how long should a station call itself "all-new"?

[firepoint525]

Okay, here is the situation: we have a station here in the Nashville area which came on the air (locally, anyway) on February 10, 2012, and yet are STILL referring to themselves on-air as "all-new" or even "brand-new." This is apparently NOT station policy, as not all of their announcers wear out the "new," "all-new," or even "brand-new" angle. What I have a feeling has happened is that some of their jocks have fallen into the trap of always saying "new" in front of the station name, every time they crack the mic. At least, this station does NOT have "new" incorporated into their billboards, bumper stickers, or business cards.

So how long should a station refer to themselves on-air as "new"? At what point do they become an established station, or at least an established format? Some stations bill themselves as the "new" whatever, right up until they change formats, then they become the "new" something else. (One such station's "new" format was actually the return of a previous format under another name. :)

It has been my experience that most stations that call themselves "new" typically are NOT able to hold on to their "new" format for very long, usually only about a year or so. To me, that should work against stations wearing out the "new" moniker.

One station that I formerly worked for in west Tennessee called themselves "the new Mix" following a format change shortly after I left them. Six months to a year later, they dropped the "new" and became "the best Mix." (I can't say for sure how long they used the "new" name because I had moved away from there by then.) It was in the early '90s when they made that change, and they are still "Mix" to this day, haven't had any additional format changes, so they must have done something right. Dropping the "new" after a reasonable amount of time probably helped.

 

[frnkp2000]

My opinion: 90 days/1 book sounds about right, then drop the "new".

 

[michael hagerty]

A year, in a crowded market. It takes time to break through the clutter. At 90 days, most of the market still doesn't know you're alive.

 

[firepoint525]

Six months (on the low end) to a year (max!) seems about right to me.

 

[SaltyDog]

I'm a little surprised at the answers. I don't think the answers are wrong, I'm just surprised. I've been out of the business for a while but I've known stations that called themselves "New" for two years. The idea was most people wouldn't realize how long it had been in use.

 

[davideduardo]

I'm a little surprised at the answers. I don't think the answers are wrong, I'm just surprised. I've been out of the business for a while but I've known stations that called themselves "New" for two years. The idea was most people wouldn't realize how long it had been in use.

There are a couple of stations in the Southwest that are named "New" and have been using that name for a decade or more.

KLNV-San Diego
KISF-Las Vegas
KHOT-Phoenix

And KSCA-LA was "New 101.9" from 1997 to 2011.

 

[Nostalgia]

As a kid in Ohio I used to listen to "the New WCOL" in Columbus (when they were on AM and the #1 rocker in the area). When I went to work there in 1967 they were STILL the New WCOL and still was when I left!

 

[Shiny Knob]

I believe the rule is that you can use "The New" right up to the next format change.

After the format change, you can start using "The New" anew.

 

[firepoint525]

Go to http://www.krud.com/ and click on "cartoon archives" then scroll down and click on "the all new (your call letters here)." It's about two-thirds of the way down the page and well worth a read. I would link it directly, except that their site doesn't work that way.

I believe the rule is that you can use "The New" right up to the next format change.
After the format change, you can start using "The New" anew.

Stations in my market that dodid that arewere the ones that change(d) formats about as often as you and I change clothes! :

 

[PirateJohnny]

Until another station in the market calls itself "New"?

 

[amfmxm]

Twenty (+) years ago in Dayton, Great Trails' 92.9/WGTZ called themselves "The New Z-93" for many years. The GM was a friend of mine and I teased him about it, asking how long they'd be "The New." His answer? Forever. According to him, research showed that "new" was a "magic word"--implying all sorts of positive characteristics--better, cooler, hipper, fresher, et cetera.

More importantly, he knew that the listeners weren't keeping a clock on it.

For the woman who just moved to Dayton from Peoria, Z-93 was new to her.

For the guy who got tired of Country and just flipped over from WHKO, it was new to him.

In other words, "new" is in the brain of the beholder!

 

[semoochie]

It sounds better than "York, York".

 

[firepoint525]

Twenty (+) years ago in Dayton, Great Trails' 92.9/WGTZ called themselves "The New Z-93" for many years. The GM was a friend of mine and I teased him about it, asking how long they'd be "The New." His answer? Forever. According to him, research showed that "new" was a "magic word"--implying all sorts of positive characteristics--better, cooler, hipper, fresher, et cetera.
More importantly, he knew that the listeners weren't keeping a clock on it.
For the woman who just moved to Dayton from Peoria, Z-93 was new to her.
For the guy who got tired of Country and just flipped over from WHKO, it was new to him.
In other words, "new" is in the brain of the beholder!

This is the same kind of radio station "logic" that thinks that speeding up songs played on the air makes you sound "brighter," whatever that means. : It just tells me that stations have even further distanced themselves from their own listeners.

