Why my ‘pod is better than Jack’s 'pod.

[doctordon]

We keep hearing the Jack (or Bob, or Ben, or Bill, or George…. anything but Sue) format compared to “your I-pod” on shuffle." Under real-life conditions, I’ve compared Jack’s pod to my pod and Jack’s loses, hands-down. Here’s why:

Jack boasts that his pod is loaded with 1500 songs. That’s great, compared to the 200-400 researched-to-death songs that are most stations’ mainstay. My pod holds about three times that amount, and when I tire of some songs, I can take them off and replace them with others. Jack’s 1500 songs are still chosen to be the lowest common denominator among the hundreds of thousands in the target demographic. My pod has 4500 songs are all chosen by me. Jack’s pod is loaded mainly with contemporary hits from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. My pod has all of that; plus rock ‘n roll from the 50’s and 60’s, jazz, classic pop, country, and a few other eclectic tidbits that no Jack station will ever dare to play.

My pod can segue seamlessly from the Beatles to Brubeck to Sinatra to Brooks & Dunn and then to Earth, Wind, & Fire. My pod also has something that Jack’s pod doesn’t have, that little button which lets me skip over anything at any time. I’m a big Billy Joel fan, but some mornings I’m in the mood for something else. It’s simple, keep hitting that little butt on until I hear something that I am in the mood for and I can save Billy for the drive home when I really am in a New York state of mind. Yeah, there is a little button something like that on Jack’s pod. Actually there are five, and pushing any one of them will approximate that effect by sending me to another radio station.

My pod will beat Jack’s pod every time, and so will your pod. Terrestrial commercial radio needs to wake up to the fact that its days as an effective music delivery system, are over. Radio needs to realize that it is first and foremost an information and entertainment medium. Cutting spotloads, irrelevant chatter, and other “clutter” type elements is not in itself a bad idea, but it’s not the solution. If your radio station positions itself on more variety, less talk, less commercials, etc., there will be another medium that will outdo you with even more variety, and no talk or commercials at all. Those media are here, whether it’s a commercial station that will play two more minutes of music than your station will, or satellite radio, or CD’s, or I-pods.

Radio needs to remember its roots and what made it successful over the years. Radio needs to remember it’s show business. I can stay home and watch DVD’s and videos, but I still go to see plays and movies. I can microwave some Stouffer’s cuisine or grill some burgers, but I still go to restaurants. When commercial radio remembers that it can offer me something that I can’t get on my pod or my XM radio, it will be its salvation.

Sorry, Jack, gotta’ go. You’re starting to bore me.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Doctor Don on 06/08/05 08:23 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[Power91]

Amen to the main point of the post: Radio is entertainment. People who are sick of djs and have zero tolerance for commercials are already playing their iPods and satelite radios. Even when I travel, I tune in to the local radio stations, rather than a cd. Yes Eminem, Kelly Clarkson, Three Doors Down, or whoever will sound the same in FL as they do in NY as they do in OH as they do in AZ. However, the imaging for the station will be different and the djs will be different. Radio is an entertainment form still for a lot of people. When the suits realize that, maybe we'll see some return to normal from this extreme extinction of the "air personality."

~RM

 

[toby]

Well said!

Some of the stuff that is on my ipod will never be on Jack's.
I have everything from classical, jazz, big band, classic crooners (Sinatra, Torme, et. al), dozens of film scores, Edith Piaf, French rock and Roll (thanks WNYC for getting me hooked!), rock and popular music from the 1950s to now. Add to that some TV news themes and old WABC radio jingles (thanks WABC for making me get old jingles by putting Rewound on!), Celtic music (including bagpipes), and even some polka.

Jack has nothing on what I have!
I play what I want, not what some Infinity moron in Dallas wants!<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>

 

[icybluelake]

Why my iPod and commercial radio both have their place

> Amen to the main point of the post: Radio is entertainment.
> People who are sick of djs and have zero tolerance for
> commercials are already playing their iPods and satelite
> radios.

VERY well said.

I'm thinking that an assumption that PDs are making (i.e., Jack and similar formats) is that they've already lost, or will continue to lose, a huge cross-section of the *potential* radio audience to satellite radio and iPods and the like -- just something that is bound to happen -- and remaining listeners might be less likely to buy new music, more into hearing older stuff that is well-worn and familiar. In short, fans of "classic hits."

If that is true, I'm thinking they are selling commercial radio very short at this point. And I doubt that this line of thinking is true. I still think that FM broadcasting can still bring more interesting and worthwhile programming to a mass audience. My iPod has it's place, so does my music collection, but I still love and listen to (some) commercial radio, a pretty wide variety of it, actually.

Admittedly I was never into oldies, so I am not sitting here bemoaning the loss of CBS-FM per se, just flabbergasted at the low and laughable quality of what's been chosen to replace it.

 

[BillHall]

Re: Why my iPod and commercial radio both have their place

All VERY good points in this thread. Here's another observation:

I might keep a pre-set on my car radio for 101.1, but I would never turn it on at home or at the office. In the car the button is always within reach, so the station can be changed easily and instantly (just like hitting the skip button on an MP3 player). Not so at home.

I would suspect that Jack FM will do comparitively better in the CUME ratings than it will in average quarter hour listenership.

For me personally, I don't expect to spend more than a small fraction of my radio listening time tuned to Jack-FM.

 

[doctordon]

Re: Why my iPod and commercial radio both have their place

> I would suspect that Jack FM will do comparitively better in
> the CUME ratings than it will in average quarter hour
> listenership.

The reality of radio is that the buying criteria is almost always based on Average Quarter Hour and not Cume. If you're not maintaining your audience you're going to have to get a huge cume to give you respectable AQH's. Compare it to a leaky bucket.... you're going to have to pump a large amount of water into it to keep it filled.