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"Radio Has Lost Its Portability": Focus Groups

K

kolakid1

Guest
As if we had enough to worry about as terrestrial broadcasters, now, we're rendered "non-portable" by focus groups. We're apparently toast to them. Read this and discuss:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JACOBS MEDIA President FRED JACOBS discussed 18-34 "tech saavy" findings from focus groups conducted in WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE, DETROIT, and LOS ANGELES from SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER at December 8th's ARBITRON CONSULTANT FLY-IN.

"Radio's portablility has been replaced by the iPOD," JACOBS told ALL ACCESS. "What APPLE has done with this device is a cultural statement. When was the last time you saw a 21 year-old with WALKMAN? Nobody walks around with a WALKMAN anymore, except for old guys at baseball games."

The study indicated that the overall useage of podcasting was not real high. JACOBS believes it is much more of a media sensation. "That's not to say that it won't change in a big way a year from now," he said. "People are aware of it, but podcasting really felt like it was still something down the road."

While satellite radio subscribers enjoy the variety, the good news for terrestrial radio was that satellite subscribers were not all that thrilled with the service and there are some reception problems. There is reluctance to paying for something they are already getting for free.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments?
 
It Isn't Portability

> As if we had enough to worry about as terrestrial
> broadcasters, now, we're rendered "non-portable" by focus
> groups. We're apparently toast to them. Read this and
> discuss:

Big Radio (CC et al) has been taking away listener
choices for years.

Meanwhile Satellite radio and MP3 players are now
giving listeners new choices they've never had before.

Big Radio deserves what it gets.

It's not about portability, it's about what the ambulatory
user perceives as offering more choices. AM/FM loses.

73s from 954<P ID="signature">______________
<A href='http://happyholidays.atspace.com/holidaymusic.html'><font color='#00bb00'>
Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Saturnalia, and Happy Kwanzaa </font></A> from 954</P>
 
> There is reluctance to paying for something they are already getting for free.

You know, it's funny... The last time I checked the "free" AM/FM radio stations in my area, I was not getting the following things:

Opie & Anthony
Howard Stern
All-90's channel
Jam bands
Classic alt. rock channel
Neo-Soul
Today's R&B
Old School R&B
Classic Hip-Hop/Rap
Traditional jazz (between 6am and 6pm)
Contemporary jazz
Modern jazz
Blues
Latin jazz
All-comedy channel

When you tune in to the one or two AM/FM stations in your area that actually play something you like, and they're talking or playing commercials ...you're "paying for radio".
 
Re: It Isn't Portability

One thing that ya gotta remember..it's largely myth that the radio dial was full of unique and different formats before 1996. What you got was several stations doing the same format...some markets with six A/C stations. You weren't any more liely to find "neo-soul" or "'classic alternative" on the radio in 1990 or 1976 as you are today. Sat radio is for those micro-niches that terrestrial radio caqn't possibly serve.<P ID="signature">______________
..from the Ball Park Franks sponsored gr8oldies keyboard...</P>
 
It Isn't About The Ratings, Either

> One thing that ya gotta remember..it's largely myth that the
> radio dial was full of unique and different formats before
> 1996. What you got was several stations doing the same
> format...some markets with six A/C stations. You weren't any
> more liely to find "neo-soul" or "'classic alternative" on
> the radio in 1990 or 1976 as you are today. Sat radio is for
> those micro-niches that terrestrial radio caqn't possibly
> serve.

Well said.

Also, because satellite radio is a microniche medium, those who think it poses a threat to terrestrial radio ratings-wise are dead wrong. There will never be enough listeners to a specific niche channel on XM or Sirius at any one time in any given market to even register a .1 share in any market. Those listeners are spread even thinner on the satcasters than they are for AM & FM.

Not that it matters: XM and Sirius' business model is based on subscriber revenue, not ratings. They don't have to worry about showing up in Arbitron, since they do not sell advertising. The only people who think the ratings matter to satellite are the posters who have their focus set wrong due to their emotional attachment to the medium.<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
Re: It Isn't Portability

> One thing that ya gotta remember..it's largely myth that the
> radio dial was full of unique and different formats before
> 1996. What you got was several stations doing the same
> format...some markets with six A/C stations. You weren't any
> more liely to find "neo-soul" or "'classic alternative" on
> the radio in 1990 or 1976 as you are today. Sat radio is for
> those micro-niches that terrestrial radio caqn't possibly
> serve.

Well, in south Florida, we lost classical after 31 years in 2001
(and again -- poorly executed -- this January). We lost disco and
local talk and pre-65 oldies since then. We lost jazz and big
band years ago.

What do we have more of than ever before: Urban and hispanic
stations. Sports stations (three in the Miami market). And brokered.

What do we have that's really new? Hurban, a combination of urban
and hispanic formats. How exciting.

