
Radio does not have a captive audience anymore in 2024. And yes, it is way easier to just look up the songs I want to hear on YouTube. The big difference maker (from where I’m standing) is what radio stations are doing to make me choose radio over streaming. The X factor is definitely talent. Low (or no) effort programming is not a recipe for great success.
Had to be a few months in the making. I heard some sweepers talking about getting their tickets to Sea Fair.
The ratings will decide what the selling demo is. I'll predict that they'll be excited to get 25-49 numbers since that's the core demo most advertisers want. I don't fault the station for trying to down age their music, but they could have done that within the framework they already had, rather then "change format' in my view. keep the Sound name and update the branding and music- to keep your existing listeners while grabbing as much of the previous STAR listeners as you can. Maybe their research tells themTHIS is the way to do that and that the previous audience will stick around. But from a sales perspective, now you have a 'new' station and have to 're-price' it accordingly (read: lower the rates) until you have ratings to show. If you had just done it with no fanfare, then you keep rate integrity.
I agree that it would have been preferable to tweak rather than flip, given what I've said about recent format changes in Seattle. As you say, this station will have a steep hill to climb. But my guess is that the previous format was not only trending old, but also very male. That second part is perhaps why the big flip. I don't expect many of their former listeners to stick around for all the female targeted music.
Oh, here we go...
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