G
greatscott1960
Guest
download the entire PDF
www.changethis.com/15.RadioClash
I’m a researcher, so I spend a lot of time talking to radio listeners. And many of them are saying radio has become too commercial, too corporate, too predictable. A classic rock station in Portland, Maine sounds like a classic rock station in Phoenix, Arizona. Whether it’s al-news or hip-hop, the answer is the same: radio’s quest for consistency and protability has made it dull.
The decline began in 1996, when governmental deregulation alowed broadcast
companies to grow at meteoric rates. As they became more atractive investments to Wall Street, radio stations and their market clusters systematicaly reduced expenses and stations, added commercials, and took advantage of their ability to consolidate. Throughout these years, their focus has been on real estate — their share of the market.
Rather than folow the big-picture issues shaping American pop culture and changing media habits, most radio stations have focused their research dolars on traditional,
To stop radio’s decline, it must embrace a values-based revolution. Its programming must transcend music and traditional format boundaries, and it must be obvious on the air. Like any revolution, it is scary to those with the most to lose.
A new radio revolution will work differently on the air by including listeners in the programming process. It wil treat them more like customers, not as demographic segments on a spreadsheet. For this revolution to take root, programmers must acknowledge that non-radio competition is marginalizing their relevance as a society changing voice, and they must pledge to make radio meaningful again. The times they are a changin’ and radio must change with them.
www.changethis.com/15.RadioClash
I’m a researcher, so I spend a lot of time talking to radio listeners. And many of them are saying radio has become too commercial, too corporate, too predictable. A classic rock station in Portland, Maine sounds like a classic rock station in Phoenix, Arizona. Whether it’s al-news or hip-hop, the answer is the same: radio’s quest for consistency and protability has made it dull.
The decline began in 1996, when governmental deregulation alowed broadcast
companies to grow at meteoric rates. As they became more atractive investments to Wall Street, radio stations and their market clusters systematicaly reduced expenses and stations, added commercials, and took advantage of their ability to consolidate. Throughout these years, their focus has been on real estate — their share of the market.
Rather than folow the big-picture issues shaping American pop culture and changing media habits, most radio stations have focused their research dolars on traditional,
To stop radio’s decline, it must embrace a values-based revolution. Its programming must transcend music and traditional format boundaries, and it must be obvious on the air. Like any revolution, it is scary to those with the most to lose.
A new radio revolution will work differently on the air by including listeners in the programming process. It wil treat them more like customers, not as demographic segments on a spreadsheet. For this revolution to take root, programmers must acknowledge that non-radio competition is marginalizing their relevance as a society changing voice, and they must pledge to make radio meaningful again. The times they are a changin’ and radio must change with them.