Like I said: less choices on broadcast radio than ever before.<P ID="signature">______________
<A href='http://happyholidays.atspace.com/holidaymusic.html'><font color='#990000'>
Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Saturnalia, and Happy Kwanzaa </font></A> from 954</P>
 
Re: It Isn't Portability

> Well, in south Florida, we lost classical after 31 years in
> 2001
> (and again -- poorly executed -- this January).

And you were one of the lucky ones if you were a big classical fan in Miami. Most markets lost commercial classical about a decade before 2001. San Antonio lost its commercial classical station in the early-to-mid 80's, in fact.

> What do we have that's really new? Hurban, a combination of
> urban
> and hispanic formats. How exciting.

That would essentially be my thought on the Hurban format, too. However, if you and I dislike it and 10 people are jumping for joy over it, bringing the format to the market was the right thing to do.
 
net loss of choices in the marketplace

> > Well, in south Florida, we lost classical after 31 years in
> > 2001 (and again -- poorly executed -- this January).

( http://www.univox.com/radio/wtmidead.html )

> And you were one of the lucky ones if you were a big
> classical fan in Miami. Most markets lost commercial
> classical about a decade before 2001. San Antonio lost its
> commercial classical station in the early-to-mid 80's, in
> fact.
>
> > What do we have that's really new? Hurban, a combination
> > of urban and hispanic formats. How exciting.
>
> That would essentially be my thought on the Hurban format,

Actually, I've listened to it a little. Not all that bad.
But still not in my top ten choices of formats.

> too. However, if you and I dislike it and 10 people are
> jumping for joy over it, bringing the format to the market
> was the right thing to do.

You're right.

But the bottom line is, we lost a bunch of different
programming choices, and got just one new one.

That's still a net loss of choices in the marketplace, no
matter how many folks are jumping for joy over the one new
thing.
<P ID="signature">______________
<A href='http://happyholidays.atspace.com/holidaymusic.html'><font color='#990000'>
Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Saturnalia, and Happy Kwanzaa </font></A> from 954</P>
 
Twenty-one years ago (1984), I got my first "Walkman"-type AM/FM Stereo radio (it wasn't made by Sony, so it wasn't an "official" Walkman) as a Christmas present, and I was so excited!!

I felt like I was like every teenager in town (although I was in my twenties at the time), ready to boogie up and down the street while walking thanks to my "Walkman"-type radio.

I have many pleasant memories of using it while walking around my town.

Aren't there combination I-Pod/radio units?? There should be. I'm sure the technology is available (or soon will be) that will allow an I-Pod to record whatever radio station you are listening to with that unit, or record one station onto the I-Pod portion of the unit while you're listening to another.

(Maybe these focus groups believed that radio is transmitted only via the Internet and that you have to be at a computer connected to the 'Net in order to hear it)
 
Re: It Isn't Portability

Eventually it happens to most over-regulated industries. They "get what they deserve." Radio has been protected from much competition by friendly government regulators and now they are having to pay for it.

The way to make radio viable is to deregulate. The only job that government should have is to keep interference from other broadcasts away. They are not even doing a good job of that with the rise in the number of pirate stations.



> Meanwhile Satellite radio and MP3 players are now
> giving listeners new choices they've never had before.
>
> Big Radio deserves what it gets.
>
> It's not about portability, it's about what the ambulatory
> user perceives as offering more choices. AM/FM loses.
>
> 73s from 954
>
<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected]</P>
 
I will never give up my Sony SRF M40W FM/AM walkmans!!!!


Twenty-one years ago (1984), I got my first "Walkman"-type
> AM/FM Stereo radio (it wasn't made by Sony, so it wasn't an
> "official" Walkman) as a Christmas present, and I was so
> excited!!
>
> I felt like I was like every teenager in town (although I
> was in my twenties at the time), ready to boogie up and down
> the street while walking thanks to my "Walkman"-type radio.
>
>
> I have many pleasant memories of using it while walking
> around my town.
>
> Aren't there combination I-Pod/radio units?? There should
> be. I'm sure the technology is available (or soon will be)
> that will allow an I-Pod to record whatever radio station
> you are listening to with that unit, or record one station
> onto the I-Pod portion of the unit while you're listening to
> another.
>
> (Maybe these focus groups believed that radio is transmitted
> only via the Internet and that you have to be at a computer
> connected to the 'Net in order to hear it)
>
 
Re: net loss of choices in the marketplace

You can't seriously think disco would still be around today without consolodation. Most of those stations bailed out after the craze died. Classical..very rough to do commercially, especially as a standalone. Big band's audience would have aged out of existence whether or not there would have been consolodation..how could you expect a standalone to survive on an audience that's in their 70s and 80s? The simple truth was that ost of the operators had no choice but to go after the most profitable piece of the pie, which led to lots of duplicated formats. No one would be able to take their only signal and do a sub-niche format.<P ID="signature">______________
..from the Ball Park Franks sponsored gr8oldies keyboard...</P>
 
Re: net loss of choices in the marketplace

> But the bottom line is, we lost a bunch of different
> programming choices, and got just one new one.
>
> That's still a net loss of choices in the marketplace, no
> matter how many folks are jumping for joy over the one new
> thing.

