Small market formats in nc

[XTalker]

If the larger, group owners would just look at the earnings history of their stations, they would discover there are hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars that have left radio for other, more locally targeted media. As stations became more regional in their appeal (or attempted to be more regional), the cost of advertising to the larger audience just didn't make sense to the small, hometown business. They have turned to other means of getting their message out.

It it hard to argue with the regional concept, with it's ratings driven advertisers but in the process of getting those dollars, the radio business has left a lot of easy money on the table.

Stations should take a close look at their realistic market, find the hole, and fill it.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

If the larger, group owners would just look at the earnings history of their stations, they would discover there are hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars that have left radio for other, more locally targeted media. As stations became more regional in their appeal (or attempted to be more regional), the cost of advertising to the larger audience just didn't make sense to the small, hometown business. They have turned to other means of getting their message out.

I think part of the scenario you described has at least a little bit of support..... but I also feel you have conveniently put some assumptions together that may not wash.

What local media do you think has absored all these hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars? One of the best things local radio has going for it is that small market merchants have very little choice in easy to use advertising vehicles. (That, of course, is an assumption on MY part.)

In another thread recently someone was talking about how radio revenues were going down hill, that they were HALF what they were a few years ago. I dug up radio revenue figures since 1988. They were down 7% in 2001. 2007 was down 2.3%. Other years have been up, up, up. Now, these are gross industry figures and does not tell us if there is shifting between local and regional advertising.

Can you help me find sources of information that would help us nail down the shift in revenues.

P.S. I think revenue figures would prove or disprove your point... but EARNINGS HISTORY will not.

 

[XTalker]

What local media do you think has absored all these hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars? One of the best things local radio has going for it is that small market merchants have very little choice in easy to use advertising vehicles. (That, of course, is an assumption on MY part.)

There are hundreds of radio stations across America that have abandoned their local communities in favor of moves to larger, nearby cities. They have in the least cases, tried to make themselves more regional in nature and thus attempted to attract the more regional type of advertiser.

Because of the consolation of the industry, there are fewer and fewer stations playing in the local, direct advertising pool. Radio rates driven by regional, ratings bases buying, have pusher the smaller, mom and pop businesses to other means of advertising.

My point is that station owners always look for the bigger vein of gold, and ignore the thousands of small nuggets lying in their path. The company that has the clarity to devote at least a portion of their broadcast asset to the smaller, local community (listeners and advertisers) can make a healthy living.

Eastern North Carolina is filled with examples of small towns that no longer have a radio station to call their own - or have way fewer stations than they once had. .

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

My point is that station owners always look for the bigger vein of gold, and ignore the thousands of small nuggets lying in their path. The company that has the clarity to devote at least a portion of their broadcast asset to the smaller, local community (listeners and advertisers) can make a healthy living.

Eastern North Carolina is filled with examples of small towns that no longer have a radio station to call their own - or have way fewer stations than they once had.

So who can champion this cause? For those of us who enjoy the concept of cultivating the small nuggets, what do we do to clear the path for those who have the know-how to make this concept work?

We have gone through this economic era of the last ten years in which the big boys were willing to pay unreasonable prices for the stations that should have remained small town radio, and it is hard to blame the previous owners for taking the money and running.

Is the current "post sub-prime mortgage economy" going to level the playing field a bit? What change in FCC regulations and law would assist or encourage the leveling of the field.

Or.... are the fields just worn out? We have done some genealogy work and found not just our family but a LOT of people fleeing North Carolina for Georgia and then points west in the early 1800's. There seemed to be two main drivers: When every farmer has six sons, they can't keep splitting the farm six ways and anyone make a living. And, their farming techniques of the era had depleted the soil.

Have today's radio techniques just depleted the advertising soil?

 

[quadraphonic]

It seems like today's radio techniques (regionalization, move-ins, blaming new media) have combined to make radio forget that there are other advertising revenue streams out there besides the same streams the regionalized media are after.

