State of the top-40 radio audience

[dgendvil]

With Ryan Seacrest on the public airwaves & despite top-40's worst year in performance yet since the pre-Elvis era & on top of that because of Miley Cyrus & continued dominance of hip hop, most listenership is flocking over to either HD & satellite radio, do you think the top-40 audience is more flawed than ever? Think about it, top-40 radio is all about the generations that we've spanned thoughout the years, now the format probably is getting closer to exinction, just like the newspapers & nighly newscasts had. Plus the Republican based FCC is also on top of it, since Kevin Martin & their allies are in charge, plus some songs in a single station have over 150 airplays a week. Listen, the state of top 40 radio is not good since listenership continues to go down because of Hanna Montana & hip hop, & it has been that way since the telecommunications act was passed. We're not the Weimar Republic. But there's hope away from this. Next year we'll have a new administration in either McCain or Obama, & maybe, just maybe that the FCC & top-40 radio will do better off than the Martin/Powell era. I hope the top-40 audience can hope for some better time ahead in the forseeable future. Thank you very much.

 

[MarcR]

With Ryan Seacrest on the public airwaves & despite top-40's worst year in performance yet since the pre-Elvis era & on top of that because of Miley Cyrus & continued dominance of hip hop, most listenership is flocking over to either HD & satellite radio, do you think the top-40 audience is more flawed than ever? Think about it, top-40 radio is all about the generations that we've spanned thoughout the years, now the format probably is getting closer to exinction, just like the newspapers & nighly newscasts had. Plus the Republican based FCC is also on top of it, since Kevin Martin & their allies are in charge, plus some songs in a single station have over 150 airplays a week. Listen, the state of top 40 radio is not good since listenership continues to go down because of Hanna Montana & hip hop, & it has been that way since the telecommunications act was passed. We're not the Weimar Republic. But there's hope away from this. Next year we'll have a new administration in either McCain or Obama, & maybe, just maybe that the FCC & top-40 radio will do better off than the Martin/Powell era. I hope the top-40 audience can hope for some better time ahead in the forseeable future. Thank you very much.

Huh?! Though it was difficult to decipher what exactly you're talking about, I did like the part about Hip Hop ruining CHR/Pop radio!

 

[jjmac]

Ummmm, I don't really think CHR is dying at ALL. As far as hip-hop "ruining" it, I think that's a bad notion because hip-hop isn't dominating CHR stations the way it was five years ago. Artists like Metro Station, Boys Like Girls, Finger Eleven, Forever the Sickest Kids, etc. are really starting to make some noise and bring Top 40 back closer to what it was in the late-90s and early 2000s. Rhythmic is a format that's struggling a little bit, which is why you see a lot of rhythm stations lean more pop and become successful.

I can't really see your logic with Miley Cyrus ruining the format either - she defines pop culture right now and whether or not you like her or not, she's a phenomenon much like Britney and the boy bands were in the late 90s. Remember that even though our target demos are 18-34, we get all of the young listeners, especially at night, and they worship Hannah Montana.

Besides, how can you say CHR is a dying format if ratings for the Top 40 in each of the top 2 markets were both up SIGNIFICANTLY last year?

 

[Roger That]

This entire topic is ridiculous. Even IF anything that the OP said was true, like the *giggle* fact that *giggle* all our audience was leaving for *giggle* HD and Sat radio BWWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...sorry...couldn't keep it stifled longer. But I digress...

Even IF any of that were true, it's physically impossible for CHR radio NOT to exist.

Contemporary = now
Hit = Popular
Radio = the medium in which it's presented

Unless time ceases to exist, people become overwhelmingly apathetic, and the medium is banished to the history books, SOME form of CHR radio will always be around.

*sneaks away to look at the other 188 posts of the OP to see if they're equally impossible to understand in one pass...*

 

[12 In a Row]

I do believe he has uncovered the bigger story.
The FCC and Hannah Montana are to blame for high gas prices.

 

[mistermicrophone]

most listenership is flocking over to either HD & satellite radio,

according to?

 

[jradiod]

most listenership is flocking over to either HD & satellite radio,

according to?

Exactly what I thought when reading it. I certainly don't see any sort of CHR audience making a fast paced move to satellite radio. I would think more on the terms of portable audio players. (iPods, Cellphones and Portable PCs)

 

[1900radio]

Someone is bitter!

If Miley didn't test well, it wouldn't last long.

And there is almost NO hip-hop on CHR now. 5 years ago, nearly 35% of the chart was hip-hop songs. Now it's more pop. Only Lil Wayne, Usher, Ray J, Plies, and Ne-yo are hip-hop crossover. You can't call Mariah or Rihanna Hip-Hop or Urban. So Jordin's "No Air" got some play there... but she's pop too.

 

[john77]

KIIS in L.A. actually just had it's highest 12+ numbers in many years with the current book... and is actually sounding somewhat more mainstream these days - much better than a year ago at this time. Other than overplaying too many tracks from the very disappointing Mariah album and not having quite enough mainstream stuff, I can't say they're doing much wrong.

 

[Roger That]

KIIS in L.A. actually just had it's highest 12+ numbers in many years with the current book... and is actually sounding somewhat more mainstream these days - much better than a year ago at this time. Other than overplaying too many tracks from the very disappointing Mariah album and not having quite enough mainstream stuff, I can't say they're doing much wrong.

Their presentation may be mainstream, but their playlist is not.

 

[john77]

KIIS in L.A. actually just had it's highest 12+ numbers in many years with the current book... and is actually sounding somewhat more mainstream these days - much better than a year ago at this time. Other than overplaying too many tracks from the very disappointing Mariah album and not having quite enough mainstream stuff, I can't say they're doing much wrong.

Their presentation may be mainstream, but their playlist is not.

Agreed. That said, it's more mainstream than a year ago. Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, etc wouldn't have been there back then... With KPWR apparently adding Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" today and giving Rihanna's "Take A Bow" some spins, there is hope that KIIS will someday have a more mainstream playlist, though I wouldn't hold my breath unless KMVN decides to go CHR...