Radio ratings are back in the news big time this week with the Arbitron conference taking place last week, Clear Channel re-upping with Arbitron and Nielsen's decision to get out of the radio rating business in the US. That leaves my former employer in the lurch a little.
I am sure that Cumulus and Arbitron will end up playing nice as they have strong partnerships in major markets like SF and Dallas. No one wants those markets to go south.
The issue at hand though is that radio ratings are difficult. I remember sitting at the Arbitron conference a few years ago when PPM was still new and thinking, "man this is the way to do it." After the process was explained to the conferees I thought, "who the hell would take this on?"
We also learned, after hearing from the Coleman people, that it is difficult on this side too. Broadcasters can take nothing for granted when dealing with the habits of the listeners and the peculiarities of the rating system. The diary system is still used in most markets by most stations but we can learn from the PPM markets.
There are often just a few people being measured but there are thousands participating in the station. Making sure that you're playing the games of the rating system while delivering an entertaining and compelling product is still job one.
We were taught that we're talking to one person at a time. Keep that in mind while making the station as appealing to the masses as possible. Be careful not to strip the life out of the station by being too safe for that one person that you're visualizing. If you think about a 44 year old mother of 3 remember that she has a fun side too and don't be afraid to tap into it occasionally. Don't treat her like the Virgin Mary. She may just as likely be Mary Magdalene. And that is my Christmas Ratings message to you.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Christmas Music
Get ready. Christmas Music is coming and for Country Radio stations it is coming as a spear in the heart. I read last week that a Country Station has flipped to All Country Christmas. I wonder what format they will flip to in 2011?
I hate that we take it on the chin during the Christmas season but trying to play all Christmas on a Country station is not the answer. KZLA tried it a number of years ago and found that this is not what Country Radio fans expect from their station and they know where on the dial to go and find All Christmas when the mood hits them.
The problem is amplified because Country is such a female friendly format and so is Christmas Music. I believe that mothers use it as a teaching tool for their children. This is an inexpensive way to get the family in the holiday spirit and you just know that the music is going to be family friendly. Win Win.
What a country station has to do is stay holiday friendly. DO NOT ALLOW ANNOUNCERS TO GROUSE ON HOW MUCH THEY HATE ALL OF THE HOLIDAY HASSLE. DO NOT ALLOW ANNOUNCERS TO TALK ABOUT GETTING SICK OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC.
The jocks have to stay positive. They have to talk about the things that the listeners are going through. How much fun it is to spend time with the family and wrap gifts. How important it is to teach their kids about giving and the real meaning of Christmas. Remember that kids believe in Santa. Do Not spoil that for the kids.
We have to partake in all of the good things that the listeners enjoy about Christmas. Be positive about stories and charities.
Smile..it will be over in 6 weeks.
I hate that we take it on the chin during the Christmas season but trying to play all Christmas on a Country station is not the answer. KZLA tried it a number of years ago and found that this is not what Country Radio fans expect from their station and they know where on the dial to go and find All Christmas when the mood hits them.
The problem is amplified because Country is such a female friendly format and so is Christmas Music. I believe that mothers use it as a teaching tool for their children. This is an inexpensive way to get the family in the holiday spirit and you just know that the music is going to be family friendly. Win Win.
What a country station has to do is stay holiday friendly. DO NOT ALLOW ANNOUNCERS TO GROUSE ON HOW MUCH THEY HATE ALL OF THE HOLIDAY HASSLE. DO NOT ALLOW ANNOUNCERS TO TALK ABOUT GETTING SICK OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC.
The jocks have to stay positive. They have to talk about the things that the listeners are going through. How much fun it is to spend time with the family and wrap gifts. How important it is to teach their kids about giving and the real meaning of Christmas. Remember that kids believe in Santa. Do Not spoil that for the kids.
We have to partake in all of the good things that the listeners enjoy about Christmas. Be positive about stories and charities.
Smile..it will be over in 6 weeks.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Ying and the Yang
Two very different things have happened in the last 24 hours. First, mega star Bob Pittman was named in a senior management position at Clear Channel. This was a huge move for Clear Channel and big boost for radio.
The other, not so good thing, was a survey report that found poor passion for radio among fans. According to a study reported in Inside Radio "Nearly four-in-ten (37%) people say if their local station went off the air tomorrow and they had to get music and news from another source they’d miss the station a lot. But the balance of respondents is a lot less passionate about their local station. And that could leave an opening for rival media."
