The listeners they have certainly don't seem to miss them.
Correct. It is filling a listener need. The real question is whether it fills any advertiser needs.
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Oh, WOW - June 6+
- Thread starter DrAkbar
- Start date
In the case of a number of formats that have limited-to-no ethnic listener appeal, the considerable increase in the ethnic population of Phoenix has had a major effect. The market is now less than 55% non-Hispanic white and that reduces the potential audience of formats like rock and country.
How many of those folks speak Spanish as their first language? Just the older people, I'd guess. Most of the young folks of Latin American ancestry that were born in the US since the 1990s (or maybe earlier) speak English better than I do. I would have to think that they're listening to the same music, either via radio or online, that their non-Hispanic friends do.
That's no different than the kids and grandkids of other immigrants in the last 150 years. My dad's family came over on the boat from Germany in 1900. My great-grandparents had to learn English, and spoke it with a German accent. Their kids, my grandfather, aunts and uncles, were bilingual. My dad and the other relatives of his generation spoke no German whatsoever.
I'm a really big fan of the WOW Factor (and was listening until the stream was again georestricted). Of course, I'm right in the middle of the demo, so the format hits me right where I live.
Not only does the station have no "disc jockeys," it has no news, no weather, no public service announcements, and no awful sales-driven promotions ("Stop by <client location> and fill out an entry blank for a chance to win a prize you're not really interested in!" No, sir. It's all about the music, like the liner says. Even the contests are relevant and unobtrusive.
Whatever may be lacking in terms of non-music content, I overlook because the music is good, very good, and not heard on radio for the most part. John Sebastian has taken a station that was nothing (in Crown King, people!) and turned it into something.
An interesting observation: The 18-to-34 audience we dominated at KZZP in the 1980s is now smack in his gunsight. They're ages 55 to 71 today.
(And yes, KZZP ... oops, KISS ... can be fixed. But not with what they're doing.)
C.
Not only does the station have no "disc jockeys," it has no news, no weather, no public service announcements, and no awful sales-driven promotions ("Stop by <client location> and fill out an entry blank for a chance to win a prize you're not really interested in!" No, sir. It's all about the music, like the liner says. Even the contests are relevant and unobtrusive.
Whatever may be lacking in terms of non-music content, I overlook because the music is good, very good, and not heard on radio for the most part. John Sebastian has taken a station that was nothing (in Crown King, people!) and turned it into something.
An interesting observation: The 18-to-34 audience we dominated at KZZP in the 1980s is now smack in his gunsight. They're ages 55 to 71 today.
(And yes, KZZP ... oops, KISS ... can be fixed. But not with what they're doing.)
C.
So to summarize, bad radio is OK when it plays good music. That's why Spotify is so popular. Not because it's good.
Why are radio stations firing staffs and playing 10 in a row? All people want is the music.
I don't consider the WOW Factor to be bad radio. I consider it to be another choice for a totally underserved audience that otherwise wouldn't have had one.
If people only want the music, blame the decades of "less talk" positioning that has caused the listeners to perceive anything but music as a negative, unless it's on a non-music station.
I also listen to my old friend and former KZZP colleague Steve Goddard on KAZG, the erstwhile lamptimer.
C.
The major growth in Hispanic population areas comes from new immigrants, not births. Those that arrive any older than about 15 or 16 will almost exclusively work, think... and listen to music in Spanish. In the Southwest, something like 65% of Hispanics are now first generation. If you add the flood of new immigrants from the last two years, that figure will go up enormously. And the more "Spanish only" speakers, the stronger the Spanish speaking community gets.
Add to that the fact that in many highly Hispanic areas, many jobs are "Bilingual preferred" and, after EEO is factored out, people who speak English only don't get jobs at stores, service organizations, hotels, even hospitals and law enforcement.
Those born here are second generation, and almost as an inviolable rule, they are bilingual. But they speak "kitchen Spanish" with no correct grammar, usage and spelling.
In markets with huge percentages of Hispanics, most live in a community where the original immigrants never have to learn anything but basic English, and they retain their culture, their language, their music tastes and diet from the homeland.
Today, with huge Hispanic communities in many, many markets along with services that will speak Spanish or get an interpreter, there is far less learning of English by original immigrants than ever before.
When one of my daughter was at a mainland US school 40 years ago, she was punished for speaking Spanish at recess. Today, she would be celebrated for being bilingual!
