In a listener poll that ran on the station Website in its earliest days, Merlin Media’s WEMP (101.9 FM News) New York offered respondents a choice of stations that they currently listen to that included not just All-News AM WINS, the perceived target of the new station, but also AC WLTW (Lite FM) and Top 40s WKTU and WHTZ (Z100).

That list of stations speaks to the other target of WEMP and sister WWWN (101.1 FM News) Chicago—music stations that currently target 25-54 women. The female lifestyle information that differentiates Merlin’s stations from traditional All-News does exist on FM, but typically as part of the content of Hot AC morning shows or hosts like the syndicated John Tesh.

In the years preceding PPM, some Hot ACs went as far as developing morning-show-like content in other dayparts, a return to AC’s roots as a full-service format on AM. While some of those shows continue very successfully , other stations have dramatically cut back personality in light of PPM’s perceived call for more music.

So how important is it for a music-driven AC station to have some lifestyle info component? Certainly, the rise of All-Sports and some other FM Talk formats has come at the expense of existing Rock stations. So we asked AC and Hot AC PDs if they saw an equivalent female challenge in the offing? Or is the possible siphoning of the information franchise by a stand-alone format proof that FM music stations should concentrate even more on music?

New Spoken Word stations rarely develop quickly, a station that can launch with an existing franchise (obtaining Rush Limbaugh or moving a successful AM brand to FM) being the exception. It seems unlikely that medium-market PDs will be confronted with a station like WEMP or WWWN in the near future. That said, the recent land rush for spoken word formats on FM has been taking place at a clip of several new stations a week.

WEMP and WWWN are mammoth undertakings, launched within earshot of a skeptical industry. Anybody who’s heard them has heard on-air glitches, often an anchor waiting for a sounder that never comes or a reporter or traffic person who isn’t there. When format architect Walt Sabo gave an interview to the New York Daily News on WEMP’s second official day, the headline was “Sabo Defends [Station’s] News Coverage,” wording that was picked up by several trades.

While most in the industry understand that new Spoken Word stations cohere over a period of years, not days, the first reaction for many PDs was to the product that was on the air now in New York and Chicago. (Both stations are now streaming. You can also read our First Listens to the Chicago and New York stations.)

One PD who asked not to be named said, “Although you should never take anyone for granted, listening to them is just like reading the Internet on the air, or the first couple of pages of an inferior women’s magazine. You think you are going to learn something, but it ends up just being something vague and you realize that you already knew that. I heard one ‘tip’ that was all about how women like coupons on the Internet—really?”

From another anonymous PD: “I put the station on with my 41-year-old wife in the car. While she wasn’t troubled by the presentation (as so many of my male colleagues seem to be), she did not think that she would listen to the station for very long. She found the information being teased compelling, but they did not deliver within 10 minutes and she was gone. I applaud Merlin on this experiment, but I think it will take a while before they find the formula to make a News/Talk station female-friendly and female-compelling.”

DON’T BLINK
“Two words. Blink 102.7,” says Mark Edwards, PD of KZPT (99.7 The Point) Kansas City, one of several PDs to invoke the CBS-owned incarnation of WNEW New York, now WWFS, that tried to punctuate a broad music mix with top-of-the-hour celebrity news. That format, teased publicly for almost as long as it actually lasted on the air, showed the difficulty of both super-serving women without visibly pandering, and of generating enough of one’s own celebrity news in the TMZ era. Yet, the Blink concept resonated enough that broadcasters were trying their own versions even after the original had morphed into something else.

Eight years after Blink, PDs are divided as to whether there’s a need for more female-targeted content, between the records or otherwise. “FM Sports Talk impacts Rock radio because guys who like rock also like sports news and info. I’m not convinced, unless there’s research I haven’t seen, that women are looking for more health, money, and news information,” says a Hot AC PD who asks not to be named. The PD also adds that lifestyle information “is available on the smart phone and the MSN homepage. I don’t think this audience is looking for it on the radio.”

Other AC PDs do acknowledge the importance of lifestyle information to their audience. WKSE (Kiss 98.5)/WTSS (Star 102.5) Buffalo, N.Y., PD Sue O’Neil cites WKSE morning host Janet Snyder. “I think lifestyle information is very important. Janet Snyder plays little music and they do ‘news and views’ and she talks about clothing styles, recipes, what she’s buying her kids for back-to-school, picking out college, what color is hot for fall. It’s endless, and she does very well! She talked about a make-up sponge she found at a store—the store sold out within hours.”

