Growing Disconnect With Young Listeners in Radio

[iyiyi]

I'll bet that station sold lots more Clearasil than Frigidaire's. ;D

But they made more money from the appliance stores. Take a look at the popular music at the time. There's a reason why they mixed in Frank Sinatra with The Beatles. And the kids sat through Frank then. They wouldn't today. Since the late 70s, radio has become far more targeted than it was when you were a kid. If that means teens don't have a radio station they like (especially teen boys), so what?

Those days an average market was lucky to feature a dozen listenable AM signals in the daytime (much less local stations at night). Maybe one or possibly two TV stations. The 45 was the alternative to the radio. Portable entertainment consisted of a six transistor AM with the optional mono magnetic earphone for private listening.

No kid ever sat through Frank. That is the reason virtually every market had at least two top 40 stations.

Everybody has myriad options today. TV stations are challenged by cable and Yahoo et al. Newspapers are dropping like flies. Google and You Tube are major sources of near instantaneous information today.

No person would trade today's options for yesterday's quaintness.

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[landtuna]

But they made more money from the appliance stores. Take a look at the popular music at the time. There's a reason why they mixed in Frank Sinatra with The Beatles. And the kids sat through Frank then. They wouldn't today. Since the late 70s, radio has become far more targeted than it was when you were a kid. If that means teens don't have a radio station they like (especially teen boys), so what?

Maybe and maybe not. Chances were that the Clearasil ads were national buys and the appliance store was a mom and pop back then.

You are right about the music although I do not remember hearing Como or Sinatra very often, if at all, on my T-40. The closest we'd get is Percy Faith.

 

[CTListener]

But they made more money from the appliance stores. Take a look at the popular music at the time. There's a reason why they mixed in Frank Sinatra with The Beatles. And the kids sat through Frank then. They wouldn't today. Since the late 70s, radio has become far more targeted than it was when you were a kid. If that means teens don't have a radio station they like (especially teen boys), so what?

Maybe and maybe not. Chances were that the Clearasil ads were national buys and the appliance store was a mom and pop back then.

You are right about the music although I do not remember hearing Como or Sinatra very often, if at all, on my T-40. The closest we'd get is Percy Faith.

Frank's "Strangers In The Night" and "That's Life" both got play on WBZ in 1966, and 'BZ was a Top 40 then. "That's Life" even went top 10 on automated WRKO-FM. Can't say whether the other Top 40 in town at the time, WMEX, played either -- at 11, I listened strictly to 'BZ and Arko.

 

[landtuna]

Frank's "Strangers In The Night" and "That's Life" both got play on WBZ in 1966, and 'BZ was a Top 40 then. "That's Life" even went top 10 on automated WRKO-FM. Can't say whether the other Top 40 in town at the time, WMEX, played either -- at 11, I listened strictly to 'BZ and Arko.

In '66 I was into Top-40 in the Bay Area. KEWB folded up shop that summer and music was played no more. KYA, that I remember, did not play Sinatra. He would have been heard on MOR stations like KSFO. But the time frame for my comment was during the latter half of the 50's, not a decade later.

I still have the weekly charts produced by KTKT during 1961-62 and Sinatra doesn't show up once. Neither do any other male "crooners".

I'm sure if you were to research any music station on the Eastern Seaboard, particularly the Northeast, you would find many spins of Frankie and the gang. Just as you will find portraits of him in their barber shops. We didn't appreciate Frank like they did. There were, and are, much better singers out there.

 

[TheBigA]

I still have the weekly charts produced by KTKT during 1961-62 and Sinatra doesn't show up once.

That's before he started his own record label, Reprise, where he returned to the Top 40 airplay charts in 1965.

Check your charts for any of the following in 1961 or 62: "Exodus" by Ferrante & Teicher, "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Ray Charles, or "Ramblin' Rose" by Nat King Cole. They were #1 hits on WABC in NYC. Along with the obvious ones like the Four Seasons, Chubby Checker, and the Beach Boys.

 

[WRLK]

I work with HS kids at their radio station and those on the staff, admit to NOT listening to any radio for quite a while until they discovered their own HS station. Most listen to on-line services or their own mix of stuff. Kids on the air tend to listen to local radio more, comparing signals, formats, stuff like that. After introducing one student to AM radio at night, he was amazed by the ability to listen to distant AM stations. My own son hasn't turned on radio in his car for years. He always has his Ipod plugged in. I agree...high school and college students are not targeted with formats...nor are they listening.

 

[DavidZ]

My son and daughter both in their early 20s always listen to commercial radio in their cars. My son listens almost exclusively to the Sports Hub or Radio 92.9 while my daughter is constantly changing the stations between the Boston music stations depending on the song that is playing at the time.

Other than the fact that back in the day I listened to mostly AM radio, my kids listening habits are pretty similar to my friends and me when we were 20 somethings. Of course there were no FM sports talk stations or for that matter AM sports talk back when I was in my 20s.

 

[TheBigA]

I work with HS kids at their radio station and those on the staff, admit to NOT listening to any radio for quite a while until they discovered their own HS station.

Of course...when you were their age, how did you feel about some adult picking songs for you to listen to? Probably didn't care for it much.

My son listens almost exclusively to the Sports Hub

I've noticed the same thing. The young men who claim they don't listen to the radio actually listen quite passionately to sports talk stations.

 

[thirdendorsed]

Chances were that the Clearasil ads were national buys and the appliance store was a mom and pop back then.

If I remember right, Clearasil's biggest buy was ABC-C and MEX was always running off their spots from day parts when they didn't run the :55 news.

I'll bet 90 percent of the Clearasil ads in the market from after ABC's four-way split to about '72 when the Electronic Mama sped the decline in AM Top 40 radio