Should Radio Program To 55+?

[Steve]

Re: Program To 55+?

> > > I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas that I booked
> > from
> > > an ad in my local newspaper. Thank goodness SOMEBODY
> > still
> > > advertises to the 55+ consumer.
> >
> > [One ad, specialized to 55+, amongst all the other ads in
> a
> > newspaper that are targeted younger, does not bolster your
>
> > arguments here against ad agencies not wanting the older
> > demos.
> >
> > Nice try, though.]
>
>
> You missed the point. The ad WASN'T specialized. But there
> was an awful lot of grey hair on that airplane! If radio
> was honest, they'd admit that they couldn't compete with
> newspapers for today's 55+ consumers when those consumers
> were 25+. That, not age, was and still is radio's problem.
> As another poster in this thread alluded to, advertisers DO
> advertise to 55+ consumers. They just don't do it on the
> radio.
>
Are these the same newspapers that are undergoing budget and staffing cuts bacause their readership base is declining (some at double digit rates) annually? Thanks, Fonz. You just highlighted the problem. 55+ DOESN"T MAKE ADVERTISING SENSE.

 

[mike704]

> Some younger listeners might actually like what they hear. Why
> would commercial radio want to encourage that? Wouldn't it
> be smarter for a company like Clear Channel to create
> minimum profit 55+ programming just to keep those AM/FM
> radios turned on? Seems like their other stations would
> profit in the long run.

Both of my daughters ages 17 and 24 enjoy oldies. They don't listen to rap, Hip Hop or Hard Rock.

I talk to people every day and many who are in the 45-50 age group say they stopped listening to the radio when the local oldies station changed format.

Maybe some day programmers, managers and ad agency time buyers will discover that a listener turning off the radio is as bad as a listener turning to another station, maybe worse!

MikeM