Where'd They Go?

[Element9]

The following morsels were offered by Inside Radio 11/14/07.[/u] Given the thoughtful discussions we've had on these boards, it really comes as little surprise to some of us.

It's said that radio is in serious trouble, more serious given the Q3 performance of ABC-Citadel, Entercom and other major broadcasting companies.

For some reason, I see the information noted in Inside Radio as strangely encouraging... something akin to an alcoholic having to reach rock bottom before seeking help and acknowledging his or her powerlessness over alcohol.

This could be the beginning of radio's Twelve Step Program. Please understand that it's not my intent to make light of The Program because more than most folks, I'm fully aware that it works for thousands of people every day.

Summer book Persons Using Radio numbers declined to their lowest level since Arbitron began keeping statistics in Fall 1998.

Sentence structure implies this was a lousy Summer for radio. Guess a lot of people went to the beach and took their iPods and MP3 players with them. No statistical information is offered, yet one might conclude "this isn't good news." There was a time when PUR actually increased in Summer.

Radio usage dropped in every cell except 50-54s. Steepest declines continue to be among teenagers and young adults.

No surprise here. The teens and young adults that I've had the pleasure to observe and interact with think radio has become "so yesterday." This is the demo that's usually the first to latch on to new technology. I wonder what radio's gonna do about this? From time to time, I spot check Kiss 98.5 and Z-101 and they sound like decent stations, but I know 12-24 year olds see it from an entirely different perspective. I'm listening to formatics and "how it's being done." Kids are listening for music and what's being played. Content here truly is King for this demo.

...Radio usage dropped in every cell except 50-54s...

God bless those wonderful baby-boomers. They still love radio, even though radio and advertising agencies in particluar, seem to have fallen out of love with anybody over 50. A few months ago, I posted that I thought Oldies would return. Afterall, isn't just about everything in life and media cyclical? Well, perhaps not Oldies per se, but some variation of the format. Hits for Adults 45+. Oh, sorry. That's what Classic Rock is becoming. Hmmm... maybe Roy Orbison and Del Shannon aren't totally off the radar screen. Can they be played next to Whitesnake and ELO?

I'll tell ya, a lot of people are paying attention to CBS-FM these days.

That's especially true among males, with Men 18-24 and 18-34 cells posting the biggest year-over-year declines.

Is it because Howard Stern went to satellite? Is it because guys are such lousy diary keepers? Is it because guys have abandoned radio to play with their latest video toys? Is it because guys don't give a fig about radio and most of the people who are on it? Is it because Arbitron can't place diaries and PPMs with 18-24 Men because they're a major part of the "unwired nation?"

But the crowded media world is also taking a toll on the 25-54 money demo.

Is this supposed to be a news flash? I looked at about half a dozen banner ads when I opened my web browser home page. Then I see commercials on TV on the fringe of prime time TV reportedly purchased for about the cost of spots on morning drive radio.

-9-

 

[The Voice of Reason]

The following morsels were offered by Inside Radio 11/14/07.[/u] Given the thoughtful discussions we've had on these boards, it really comes as little surprise to some of us.

It's said that radio is in serious trouble, more serious given the Q3 performance of ABC-Citadel, Entercom and other major broadcasting companies.

For some reason, I see the information noted in Inside Radio as strangely encouraging... something akin to an alcoholic having to reach rock bottom before seeking help and acknowledging his or her powerlessness over alcohol.

This could be the beginning of radio's Twelve Step Program. Please understand that it's not my intent to make light of The Program because more than most folks, I'm fully aware that it works for thousands of people every day.

Summer book Persons Using Radio numbers declined to their lowest level since Arbitron began keeping statistics in Fall 1998.

Sentence structure implies this was a lousy Summer for radio. Guess a lot of people went to the beach and took their iPods and MP3 players with them. No statistical information is offered, yet one might conclude "this isn't good news." There was a time when PUR actually increased in Summer.

