> > >
> > Free is keeping us alive...also lazy...and the radio is
> > right there in the car. Unfortunately, that puts their
> > fingers right by the select buttons. Also, takes work to
> > download music. But, my daughter has 5,000 songs on her
> > IPod right now...and it's NOTHING that any of us play.
> It's
> > all Emo, Alternative, Grunge and James Blunt (go figure).
> > Radio is totally irrelevent to her. We are going to lose
> > the whole next generation and frankly, I don't have a clue
>
> > what to do about it. I guess it beats being in the Record
>
> > business. Two generations now think that music should
> > (deserves) to be free. The Record business is going to
> > regenerate into a marketing tool for live concert events -
>
> > where the artists will make some $$$.
> >
>
> mind if i jump in here? a couple of you know who I am, and
> it doesn't really matter. This is a fascinating thread on
> which to lurk - not only because i know both Rick & Terry
> and briefly met John - but also because it's so rare to have
> a hands-on owner of a mom-and-pop in a rated market who is
> not only very sharp and has very admirable goals, but who is
> more than willing to have a dialogue with anyone who wants
> to have one. And - an owner who is on the air on one of his
> stations? Just to have fun and help out his team? That's
> dedication, folks.
>
> I want to comment on this paragraph. Rick, you're right.
> The music that's coming out of the jukeboxes that are way
> too many terrestrial stations right now is just an
> embarrassment. We've become such miserable sheep playing
> whatever is fed to us by the labels (anyone see that
> Primetime Live piece Thursday night), that we're running
> ourselves directly into obscurity. And, sadly, those of us
> with the ideas of how to improve, are, for the most part,
> not in positions to put those ideas in play. Most of the
> stations are owned by the big conglomerates with corporate
> PD's and regional VP's who are often no smarter than those
> below them. And, sadly, their idea of how to program
> once-legendary stations in HUGE markets is simply to fax
> over a list of what the 'research said' to do in a nearby
> market, which may or may not have similar demographics, and
> whose auditorium tests may or may not have had a balanced
> sample in the first place. Then, to magnify the problem,
> you've got 50 more stations watching what "the big boys do"
> via Mediabase, and next thing you know, a whole format is
> playing songs just because somebody else is.
>
> I think the key here (and pardon the rambling) is that we
> need to be able to provide tomorrow's radio listeners what
> they want. If Rick's daughter has completely bypassed our
> industry, we're doing something very wrong. Is playing a
> variety of music targeted to a specfic age range wrong? Of
> course not! But if it doesn't fit into our traditional
> pigeon-holed formats, we don't do it. Why? because that's
> just not "the way it's done." Give me a break! See how good
> "the way it's done" is performing for us these days?
>
> Look - what kills us when put head-to-head against the ipod
> and satellite radio is these long blocks of commercials, not
> to mention the very limited and "blah" formats, complete
> with rambling jocks talking about NOTHING. What's the
> out-of-the-box way to combat that? is the future of radio
> finding ways to get sponsored blocks of time on the air
> without 6 minutes of spots where we readily admit and know
> that we lose our listeners? Why not sponsor half-hour
> sweeps, and actually talk about the sponsors in the context
> of the breaks? Why? Because that's not "the way it's done".
> Why do we only cater to the much-balleyhooed 25-54 demo, and
> nothing more? Why are the ad agencies on Madison Avenue
> allowed to dictate the demographics of our entire industry?
> Are you telling me that my parents, who are approaching
> retirement age, and have more expendable income than any
> other time in their lives, are no longer of interest to
> ANYONE selling products? Really? Cars? Clothes? Travel?
> Restaurants? Really? They lose relevance at age 54? Please.
> Same on the other end. You telling me that the 12-24 year
> old demographic doesn't spend money, or have a heavy
> influence on what their parents spend? That's funny, 'cause
> there are always plenty of spots on MTV, and American
> Idol...sounds like SOMEBODY is intersted in their money. If
> that's the case, then why can't radio sell those
> demographics? Agencies. Give me a friggin' break.
>
>
> > BTW, embarassed to admit it, but I have XM in my car in
> > Florida. Haven't listened to FM in Fort Lauderdale in two
> > years. The final straw for me was no Classical Station
> (Cox
> > bought it for 125 million and flipped it to dance) in the
> > market. Kinda like the greatest hits from the 16, 17 and
> > 1900's. The Cox dance station has since been dumped for
> > Alternative.
> >
>
> I'm with you. I've had Sirius in my car for going on three
> years now, and we've never turned back. Now I get Stern
> (which i never had in my market), and all the music
> channels, stuff from overseas, BBC News, Canadian content -
> there's just no reason to listen to terrestrial radio in
> this city, spare our heritage News/Talker which is the only
> local station i listen to anymore.
>
> Radio doesn't have to be dead. Our outmoded ways of
> thinking, however, must change before it DOES become dead
> though.
>
> One last thought - the license to broadcast comes with a
> transmitter and a defined signal pattern. End of list. What
> we put on that signal could be ANYTHING in the world. It
> could be polka music, or nothing but buzzing noises, or
> reading for the blind, it could be ANYTHING that is
> profitable for the owner. And in this WHOLE WIDE WORLD, are
> you telling me that the 9 or 10 main music formats on FM are
> the ONLY products that can be sold for profit? Isn't it time
> to stop doing things the way "they've always been done" and
> make local radio matter again?
>
> I'm trying my hardest. To be continued.
>
> Thanks for the patience if you got this far. I know i feel
> better.

>
The demographic 25 - 54 is the time period in your life when most people have completed college and buy things like new cars and houses and the things that get them in to position for retirement. After 54 you’re normally in savings mode. My 70+-year-old grandma has only had 2 cars that I can remember in my 29 years and it wasn't because she couldn't afford it, she just didn't want to spend the money. Most companies that sell items to people are trying to establish and maintain relationships with people who have money and will buy things from them, thus how the symbiotic circle of profit works...one must have the other.
There are formats that could be catered after younger audiences, but you have to have a large chunk of that audience available for your station to sell. Theoretically, If Montgomery has 320,000 total listeners and lets say 10% of them between 25 and 54, 60% women listen to the #1 country station at any point of the day...how many would then listen to a format geared towards 12 to 24, 60% female? That format is Radio Disney (pop leaning, semi dance, heavy in elements) and in most markets where they are, maybe 1 to 2% of the market would listen to that format at any point in the day. Would you rather gear your station up to reach 3200 people or 32000 people? Which one would your business want to advertise on? They both have similar expenses, which would cause similar ad rates...the only reason you would choose the 12 to 24 demo station is if your product was exclusively for that demo. I can only think of a few potential local advertisers for this demo...malls, movies, video games, and fast food...pretty much all things that would cause time spent listening to be reduced. Radio Disney can succeed in this demo by having programming that is national with satellite driven stations throughout the country with national advertising. A local station would crash and burn fast. Unfortunately, it has come down to where there are only a few formats out there that a market like Montgomery can support full time. I can only think of one format that I truly believe Montgomery is under served on...it has proven from concert sales, cd sales and other rim shot low power and translator stations that it would do well.
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Brian
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