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Car Talk For Rock Radio

T

TheBigA

I've said that the future of radio isn't in music, but in news, talk, and sports. How about a talk show about cars that also incorporates rock music? That's sort of what John Clay Wolfe does. It was just announced that the John Clay Wolfe show will be heard Saturday mornings on a group of major market iHeart rock stations:

radioinsight.com

John Clay Wolfe Show Doubles Affiliate Count Across iHeartMedia Stations

The John Clay Wolfe Show has announced an expanded distribution agreement with iHeartMedia bringing the show to 116 stations across
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com

These iHeart stations have a high percentage of male listeners, and one subject men talk about is cars. This sounds to me like an infomercial with music. In any case, it's coming to a lot of rock radio stations starting this Saturday.

 
I've heard the show a few times over the years. It's not my thing, but it had a loyal following and was already carried on some well known heritage iHeart stations before this agreement.

The odd affililiate for this is KOSF in San Francisco. An odd choice to put it on a standard 80s centric Classic Hits stations, other than clearance in the market is required for the new agreement.
 
vw86 said:
The odd affililiate for this is KOSF in San Francisco. An odd choice to put it on a standard 80s centric Classic Hits stations, other than clearance in the market is required for the new agreement.
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iHeart doesn't have a rock station there. The surprise to me is that WCHI isn't among the affiliates.
 
While I was unable to read the current stations list (I'm guessing it's inside a graphic), I did note from the syndication link that the show is aiming to go beyond just IHeart stations. We'll see if any bite.
 
I'm wondering just how much interest modern males have in cars. There still exists a huge classic car following so perhaps this show is geared towards that segment but even those people are a niche of the overall market and are dying off (and yes, I am one of those).
 
ted chittenden said:
I did note from the syndication link that the show is aiming to go beyond just IHeart stations. We'll see if any bite.
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One of the biggest before this deal is Beasley's classic rock WMGK in Philadelphia.

landtuna said:
I'm wondering just how much interest modern males have in cars.
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Ever been to Barrett Jackson? If not, look into it.

landtuna said:
There still exists a huge classic car following so perhaps this show is geared towards that segment
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This wknd's show originates at Jay Leno's garage with Jay as a guest.
 
ted chittenden said:
While I was unable to read the current stations list (I'm guessing it's inside a graphic), I did note from the syndication link that the show is aiming to go beyond just IHeart stations. We'll see if any bite.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's in a graphic on the landing page.
TheBigA said:
iHeart doesn't have a rock station there. The surprise to me is that WCHI isn't among the affiliates.
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Especially with both NYC and LA taking the show. I've often noticed the 'Big 3' markets are, at times, exempt from syndicated programming that comes down from corporate (although I notice both NYC and LA are airing the show an hour early, from 7a-10a)
 
TheBigA said:
Ever been to Barrett Jackson? If not, look into it.
Click to expand...
I acknowledged the classic car segment in my post as I am familiar with that market (having had half a dozen classic's myself over the years). But I'm wondering...if the show pertains more to modern vs classic cars the young adult male of today seems much more interested in whether the car has A/C and internet connectivity than anything mechanical.
 
The point of this show is that aside from sport broadcasts, ratings are much lower on weekends. So you need a show like this one to get a loyal audience that will tune into this.

Car enthusiasts are niche, but they are a large and profitable one.
 
landtuna said:
I'm wondering...if the show pertains more to modern vs classic cars the young adult male of today seems much more interested in whether the car has A/C and internet connectivity than anything mechanical.
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If you read the program description in the OP or go to the show website, they address all that.

It sounds to me like the main thing is this guy. This particular host. Same with the old NPR program. Once those brothers were gone, the show didn't exist. People listened to hear THEM.

BTW the show is on a lot of classic rock stations. Not sure how many "young adult males" listen to 40 year old songs. But as I said, it's more about the host than about the topic.
 
landtuna said:
I'm wondering just how much interest modern males have in cars. There still exists a huge classic car following so perhaps this show is geared towards that segment but even those people are a niche of the overall market and are dying off (and yes, I am one of those).
Click to expand...
I concur with you here. I'm a young male, a casual classic car guy, and own and drive a classic. I'm also involved in a couple of different car-related events.

The interest among younger males seems to be primarily in the "tuner" community - and I think most of those guys are listening to rap and not classic rock (given the size of the subs a lot of them are sticking in their cars:ROFLMAO:).

There are still young folks who dig classic cars - just like there are still young folks who dig oldies. Doesn't mean radio is going to put oldies back on for the local car hop...

I've listened to this show (the local iHeart classic rock station has aired it for a while, I'd guess) and it's not really about classic cars or cars at all for the most part. It's a lot of banter (sometimes car related and sometimes political, topical, etc.) and occasionally guys call to sell a car and then there's some banter back and forth with them, etc. At least, that's what I recall from the couple of times I listened (and it's been a while).

This show isn't about working on cars or anything like that. It's entertainment.
 
TheBigA said:
Same with the old NPR program. Once those brothers were gone, the show didn't exist. People listened to hear THEM.
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Ray has started doing a show for people who pay for it. We got a free trial of sorts but with just Ray, I didn't think it was that good.

Anyway, if you go to the list I linked to, those shows are in purple.
 
TheBigA said:
If you read the program description in the OP or go to the show website, they address all that.

It sounds to me like the main thing is this guy. This particular host. Same with the old NPR program. Once those brothers were gone, the show didn't exist. People listened to hear THEM.

BTW the show is on a lot of classic rock stations. Not sure how many "young adult males" listen to 40 year old songs. But as I said, it's more about the host than about the topic.
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Yup, that's my observation, too. People regularly tuning in are listening for the host. Like Handel on the Law. I don't think people were tuning in for a better understanding of the law. They liked the host and found it entertaining.

I don't find that host entertaining, so even though I'm a classic car guy I don't regularly listen.
 
AMRadioGuy said:
Yup, that's my observation, too. People regularly tuning in are listening for the host.
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That's why none of the other CHR countdowns in the 80s could ever come close to making a dent against Casey Kasem or Rick Dees. Or why major market Classic Hits stations are willing to play an hour or two of stiffs in a classic AT40 rebroadcast.
 


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