Radio usage dropped in every cell except 50-54s. Steepest declines continue to be among teenagers and young adults.

No surprise here. The teens and young adults that I've had the pleasure to observe and interact with think radio has become "so yesterday." This is the demo that's usually the first to latch on to new technology. I wonder what radio's gonna do about this? From time to time, I spot check Kiss 98.5 and Z-101 and they sound like decent stations, but I know 12-24 year olds see it from an entirely different perspective. I'm listening to formatics and "how it's being done." Kids are listening for music and what's being played. Content here truly is King for this demo.

...Radio usage dropped in every cell except 50-54s...

God bless those wonderful baby-boomers. They still love radio, even though radio and advertising agencies in particluar, seem to have fallen out of love with anybody over 50. A few months ago, I posted that I thought Oldies would return. Afterall, isn't just about everything in life and media cyclical? Well, perhaps not Oldies per se, but some variation of the format. Hits for Adults 45+. Oh, sorry. That's what Classic Rock is becoming. Hmmm... maybe Roy Orbison and Del Shannon aren't totally off the radar screen. Can they be played next to Whitesnake and ELO?

I'll tell ya, a lot of people are paying attention to CBS-FM these days.

That's especially true among males, with Men 18-24 and 18-34 cells posting the biggest year-over-year declines.

Is it because Howard Stern went to satellite? Is it because guys are such lousy diary keepers? Is it because guys have abandoned radio to play with their latest video toys? Is it because guys don't give a fig about radio and most of the people who are on it? Is it because Arbitron can't place diaries and PPMs with 18-24 Men because they're a major part of the "unwired nation?"

But the crowded media world is also taking a toll on the 25-54 money demo.

Is this supposed to be a news flash? I looked at about half a dozen banner ads when I opened my web browser home page. Then I see commercials on TV on the fringe of prime time TV reportedly purchased for about the cost of spots on morning drive radio.

-9-

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the younger generation is not listening to radio. Why should they?
On the AM dial today you either are bombarded with right-wing talk blowhard or some preacher begging for money. Even if you find a decent AM station you enjoy it’s most likely that station can’t be heard after sunset because some 50kw monster has turned on its IBOC resulting in this horrific ‘hissing’ noise. On the FM dial it’s the same songs repeated over and over again. After 9am the local morning jocks go home and Otto Mation or voice tracking takes over. I’ve said it a million times and will repeat myself again. Most Radio owners and consultants are killing the industry; if they haven’t already.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Short Sighted

Music is available from so many sources that "radio-as-juke-box" has lots of competition. The suits in charge have followed the advice of consultants that "their music format would win" if it wasn't for those darned disk jockeys "interrupting the flow". After all, you can save a few more pieces of silver if you don't have to pay "personalities".

The simple fact is that radio no longer adds any value to the music. Once upon a time, jocks added localized content that helped determine what was "cool", and what was "hot". Programmers - at the behest of consultants - have restricted the input so much that jocks have little opportunity to do more than shill the latest contest, or read the prescribed liner whenever they crack the mic. Listeners no longer develop any kind of relationship with jocks because all they ever get in return is a hard sell.

On top of that, few stations target anybody under the age of 30. Kiss as a "teen" station? Puh-lease. The morning team talks of child rearing, not teenage angst or rebellion. What content does radio provide that teens and twenties would find compelling?

As a result, we have a new generation coming up that is used to getting their music from other, more programmable sources. They have gotten used to getting whatever they want on demand. Want to hear a song? Dial it up on your iPod, or the Internet instead of waiting for the local radio station to get around to playing it. Want to hear new music from an artist you like? You can sample it on-line in moments, and download the cuts that you like for pocket change. Then, you can play them whenever you're in the mood.

New technologies on the horizon will provide even more competition. I don't think that radio has reached bottom yet, but it's headed in that direction. Smart operators will add value to their presentation by adding quality live and local content. Most operators will try to compete by sounding even more like an MP3 player, and will fail because they can't deliver content on demand. The value of radio stations will decline, and hopefully fall into the hands of people willing to take a chance and deliver compelling new content.