My thought is that Clear Channel is out ahead of this report and this is one of the reasons to bring on someone like Pittman. Not only is Pittman an unabashed fan of radio but one of the industry's cutting edge purveyors.
Seeing the future and what radio can do with all of the assets lined up in the right direction is what has been missing on a large scale. Only a company like Clear Channel, with more assets than any other company in the business, and someone like Pittman, who has been there and done that for NBC and MTV, can radio expect to find the leadership that we need.
I suspect that many companies will be getting ready to follow the leader and, not hire someone of Pittman's stature, institute the same kind of things that we'll be seeing from Clear Channel in the months ahead.
Hopefully we are all paying attention to a company that appears committed to building on their strong brands and developing new channels of distribution.
The other, not so good thing, was a survey report that found poor passion for radio among fans. According to a study reported in Inside Radio "Nearly four-in-ten (37%) people say if their local station went off the air tomorrow and they had to get music and news from another source they’d miss the station a lot. But the balance of respondents is a lot less passionate about their local station. And that could leave an opening for rival media."
My thought is that Clear Channel is out ahead of this report and this is one of the reasons to bring on someone like Pittman. Not only is Pittman an unabashed fan of radio but one of the industry's cutting edge purveyors.
Seeing the future and what radio can do with all of the assets lined up in the right direction is what has been missing on a large scale. Only a company like Clear Channel, with more assets than any other company in the business, and someone like Pittman, who has been there and done that for NBC and MTV, can radio expect to find the leadership that we need.
I suspect that many companies will be getting ready to follow the leader and, not hire someone of Pittman's stature, institute the same kind of things that we'll be seeing from Clear Channel in the months ahead.
Hopefully we are all paying attention to a company that appears committed to building on their strong brands and developing new channels of distribution.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Changing of the Guard
Country Music is a young person's format. I don't mean the audience. I mean the performers. This week in Nashville twenty somethings took over. Oh, and a 34 year old who acts like a 15 year old boy.
Miranda Lambert, 27 the night of the event, and her 15, er 34 year old boyfriend owned the night. The format undergoes transitions quickly. You can go back and look at the shifts and how quickly they happen. Now the audience does not leave the old guard behind as quickly it just seems to expand.
You have Miranda, clearly the leading female singer this year and not yet a concert headliner. You have Lady Antebellum, the group of the year for years to come (?), and only a couple of shows into their headlining tour. And The Zac Brown Band, probably as exciting and entertaining a show in Country Music, and they are still an opening act.
This bodes well for the future as these shows blossom and hopefully entice new fans to the format as they see the vibrancy of the format. I suggest to country music fans, always interested in introducing their favorites to new people, make it their goal to introduce two non country fans to a country concert or CD by using these young exciting acts.
It will be easy to introduce Lady A and Taylor because of the crossover music but Zac, Miranda, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and Sugarland are also sure to appeal to new fans.
Country Radio is going to have to lead the way. Start talking about this on the air. How the format holds such hope with young acts coming into their own. How the young audience would be surprised to see acts their own age owning the stage. We can make this happen.
Miranda Lambert, 27 the night of the event, and her 15, er 34 year old boyfriend owned the night. The format undergoes transitions quickly. You can go back and look at the shifts and how quickly they happen. Now the audience does not leave the old guard behind as quickly it just seems to expand.
You have Miranda, clearly the leading female singer this year and not yet a concert headliner. You have Lady Antebellum, the group of the year for years to come (?), and only a couple of shows into their headlining tour. And The Zac Brown Band, probably as exciting and entertaining a show in Country Music, and they are still an opening act.
This bodes well for the future as these shows blossom and hopefully entice new fans to the format as they see the vibrancy of the format. I suggest to country music fans, always interested in introducing their favorites to new people, make it their goal to introduce two non country fans to a country concert or CD by using these young exciting acts.
It will be easy to introduce Lady A and Taylor because of the crossover music but Zac, Miranda, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and Sugarland are also sure to appeal to new fans.
Country Radio is going to have to lead the way. Start talking about this on the air. How the format holds such hope with young acts coming into their own. How the young audience would be surprised to see acts their own age owning the stage. We can make this happen.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
What is making stations boring?
