It's the small playlist
> > Cox dumped Oldies and turned FOX97 into a flanker for
> KISS.
> > Now, CC has hired the old FOX team...R&S...to do mornings
>
> > at B's biggest competition, Lite. In addition, Lite
> seems
> > to have added more Oldies to its playlist, which might
> > attract even more of the old FOX listeners who already
> liked
> > R&S anyway. And now, Lite seems to be pulling ahead of
> B98
> > in the ratings. Wouldn't it be ironic if...by killing
> the
> > Oldies station...Cox ended up weakening its B98 cash cow?
>
> >
> The trend does suggest that Randy & Spiff are helping Lite
> FM. But they couldn't work within B98.5's format. Kelly &
> Alpha never talk for more than about 15 seconds, and when
> they do talk, it's usually over music. R&S couldn't do
> their most entertaining stuff with those constraints. And
> Bob Neil, CEO of Cox Radio, personally watches over B98.5
> and even does their clock, believe it or not. So a
> different morning show would not be likely to change that.
B98.5's same 325 song format is killing the station. It was a 300 song format that killed Fox 97. Advertisers and listeners are starting to catch up to this. Listeners are flocking to satellite radio and iPods in droves because of small playlists. The adult hits is a response to this, and it is successful because of its huge playlist. What B98.5 does by playing more music in the morning than many other stations is a start, but if you are playing the same 300 songs ad-nauseum 24/7, it is going to start to affect you. I bet people change the songs on ther iPods every few days, while B98.5 changes its playlist once a year.
But the Cox ACs in other markets appear to be the same way. About 350 songs that loop over and over again. Their philosophy of researching the songs they play is starting to catch up with them. While I am not saying that researching your songs is a bad idea, it's time they try something different.
Here are some ideas for Cox to improve B98.5 and their other AC's (94.9 could use these pointer as well):
1. AC's should have 500-600 song playlists, with at least 100 or so dedicated to songs in the past 5 years or so. THe other 400 should be spread more evenly across the decades.
2. Play new songs as they come into the AC world, adn dont's delay. If the song doesn't perform after a year or two, you can drop it without any problems. Allocate at least 15-20 spaces for newer songs.
3. Add some randomness to your clock. Everyone knows the third song in your song sets are 2000-2003 songs and your sixth song is 2003-Now (except on weekends when it is 2003-Now one hour, and 1970-2000 the next). If someone can describe your clock in detail, you need to add some surprise. However, you still need a clock though to ensure the newer songs and older songs get equal pairing.
4. Giving away cash will NOT solve your ills. $12 million will draw in listeners for a while, but once the contest is over, they will tune out. You have to give your listeners a reason to keep them year around, and not just at peak rating times.
5. Don't be predictable. Be spotenatious every once in a while. Play songs that AC's normally would not play during off-peak hours to keep your listeners around at nights and on weekends.
Cox has the capability to fix their flagship FM before it is too late. If they can jump on the all-80s bandwagon when it is hot, they can fix this problem very quickly as well.
