Radio-Info.com

Radio TSL drops again

/ November 5, 2008

In Arbitron data just crunched by Public Radio's Radio Research Consortium, some nice trends for Public Radio were noted through Spring - not surprising considering the interest in political news over the past year.

Specifically, CPB-Stations (P12+, Mon-Sun 6a-12m) have recovered to a 5.2% share - an all-time high AQH share percentage.

Thanks to more recent newsworthy events, I would expect this share to rise again this Fall.

This news was tempered by a broader review of radio listening trends overall.  Says the report:
"In 2008, 92.5% of the population tuned in radio in an average week, down from 92.6% last year. The time spent listening to radio by this cume, on average, was just under 18 hours per week, roughly 45 minutes less than a year ago."

So while the proportion of the population tuning in radio is relatively steady, the time they spend listening is off by 45 minutes in just one year.

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Lessons from Tina Fey

/ October 27, 2008

Saturday Night Live is enjoying its best ratings in more than a decade.
It's not because the show is better wall-to-wall than it has been recently. It's because the show has developed a "hit" that dovetails with the zeitgeist.
The "Tina Fey as Sarah Palin" moments from SNL are watched and re-watched. Shared and Digged. Sought out and showcased.
At a time when the TV industry fears the Internet could be its undoing, we see how the bite-sized replay and community aspects of the net drive attention to SNL well beyond what it would otherwise be.
But it all happens because the bit is that good. It all begins, in other words, with the content. And that begins with the talent.

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Great Radio

/ November 17, 2008

Over the weekend one of my Jersey buds, Big Jay Sorensen sent me a Facebook message to say that he was going to do a shift Sunday night on WCBS-FM in New York as one of their "radio greats".

CBS-FM is my favorite terrestrial radio station so it doesn't take much to get me to listen and I was thrilled for Big Jay -- a yeoman radio guy who loves what he does. Jay has had some bumps in the road of late -- as a lot of my radio friends have -- but I knew he'd be a killer when he turned the mike on.

Great radio. A hot personality that wanted to entertain so much that it came through the speakers -- even on my Mac where I listened from out west.

Great jingles as always. Great voices. A great format. A local feel. Love of the music, artists and era. And, if I may say it -- fun. You couldn't help having fun listening in.

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An Open Letter from Bill Figenshu to the Radio Industry

/ November 7, 2008

The events of the last few days have made me proud to be an American. Believe me, I’m not one of those real verses fake Americans that was created in the presidential campaign, I just think we are all so fortunate to live in a country as wonderful as this. No matter who you voted for, you had to get a bit misty eyed watching history unfold before us in Chicago, and New York, and on the streets and cities in the US and around the world. I am also proud to be a broadcaster, and yes, an American Broadcaster. The amazing pictures of the throngs of people truly excited to see the change from the long dark night that defined the last few years got me to thinking, I can’t remember a time when the streets were filled with people after an election…mostly young people….mostly young people excited and hopeful for the future of the country they want it to be. One can’t help but be inspired.

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The Value of Air Talent

/ November 12, 2008

The value of air talent is sinking faster than the cost of a gallon of gas ($1.94 here in Minneapolis as of this writing). Whether the solution is extended shifts, voice tracks, or a non-stop segue serenade the next chapter in operating radio stations has been written. We still need to be a personal medium, but there will be less persons being personable in the personnel pool.

I have been very consistent in my opinion that it is NOT voice tracking that is the problem. It is bad voice tracking that stinks. I have always used a Tonight Show analogy—nobody cares that Jay Leno is recorded, all people care about is that he is funny. Nobody thinks twice about time shifting a program on their DVR or iPod. All they care about is that it is good. Pre-recorded programming may in fact be desirable!

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The Radio & Records Rescue Package

/ October 23, 2008

They just don't get it. The record industry is broken beyond repair. The radio industry exists only for an older available generation. We see poor decisions by executives in these two industries based on their inability to see what the next generation wants.

For example, in their day radio and record CEOs saw how well the simple process of finding new acts, pressing records and promoting them on radio worked. It was a beneficial relationship for both sides no matter what their rhetoric may be today.

But now, record execs cannot grasp that free downloading is their friend and that they need -- no will absolutely benefit -- from reinventing their business model.

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The Audacity of Hype

/ October 29, 2008

The setting is a large 2008 campaign rally in Michigan for a Presidential candidate. He is addressing the current economic crisis:

“Negativity about the economy, particularly from those in the banking industry, is pervading the financial world and threatens to paralyze us.  And we feel bombarded by negative -- and often false -- messages that reinforce these feelings. That negativity and those false messages are sometimes coming from American workers and the result could be the stagnation of the economy and the devaluing of our nation. Right now, this country needs people who believe, and I hope everyone in this stadium is a believer.”

“How can we get our economy on track? We need to develop a nimble and efficient effort to raise awareness of the US economy’s reach; and to provide tools to create evangelists and cultural influencers. Joe the Auto worker lost his job in Detroit, but did anyone say well, the car business is over?"
“This state employs over 90% of the people who want jobs and we need to remind people of that.  I urge every American to drop their victim mentality and turn it around…you bloggers and other nay-sayers should get a job in another country.”
A speech like this would be a disaster in the existing environment. The politician would be branded insensitive for blaming the problem on the negative attitudes of the victims, rather than the underlying fundamental mistakes that led to the current, very real problems. The prescription to turn things around contains nothing concrete, just admonitions to be more positive and spread the word about the US economy. With a stump speech like that…this candidate would lose by a landslide.

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First Listen: Milwaukee's New 94.5 "The Lake"

Sean Ross / November 7, 2008

It's ironic that when the news broke about Journal Broadcast Group's longtime Hot AC WKTI Milwaukee becoming Adult Hits "94.5, the Lake" ("what will we play next?"), I was listening to CFWM (Bob FM) Winnipeg, the original Classic Hits/Hot AC hybrid, now 6-1/2 years old (and offering "'80s, '90s and more whatever than ever before").

As a hard-rocking Midwestern market, Milwaukee had always seemed like a logical candidate for a Bob- or Jack-FM, not the least of which was because of WKTI's heritage. In its 32 years with the calls, WKTI had often floated back and forth between Hot AC and CHR, or obscured the line between the two. If you were going to put on a station that played guitar-pop/rock from the '80s and late '70s, you would be drawing heavily on the WKTI legacy (as well as that of rocker WQFM).

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Organizing the '90s Into a Format

Sean Ross / November 12, 2008

From a chronological standpoint, the all-'90s format should have shown up on a large-market station at least a year ago. The '90s are nine years away and many of the decade's biggest hits have disappeared from the radio. But the '90s present a daunting challenge for programmers. Top 40 wandered aimlessly from genre to genre for many years, while Country and Alternative got most of the attention. And owners aren't looking for the next hot thing in this era of scaling back. But knowing that every generation demands its own music eventually, Edison Media Research's Sean Ross tries "Organizing the '90s Into A Format."

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Where Have All The Format Flips Gone?

Sean Ross / October 30, 2008

A year ago, the fall ratings book kicked off with a typically heavy series of format flips. This fall, however, format launches have slowed to a crawl, and many of those that have taken place involve moving existing stations from AM to FM (or to a second frequency). So why is there more excitement about new iPhone apps than new radio stations? The economy is one culprit, but Edison Media Research VP Sean Ross digs deeper in the new Ross On Radio: "Where Have All The Format Flips Gone?"

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