Exactly. And it's the mass companies, like Cumulus and Clear Channel that are trying to eat them up, it seems. Now I feel grateful that AM 690 really exists! The "mom and pops" of radio and their wonderful musical selections.
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Does anyone besides me think AC today is a joke?
- Thread starter Jasonthegreat
- Start date
Exactly. And it's the mass companies, like Cumulus and Clear Channel that are trying to eat them up, it seems. Now I feel grateful that AM 690 really exists! The "mom and pops" of radio and their wonderful musical selections.
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
No.
They have no interest in going after the small and unrated markets. There is not enough economy of scale to justify the expense of acquisition.
Clear Channel changed its name to iHeart about 4 dog years ago.
And, whatever the name, they have been reducing the portfolio in the smaller markets, going from 1200 stations to 800 at present. The focus has been on the larger markets, but there have been very few purchase in the last 5 or 6 years and lots of sales.
Cumulus began as a smaller market operator, but all their growth has been in majors and they are shedding some small market assets.
Enjoy it while it lasts. There is no way the operator is making money.
Hartford is really a Top 50 market if you take out the embedded markets like Nassau/Suffolk and San Jose that are also part of larger markets and excluding Puerto Rico which is not a competitive market for national and regional agency billing.
Puerto Rico appears to be somewhat of an anomaly in that it's much larger than any one station has the ability to serve. I'm surprised that it exists in that form and further more that it hasn't been broken up into smaller pieces by now.
Certain groups have always been excluded. You just didn't notice because you weren't among those being excluded.
For years, PR was measured as a single entity from the time I lead a group of broadcasters to get Asesores, Inc., who did the survey for over 20 years before Arbitron arrived, to do a "Puerto Rico Consolidated" book. It always had regional breakouts for the different regions, but since the agencies did not buy single local stations much, that was just to appease the protesters.
Arbitron provides preconfigured "regions" which are a lot like embedded markets on the mainland. Subscribers can do regional reports but that is seldom done.
All the significant players in PR operate as networks... several stations in a virtual simulcast to cover the entire Island. So, for all practical purposes, all the major stations do cover the Island entirely.
The reason for the "whole Island" approach is that historically all newspapers were published in San Juan and distributed island-wide. Then in the 50's TV also originated from San Juan with only enough local content on the outlying licensed stations to meet FCC requirements. And by the late 70's and early 80's radio did the same (although networking for news blocks goes back 60 years or more).
Underlying this is the structure of Puerto Rican government and related entities which are all centralized. The individual municipalities (equivalent of counties and cities all rolled into one) don't have police departments, don't have school systems, don't collect property tax, etc. It all comes out of San Juan. So naturally all media of importance originates there.
I see that I've been trying to compare apples with oranges. Thank you, David.
B
Billy Bob
Guest
Everyone not biased towards radio conglomerates knows that is precisely untrue. The best stations out there are college stations, indie stations, pirate stations. They give voice to local artists (non-major label artists).
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Carrie Ann
Guest
iTunes will automatically convert the m4a files (which are AAC format) to CD audio format when you burn a CD. They will play on computers (at home and at work) and they will play on my stereo system at home and they will play on my boombox at work. They will play on a relative's car but I don't drive that car on a daily basis. I don't understand why they will play on a car other than mine.
What's "best?" What you like? What someone else likes? What I like? How does anyone find a consensus that those stations are best?
What's best to me is what I want to hear, regardless of the type of artist.
U
Unregistered
Guest
Amen to that Billy Bob!
S
Susie Q
Guest
I think Billy Bob and some of these others here may be anti-mainstream.
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
There are some -- not a lot, but some -- auto CD players which will not play a standard CD-R. My suggestion is to find the "music" CD-Rs which were manufactured for stand-alone CD recorders, burn some tracks to one of those, and see if your car's player likes that any better.
They are available on Amazon, the B&H site, and others. I've seen them in the brick-and-mortar Walgreens a couple of miles from my house.
The facts are the facts. Look it up. It's not about bias, but the truth.
You can talk about college stations, indie stations, and pirate stations all you want, but the listenership for all of them is a fraction of the more mainstream stations.
Keith Urban and Shania Twain are considered "classic" artists.
Shania is on one classic country station I listen to, though.
Her first hits are 20 years old. In my book, something 20 years old can be called a classic. Vince Gill & Garth Brooks are in the Hall of Fame, and they were having hits around the same time. I expect she'll get inducted too.
S
Susie Q
Guest
@BigA
I think the reason why Billy Bob and some of the others are responding the way they are is because they are anti-mainstream. The reason I suspect that is because I've seen this kind of anti-commercial FM, anti-major label talk on the music boards at Amazon.
I think the reason why Billy Bob and some of the others are responding the way they are is because they are anti-mainstream. The reason I suspect that is because I've seen this kind of anti-commercial FM, anti-major label talk on the music boards at Amazon.
And who really cares what the listenership is. As long as those small stations are satisfying their own audiences, that's what matters. If I enjoy hearing 88.5 KSBR, I could careless what the hell KRTH or KIIS is playing.
The key is AUDIENCE SATISFACTION, something large markets fail to deliver to many music aficionados.
I realize from this statement how elitist and exclusionary your thinking is.
It's not unlike classical music snobs, who feel that contemporary music is for the unwashed masses who have not taste or culture. In your case, you diminish and demean those who like mainstream music and the mass appeal hits. You act as if those who want to hear and, amazingly, actually like the low-charters and stiffs of 30, 40 and even 50 years ago are an "upper class" of musical illuminati who possess superior tastes and abilities to appreciate music.
With rare exceptions, we are all music aficionados. In fact, in common usage an "aficionado" is simply a "fan". Most of us enjoy listening to the music we like, and don't like hearing stuff that bores us or annoys us.
All you have to do is see the passion and enthusiasm for the major artists in their shows to see that there are hoards of aficionados who enjoy their music a great deal.
Your attempt to draw a line between the huge mass of "average" listeners and some self-anointed group of privileged music devotees is just another attempt to try to convince others of how bad KRTH or some other gold station is. However, when you see that those stations often reach over 20% of the adult population of their markets, the argument fails miserably.
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