This weekend I had the "opportunity" (i.e., picked up a motorcycle I bought on eBay) to drive from Memphis to Wisconsin (1600 miles round-trip) in 48 hours.
Along the way I thoroughly enjoyed listening to different radio stations, both large and small markets. It reminded me of camping trips as a kid. I would take my portable radio, put in an earpiece, lie in my tent and tune in to radio stations from all over.
My roadtrip took me through Eastern Arkansas and Missouri, Central Illinois, and Southern Wisconsin. When one radio station would start to fade, I would scan for another. Never was I without music along my journey. Interesting hosts and personalities as well.
My demographic is classified as late "Baby-Boomer", early "Gen X" (I lean toward the former). I grew up listening to "American Top 40" with Casey Kasem, Sunday mornings on FM-100. I went to the Journey / Foreigner concert at the Coliseum. Also saw The Gap Band / Zapp with Roger / Klymaxx there, too.
Along my trip I was never out of earshot of a true 70's-80's station. I picked up my first one when I reached Osceola, AR. Others in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, MO; Springfield, Decatur, Rockford, and Bloomington, IL; Madison, WI. Many others followed as I drifted out of range of one and into another. And that's when the title of this post hit me.
There is a tremendous opportunity for a station to play 70's and 80's music - not just Top 40 but also Dance, R & B, and Country crossover hits of that time. The target demographic is the one with the disposable income. Advertisers should see this. It appears that the ones in the aforementioned cities have done so already.
A look at the Memphis dial shows where a savvy station manager / program director could carve out a respectable share by taking otherwise unhappy listeners from other stations:
White Males from WEGR, WXMX, WMC-AM, KQPN-AM, WHBQ-AM, WGKX, WMFS, WVIM
White Females from WRVR, WMC-FM, WGKX, WKIM
Black Males from WHRK, WHBQ-FM, KJMS, KXHT
Black Females from WHAL, WRBO, WDIA, WLOK, WSNA
As others have posted before, the right format needs to be on the right tower. WMFS broadcasts to rice fields in Arkansas. WVIM can't get much above the TN state line. And even the 300KW blowtorch of WMC-FM has deadspots in it's coverage that a bit of 'transmitter tuning' could fix, based on previous posts.
The Urban market is saturated. No one is willing to challenge WGKX. WEGR and WXMX have cannibalized themselves (both listeners AND talent). WMC-FM and WHBQ-FM are twin sisters, with WKIM as a red-headed step-sister.
Some might call me nostalgic. But then how many times have we seen fashion revive a previous style? Don't look now, but skinny ties and colored jeans are coming back!
So, what station is right for the picking??? Who could pull off a coup???
Mr. Speaker, the floor is open....
Along the way I thoroughly enjoyed listening to different radio stations, both large and small markets. It reminded me of camping trips as a kid. I would take my portable radio, put in an earpiece, lie in my tent and tune in to radio stations from all over.
My roadtrip took me through Eastern Arkansas and Missouri, Central Illinois, and Southern Wisconsin. When one radio station would start to fade, I would scan for another. Never was I without music along my journey. Interesting hosts and personalities as well.
My demographic is classified as late "Baby-Boomer", early "Gen X" (I lean toward the former). I grew up listening to "American Top 40" with Casey Kasem, Sunday mornings on FM-100. I went to the Journey / Foreigner concert at the Coliseum. Also saw The Gap Band / Zapp with Roger / Klymaxx there, too.
Along my trip I was never out of earshot of a true 70's-80's station. I picked up my first one when I reached Osceola, AR. Others in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, MO; Springfield, Decatur, Rockford, and Bloomington, IL; Madison, WI. Many others followed as I drifted out of range of one and into another. And that's when the title of this post hit me.
There is a tremendous opportunity for a station to play 70's and 80's music - not just Top 40 but also Dance, R & B, and Country crossover hits of that time. The target demographic is the one with the disposable income. Advertisers should see this. It appears that the ones in the aforementioned cities have done so already.
A look at the Memphis dial shows where a savvy station manager / program director could carve out a respectable share by taking otherwise unhappy listeners from other stations:
White Males from WEGR, WXMX, WMC-AM, KQPN-AM, WHBQ-AM, WGKX, WMFS, WVIM
White Females from WRVR, WMC-FM, WGKX, WKIM
Black Males from WHRK, WHBQ-FM, KJMS, KXHT
Black Females from WHAL, WRBO, WDIA, WLOK, WSNA
As others have posted before, the right format needs to be on the right tower. WMFS broadcasts to rice fields in Arkansas. WVIM can't get much above the TN state line. And even the 300KW blowtorch of WMC-FM has deadspots in it's coverage that a bit of 'transmitter tuning' could fix, based on previous posts.
The Urban market is saturated. No one is willing to challenge WGKX. WEGR and WXMX have cannibalized themselves (both listeners AND talent). WMC-FM and WHBQ-FM are twin sisters, with WKIM as a red-headed step-sister.
Some might call me nostalgic. But then how many times have we seen fashion revive a previous style? Don't look now, but skinny ties and colored jeans are coming back!
So, what station is right for the picking??? Who could pull off a coup???
Mr. Speaker, the floor is open....