Even if a station is "new to you," the constant harping on "all-new" will get OLD within about 15 minutes of tuning in! :

 

[michael hagerty]

Twenty (+) years ago in Dayton, Great Trails' 92.9/WGTZ called themselves "The New Z-93" for many years. The GM was a friend of mine and I teased him about it, asking how long they'd be "The New." His answer? Forever. According to him, research showed that "new" was a "magic word"--implying all sorts of positive characteristics--better, cooler, hipper, fresher, et cetera.
More importantly, he knew that the listeners weren't keeping a clock on it.
For the woman who just moved to Dayton from Peoria, Z-93 was new to her.
For the guy who got tired of Country and just flipped over from WHKO, it was new to him.
In other words, "new" is in the brain of the beholder!

This is the same kind of radio station "logic" that thinks that speeding up songs played on the air makes you sound "brighter," whatever that means. : It just tells me that stations have even further distanced themselves from their own listeners.

Even if a station is "new to you," the constant harping on "all-new" will get OLD within about 15 minutes of tuning in! :

On the contrary, it's an example of stations understanding what appeals to which listeners and why.

And given song lengths and restricted talk times outside morning drive, you'd be unlikely to hear the phrase "new (station name)" more than twice in those 15 minutes.

 

[firepoint525]

Twenty (+) years ago in Dayton, Great Trails' 92.9/WGTZ called themselves "The New Z-93" for many years. The GM was a friend of mine and I teased him about it, asking how long they'd be "The New." His answer? Forever. According to him, research showed that "new" was a "magic word"--implying all sorts of positive characteristics--better, cooler, hipper, fresher, et cetera.
More importantly, he knew that the listeners weren't keeping a clock on it.
For the woman who just moved to Dayton from Peoria, Z-93 was new to her.
For the guy who got tired of Country and just flipped over from WHKO, it was new to him.
In other words, "new" is in the brain of the beholder!

This is the same kind of radio station "logic" that thinks that speeding up songs played on the air makes you sound "brighter," whatever that means. : It just tells me that stations have even further distanced themselves from their own listeners.
Even if a station is "new to you," the constant harping on "all-new" will get OLD within about 15 minutes of tuning in! :

On the contrary, it's an example of stations understanding what appeals to which listeners and why.
And given song lengths and restricted talk times outside morning drive, you'd be unlikely to hear the phrase "new (station name)" more than twice in those 15 minutes.

Even that would be too much. That would be eight times an hour! For a station that claims to thumb its nose at everything "corporate," they certainly have fallen into one of the worst traps of corporate radio, that of overusing "new."

Even our Clear Channel classic rock station has a sense of its own history. They have been the classic rocker here for 15 years now, and usually promote their anniversary (of the format change to classic rock) every February. They don't pretend that they are "new" to someone who just discovered them last week.

I fit well within the cherished demographic (baby boomers) of the station of which I am being critical. Rare enough for me! So why do I still listen to them? Because everyone else is worse! I have never understood why stations cater to listeners who will only be with them for 15 minutes (if that) and stick it to those of us who might be more loyal to them if they weren't so boneheaded.

 

[michael hagerty]

I have never understood why stations cater to listeners who will only be with them for 15 minutes (if that) and stick it to those of us who might be more loyal to them if they weren't so boneheaded.

Because there are way more of them then there are of you.

 

[firepoint525]

I have never understood why stations cater to listeners who will only be with them for 15 minutes (if that) and stick it to those of us who might be more loyal to them if they weren't so boneheaded.

Because there are way more of them then there are of you.

Well fine then. Drop the "all-new." If they're so flighty, they'll never miss it.

 

[michael hagerty]

I have never understood why stations cater to listeners who will only be with them for 15 minutes (if that) and stick it to those of us who might be more loyal to them if they weren't so boneheaded.

Because there are way more of them then there are of you.

Well fine then. Drop the "all-new." If they're so flighty, they'll never miss it.

That's not "flighty", that's fairly normal mass audience behavior. And evidence is that there's value in the term "new" for a period of time. What we're discussing is how long that should be.

 

[davideduardo]

I fit well within the cherished demographic (baby boomers)

About 2/3 of baby boomers are outside the broad 25-54 sales demo; in 6 months, 100% will be outside the increasingly used 18-49 demo.

I have never understood why stations cater to listeners who will only be with them for 15 minutes (if that) and stick it to those of us who might be more loyal to them if they weren't so boneheaded.

In the PPM markets, the average listening span is less than 15 minutes. People who listen to a station several hours a day do so in a bunch of such incidents, not non-stop.

So it is important to brand the station frequently so people both identify their choice and return to it each time they come back to the radio.

In the diary, we sell memorability. In the PPM we sell future usage. Both require branding.

 

[davideduardo]

In other words, "new" is in the brain of the beholder!

This is the same kind of radio station "logic" that thinks that speeding up songs played on the air makes you sound "brighter," whatever that means.[/quote]

In the days when AMs did Top 40, speeding up songs by a small percentage did make the sound crisper and also made stations that did not speed up songs sound dull. It was a useful practice if not abused.

Even if a station is "new to you," the constant harping on "all-new" will get OLD within about 15 minutes of tuning in!

Tell that to brands like Tide that have used "New and Improved" over decades and decades every time they need to refresh the brand image.