Here is a list of the latest station concerts and events
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A listen to the “new” WQXR New York on 105.9 reveals the country’s best public classical station — but that’s just what’s wrong with it, as this icon of New York radio has gone from unique, “The Radio Station Of The New York Times,” to just, well, another public station, no matter how good.
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The Sept. 29 Ross On Radio issued two not-at-all-contradictory calls prompted by the Radio’s Stimulus Package session at the National Assn. of Broadcasters Radio Show.
We called on broadcasters to not only recruit younger broadcasters but to allow them to engage their peers on the radio, given radio’s increasing default to Top 40 as the one-size-fits-all format for anybody under 25. And, given the number of times that broadcasters were encouraged to stop living in yesterday, we pointed out that if radio was mired in the past, it wasn’t exactly the right past – today’s stalest radio dates back to the “great liners, less content” days of the ‘80s, not to the more revered programming that preceded it.
Here’s how readers responded:
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Friday morning’s “Radio Stimulus Package” panel gave the National Assn. of Broadcasters Radio Show a string of last-day-firecrackers as panelists urged broadcasters to stop living in the past and to recruit younger talent to what Edison Research president Larry Rosin called “an industry of old men.” Noting that the still-legendary KHJ Los Angeles had dropped Top 40 nearly three decades ago, FigMedia’s Bill Figenshu announced, “KHJ is dead, long live the boss. The boss is the consumer.” And Jacobs Media’s Fred Jacobs said he had decided to no longer go to radio reunions: “We need to move on,” he said.
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Radio entrepreneur Kurt Hanson struck an optimistic tone, predicting a coming renaissance for the radio industry, during the RAIN Summit East seminar Sept. 24 at the Hard Rock Café in Philadelphia. Factoring in newer delivery methods, including Internet radio, Hanson said radio listening is higher than it has ever been.
Hanson, the publisher of the Radio and Internet Newsletter (RAIN) and founder/CEO of AccuRadio, hosted the half-day session in conjunction with the National Assn. of Broadcasters Radio Show. It drew a standing room only crowd of more than 150 to hear several panels and product presentations, including those from new companies Jelli and Listener Driven Radio, as well as the performing rights organization Sound Exchange.
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You may think you have the rights to use a piece of music on your station, but when it comes to certain uses you may have to think again.
Attorney panelists stressed this point over and over at the provocatively titled session “The Day The Music Died? Performance Tax And Other Copyright Issues” at the National Assn. of Broadcasters Radio Show in Philadelphia Sept. 25.
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Any regular [Ross On Radio](http://www.radio-info.com/newsletters/6-ross-on-radio) readers know that I’m a big fan of [WDJQ (Q92)](http://www.q92radio.com ) Canton, Ohio, one of the few Top 40s in any sized markets that aggressively finds new reaction records in both the Rock and Rhythm genres. And when Q92 went “Back In The Day” last weekend, it really sounded like no other Top 40 in America. Here’s the station between 1:45 and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday (27).
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In the new PPM world, the biggest differentiator between the so-called “high performing” radio stations and average stations is cume. That was among the takeaway points of a new study, “The PPM DNA of America’s High Performance Radio Stations,” presented by Arbitron and research firm Coleman Insights during the National Assn. of Broadcasters Radio Show, held here Sept. 24.
Coleman VP John Boyne and Arbitron’s VP of programming services and development Gary Marince noted that it’s important for stations in PPM markets to put their emphasis on getting listeners to tune in more often rather than “stretching” each occasion of listening, and to recognize the continued importance of P1 listening. Broadcasters were also encouraged to recognize the continued importance of positioning and branding.
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That was the message at the Group PD Super Session during the NAB Radio Show in Philadelphia. Rick Cummings, President of Programming for Emmis Communications said “I see that we have two main issues to address in radio today: First, we have to right-size our business. But second, we must embrace the digital world, because that’s where young people are.”
Cummings added “Most of the attendees at this convention, and others I’ve been too in recent years, have all been around my age. I’m not seeing the 20 year olds any more. They’re not coming into our business.”
