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Volume 11, Issue 1
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Station Listener Turned Station User
by Megan Heffernan
Radio stations have embraced the reality that reaching an audience means going where that audience is. And today, that audience is online. The Internet has transformed radio into a visual medium where listeners can more accurately be referred to as users. And by implementing social networking media, like personality websites, blogs, MySpace pages, and Facebook profiles, radio stations are reaching audience members with an unprecedented level of interactivity. A recent survey conducted by News Generation among the top-20 radio markets collected more information about which type of social media stations are using and the function they serve. Findings from this survey and other noteworthy sources offer compelling insights and potential implications surrounding this burgeoning trend.
Among 36 stations surveyed, virtually every station reported that they use a webpage to provide extra publicity for the station and to stay connected to listeners. Websites appeal to the active listeners/users who visit the radio station site almost as often as they tune to its frequency. In order to satiate an ever-growing interactive appetite though, station websites must give their listeners more than what they can get on the air. Dana Hall from Radio-info.com states, “Social networking through your favorite station is one arena where broadcasters should be taking their websites.” Hall urges stations to go beyond their on-air format by offering web-only contests, expanded interviews with core artists, DJ blogs, systems for listeners to chat amongst themselves, and featured podcasts. By utilizing more interactive tools, a station website can help define and sustain a station’s brand.
As for the use and function of other social networking media, almost half of the survey respondents utilize DJ blogs, and several offer links to a DJ’s MySpace page or Facebook profiles. Why throw listeners to external sources outside the station realm? Again, that’s where the audience is. MySpace currently services 110 million users and Facebook houses 59 million. These users post their favorite photos, contacts, videos and songs and so naturally, their favorite radio station and DJ fall right in line. Websites for WQHT-FM in New York, Mix 102.9 in Dallas, KOST-FM 103.5 in Los Angeles, WJR-AM in Detroit, and WOMX-FM in Orlando, to name a few, all provide links to blogs, MySpace or Facebook. In essence, DJs are no longer just the voices or faces of a station. They are an added ‘friend’ and ‘favorite.’
As station websites gain more visibility, and relationships between stations and listeners grow to become more interactive, there are some potential implications worth noting. DJs must protect their exposure by strategically inviting new friends to their profiles, and stations must monitor the content posted in blogs or chat rooms. But some pundits argue that a handful of radio station websites abuse their visibility and make extensive use of hyper-sexual content just to encourage people to visit the site.
A study conducted by The Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy reports that some stations “continue to feature objectifying portrayals of women and so-called "soft porn" images [and] these images often have little to do with any of the music beyond appealing to a coveted young male demographic.” The study cited examples of website links that feature ‘babe of the day’ bikini pics or suggestive pictures that are posted by listeners and DJs. These stations have perhaps drifted farther from the station’s identity and granted too much creative space to a certain listener subgroup while simultaneously offending and alienating another.
Combined, the Internet and newly emerging social networking meccas like MySpace and Facebook have molded radio broadcasting into a medium that will never be merely listened to again. Now it will be used, viewed, bookmarked, and responded to by interactive means beyond our imagination.
We invite you to take a look at News Generation's own media relations blog by clicking Tuning In Blog.
Continuing Radio’s Reach
by Lynn Harris Medcalf
Arbitron recently released data that finds that 233 million people listen to radio each week, which represents an increase of more than a million listeners from a year ago. Among its findings is the fact that 95 percent of adults ages 18 to 49 with a college degree and an annual household income of at least $50,000 are tuning in. These strong numbers span ethnic demographic groups as well, with listenership among Black Non-Hispanics at 94 percent and Hispanics at 95 percent. While there is evidence of a slight decline in younger listeners, overall, radio listenership maintained its strength among the coveted 18 to 49 demographic.
In our more than 10 years of experience in the radio arena, we find that consumers continue to count on radio for their local news, traffic and weather. Radio is the go-to choice for many consumers, with morning drive radio in particular providing listeners with the news and traffic they need to start their day. Since broadcast radio’s beginning in the 1920s, there have always been naysayers. And, with every new technology that comes along, the critics predicted the end of the medium.
Television’s arrival brought dire predictions of the end of radio’s relevancy. Who after all would want to listen to radio when they could watch moving pictures? But radio adapted, maintained and even grew its audience. When cable and the Internet came along, media pundits again predicted radio’s demise, but radio adopted streaming online content, among other things, to extend its listening audience and brand.
