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corperate control

radiowizard101 said:
I think it is you that is overthinking. Continue to dream on. It's harmless.
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Was this just a comment to the group, or was it a response to a specific post?
 
Yeah that was kind of hard to tell what post radiowizard101 was responding to, but I think it was mine way back on the first page or top of the second when I said everyone was overthinking my structure.
 
I think local markets respond differently to songs, especially the farther apart they are. Forcing one library on different markets is what, I think, prompts all the negative comments about today's radio programming.

It sounds like the only way for me to hear a large number of the songs I like is to turn on my computer instead of one of your stations. But, I'm 55 so I don't count.
 
Pirate Johnny, you are absolutely right about your first point, that is why I would never completely dictate song for song a playlist for any of my stations. If, for some reason, after going into all of the big markets I mentioned, I decided to sign on a couple new small-market sticks, one programming CHR and the other programming AC, there is nothing stopping the CHR from leaning adult because there is no Hot AC in the market, and there is nothing stopping the AC from leaning towards Classic Hits to try and fill that void except for what is already on the server.
 
PirateJohnny said:
I think local markets respond differently to songs, especially the farther apart they are. Forcing one library on different markets is what, I think, prompts all the negative comments about today's radio programming.
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But... that's why stations do local research to determine what they play.

In the worst case, a station in a market too small to afford a music test might use the research of a sister station in a nearby larger market that can afford research.

Given that the alternative is to go on 100% gut feel and knowing how imprecise that can be, blaming any problems radio might have on this is a bit out of place.
 
I'm not a Programmer, never been a Programmer, and don't have any desire to be a Programmer. My tastes in radio are strictly from a listening standpoint. I once worked for an Oldies station in a top 50 market whose PD didn't play any Beatles newer than 1966. Why? He was afraid that someone driving into the market would hear a post-1966 Beatles song and think they were listening to a Classic Rock station. {BUZZER} Every (Beatles) song ever played on a Top 40 station should be on an Oldies station. From a listener standpoint. That was one example. Another example was the 'All-Request Lunch Hour.' But the entire hour was programmed. Sure, the phone was answered and some lame excuse ("I'll try to get that on for ya') was given, but we were instructed to play the songs on the log and make up names of those listeners who had "requested" them.

As far as audiences go, people move in and out of towns all the time. If I moved to a new town and turned on a Classic Rock station, that's exactly what I'd expect to hear, and I'd wonder why if some songs weren't played and others overplayed. What's wrong with being a Classic Rock station and playing every song that deserves to be heard on a Classic Rock station, period? If the Classic Rock format theoretically emulates what had been 'Progressive' rock (the format that began by shunning the overplayed singles in favor of very deserving album tracks), why not keep that idea alive? People (real listeners) become bored with radio stations when they feel the playlist is becoming homogenized.

One radio company had an alternative rock station that had a very dedicated following. The studio was large enough to have bands come in and play live on the air... and many of them were major label bands. But, one day management decided to "go in another direction" and flipped the format one weekend. The following weekend there were several hundred people marching with protest signs back and forth in front of the building. Who gets that kind of a following and then pisses on them?

I admit: I don't get it.
 
Your points are well taken. I am in the same boat as you having never been a programmer, except for some little shows I've produced that haven't really been distributed. The first thing I would do after aquiring WZYP in Huntsville is do everything in my power to get it switched to the Hot AC pannel. How can you call yourself a CHr when you don't play Macklemore, Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj, and a few others that I can't think of at the moment? I heard I Cry on KEHK the other day and I bet WZYP never played it! I'm really not sure what the point of having the all request lunch is if the hour is already programmed. There are worse offenses than sounding like a Classic Rock station by playing any Beattles song after 1966. Take KHTR for example, they are a Classic Hits, but sound more like a gold-based AC to me. Then there are the ACs that are so hot they should be moved over to the Hot AC pannel and the Hot ACs that should be on the CHR pannel. I really have no idea what's up with the rhythmic CHR format, to me it just sounds like a mainstream CHR with maybe a few additional random hip-hop tracks thrown in. However, when you look at the golds for rhythmic, they are way different than mainstream. They must play them all overnight though.
 
trackertalent said:
One radio company had an alternative rock station that had a very dedicated following. The studio was large enough to have bands come in and play live on the air... and many of them were major label bands. But, one day management decided to "go in another direction" and flipped the format one weekend. The following weekend there were several hundred people marching with protest signs back and forth in front of the building. Who gets that kind of a following and then pisses on them?

I admit: I don't get it.
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The real questions:

What did the ratings in the key demos and revenue look like just before the change?

What did they look like a year later?

Unless it's a very small market, a few hundred people passionate about a format may not be indicative of its viability in the market as a whole.
 
michael hagerty said:
Unless it's a very small market, a few hundred people passionate about a format may not be indicative of its viability in the market as a whole.
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But isn't that the number of people used in song tests?
 
PirateJohnny said:
michael hagerty said:
Unless it's a very small market, a few hundred people passionate about a format may not be indicative of its viability in the market as a whole.
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But isn't that the number of people used in song tests?
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The difference there is selection and motivation. The test audience can tell you why they listen and more importantly, why they don't and what could change that. It gives you insight as to how to attract a sustainable percentage of the desired demographic. 500 ticked off people in your parking lot, depending on how bad the ratings were, might be half, most or all your listeners. And you changed because that's not a survivable number.
 
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