KRTH Top 500 Countdown

[davideduardo]

You right, radio is the only medium that avoids 55+ or maybe 40+ when it comes to music. If they catered to the older folks (on some stations anyways) then you'd have the deeper playlists.

There are essentially no agency accounts that buy 55+, so there are no formats that appeal to 55+. If the demo got buys, radio would address it.

Almost all buys are inside 18-54, and 55+ buys are so uncommon that we hardly ever see them.

Anyway, older listeners don't like longer playlists. They like familiar songs, and almost entirely don't have much interest in new songs. The length of the playlist depends more on format than on age.

 

[davideduardo]

But on radio, we get to hear only a small fraction of the music that's out there, with many outlets duplicating each other. The only promising recent development was the JACK phenomenon, which broke the old mindset that playlists should be around 200-300. Now we're up around 800, but it's still too small - and many stations are dipping into the same pool of tunes, with slight variations.

Excuse me, but country, the most prevalent music format, has typically played 600 to 800 songs for the last couple of decades. You have to look at the fact that some formats have more songs people still want to hear, and others don't.

And God forbid if you are over 50. With the average lifespan almost 80, that is 30 years of your life where things designed to appeal to you will be actively avoided. Since the airwaves are publicly owned, is the public really being served by this? The ENTIRE public? Or is it big business that is being served?

Nobody can run a 55 and over targeted station, as there is no revenue base to support it. Same with teens... the government, still, can not tell businesses to lose money on purpose.

 

[oldies76]

Nobody can run a 55 and over targeted station, as there is no revenue base to support it. Same with teens... the government, still, can not tell businesses to lose money on purpose.

AM FM listener does bring up a great point though...why is radio the only media avoiding 55+?

I do not fully understand why radio advertisers avoid the 55+ audience. I get the idea that people 55+ are more set in their ways and thus, not as influenced by advertising as much as younger adults. However, whenever I watch the early evening news, I see tons of adds for various drugs and financial services that appear to be targeted to 55+. Newspapers and magazines also attract and advertise to 55+. Other media seem to like 55+, why doesn't radio?

Probably the only stations that could cater to 55+ are the gold-oldies formats on the AM dial, one being KDZA AM 1350. 1950's thru the mid 70's are featured and are played every day. Check it out David.

 

[davideduardo]

AM FM listener does bring up a great point though...why is radio the only media avoiding 55+?

Radio is a "medium" and "media" is a bunch of different ones... like radio, TC, print are part of the media.

TV and print are the perfect media for most older targeted products which usually have disclaimers... drugs, investments, health plans, etc., all require more disclaimers than radio ads can accomodate. So, for the small amount of business that there is specifically for 55+, radio is inappropriate because the legal requirement for clarification, disclaimers and such would make each ad 5 minutes long.

Radio does not "avoid" 55+, as I have told you several times, the last one being about an hour ago. Radio does not address 55+ because there are essentially no clients out there seeking the demo.

Probably the only stations that could cater to 55+ are the gold-oldies formats on the AM dial, one being KDZA AM 1350. 1950's thru the mid 70's are featured and are played every day. Check it out David.

It has nearly no ratings under 55, and is in market 242. It bills under $20 k a month, which is about a quarter of what an average McDonald's grosses.

 

[AM FM listener]

AM FM listener does bring up a great point though...why is radio the only media avoiding 55+?

TV and print are the perfect media for most older targeted products which usually have disclaimers... drugs, investments, health plans, etc., all require more disclaimers than radio ads can accomodate. So, for the small amount of business that there is specifically for 55+, radio is inappropriate because the legal requirement for clarification, disclaimers and such would make each ad 5 minutes long.

Aren't TV ads about the same length as radio ads -- 30 or 60 seconds? Nevertheless, I think what you are saying, David, is that the 55+ audience prefers, or maybe requires, a visual element in an ad in order to be persuaded to buy that product or service. A picture is worth a thousand words? And someone 55+ can not be persuaded by words alone?

 

[davideduardo]

Aren't TV ads about the same length as radio ads -- 30 or 60 seconds? Nevertheless, I think what you are saying, David, is that the 55+ audience prefers, or maybe requires, a visual element in an ad in order to be persuaded to buy that product or service. A picture is worth a thousand words? And someone 55+ can not be persuaded by words alone?

TV can put the disclaimers on the screen, and print just puts them in small type. All that data does not fit in a 30 or 60 on radio, which is why those revenue categories don't use radio.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

It has nearly no ratings under 55, and is in market 242. It bills under $20 k a month, which is about a quarter of what an average McDonald's grosses.

I love it when David puts things into context...

 

[Zeb Norris]

TV and print are the perfect media for most older targeted products which usually have disclaimers... drugs, investments, health plans, etc., all require more disclaimers than radio ads can accomodate. So, for the small amount of business that there is specifically for 55+, radio is inappropriate because the legal requirement for clarification, disclaimers and such would make each ad 5 minutes long.

I loved the radio ads for Cialis when it was being introduced. Because they never said what the product did they didn't have to run any disclaimers. They went something like this...

"Cialis is coming! Are you ready for Cialis? Cialis isn't for everybody, so ask your doctor if cialis is right for you. Cialis is coming... are YOU ready for CIALIS?"

30 seconds of nothing but the product name! Funny as hell and probably effective.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Especially the first sentence.....