News : Country PDs Encouraged To Look Beyond P1

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Country PDs Encouraged To Look Beyond P1

Nearly one fifth of those who describe themselves as fans of Country music never listen to that music on AM/FM radio. That was one of the findings of "Beyond Country P1s," an Edison Research study of 1,000 Country fans commissioned by and presented Feb. 22 at Country Radio Seminar.

Edison Research president Larry Rosin encouraged programmers to reach beyond P1s (who represented only 35% of those who either described themselves as Country fans or listened to Country radio), as well as beyond those listeners who were capable of being satisfied by a mainstream Country FM. Like ESPN and sports fans, Rosin said, Country radio should engage Country listeners wherever they are.

Rosin also encouraged broadcasters to stop thinking of "curation" as radio's point of differentiation against other music-delivery systems and focus on personality. The latter, he said, is one place where P1s and other Country fans give almost identical responses: roughly 75% of both see DJs as well-informed and entertaining, while approximately 65% see them as "an important part of the community."

Rosin also made a strong case for live and local air talent. He said, "I have watched with bemusement as the radio industry has engaged in a philosophical discussion of 'what is radio?' Who cares? DJs, in my opinion, are the only real competitive advantage we have [in terrestrial radio]. Every time we voice track a daypart or fire an air personality, we are shaving away our competitive advantage." He also cited a finding from his study that 49% of country P1s say DJs are a "prime reason" [terrestrial] radio is better than Internet radio.

"You have to go to your bosses and show that if you add more people—or to be more realistic, keep more people—you will be more successful," he added.

Among the study's other findings:

The gender balance is similar among Country P1s and non-P1 Country fans, approximately 55/45 female/male;
Among Country fans who aren't P1 to the format, 18% are P1 to Top 40, 15% to Classic Rock, 15% to AC, 12% to Contemporary Christian, and 10% to Oldies. That's a change from the one-time perception of Oldies as Country's chief competition, however…
16% of non-P1 Country fans describe either the '60s or '70s as their favorite era of Country music. Those listeners are typically P1 to Oldies or Classic Rock. Among both P1s and non-P1s, the favorite era was the '00s, followed by music from the last two years;
90% of non-P1 Country fans agree that Country "makes a positive contribution to American life"; 86% believe that Country is becoming more popular; 84% say country plays songs and lyrics they can relate to;
Contemporary crossover-friendly artists (as well as the crossover artists of the late '90s) have high ratings among both groups. A traditional-leaning group of male artists—Rodney Atkins, Josh Turner, and Billy Currington—were the most polarizing, liked by 77% of P1s but only 46% of non-P1 Country fans, who, in one-on-one video interviews that were excerpted at the session, almost universally used the word "twang" as a pejorative.
Radio was still the leading way that non-P1s listened to Country music (56%), but they listened to Country on their iPod (33%) or Pandora (13%) in higher proportions than Country radio P1s.

See the slides from Rosin's presentation here.