Today, by third generation, Hispanics generally know only enough Spanish to order at Taco Bell.
All it's really doing is saving them the money they'd have to spend for satellite or some other subscription service.
Another way to view it is that public never liked talkative DJs, but they never had a choice until now.
If someone can find a way to make money with that audience, they'll do well. It may extend the life of FM another ten years.
And even older people chat and share in two-way conversation on Facebook and elsewhere. So why want radio to give one-sided chattiness that you can't respond to when you can converse and make friends online?
So, it's "shut up and play the music" for them, too.
But there isn't a satellite or other subscription service (as far as I know) doing *that format* for *that audience*. If they had chosen that route, I suspect 95.1 would be just another low-rated rimshot signal.
It has always been my belief (based on research) that what the typical listener wants is not "less talk" per se, but less irrelevant talk, and limited duration when talk does occur. The WOW Factor never has had personalities, so no one is missing anything that was there to begin with.
The real reason for firing air talent and playing X songs in a row is financial. It chops the budget, but for a station like KOOL ... er, BIG ... there's a cost in terms of station heritage and listenership.
C.
Back when he designed this format John Sebastian promised local air talent.
Why Sebastian Believes in His New Format. - Radio Ink
When was the last time a new format came along, stuck around and made money for managers across the country? Is it really possible to come up with a brand new format these days? One that actually generates advertiser interest? John Sebastian says yes, yes indeed.
radioink.com
He's right that his format works. It just doesn't make money. But that's OK, because the other stations in the cluster do.
Maybe I overstated it by calling it bad radio. Because it's good music scheduling. It's just that it's using radio as an inexpensive music delivery service, and nothing more. I read a lot of comments on this board that radio needs to do more to compete with streaming services. But perhaps the truth is that it doesn't.
Back when he designed this format John Sebastian promised local air talent.
Why Sebastian Believes in His New Format. - Radio Ink
When was the last time a new format came along, stuck around and made money for managers across the country? Is it really possible to come up with a brand new format these days? One that actually generates advertiser interest? John Sebastian says yes, yes indeed.
He's right that his format works. It just doesn't make money. But that's OK, because the other stations in the cluster do.
Maybe I overstated it by calling it bad radio. Because it's good music scheduling. It's just that it's using radio as an inexpensive music delivery service, and nothing more. I read a lot of comments on this board that radio needs to do more to compete with streaming services. But perhaps the truth is that it doesn't.
It better, or it's doomed. There are plenty of inexpensive music delivery services. At least the WOW Factor is targeted to Phoenix, and perhaps there will be air talent (in good time) in order to evolve the format. If, in the end, radio is no different than Spotify or YouTube Music, there won't be much of a long-term reason to listen.
Also, if they can't sell the format, that's really a sales problem. But that entire discussion makes for another (complicated) thread in itself.
C.
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It's not a sales problem; it is a fact of radio and advertising. Advertisers in their vast majority do not want to spend money reaching those over 55 because the ROI is just not there for most goods and services.
Advertisers are prejudiced. I don't say that to be unkind. But, when I was doing CHR, there was always resistance to 18-34 or at least 12-24, even if the station had exceptional 25-54 numbers. When I switched to oldies, there was (and still is) resistance to 55+, and even to AM radio itself, even though we had documented numbers to the contrary.
I suppose advertisers can do whatever they want, but too often they assume that anybody who isn't 25-54 have no income whatsoever, and that is a prejudice. In my experience, the 55+ folks often have plenty of money to spend.
C.
I also listen to my old friend and former KZZP colleague Steve Goddard on KAZG, the erstwhile lamptimer.
C.
Best station in town and essential Saturday-morning listening. (Now that 94.5 yanked Casey AT40's.)
Advertisers know that the older people get, the more fixed in buying habits and the more brand loyal they become. It's not that the older person has money, it is that it takes too many costly ads to to get trial and potential usage.
This does not apply as much to local retailers and service providers but definitely applies to consumer brands, such as for food, cleaning supplies, appliances, cars and even down to such menial items as batteries and plastic bags.
Point well taken. We do become ingrained in our buying habits as we get older.
C.
Yup. That's why they'll have to pry my cold dead fingers from the keys of our '76 Gremlin. And if you ever get to the Buckeye Media Hut location....stay off the grass!
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