So what you're saying is that it's a loss if it's a format that doesn't appeal to you?

I still agree with gr8oldies on this one. I still think there is a greater variety of choices. Yes, there may be 3 AC's in a market, but they usually are different in some way. There are niches, just like what XM has. Sure, the music rotation may be tight, and too many commercials, but the point is that there are a greater variety of formats in existence. In 1996 there was a CHR chart. A CHR chart. Today there is CHR/Rhythmic, CHR/Pop, Urban, Adult Urban, etc...

What radio has also discovered is the ability to target non-english speaking listeners. I'm sure David Eduardo can back me up with figures but suddenly a large (and growing) group of dedicated listeners who were underserved in the past now have choices too. They win, and radio wins too.
<P ID="signature">______________
The power is yours!</P>
 
Before that it was those handy transistor radios that we all listened to AM Top 40 stations on.<P ID="signature">______________
..from the Ball Park Franks sponsored gr8oldies keyboard...</P>
 
> Aren't there combination I-Pod/radio units?? There should
> be. I'm sure the technology is available (or soon will be)
> that will allow an I-Pod to record whatever radio station
> you are listening to with that unit, or record one station
> onto the I-Pod portion of the unit while you're listening to
> another.

Yes, there are. Also, many of the non-I-Pod mp3 players come with FM tuners built in.
<P ID="signature">______________
The power is yours!</P>
 
Re: It Isn't Portability

> > Well, in south Florida, we lost classical after 31 years
> in
> > 2001
> > (and again -- poorly executed -- this January).
>
> And you were one of the lucky ones if you were a big
> classical fan in Miami. Most markets lost commercial
> classical about a decade before 2001. San Antonio lost its
> commercial classical station in the early-to-mid 80's, in
> fact.
>
> > What do we have that's really new? Hurban, a combination
> of
> > urban
> > and hispanic formats. How exciting.
>
> That would essentially be my thought on the Hurban format,
> too. However, if you and I dislike it and 10 people are
> jumping for joy over it, bringing the format to the market
> was the right thing to do.
>


I guess we are spoiled in Milwaukee....

Commercial Classical
Jazz (Real jazz)
Smooth Jazz
Oldies
80's
Classic Hits
Classic Rock
Old School R&B
News/Talk (2)
Spanish talk
Regional Mexican
African American Talk
EZ listening
Smooth Jazz
Gospel
Kids
A good College "free form" station
Standards
Soul
R&B/Hip Hop
Top 40
Christian Talk
Christian AC
Sports (2)
Country
Rock
Alterative
And even Polka!

I bet many other markets have similar offerings. If not, then get active in your community to change that!
 
Re: It Isn't Portability

> > As if we had enough to worry about as terrestrial
> > broadcasters, now, we're rendered "non-portable" by focus
> > groups. We're apparently toast to them. Read this and
> > discuss:
>
> Big Radio (CC et al) has been taking away listener
> choices for years.
>
> Meanwhile Satellite radio and MP3 players are now
> giving listeners new choices they've never had before.
>
> Big Radio deserves what it gets.
>
> It's not about portability, it's about what the ambulatory
> user perceives as offering more choices. AM/FM loses.
>
> 73s from 954
>

Don't forget internet radio! (http://www.live365.com, et. al.)
 
Re: Wrong definition

>
> What do we have that's really new? Hurban, a combination of
> urban
> and hispanic formats. How exciting.

¨Hurban¨ is not a combination of an Hispanic format with Urban. It is "Hispanic Urban" or, simply, an urban, yung adult format for Hispanics.

"Hurban" is not "part urban." In fact, "hurban" is a name Clear channel uses for sales of its 4 raggaetón stations.... none of the 20 or so simiar stations under other ownership use the term.

The format has a number of unique characteristics. It is the only 18-34 Hispanic format, it is the only bilingual or "Spanglish" format and it is the only format playing a mix of English and Spanish contemporary music, with about 80% of the play coming form reggaetón. This is a unique format not duplicated even on satellite.

>
> Like I said: less choices on broadcast radio than ever
> before.

Go back to the 50´s and 60´s and you will see you have two to three times the viable offerings now. And, with the HD rollowut, the number of FM formats will double.
 
Re: It Isn't Portability

> Sat radio is for
> those micro-niches that terrestrial radio can't possibly
> serve.

How about internet radio?
 
Re: net loss of choices in the marketplace

>
> But the bottom line is, we lost a bunch of different
> programming choices, and got just one new one.
>

You are forgetting that you have these formats in Spanish in the market, too:

AC
Salsa / Tropical
Reggaetón
Oldies
Colombian news and Talk
Cuban news and Talk
Miami focused news and talk
Catholic religion
Contemporary Christian

And you even have a station in Kreyole.

You might not listen, but the average diarykeeper uses only 3 stations a week. All you need is the right three for most folks in the market and the issue is covering most personal spectrums, not raw format count.
 
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