Reaching listeners through digital media is also a chance to communicate “one to one” says Cummings. “The key is one to one communication with our fans. We have over 100-thousand peole signed up for text alerts from Hot 97 [WQHT] New York. Angie Martinez [PM Driver on Hot] has over 90,000 fans following her on Twitter. 15 minutes before Jay-Z showed up for a live interview on her show, she twittered it, and let them know to tune in. New media is a means for us to communicate with our biggest fans.”
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Throughout the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, CHR was seen as a one-station-per-market format, and the only station aggressively building new top 40s was Clear Channel. And if Clear Channel came to town using the younger leaning, “fast on rhythm, slow on pop” template that worked so effectively in so many markets, many incumbent CHRs decided they didn’t feel like fighting over the franchise anyway.
In 2009, however, more broadcasters have been willing to engage for the Top 40 franchise, whether it’s CBS in Los Angeles and New York or Cumulus Media, which surprised the industry with three launches in two months, turning on new Top 40 stations at WNFN (i106.7) Nashville, WRWM (i94) Indianapolis, and, most recently, KLIF-FM (i93.3) Dallas, which also represented the return of one of Top 40’s most famous sets of call letters. Cumulus had already come to greater prominence in the Top 40 world after taking over KRBE Houston and WWWQ (Q100) Atlanta. Cumulus now counts 47 CHRs among its more than 350 stations including nine BDS Top 40 reporters.
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Engaging the audience rather than beating them over the head with a marketing message is the key to successfully using Twitter to increase ratings and revenue for your radio station.
That point was the key takeaway from a seminar on the topic at the National Assn. of broadcasters convention held here Sept. 23. The seminar’s speaker, radio talent coach and self-described radio advertising “guru” Dan O’Day, offered numerous actionable ideas during his informative, example-packed presentation.
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On Sept. 8, Radio-Info.com’s Sean Ross chose the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” as “The Summer Song of 2009.” By the author’s own admission, it was a summer with a lot of evenly matched contenders. Here are our readers’ takes on the Song of the Summer...
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When radio revenue and the national economy both nosedived last September, the normal format change activity that precedes the fall ratings book ground to a halt. At that time, it was typical to hear from group owners and GMs that even improved ratings weren’t likely to improve their available revenue – so why go through the expense of a format change?
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The idea of a format based in the pop music of the ‘90s has always had its challenges, among them a Top 40 format that went through at least five musical changes in 10 years and was often represented by low-rated stations (or no stations) in many markets. The Alternative titles of the ‘90s endured – and were generally stronger than anything today’s Rock radio had to offer. The pure pop titles – those that existed – became part of Mainstream AC, which also took the late ‘90s female singer/songwriters.
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Sherman Kizart, President of Kizart Media Partners and founder of the annual “Power of Urban Radio” summit, talks with Radio-Info.com’s Dana Hall about the upcoming event scheduled during the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) convention (Sept. 24 & 25) in Washington D.C. The conversation also touches on an “old” issue that had left the press headlines in recent years, but which still continues to be a burden on ethnic broadcasters: Non-Urban and Non-Hispanic Dictates within the advertising community. That issue recently reared its ugly head again, thrusting the topic back into the spotlight and informing the industry that it in fact, had not been eradicated.
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After four months of heavy publicity, the U.S. version of Goom Radio arrived in late July. Launched last year in France by Emmanuel Jayr and Roberto Ciurleo, former executives at Top 40 network NRJ, Goom followed a similar path here, tapping CEO Rob Williams, previously market manager of Clear Channel/New York (after more than a decade with Clear Channel and its predecessors) and head of programming Tim “Romeo” Herbster from the MD job at CC’s WHTZ (Z100) New York.
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In the mid-‘90s when Cox’s WYSY (Y108) Chicago debuted, during the height of the all-‘70s format rush, my then-boss Marv Dyson came into my office at WGCI-AM Chicago raving about them. “You know what I heard them play yesterday? ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’ by Steely Dan! I haven’t heard that song in years!”
As a rookie manager, I made the mistake of trying to dispute any notion that “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” might be an “oh wow” song. In 1994, it still made the cut at many Classic Rock and gold-based AC stations (in a way that it doesn’t today).
