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mwebster
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From David Hinckley, NY Daily News. The article talks about NY Radio but applies to FreeFM stations launching across the country and to the future of FM radio, in general.
<blockquote>The "Free FM" format that Infinity will roll out on WXRK (92.3 FM) in January, with talk during the week and rock over the weekend, will sound familiar to listeners of WKXW (101.5 FM, New Jersey 101.5).
WKXW has scored for years with weekday talk and weekend music (in this case oldies), and the consultant who put it together says he sees no reason it shouldn't work at K-Rock and other Infinity stations.
"There's absolutely an audience for talk on FM," says Walter Sabo of Sabo Media - maybe not predominantly political talk like WABC, but the broader-based talk New Jersey 101.5 goes for. The idea, trickier than it sounds, is to talk about whatever is on a listener's mind that day: lifestyle, local issues, personal issues, entertainment, sports, music and some politics.
WKXW also very smartly branded itself a New Jersey station, talking about New Jersey issues with services like localized traffic. But Sabo doesn't think K-Rock will be hampered by having the syndicated David Lee Roth as morning host.
"K-Rock can be as local as it needs to be," he says. "And Infinity has WCBS-AM and WINS for people who want more than that. I think they're covered."
Infinity Senior Vice President Les Hollander says Free FM was hatched after Howard Stern announced he is leaving in January for Sirius Satellite Radio.
"That was a wake-up call," says Hollander, and Infinity decided that rather than simply replace Stern on K-Rock and his 26 affiliate stations, it would also look at broader overhauls for stations like K-Rock, where listenership for years has dropped sharply every day when Stern's show ends.
One of the biggest changes here, besides Stern leaving, is that for 35 years FM has been almost entirely used for music. But Sabo says with satellite, iPods and other alternatives to traditional radio, that's changing. In a growing number of cases now, he says, FM's best shot at "unique content" may not be music.
"If I owned four FMs in a city, I'd take them all talk," says Sabo. "I'd have one targeted at women 18 to 34, one for men 18 to 34, one for women 35 to 44 and one for men 35 to 44. And I'd make more money than I would with music."
The trade newsletter Inside Radio says 89 FMs are now primarily talk, and as more stations drop music formats, that creates more disenfranchised music listeners. Sabo suggests that while they will scatter to many different alternatives, the biggest beneficiaries will be satellite radio rivals Sirius and XM.
Both offer, for a fee, the music that traditional commercial radio isn't offering in many markets: oldies, country, folk, standards, different kinds of rock.
"Satellite works like a traditional radio," says Sabo. "You turn it on and tune it in. People understand it. And it offers what your iPod can't offer after the first month: a surprise." </blockquote>
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/360851p-307476c.html
<blockquote>The "Free FM" format that Infinity will roll out on WXRK (92.3 FM) in January, with talk during the week and rock over the weekend, will sound familiar to listeners of WKXW (101.5 FM, New Jersey 101.5).
WKXW has scored for years with weekday talk and weekend music (in this case oldies), and the consultant who put it together says he sees no reason it shouldn't work at K-Rock and other Infinity stations.
"There's absolutely an audience for talk on FM," says Walter Sabo of Sabo Media - maybe not predominantly political talk like WABC, but the broader-based talk New Jersey 101.5 goes for. The idea, trickier than it sounds, is to talk about whatever is on a listener's mind that day: lifestyle, local issues, personal issues, entertainment, sports, music and some politics.
WKXW also very smartly branded itself a New Jersey station, talking about New Jersey issues with services like localized traffic. But Sabo doesn't think K-Rock will be hampered by having the syndicated David Lee Roth as morning host.
"K-Rock can be as local as it needs to be," he says. "And Infinity has WCBS-AM and WINS for people who want more than that. I think they're covered."
Infinity Senior Vice President Les Hollander says Free FM was hatched after Howard Stern announced he is leaving in January for Sirius Satellite Radio.
"That was a wake-up call," says Hollander, and Infinity decided that rather than simply replace Stern on K-Rock and his 26 affiliate stations, it would also look at broader overhauls for stations like K-Rock, where listenership for years has dropped sharply every day when Stern's show ends.
One of the biggest changes here, besides Stern leaving, is that for 35 years FM has been almost entirely used for music. But Sabo says with satellite, iPods and other alternatives to traditional radio, that's changing. In a growing number of cases now, he says, FM's best shot at "unique content" may not be music.
"If I owned four FMs in a city, I'd take them all talk," says Sabo. "I'd have one targeted at women 18 to 34, one for men 18 to 34, one for women 35 to 44 and one for men 35 to 44. And I'd make more money than I would with music."
The trade newsletter Inside Radio says 89 FMs are now primarily talk, and as more stations drop music formats, that creates more disenfranchised music listeners. Sabo suggests that while they will scatter to many different alternatives, the biggest beneficiaries will be satellite radio rivals Sirius and XM.
Both offer, for a fee, the music that traditional commercial radio isn't offering in many markets: oldies, country, folk, standards, different kinds of rock.
"Satellite works like a traditional radio," says Sabo. "You turn it on and tune it in. People understand it. And it offers what your iPod can't offer after the first month: a surprise." </blockquote>
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/360851p-307476c.html