Now MP3 players have media analysts predicting that radio will surely falter. Again, radio is responding by providing things that listeners get best from radio, like local and breaking news, weather, traffic, and special listener programming. And by providing streaming and MP3 downloads, radio is embracing the very technology that was said to mean its downfall.
We often survey radio stations about their audience and programming and consistently find that stations, rather than running away from new technologies, are embracing them to extend their listening audience and provide another outlet for branding and promoting their programming. If any medium has demonstrated staying power, it is radio. As the cassette tape, walkman, discman, and other consumer mediums, have been ushered into the dustbin of technology’s yesteryear, radio has remained. And as television now begins the switch to a digital signal, radio likewise has increased its quality and accessibility through HD radio, satellite radio, streaming, podcasting, and a strong web presence. So tune in to radio and see what all the fuss is about – news, talk, music, weather, traffic, laughter and tears – all without those distracting moving pictures.
Using Radio to Influence the 2008 Debate on Torture
by Susan Matthews Apgood
Radio can be used effectively in targeted geographic areas to help educate listeners on issues in advance of a vote or political primary. Working with Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, Human Rights First, a leading human rights advocacy organization based in New York City and Washington, D.C., did just that when it co-chaired meetings with retired Generals and Admirals, all with wide-ranging experience, prior to the recent primaries and caucuses. They utilized the power of radio to connect spokespeople with key reporters in advance of the presidential primaries and caucuses to talk about their efforts to meet with presidential hopefuls and discuss policies of prisoner treatment and torture.
The group of senior military officers, with backgrounds in combat operations, intelligence, law, and medicine, held individual meetings in key states with aspiring presidential candidates to discuss U.S. detention and interrogation policies. The group gathered for private one-hour meetings with the candidates to discuss the role of the next commander-in-chief in ensuring that interrogation and prisoner treatment policies are consistent with the welfare of the military and with American laws, values and interests.
In Florida and South Carolina, reporters were pitched information regarding the meetings and reported back on the airwaves about those meetings. Stations and networks covering the meetings included South Carolina Network, Florida Radio Network, the # 1 talk station in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota, one metro network in Orlando, and the #1 news-talk stations in Columbia, SC, Charleston, SC and Myrtle Beach-Florence, SC. For more information, visit www.humanrightsfirst.org.
Smells Like Middle-Aged Spirit
by Curtis Gill
It turns out that Gen-Xers get old too. The generation that brought us the movements known as alternative and grunge is now nearing or reaching its forties, and with that, radio stations catering to this group are beginning to change their format to reach younger, more sought after audiences.
Many of the musical acts most closely associated with the 90s, like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and R.E.M., are finding their catalogs shifted to adult contemporary or even oldies stations. And with this exodus, New Rock stations that have catered to this genre are shifting their formats to accommodate the children of the Gen-Xers or to reach important new audiences, such as the growing Hispanic population. The advent of the Jack format, stations with expanded playlists designed to mimic the average mp3 player catalog, have been particularly instrumental in altering the landscape for alternative stations.
Two of the most influential New Rock stations in the country have disappeared within the last few years, proving that even the most powerful stations in this format are not immune to the shifting tides. WHFS-FM in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore market switched to a Hispanic Tropical focus in 2005, and WNNX-FM in Atlanta switched to a contemporary hits station, targeting 20-somethings, at the beginning of 2008. Both of these stations had been flagships for the alternative and grunge music scenes and their dissolution represents a shift away from a format, as it is no longer on the cutting edge of the industry, and its audience has already made the shift to adult contemporary stations and even moved over to the AM side of the dial. The New Rock stations that remain have shifted their focus to newer acts that appeal to the male aspect of that same 20-something group.
The key to taking advantage of this shift is to understand the burgeoning audiences of these reformatted stations. Young people in their late teens and early twenties are increasingly becoming the target of these new rock and contemporary hits stations. And with that, the Gen-Xers will now be looking for their content in other places.
Talk FM?
by Martha Sharan
In dozens of markets across the country, radio listeners have been discovering that their favorite talk show has moved. It has gone from the AM dial to the FM dial. In city after city, talk stations are flipping to FM and that could be a signal that a new radio trend is taking hold.