Sports radio, in Raleigh and Fayetteville and Charlotte, seems to have different advertisers than the other standard advertisers every station is after. Maybe that's because they play to the advertisers' egos, or maybe they have hotter saleswomen selling to mostly men buyers, I don't know, probably depends on the situation, but they seem to be getting more localized money.

And I ain't saying this is a big chunk of change that has sucked up advertising money either, but it plays a part: there are in the last 10 years a bunch more little local free newspapers out there, all of whom are taking ad money from independent painters and small boutique stores and other local marketplace-type revenue sources. They aren't filling the paper with big-money items like Food Lion and Home Depot circulars, like the radio is trying to do. And there seems to be a lot more small companies advertising on their trucks than there used to be, too. Again, surely not a big part of what radio is missing, but a part nonetheless.

Of course, there isn't one answer, like everything that has affected radio recently, it's all part of the package. Fewer employees, even salespeople, means they can only go after so many accounts, so they go after the biggest ones first. And turnover, that means it's a new guy/hottie gal (going with the theory above) pitching the account and they're starting over every year or two.

 

[ReelBill]

Small market formats and local programming was swallowed up and homogenized by corporate radio years ago.

What listeners of a particular area and format wanted to hear was replaced with what a consultant hundreds of miles away says is "safe" nationally. Therefore, play lists were cut to bare minimums and burnt to a crisp, Program Directors were turned into puppets that can't fart without checking with them first and the veteran on-air staff had their hands tied or replaced with cheaper part timers, voice tracking or canned programming.

The listeners stated turning elsewhere via satellite, ipod, online....Advertisers got tired of being hounded for more, more, more by an inept sales staffs driven by an antiquated ratings system....

 

[virgilstreetnc]

Before we get too far off topic, remember, there actually still are some stations out there servicing their communities, are not corporate owned, and are doing okay.

What I was originally looking for were suggestions and speculation on what's actually working in small markets. Any?

 

[XTalker]

Radio as we knew it will be saved by those small operators who are hanging in!

Prediction - over the next five years, large companies will start to divest themselves of non performing stations - at some bargain prices. Some of those small market, mom & pop operators will get a bargain and some of the move ins will move out - back to their hometowns!

Wouldn't that be nice?

Another issue is finding people who can sell it. Most large and medium markets are devoid of real sellers. I don't mean to dis those who make their living selling ratings, but the truth is, few of them really know how to sell local radio.

Remember the sales guy who came into the office at 7:30AM with a fast food biscuit in his hand, and a handfull of orders for "a few spots"?

The same guy who spent half of his day hanging out at the local appliance store - may have even helped sell a freezer when they got busy. He build a relationship with the owner - and got to the point that he could call and say "what would you like to put in your spot this week?" rather than talk about cost per point, etc.

Then, he went back to the station and wrote copy until almost midnight, and called the morning man to say "I left a new piece of copy on your chair, can you record it before you go on the air in the morning?".

Strange thing was, the morning guy usually said "sure, no problem". Oh, for the day!

 

[redneckriviera]

Before we get too far off topic, remember, there actually still are some stations out there servicing their communities, are not corporate owned, and are doing okay.

What I was originally looking for were suggestions and speculation on what's actually working in small markets. Any?

As far as music formats go, a lot depends on the market. If you find yourself surrounded by 6 or 8 Country stations, you may need to go in a different direction. But the way things are looking, music of any kind on radio may be an endangered species, anyway.

Focus on information. Yes, local news. Yes, fire calls (yeah--make sure somebody always has an ear on the scanner) and lost dogs & cats & cows. Do obits and birth announcements. Do as much high school sports--football, boys & girls basketball, baseball/softball--as possible. Do Little League play-by-play. Make "Community News" --public service announcements-- a central part of your on-air content. Broadcast "live" from every carnival & fair & craft show & Rotary/Kiwanis/Sertoma event in your core coverage area. Make the air staff your biggest expense. Do everything possible to have 6 AM to 7 PM covered with live, local human beings, and if you can possibly afford to hire a kid for evenings too, do it. Schedule everyone for a 6-day week so weekends are covered, too.

