The Crumbling Alternative Empire

[davideduardo]

The alternative and AAA audience is, in my observation, disinclined to carry the meters. They're either skeptical of it, or it doesn't appeal to them to carry one. Which harmed those formats when PPM became a thing. So, in a way, the audience probably made the format less viable commercially. And I say that as someone who's highly passionate about both formats.

Remember, the metering is done by the household, not the individual. To be part of the panel, the whole family or residence unit has to fully participate. So if there is an AAA listener in the home, it's likely that the dominant female of the family (in a traditional family unit) or the household manager (in a less traditional one) will tell the rest of the folks to comply so that they can get their compensation.

The AAA listener may not really want to carry the meter, but someone in the home will tell them to do it.

 

[SirRoxalot]

At best, AAA and Alternative are niche formats. That makes them perfect for apps and/or online listening. 107.7's best hope for relevance is to either serve the audience of the area it covers well (see Element 9's post near the beginning of this thread) or to extend the reach of a successful format - in this case, the night signal of directionally-challenged WGR. Perhaps in the post-Covid world it can be used as an advertising outlet for NTR activities as it was in the past, but why not simply shift your NTR events to audiences that you already reach successfully?

 

[TheBigA]

why not simply shift your NTR events to audiences that you already reach successfully?

Because it's a different demo. They do that with the Bills on WGR. But it's a different audience that listens to alternative music. They're hard to reach other ways. The station is just waiting out the virus, hoping everything returns for the summer.

A lot of this discussion is focused on format and music, and that's the wrong approach. The real discussion is about advertising and reaching a market. Certain formats are also lifestyles. Country is an example. Sports is an example. Alternative is an example. They can aim marketing and NTR at those lifestyle groups, and it's not as effective with others.

 

[Kent]

There are only 11 AAA stations billing over a million. If you go to $2 million, there are 6 in the whole country. Yet there are over 1,100 stations in total in the US billing over 2 million.

I worked at a cluster of seven stations that had a AAA in it for about three years in the early 2000's. That cluster still has a AAA in it. At the time I worked there, the cluster billed between $3.1-3.5 million each year. The only station in that cluster that billed over $1 million annually was the AC. It billed almost half the total for the entire cluster. I can't imagine the AAA bills anywhere near what it billed nearly 20 years ago, and it was nowhere near a $1 million biller back then.

 

[TheBigA]

At best, AAA and Alternative are niche formats. That makes them perfect for apps and/or online listening.

There's a reason why Entercom and iHeart are fighting so hard with this format. From the national view, iHeart is currently winning the Alt battle. Sure, it would be much easier to just give up and play more Beyonce. What the staffs of those stations would be doing would be offering their resignations. "We can't win, so fire us now." Part of that has already happened. They had an ineffective local staff, so they got fired. But they still recognize that if they're going to own six stations in a market, they need to diversify the brands and audiences they reach. Otherwise they can sell off half of their stations and focus on what they do best.

 

[RadioGuy1864]

But they still recognize that if they're going to own six stations in a market, they need to diversify the brands and audiences they reach. Otherwise they can sell off half of their stations and focus on what they do best.

Which for some station groups carrying a heavy debt load, might not be the worst idea. That's why selling to EMF is sometimes the best outcome.

 

[TheBigA]

Which for some station groups carrying a heavy debt load, might not be the worst idea. That's why selling to EMF is sometimes the best outcome.

That's why Cumulus did what it did. But it also means firing a lot of people, and chopping off a revenue stream. Sometimes you have to amputate the foot to save the body. But I guess Entercom feels they're not there yet.

Every time people complain about these stations, they're basically saying to these companies to fire more people. So that's what they end up doing, and then everyone complains that the companies are heartless for firing all these people. But keeping the same people doing the same thing isn't going to get better results.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

If Alternative and AAA were to move to non profit outlets. How much of this would require 1 or more factors such as having their feed co-owned with the local NPR News/talk station and or flipping classical and jazz stations to Alternative or AAA to reflect the change in donor demographics in the market.