A “TERRIFIC TACTICAL ADVANTAGE”
Saga Communications Executive VP Steve Goldstein believes that “information elements can be a terrific tactical advantage. Adults need certain information and will seek it somewhere. We see their needs in hierarchal research all of the time. Stations that become non-dimensional music pumps do so at their own risk. Having said that, each station’s DNA is different. WZID Manchester, N.H., is one of the top rated AC stations in the US and has a significant news commitment, along with two traffic reporters. Sister station KLTI (Lite FM) Des Moines, Iowa, is far more music focused based on competitive factors.”

Consultant Dan Vallie says, “AC stations should include lifestyle information but in a way that is conducive to a music format. It can be delivered by the talent, the morning show, as well as any scheduled newscast and has the added benefit of making the talent interesting and keeps the station from being just a jukebox. It still has to be done in way that is brief and fits into the context and brand of the station. The AC station’s specialty is music with compelling talk content when there is talk, the news station’s specialty is news.”

MUSIC STILL THE GREATEST NEED
But even PDs who view that information as valuable to listeners believe it doesn’t necessarily translate to the need for a standalone format. “There’s already plenty of female-friendly news and lifestyle information. It’s the ‘John Tesh Radio Show,’” says WLRQ Melbourne, Fla., PD Michael Lowe. “We’ve been running him here since 2009 and our midday and afternoon numbers in the 25-plus category are rock solid. News is great, but women still want a little music with their news.”

WBEB (B101) Philadelphia PD Chuck Knight cites the slide from consultant Alan Burns’ “What Women Want” presentation showing that 85% of Mainstream AC P1s cite “the music” as the thing they like most vs. only 9% for the morning show. “Music is our key to success. It’s who we are. A spoken word format is something different.

“In our mind, the issue for music stations isn’t to become more full service, it’s how we work to effectively and efficiently engage our listeners with content keeping music as the priority,” Knight continues. “In an upbeat, concise way, tell them something fun or interesting that matters in their life, something they can embrace and share with others around the water cooler or dinner table. That complimentary content deepens the listener relationship that is first driven by the desire to experience the emotion of music.”

And there were several PDs who were complimentary of the female-targeted information format as a concept. WJBR Wilmington, Del., PD Brian Demay calls it “one of those ‘why didn’t I think of that?’ moves.” He adds, “As far as a female-targeted N/T taking listeners away from AC stations, like everything in this business, it’s going to depend on the market. I have programmed ACs with a strong news/information component, and those without, but ultimately people come to us for music first. There is obviously a place for health, fashion, kids, and celebrity content—just look at the success of the John Tesh show—but a heritage AC can peacefully co-exist with a Female N/T. I think the traditional N/T in the market would see the greatest ratings decline.”

LINDSAY LOHAN’S LIFESTYLE VS. LISTENERS’ LIVES
WRSA (Lite 96.9) Huntsville, Ala., VP/programming John Malone sees the concept as “questionable in my opinion, at least from the AC perspective. There has been some very credible research that shows our listeners are simply not interested in celebrity news and fashion trends. If these stations are to find success, it will have to come from consistent and strong local content. Even if this format finds some success in the largest markets, it would not even be attempted in the medium and smaller markets unless a viable nationally syndicated version could be developed. In this scenario, you would still be faced with the lack of local content, which I feel is essential in a format such as All-News.”

And Vallie points out, “There is a difference in ‘lifestyle information’ and pop culture, and most ACs fall into the pop culture info content because it’s easier and everybody does it.” Among the stories Vallie cites in this category: “a child riding a school bus is safer than riding in a car; some grocery stores are overcharging in their pricing; married people live longer than singles; Bill Clinton is becoming a vegan and why; some ATM’s don’t charge while places like amusement parks charge the highest.” He sees those stories as “more meaty and relatable than the overdose of pop culture content like the contents of the Lindsay Lohan comic book, or that Billy Ray Cyrus was trying to be Miley’s friend, or that Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries are getting married.”

Saga’s Goldstein adds, “I wish Sabo and gang all the success in the world. Bold innovation is far too rare in the radio business.” He cites the story of Les Moonves’ decision to schedule the first “CSI” instead of a more traditional Tony Danza cop vehicle. “Two weeks later, it was the number one show on TV. While I doubt these stations will experience the same surge in audience, it’s refreshing to hear a new sound.”