We have radio stations in towns of 8,000... 6,000... 7,000... 10,000... and it works. Our most difficult task has been reviving a perfectly AM/FM good property in a town of 6,000 (county of 80,000) that had been owned by the local newspaper for decades and run mostly off a satellite. It was very tough sledding for the first year or so, but by doing all these things, we've overcome a lot of apathy and now have the billing up in a healthy range.

Point is... there are too many places already for a listener to hear Tim McGraw songs. Giving them another does nothing to set your station apart. But if your station is the one talking about Aunt Sharon's new baby or Uncle Bill's Little League team or whether Foreigner or the Oak Ridge Boys are playing tonight at the Firemen's Carnival, you're making a connection that XM or the iPod will never make.

 

[firecop947]

Back in the day when I was charged with programming a 3kw station up against a big 100kw station, all I had was the local aspect. We changed our format to classic country (the big guy was "hot" country) and concentrated on local,local, local! I went to all the area volunteer fire departments and offered a free 2 hour live broadcast at their BBQ fundraisers. Needless to say, our station was the hero and we picked up new listeners as well. The big station would NOT have thought to do that, unless the departments payed the $1500 remote fee.

I agree with you Mike, I think radio will come back full circle as the big dogs spin-off the smaller non performing markets, and mom and pop will be back in the radio game. For the record, the most fun I ever had at a station was a one owner 100kw station in south Georgia. I didn't make alot of money, but, we served the public with local news (and yes obits) high-school football, and the like. The folks in our area loved the station and all of it's staff. That's why I got into radio way back in 1982!

Firecop!

 

[allenv]

I agree almost 1000% with the above posts.If we can see what might work corporate should see this too.It all comes back to money and do they want to take the the time& effort and deal with all that is a real live local aggresive operation.If someone would take advantage of the technology that is available
today and use it with live,local people to assist them....not replace them.. some really good local stuff could be done.Unfortunately so many in power have drank the save money & forget quality and community service kool aid that these ideas are so foreign to them they can't see whats right under their noses..

Allen

 

[virgilstreetnc]

If you could air all news/sports/features with a live body at the board, in a perfect world, wouldn't this be better than any music format? Based on the assumption that you can turn certain listeners off depending on the format. Do they want to sit through two or three Charlie Pride, Johnny Cash and Glenn Campbell (that'd be a good song set) songs waiting on the community news?

redneckriviera, excellent points you raise. My question would be are you using satellite, or homebred songlists? And how many tunes in a row are you spinning before a news or community break?

Thanks for all the info. Very interesting reading.

 

[ZAX Double J]

Great posts. I believe that any good localized music play list will work. Rather than some music consultant hundreds of miles away get out in your community and ASK people what music THEY want to hear and base your format around that. I remember Top 40 radio of 30+ years ago it played pretty much everything. Now it HAS to be either this or that. Yes do local sports up the wazoo every parent wants to have thier kid's game feeatured on the radio. Do a school update feature where kids from the local school come in and tell what's going on in their school. Get out at all the festivals, BBQs, swap meets, new businesse openings you can do and have it as a live remote for 2 or 3 hours. Place billboards advertising the station (remember you are a business too so you HAVE to advertise yourself) rather than thinking "if we build it they will come" you gotta let them know you even exist first. Too many of the "Management" in this business can't see the forest for the trees. When the simplest things will do the trick. I think a station should be manned by a human from at a bare minimum from 6am til midnight seven says a week - period, but preferably 24/7. I know for many stations this is not budget minded, but look what has happened, the on-air quality has suffered because there is no one physically on the air anymore. It's really not about the format, but WHAT you broadcast that will make the difference. Do what the others won't or can't do and you will be the winner.

 

[redneckriviera]

If you could air all news/sports/features with a live body at the board, in a perfect world, wouldn't this be better than any music format? Based on the assumption that you can turn certain listeners off depending on the format. Do they want to sit through two or three Charlie Pride, Johnny Cash and Glenn Campbell (that'd be a good song set) songs waiting on the community news?

redneckriviera, excellent points you raise. My question would be are you using satellite, or homebred songlists? And how many tunes in a row are you spinning before a news or community break?