 

[Radknowski]

The suits in charge have followed the advice of consultants that "their music format would win" if it wasn't for those darned disk jockeys "interrupting the flow". After all, you can save a few more pieces of silver if you don't have to pay "personalities".

It seems most of today's PDs don't know how to coach talent and what makes a good, relatable LOCAL personality. In their defense, they're loaded down running four stations and parsing their music logs. More than ever, there is a need to develop personalities who will provide the strong and lasting mortar between the bricks in all formats.

Most operators will try to compete by sounding even more like an MP3 player, and will fail because they can't deliver content on demand.

Nailed it! (With a pneumatic nailer at that. Careful where you point that thing. And watch your hands.)

 

[Call Me Sherlock]

Recent Comments by Dave Martin on his blog...

P L A Y

The play's the thing

We need to put more play into the everyday. Play will put the show back into show business. Broadcast has spent the better part of twenty years focused on the business at the expense of the show. Without the show, there is no business.

Play is an important part of the hard work that is the creative process.

Play enables, empowers, encourages the creative, the spark.

Play is what brings the real creatives to the gig, they come to play.

Play needs a positive environment, a stage.

Play requires an advocate and sometime defense attorney.

Comments: The gifted talent and legendary performer Tom Kent favors us with a comment. Check it out below. Here's a taste...

"The paradigm must shift from sales first to the show first and then we will witness how dramatically the bottom line will improve. When we put money first, money will elude us. When the greater mission is first and is driven by passion and talent, watch the money pour in."

 

[Element9]

"The paradigm must shift from sales first to the show first and then we will witness how dramatically the bottom line will improve. When we put money first, money will elude us. When the greater mission is first and is driven by passion and talent, watch the money pour in."

Nicely stated, but I don't see this happening anytime soon.

The suits don't comprehend this "paradigm shift" especially when the billing is down
and profit margins aren't hitting the projected numbers and Wall Street is in sell-of mode.

Jocks may just as well be pocket lint. Heaven forbid companies allow or encourage jocks to develop into personalities and become as important as the ten-in-a-row and three song no-talk music sweeps they're playing!

-9-

 

[SirRoxalot]

Go Figure

Jocks may just as well be pocket lint. Heaven forbid companies allow or encourage jocks to develop into personalities and become as important as the ten-in-a-row and three song no-talk music sweeps they're playing!

Yet these are the same suits that will throw a half-BILLION dollars at Howard Stern because he's a "personality"...

 

[wirelessinnepa]

The big question about Top 40 radio and the "seeming" lack of interest by young people to embrace it is, how to make it make money? Everyone who posts on this board and who lives in the real world of radio and business knows that if Top 40, with live local jocks, was the hottest thing going revenue wise, we'd have 4 in every town....like it used to be...but it's not that way anymore...and the big radio advertising revenue pie is controlled by advertising agencies...who seem to place less and less emphasis on the 18-34 demo.....

I realize it's a "chicken and the egg" thing, but if revenue isn't there, no operator, large or small is going to "experiment" on his own to see if he can't bring back something that seems to be from an advertiser's standpoint, who love the internet advertising, and from a consumer's standpoint, who allegedly love their I-Pods, on life support.

Radio targeted to young people works...we know it does...but it's fallen out of favor with the people who control the revenue streams.....not entirely, but witness the decline of the modern rock format...a format entirely for 18-34 year olds which dried up and blew away...why? The music? Was the money not there? For some reason, stations like the Nerve aren't around anymore...probably because of the revenue.

The smart person will know how to make a format that caters to people of that age group AND know how to make it bear fruit. I don't know if I am that smart. Is anyone here that smart? Let's hear the ideas....not just "live jox" .... or "local news" but what's important for this "new" format that's not being done now?

Let's develop a new "format" here.....use our brains.


Ben Smith