 

[davideduardo]

The alternative and AAA audience is, in my observation, disinclined to carry the meters. They're either skeptical of it, or it doesn't appeal to them to carry one. Which harmed those formats when PPM became a thing. So, in a way, the audience probably made the format less viable commercially. And I say that as someone who's highly passionate about both formats.

Please read my response from Thursday. The meter is used for radio and TV and related electronic media that can be encoded, like streams. The sample unit is the family (or "household unit") where one person is the contact and coordinator. They "make" everyone else comply. The incentive is rewards and money.

So a person who, on their own, might not use the meter, will be controlled by the family head. In a traditional family, that tends to be the adult woman, not a man. In non-traditional family units, it is anyone's guess how the hierarchy might be established as I have not seen data on that.

 

[davideduardo]

If Alternative and AAA were to move to non profit outlets. How much of this would require 1 or more factors such as having their feed co-owned with the local NPR News/talk station and or flipping classical and jazz stations to Alternative or AAA to reflect the change in donor demographics in the market.

The issue is whether fans of those genres will donate enough money to sustain the station. AAA has a chance, but I doubt alternative does because the Alt rock constituency is highly fragmented with different tastes. Alt is becoming an on-demand streaming option, not a good choice for OTA radio.

Flipping jazz, which is a multi-racial format, to a pure "white guy" format today may not be politically correct, either.

 

[tbolt909]

There's a reason why Entercom and iHeart are fighting so hard with this format. From the national view, iHeart is currently winning the Alt battle. Sure, it would be much easier to just give up and play more Beyonce. What the staffs of those stations would be doing would be offering their resignations. "We can't win, so fire us now." Part of that has already happened. They had an ineffective local staff, so they got fired. But they still recognize that if they're going to own six stations in a market, they need to diversify the brands and audiences they reach. Otherwise they can sell off half of their stations and focus on what they do best.

What is the reason? If a format is not working on a National level, why fight for it? In the case of 107.7 Buffalo, the ratings for Alternative have been abysmal. You can blame the staff or the format if you wish.
No one asks to be fired, but results do matter. Even employees on successful stations are getting fired (RIF if you prefer). That's Radio.

Maybe David Field and his Format Captains need to formulate a new battle plan. ALT Buffalo is like the Vietnam of Radio. Year after year of futility...

 

[DN14224]

Is there anything in the past activity of Entercom that indicates they are that kind of company? I don't think so.

There is in the VERY distant past...when Entercom bought KTAC/Tacoma-Seattle, WA they created a new format called "The Mountain" that ran an early version of what became AAA. It's long gone now.

 

[Element9]

The sample unit is the family (or "household unit") where one person is the contact and coordinator. They "make" everyone else comply. The incentive is rewards and money. So a person who, on their own, might not use the meter, will be controlled by the family head. In a traditional family, that tends to be the adult woman, not a man. In non-traditional family units, it is anyone's guess how the hierarchy might be established as I have not seen data on that.

Every measuring platform has drawbacks. It's been written by more than a few consultants, PDs and sociologists: non-traditional younger listeners aren't inclined to take orders from mother, their girl friend, partner or wife. But that's Nielsen's cross to bear.

 

[davideduardo]

Every measuring platform has drawbacks. It's been written by more than a few consultants, PDs and sociologists: non-traditional younger listeners aren't inclined to take orders from mother, their girl friend, partner or wife. But that's Nielsen's cross to bear.

And the purpose of ratings is to give a metric to advertisers who buy based on delivery. As long as the MRC approves and agencies keep buying, ratings will continue to be done the way they are now because there is no better system within the acceptable cost requirements.

Radio did not want the PPM. It costs too much and the sample is too small. But advertisers demanded it. And we got it.

 

[Buddy Shula]

For some reason people view this as a stand-alone station. It's not. It's part of a cluster.

Buddy said all that needs to be said about this station. It's not for sale. They want it to do what it's doing.

Forget shania. She killed real country music.

 

[TheBigA]

Brady replaces Booker: Just announced that afternoon drive at Alt107.7 will be "Brady:"

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They got him from iHeart, which is where Booker went. Like Booker, he's coming from NYC.