Thanks for all the info. Very interesting reading.

Good thoughts Double J.

Virgil, I'm generally not a fan of using satellite programming in the kind of circumstance we're talking about--so "homebred songlists" would be my answer.

As far as how many songs... consider a slight variation on your first sentence: a format built around localized news/sports/weather/public service/features/interviews/phone-ins with an occasional song tossed in.

On our "full service" stations we're lucky if we get in four songs an hour during the morning show. FWIW, the AC and Country formats are so intertwined nowadays that it wouldn't be all that hard to construct a very usable playlist--or music universe--of 500-600 songs from those genres that would be pretty damn acceptable to the general 35-74 year old (i.e., the general adult population) including current, recurrent and oldies categories. Even if you end up playing more than a handful of songs in some hours, that kind of AC/Country mix takes a long time to burn.

Point is, the music is just for fill. It's not the reason people will tune in to your station anyway. The local info is the hook, so make that the bulk of what they hear.

BTW, this kind of approach does require people who can read, write and talk. And write a lot. (Spelling is optional). A certain amount of repetition is not only acceptable, but also smart (different people listen at different times). But it does require a bunch of written/spoken content--updated at least a couple times a day. But if you think about the various categories of information involved, that content can be organized in a fashion that optimizes what the market size dictates will be a small-but-very-smart staff. BTW, finding the ones who can read-write-talk in a small town ain't all that easy, so be prepared to pay a little more than you think they're worth... and don't try to micro-manage them. Smart people don't take kindly to it-- and they're hard to replace.

 

[XTalker]

The large, corporate owners, don't see the solution to small market sensitive radio because all they look at is the bottom line! It doesn't matter how they get there - and cutting costs is easier than providing real service.

My prediction is full service, block programming will return as corporate America loses interest in radio. Mom and Pops will choose a realistic coverage area (and trading area) and super serve that community with a wide range of programming. Owner/Operators will make a decent living for themselves and a few others. No one will get filthy rich, but radio will be fun again.

 

[XTalker]

The large, corporate owners, don't see the solution to small market sensitive radio because all they look at is the bottom line! It doesn't matter how they get there - and cutting costs is easier than providing real service.

My prediction is full service, block programming will return as corporate America loses interest in radio. Mom and Pops will choose a realistic coverage area (and trading area) and super serve that community with a wide range of programming. Owner/Operators will make a decent living for themselves and a few others. No one will get filthy rich, but radio will be fun again.

 

[amfmxm]

This might sound strange (okay, it DOES sound strange), but a great example of the kind of community-focused, full-service, talk-heavy, minimal-music, format that we've been talking about is Jerry House's morning act on large-market WSIX(FM) in Nashville. If you've got XM, it's channel 161. A few songs an hour, lots of chit-chat about what's going on locally; people calling in and carrying on. Like sitting around a kitchen table. Not a bad model.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I have been trying to reduce to writing how I would operate a dandy little home town station and have the idea of a "process" that will create sound tid-bits to feed into the mix all day and all night long to achieve that "sitting around the kitchen table" sound. I needed a name for that process so I went to my wordsmith daughter. She came up with one but it doesn't have much ring with the rank and file listener. The word would have to be explained and "sold" to the audience.

Her answer: What you are trying to do is salon.

Our grandparents might have understood the word parlor without so much explaining.

 

[allenv]

I agree Mike,because of alot of factors the big boys will be forced to sell some stations back to Mom & Pop owners at bargin basement prices and radio will shift back to live,local,community service driven stations that they should have always been.

Allen

 

[JimA]

the mom & pops can work. do local full service or blocks. local local. be creative in sales packages. a lot works. WGTM in the day was a cash cow doing it. If only I could get it and rebuild with Eddie's help to get it back up t0 29 counties day/ 7 at night. Small market can work. Wilson does not need 3 am religious stations plus another fm. This market cries out like the rest of the small markets.