Our research shows, that this “switch” began slowly, without much notice, about three years ago. Salem Communications Corporation, the leading radio broadcaster focused on Christian and family-themed programming announced the launch of FM news-talk in Sacramento, California. On September 19, 2005, KTKZ began to simulcast news talk programming on 105.5 FM and 1380 AM. At the time, the program director of KTKZ, Chris Squires was quoted in Business Wire, as saying, “This is a first for Sacramento. We’re offering the only FM talk in Sacramento.”
A little more than a year later, sports talk stations started moving in the same direction. WXYT-AM in Detroit, one of many examples, found its fans straining through the static of late night games. The station was the home of Detroit Tigers and Red Wings and wanted to provide superior fidelity to its listeners. So, WXYT-FM was born, and today, along with at least a dozen other sports stations, provides live and local sports talk programming around the clock.
News-talk stations have their sights on FM as well. In the fall of 2007, WIBC in Indianapolis moved its news-talk format to FM to build late night audience, coverage it couldn’t get with AM radio. WTOP in Washington, D.C., KTAR in Phoenix, and WBT in Charlotte, are all examples of news-talk stations simulcasting on both FM and AM to have better reach into their respective markets.
For media representatives this is great news because it means having access to a bigger audience day and night. It also means better sounding broadcasts. And it means reaching late afternoon and evening audiences, who stay tuned-in and don’t have to put up with annoying static and signal interruptions.
Right now, our contacts show 780 AM stations with talk formats, and only 94 FM stations running talk formats, but from all indications, these numbers are shifting. So don’t be surprised to hear your favorite talk show on FM, soon!
It's Not Easy Being Green (But It's Worth It)
by David Beasley
By now, everyone has heard of green building and green energy, but what they may not know is that the green movement has come to radio. Today, there are stations around the country that are going green by introducing programming that supports green living, dedicating time to green issues, and even initiating green business practices by using renewable energy like solar and wind to provide the power behind the airwaves. Given radio’s extensive reach, the green movement on radio is being recognized as a potentially powerful tool in the overall effort to combat climate change.
While the growth of green radio may not be breaking news, knowing which stations have gone green is an easy way to refine story pitches to match the content stations are looking for. This can help ensure strong environmental stories and issues find their rightful place on the air. Certainly in today’s world, where environmental issues are dominating so much of the news, a good pitch for an environmental story, targeted to a station that features environmental programming, should earn its place on the air.
Stations that have gone green see a bottom-line dollar sign advantage to doing so, but they also recognize the potential to fill an important public need – the sharing of crucial information on the state of the environment and the future of the planet.
960 AM KTRB in San Francisco, a talk station with a decidedly mixed political leaning, has introduced green programming into its lineup. Called “Green Seed Radio,” the program runs for one hour every Saturday morning and is meant to “inform discussions on the latest in green innovation and current environmental topics surrounding green living.”
94.7 FM WXRV, The River is an independent radio station in Boston that dedicates a section of its website called Green Up New England to green issues, listing recycling centers, and recognizing green builders. WXRV is a rock station, playing everything from Joss Stone to Van Morrison, but it also incorporates green tips and features on-air. In addition it uses solar power to relay its signal.
Continuing the trend toward green is 94.7 FM WTGB, a rock station broadcasting throughout the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Known as “The Globe,” WTGB was launched in February of 2007 as CBS radio’s first green focused radio station. It is part of the station’s stated mission to promote the health of the planet, and as part of this effort it uses hybrid promotional vehicles and works to provide listeners with information on living a greener lifestyle.
Staying on top of trends like this can only help in knowing how and to whom to pitch stories. In our business, targeted pitching is always preferred, and knowing which stations are airing green programming and which stations have picked up independent green programming means that we can enhance our targeted pitching of stories.
In radio media relations in particular, it is important to stay informed of developments, because changes can happen quickly and with little notice. Personnel and formats can sometimes be switched overnight, and the modern rock station you listen to on Wednesday can be a Spanish talk station by Thursday morning. Similarly, when a station begins to focus on green issues, it is important to be aware and be adept enough to tailor pitches accordingly.
The growing importance of the green movement almost ensures that more stations will begin to incorporate green programming into their lineups. Keeping on top of these changes in radio formats and programming is a critical element in making sure we can best serve our clients, and that the important issues of the day - those that affect our families, health, and future – earn their place on the air.
Tuning In newsletter is produced and distributed bi-annually. The goal of the newsletter is to educate clients on radio trends and industry tips, as well as highlight case studies and release survey information.
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