There are situations where programmers feel like the only way to compete, now that their stations are measured by PPM methodology is to shut up and play the music. That Tim McGraw and Sugarland is going to win for them. That they can provide so little to entertain the audience that more music is the best way to win.
Shame on those programmers. I know that I was challenged with a morning show that was so bad playing more music was the short term answer. The long term answer is in fixing the content on that morning show but that never happened. Finally the management gave up on that morning show and brought in someone new. Unfortunately they have not fixed the content issue and this show too will fail, if early returns are any indication.
The music is the most important part of a music radio station. No debate there. But what happens to connect with the audience has to come from the air talent. Does the listener feel like the air talent is engaged in their music, their lives and their community? The listener knows that Tim and Jennifer aren't part of their community. The listener knows that Tim and Jennifer don't live their lives.
There are dayparts where music is 99% of the station's appeal. Middays the music should lead and the air talent should stay out of the way, simply talking about the station and immediate issues. But too many stations have let this kind of programming seep into morning drive too and the long term consequence of that will be Pandora and Internet radio.
In Los Angeles the top morning shows are Ryan Secrest, Mark and Brian, Kevin and Bean and Bill Handel. Not much music there. I am sure that there is some Spanish language station in there too that I can't understand. These are shows that engage their audience in fun and content.
Putting in someone less talented than those shows and trying to wing it around 14 songs an hour is going to get you...nothing. Talent wins. Coaching wins. Creativity wins. Country Radio: Don't depend on Music Row for your morning show. You'll fail
Shame on those programmers. I know that I was challenged with a morning show that was so bad playing more music was the short term answer. The long term answer is in fixing the content on that morning show but that never happened. Finally the management gave up on that morning show and brought in someone new. Unfortunately they have not fixed the content issue and this show too will fail, if early returns are any indication.
The music is the most important part of a music radio station. No debate there. But what happens to connect with the audience has to come from the air talent. Does the listener feel like the air talent is engaged in their music, their lives and their community? The listener knows that Tim and Jennifer aren't part of their community. The listener knows that Tim and Jennifer don't live their lives.
There are dayparts where music is 99% of the station's appeal. Middays the music should lead and the air talent should stay out of the way, simply talking about the station and immediate issues. But too many stations have let this kind of programming seep into morning drive too and the long term consequence of that will be Pandora and Internet radio.
In Los Angeles the top morning shows are Ryan Secrest, Mark and Brian, Kevin and Bean and Bill Handel. Not much music there. I am sure that there is some Spanish language station in there too that I can't understand. These are shows that engage their audience in fun and content.
Putting in someone less talented than those shows and trying to wing it around 14 songs an hour is going to get you...nothing. Talent wins. Coaching wins. Creativity wins. Country Radio: Don't depend on Music Row for your morning show. You'll fail
Saturday, November 6, 2010
More than one station per market
A friend asked me the other day how a market could sustain two Country stations. She lives in LA and of late the one here is struggling to stay in the top 25 stations in town so I understood her question. So many markets have two Country stations and in a few markets they are competitive.
San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix come to mind. SATX and Dallas can be excused because after all it is Texas. Dallas is competitive even though the Wolf has led the way for seems like forever there. Phoenix was a seesaw situation for awhile but it seems to have settled on one winner of late.
Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Tampa are all two station markets. The problem is that Country is a niche format in so many areas that carving up what is already a limited format makes the results even more difficult.
Then we get to Nashville. Country Music's capitol city. There are four Country Music stations in Nashville and PPM is beginning to separate them. WSIX is currently the Country Champion but the question is whether it will stay so after Superstar Gerry House packs up his microphone in December. WKDF has taken the back up spot so far. They have always made me think that this was the Country station for non-country music fans. I have always felt that you need to be in a motorcycle gang to listen to WKDF. Don't know why. Maybe it is left over from the old Rock days. I guess I'll have to listen again this week when I'm in town for the CMA show. I'll get back to you on that.
WSM-AM is in third place this month. Of the four stations this one has the most definable image. You know what you're in for with SM-AM.
Bringing up the rear this month is WSM-FM. They could change their slogan to "Today's Bland Country Radio." Cumulus does really well in Dallas against Citidel and Indianapolis against Emmis (though that is not going in the right direction, losing the cume battle usually portends bad things. Plus outside of mornings WFMS is boring like WSM-FM) but they have failed to find a position that jumps off the radio in Nashville.
