L
lazerlight
Guest
It’s going on seven months since Star 93.7 flipped to the controversial new “jack” format and the station, other than a little bump up here and there, has shown a significant decline in the arbitron ratings. Although one may think a savings in the dj’s salaries may satisfy the company’s expectations, I would beg to differ.
After analyzing other markets with “jack” formats running 6 months to a year, the only successful stations were in the bottom 5 of the ratings before they switched and shot up in their ratings. (in 3 months) For example most were persons 12+ (in the 0.7-2.0 range) and went to anywhere (in the 2.2-3.5 range). 93.7 mike fm’s goal was to spike up in the first 3 months like these other stations, not to save salaries as most successful business people would agree.
This is indicative of the success of this format in Boston because Star 93.7 had much better numbers (top 3 in their demos) before they flipped. And nearby New York City with a much diverse & larger audience has also shown significant decline p12+ (3.0 – 1.5). And they too, had much better numbers prior to the flip.
If you look at the current summer book 2005, a station like WAAF, WFNX, and maybe WBOS (or MIKE now) with their numbers in the bottom 5 of the ratings could be a possible fit for “jack” in Boston, if there was not one. However, taking a station positioned like Star 93.7 was clearly a mistake, they we’re in the top 3 of their demos and we’re showing momentum.
Whether “jack” is good for radio is a point of debate, however one huge downfall is the loss of localization, the loss of what connects people through relatability. Local radio is hurting, but was always successful with local distinct personalities on-top of the music, so unless there is a hole for a particular music genre (Boston now has a rhythmic hole at this writing) and you want to use distinctively entertaining jocks to make a new radical “local radio” concept bigger than ever, it may be a waste of time to try and compete with I-pods & satellite radio.
I-pods & satellite radio cannot give localization, especially in Boston, where people crave their coffee, their news and there gossip. Local radio can bring localization as they expand their playlists, add podcasts and think of compelling ways to keep locals entertained and listening.
Local radio will survive however, 93.7 mike fm should switch back to Star 93.7 before someone else does.
After analyzing other markets with “jack” formats running 6 months to a year, the only successful stations were in the bottom 5 of the ratings before they switched and shot up in their ratings. (in 3 months) For example most were persons 12+ (in the 0.7-2.0 range) and went to anywhere (in the 2.2-3.5 range). 93.7 mike fm’s goal was to spike up in the first 3 months like these other stations, not to save salaries as most successful business people would agree.
This is indicative of the success of this format in Boston because Star 93.7 had much better numbers (top 3 in their demos) before they flipped. And nearby New York City with a much diverse & larger audience has also shown significant decline p12+ (3.0 – 1.5). And they too, had much better numbers prior to the flip.
If you look at the current summer book 2005, a station like WAAF, WFNX, and maybe WBOS (or MIKE now) with their numbers in the bottom 5 of the ratings could be a possible fit for “jack” in Boston, if there was not one. However, taking a station positioned like Star 93.7 was clearly a mistake, they we’re in the top 3 of their demos and we’re showing momentum.
Whether “jack” is good for radio is a point of debate, however one huge downfall is the loss of localization, the loss of what connects people through relatability. Local radio is hurting, but was always successful with local distinct personalities on-top of the music, so unless there is a hole for a particular music genre (Boston now has a rhythmic hole at this writing) and you want to use distinctively entertaining jocks to make a new radical “local radio” concept bigger than ever, it may be a waste of time to try and compete with I-pods & satellite radio.
I-pods & satellite radio cannot give localization, especially in Boston, where people crave their coffee, their news and there gossip. Local radio can bring localization as they expand their playlists, add podcasts and think of compelling ways to keep locals entertained and listening.
Local radio will survive however, 93.7 mike fm should switch back to Star 93.7 before someone else does.