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Goom Radio Arrives in the U.S., and Sean Ross gives us an inside look at some of the programming offerings:
IT HAS RECEIVED HEAVY PUBLICITY for an Internet radio startup, even in the consumer press, largely due to the presence of former Clear Channel/New York managers Rob Williams and Tim “Romeo” Herbst. Now, Goom Radio, the U.S. counterpart to the French Internet radio site, is available in an “alpha” version. So we took a “First Listen” to Goom’s Top 40 “Just Hits” format.
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In this issue of Ross On Radio, Sean Ross takes a look at Alan Burns’ recent study on radio station content, in “Why Station Content Isn't More Listener Focused”.
ONLY THE MAGNITUDE of Monday’s findings by radio consultant Alan Burns that less than 10% of the average radio station’s content is “listener-focused” will come as a surprise to anybody who has listened closely in recent years. Burns analyzed an hour of twenty CHR, Hot AC, and AC radio stations in markets 10-100 in middays and afternoon drive and found that a radio station’s positioning – whether produced or delivered live by jocks – comprised 72% of its own content. Listener-focused content was only around seven percent.
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“When Can You Tell If a Station is a Hit?” Sean Ross asks the question, along with reader Paige Nienaber, in this issue of Ross On Radio:
AN INTERESTING E-MAIL from CPR Promotions ninja Paige Nienaber on Friday, sent in conjunction with the apparent stunting at KTNI Denver, which dropped its Alternative format last week and began running “strip club music” as “101.5, The Pole.” Nienaber writes, “The first five hours of a station’s life are the most important. You either debut with a bang or you ease into the traffic on the highway and are quickly lost in the field of cars jockeying for position.
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The “Oh Wow” issue of Ross On Radio, in which Sean asks “When Is A Oldie Truly A Surprise?”
IN THE MID-‘90S when Cox’s WYSY (Y108) Chicago debuted, during the height of the all-‘70s format rush, my then-boss Marv Dyson came into my office at WGCI-AM Chicago raving about them. “You know what I heard them play yesterday? ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’ by Steely Dan! I haven’t heard that song in years!”
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In the July 30 Ross On Radio, Radio-Info’s Sean Ross wrote:
Only the magnitude of Monday’s findings by radio consultant Alan Burns that less than 10% of the average radio station’s content is “listener-focused” will come as a surprise to anybody who has listened closely in recent years. Burns analyzed an hour of twenty CHR, Hot AC, and AC radio stations in markets 10-100 in middays and afternoon drive and found that a radio station’s positioning – whether produced or delivered live by jocks – comprised 72% of its own content. Listener-focused content was only around seven percent.
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On July 23, Sean Ross wrote in Ross On Radio:
Was WNYZ New York’s July 20 telethon, in which the Dance Pop outlet announced it was a week away from signing off unless listeners donated money, then announced that its creditors had backed off, just a stunt? Was it meant to show advertisers how even a low-rated station could mobilize listeners? Whatever the real story, threatening to go away has been an increasingly common tactic since the early ‘00s, both for those stations that were just stunting (KKHH [Hot 95.7] Houston) and some that really did change formats (Classical WTMI Miami).
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In this issue of Ross On Radio, Sean Ross asks “What station would you pay to keep on the air? And what a response it has received. He also takes a fresh listen to KRXY “Roxy 94.5” in Olympis, WA, and gets some interesting feedback to his story on the end of WBCN.
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In the latest issue of Ross On Radio, Sean Ross asks “Did The Change In Teen Tastes Start With Radio Disney? He also does a double take on Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.” Other highlights include a first listen to new country WWQM “Q106” Madison, and a wrap up from Conclave.
Here’s an excerpt:
“It’s a rite of passage of sorts. Any programmer with kids of a certain age must go through the phase where they discover Radio Disney and become intensely aware of every song on the station—including those that don’t exist beyond the walls of radio’s Magic Kingdom. (The most curious now, by the way, is a remake of “U Can’t Touch This” by Daniel Curtis Lee & Adam Hicks).”
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