When I was at Cumulus I would get "the call" from Lew Dickey about every third trend. " What happened in Nashville?" Because this station has nothing to call it's own it is always at the luck of the diaries...and now meters.
We are hearing about the impact of "first listen". WSM-FM will always struggle to be the first listen station. In two Country station markets you want to be first listen, of course, but the other guy is gonna do something wrong and you're there. If you're fourth...well.
San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix come to mind. SATX and Dallas can be excused because after all it is Texas. Dallas is competitive even though the Wolf has led the way for seems like forever there. Phoenix was a seesaw situation for awhile but it seems to have settled on one winner of late.
Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Tampa are all two station markets. The problem is that Country is a niche format in so many areas that carving up what is already a limited format makes the results even more difficult.
Then we get to Nashville. Country Music's capitol city. There are four Country Music stations in Nashville and PPM is beginning to separate them. WSIX is currently the Country Champion but the question is whether it will stay so after Superstar Gerry House packs up his microphone in December. WKDF has taken the back up spot so far. They have always made me think that this was the Country station for non-country music fans. I have always felt that you need to be in a motorcycle gang to listen to WKDF. Don't know why. Maybe it is left over from the old Rock days. I guess I'll have to listen again this week when I'm in town for the CMA show. I'll get back to you on that.
WSM-AM is in third place this month. Of the four stations this one has the most definable image. You know what you're in for with SM-AM.
Bringing up the rear this month is WSM-FM. They could change their slogan to "Today's Bland Country Radio." Cumulus does really well in Dallas against Citidel and Indianapolis against Emmis (though that is not going in the right direction, losing the cume battle usually portends bad things. Plus outside of mornings WFMS is boring like WSM-FM) but they have failed to find a position that jumps off the radio in Nashville.
When I was at Cumulus I would get "the call" from Lew Dickey about every third trend. " What happened in Nashville?" Because this station has nothing to call it's own it is always at the luck of the diaries...and now meters.
We are hearing about the impact of "first listen". WSM-FM will always struggle to be the first listen station. In two Country station markets you want to be first listen, of course, but the other guy is gonna do something wrong and you're there. If you're fourth...well.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
What the Listeners really want
The day after the 2010 midterm election all of the pundits are asking what the voters really wanted by voting for a change in the political direction of the country. I know that radio programmers ask the question, " what do my listeners really want?" every day.
I am not sure though whether many programmers can spot the answer when it hits them in the head. The major reason is that programmers are too close to the forest to see the trees. Most are also blind when it comes to their station, their market and their competition.
We all have a tendency to like what we produce. Even an ugly kid has a loving parent. Or at least a grandparent. I know that when I listen to my clients overall I like what I hear. When I listen to the competitor I sometimes underestimate their value.
If I have heard once that, "my market is different", I have heard it a thousand times. Really? When the new Brad Pitt movie comes to your town do they leave a bunch of scenes out of it because your market is different from the rest of America? When People magazine is mailed to your listeners are 10 pages taken out? When your local ABC TV station airs Desperate Housewives do they cut out Teri Hatcher for your market?
The truth is your listeners like what the rest of America likes. Know that your listeners are engaged in and you'll know what to put on your station. Don't over think the obvious. I can promise you the listener is not saying, "wow that's not right for Portland." What they are saying is, "I'm bored...what else is on?"
I am not sure though whether many programmers can spot the answer when it hits them in the head. The major reason is that programmers are too close to the forest to see the trees. Most are also blind when it comes to their station, their market and their competition.
We all have a tendency to like what we produce. Even an ugly kid has a loving parent. Or at least a grandparent. I know that when I listen to my clients overall I like what I hear. When I listen to the competitor I sometimes underestimate their value.
If I have heard once that, "my market is different", I have heard it a thousand times. Really? When the new Brad Pitt movie comes to your town do they leave a bunch of scenes out of it because your market is different from the rest of America? When People magazine is mailed to your listeners are 10 pages taken out? When your local ABC TV station airs Desperate Housewives do they cut out Teri Hatcher for your market?
The truth is your listeners like what the rest of America likes. Know that your listeners are engaged in and you'll know what to put on your station. Don't over think the obvious. I can promise you the listener is not saying, "wow that's not right for Portland." What they are saying is, "I'm bored...what else is on?"
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