Zach Sang
Tora
Category: Analysis
Country Music Radio and News/Talk Radio : “Universal Donor” Formats
By Jeff McKay
RadioInfo
Special Features Corresponent
NEW YORK – Two different radio formats: One plays music by artists such as Johnny Cash, Carrie Underwood and Florida-Georgia Line. The other has voices such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Stephanie Miller. Ironically, both the country music format that does not talk politics and the news/talk format that plays no music each have something in common – they cater largely to the same audience!
When it comes to country music listeners and news/talk radio listeners, especially those who lean conservative, similarities between listeners really depend on their age. Jaye Albright, a consulting partner for Albright & O’Malley & Brenner/RadioIQ, Inc. interestingly calls both “universal donor” formats.
Is Psy a One-Hit Wonder?
By Mike Kinosian
RadioInfo
Managing Editor/West Coast Bureau Chief
A Half-Billion Down The Tubes?
LOS ANGELES — It is quite challenging to fathom that one-half billion of anything could be minimized, ignored, or trivialized.
Nonetheless, a cogent argument might be set forth that such a result is being reflected on contemporary music charts.
Less than one month after its inaugural YouTube posting, “Gentleman” by Mr. “Gangnam Style” himself, Psy, has racked up well over one-half billion plays/views.
Noteworthy in the barrage of statistics associated with such an eye-popping accomplishment is that on its YouTube debut, “Gentleman” set a one-day record on that site with over 38 million plays/views, leading one to logically believe it would be an automatic chart hit.
Boston Bombing: How Radio Can Help…
Or Hurt.
By Holland Cooke
Radio Consultant
BOSTON — Prediction: The Boston perpetrator(s)’ capture will be crowdsourced.
Today, you will be photographed, possibly hundreds of times. Cameras are everywhere now. They’re in banks and stores. They’re robo-toll-takers, and toll-evader witnesses; and red-light cameras and automated radar traps have become a controversial new municipal revenue stream. Riding mass transit? Smile. Since 9/11, that’s been The New Normal…on a normal day.
Eye on the Future: Radio Economics Becoming like TV Economics and other Things to Consider
By Walter Sabo
Sabo Media
Chairman
NEW YORK — In our strategic advisory work to CEOs we are constantly asked to deep dive into the future of media. This column will always focus on future trends and products that will lead media to goal achievement.
Radio economics becomes TV economics
The radio station of the near future will look like…a TV Station. Until 1970, most TV stations, even in the smallest towns had live on-air studios. Some of them had three full live studios. They produced, in house, local shows for many hours a day: a kid’s show, entertainment shows, cooking, dance shows. Right now at KPIX-TV in San Francisco there are three beautiful studios, one with studio audience seating and a separate entrance for the audience. Only one, the news studio, is in use.
Playlist Size: Where Are You Among Competitors and Winners?
By Jim Jones
For Nielsen BDS, exclusive to RadioInfo
NEW YORK — Playlist size, the number of different songs in a playlist, is something we talk about every day. In this article, we’ll look at playlist size from a new perspective, and showcase a tool for uncovering and comparing playlist sizes on radio stations and other music providers.
Today we’ll cover:
- Two ways to measure playlist size (week and year)
- How stations’ playlist sizes vary in the same format
- Average playlist sizes of stations in Billboard formats
- Accessing a live database that continuously tracks playlist sizes
A week is the standard yardstick
Playlist size can be defined as the number of different songs actively rotating on a radio station, satellite channel, or a programmed streaming provider. It’s the number of different songs in active rotation that we’re talking about. But when the number of different songs is counted, it must be counted over a period of time: day, week, month, year, or some other time period. The default period in the radio industry for referencing music playlists is one week. PDs speak in terms of top-rotating currents, recurrents, or gold titles spinning X number of times a week.
We “freeze” our playlists for a week at the end of December, and report playlist changes weekly.
Are You Doing Both Kinds of “Radio?”
By Holland Cooke
Radio Consultant
BLOCK ISLAND, RI — Based on how people now consume audio content, “radio” sorts into two piles:
1. There’s programming that’s valuable because it’s live:
• Traffic reports are radio’s MOST-perishable information. Save listeners unpleasant surprises and they’ll love ya.
Big 2013 Consumer Electronics Show: Big Implications for Radio
By Holland Cooke
News/Talk/Sports Consultant
LAS VEGAS — Remember how iPod changed the way we collect and consume music? Decades earlier, Walkman had already rendered songs portable and empowered the listener-as-DJ. Then Apple obsoleted its own game-changer. As lines snaked around the block, again, for 2012′s iPhone 5 debut, sales of iPod and other mp3 players were plummeting 22%. We now tote our tunes on smartphones…which have also disrupted cameras, GPS, etc., etc., etc.
And again this week, 150,000 attendees here oooh’d-and-ahhh’d at 20,000 new products, many seeking to obsolete last year’s 20,000 shiny objects. That alone makes this a useful trek for radio folk. The CES conversation about what’s-new/what’s-next is a real pump-up compared to the “What’s left?” that haunts too much of radio’s shop talk.
I Read the News Today, Oh Boy.
By Holland Cooke
Radio Consultant
BLOCK ISLAND, RI – Even as Americans were still processing the Oregon mall shootings came unthinkable new violence in Connecticut.
As the story unfolded, it was uncanny to witness how-far-ahead Twitter was, compared to all the news apps on my iPhone. Not hearsay, but fact-checked posts, first from Connecticut-based media who were first on-site; then from stations and newspapers from neighboring states. By 6:30 pm ET, letter-networks’ anchors were in-place for evening newscasts this gripping story dominated.
Arbitron Client Conference: Format Facts and Forecasts
By Holland Cooke
Radio Consultant
ANNAPOLIS — Now THIS is worth a meeting. If your station is an Arbitron subscriber, you should download, devour, and discuss the just-released “Radio Today 2012,” an uncanny mash-up of Scarborough consumer profiles and Arbitron audience data. What you will read about people-who-listen-to your format really fleshes-out the folks you want as heavy listeners, and will send you in specific directions to seem relevant and relatable and habit-forming to ‘em.
And that’s all I’m allowed to say! Because this information is THAT valuable! Read the legal hear-ye-hear-ye at arbitron.com, and you’ll understand that I’m not being coy. But I can share some useful headlines from the Executive Summary Arbitron has released, which follow.
Arbitron Client Conference Day Two: Scary Talk About In-Car, Straight Talk About Sports, Plain Talk About Politics
By Holland Cooke
Radio Consultant
ANNAPOLIS — Recently, one auto maker announced that it will no longer factory-install AM radios. In this case, it’s because the high-end car’s high-tech composite body material would interfere with reception. Still, the specter of AM’s fade was jarring, particularly to those in news/talk/sports radio, now actively migrating to FM, but still predominantly AM formats.
Again this week, another such harbinger, this one a whack-on-the-side-of-the-head to FM broadcasters too…
