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Dark Light
November 21, 2006
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The Final Format Frontier
Somewhere in space, traveling at the speed of light, is a dark hole. Even though we may not recognize it, it's one in which we all share. Space is the final frontier. More wars have been fought over space, and the control of it, than for oil, slaves or even independence.
And so, recognizing the nature of space could be an answer to many problems, even programming. Many people lately have written about the noteworthy societal shift that has occurred over the past couple of years. The wireless Internet and cell-phone phenomena have caused us to ask, "What happened to our space?" The intimacy shared through computer screens and cell phones is at a new height. People are now using their phones as a means of "cellular defense," protecting themselves from even the most casual interactions. In such a polarized world do we really need less interaction? Or do we just need a "new trick" -- one that could capture the hearts, minds and cume of America?
Tricks Are Not Just For Kids, They're Also For Programmers
It's been said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. For the most part, that's true. But for those dogs, whether four-legged or two-legged, that can learn and apply new tricks, the world awaits.
As we face the fading moments of the fall Arbitron sweeps, we now have to prepare for the upcoming holiday season and winter of 2006. It's a winter that is going to be very different and a little scary because of declining persons-using-radio (PUR) levels. Listeners in all formats are being driven away by too much repetition and huge commercial loads. They've started listening to other forms or devices.
Movin In The Right Direction
There may be a new format "trick" currently being developed called "Movin." While it is not an Urban format as such, this Rhythmic AC format could capture some new cume in a lot of markets. Like Jack, it is growing every week. And it is changing the game. Many current and even some oldies music formats are going to be influenced and affected, to some extent, by "Movin-isms" or format tricks. Even Urban formats are going to be affected in many markets by the female leaning Movin formats. According to its architect, Alan Burns, Movin is a format that relies on old and new music, rotated and recycled in a non-formatted way. The hope is that this will cause the audience to listen more than its predecessor, "Jammin' Oldies," because it plays some currents and therefore isn't as tiring.
It is my personal belief that Movin may succeed in those markets where it's programmed to include entertainment between the jams. Then, it's not just the music, it's also the entertainment it provides. Otherwise, Movin could go the way of "Jammin' Oldies" -- "dark light," a flash in the pan, doomed to failure by its very nature. Movin's biggest positive may also be its biggest liability. The "music freaks" still want to hear their favorite songs and artists a lot. Their iPods are loaded with them. And if Movin can't keep their music freaks happy, they will find another frequency.
A famous psychiatrist (probably Dr. George Sheehan) once said, "We only know about 50% of what we should and half of that will probably be proven wrong someday."
In a very short time, Movin has caused a new direction of thinking, which is going to have a definite bearing on many music formats. For those format pundits who have been following this trend, who say Urban stations are not going to be affected by Movin, that it's just Top 40s and Hot ACs that need to worry, you're wrong! With all of the stations in various markets suddenly changing to Movin, instantly the ratings game as we know it will be affected.
From Oldies, Hot AC, Mainstream Top 40, instrument-driven Smooth Jazz and AC formats to the funky sounds of Rhythmic and Urban formats, they're all going to be influenced and affected by Movin. Even smaller-market stations are looking at Movin. Some of those listeners, who went to sleep with Urban and suddenly woke up to Movin, may hang around. They may not be P1s, but they could be P2s when the research clicks in. Movin may never be their new favorite station, but when they sort it all out, those disenfranchised former Urban listeners could suddenly find that Movin's variety is very listenable in certain dayparts.
There's a reason for the new game. With the new competition, every owner is looking for a way to grab and keep more listeners. With the advent of cheaper downloaded CDs and all the online radio stations that allow you to hear exactly what you want, the real problem is that to be successful these new Movin formats have got to attract young, middle-aged and even some older listeners. Eventually, there will be an "urban-flavored" Movin format, trust me. If nothing else, research will drive its discovery.
What do Urban and Urban AC stations need to do? The smart ones are going to learn some new influence tricks and reduce the number and type of commercials. Design the presentation and arrange the music and other elements so that your heavy users will love your station and not be tempted to try Jack or any other format.
Power Songs, Mean Scores & Format Penetration
Not everybody understands that what separates and distinguishes a station and sheds some light in the dark is being in a position to provide some musical identity. Some music fits very well and reinforces the station's core identity. Other music expands the variety of music. Unfortunately, music test mean scores often do a poor job of telling which songs play well with the other songs. Urban programmers have to know more than the mean score. Power songs are not just songs with a high test score. They should be the songs that influence and reward the people who believe in who you are. They should say "thank you" for sitting through a six-minute stopset. They should say "yes," you are rollin' with the right station. They should buffer weaker, non-centered and unfamiliar songs.
Another very effective "trick" is to closely monitor format penetration. If your station is really on target, its format fans should choose your station more often than those listeners who are not the pure core Urban format fans. It is a very compelling analysis when those listeners are your own.
Your station should be a club that listeners want to join. It will be if its music is on target, if its jocks and imaging are hip. Listeners will want to join your "club" if the jocks can consistently make the audience think, laugh or chuckle. The really great jocks can do all three, over an intro and across the quarter-hours.
Urban stations are going to have to take a serious look at their vulnerabilities, particularly on Sunday morning, when many still run paid religion and gospel. If you're in a market with a fulltime FM Gospel station, that may not be the way to go. And saying "but we've always done it that way" is no longer valid. In fact, it's downright dangerous. Radio must still be a dependable source of predictable entertainment.
The Growing-Shedding Theory
Urban radio, unlike Rock or Hot AC, may have time on its side, but it's still affected by the "growing-shedding theory." And what that really means is that we have to grow more audience than we shed. We've no time to waste. The fact is that as our audience ages, it will also become more affluent and more mainstream. Those kids who go off to college may wind up in a town with no Urban station. They may be forced to listen to satellite radio or the Internet when they're in the dorm and Movin when they're in the car with their friends. When they return home, their matrix and listening habits will have changed.
Generally speaking, our continuing research shows that even those in their teens and early 20s seem to be more open to accepting other forms of music. Imagine a Movin format that moves from Hoobastank to Gwen Stefani to Beyonce to Hinder. Then does it again with Outkast; Nickelback; Justin Timberlake; Prince; Chris Brown; The Fray; Earth, Wind & Fire; Sean Paul; Lionel Richie; and Ne-Yo. Done right, Movin is a respectable mix of old and new, of pop and reggae, of grunge and synth-pop. Another trick of the new influence game involves increasing Urban radio's time-spent-listening. What are the new influence tricks to this old game?
First, we have to determine who are the heavy listeners or users of the station. Most average quarter hours (AQH) still come from the heavy users, not from our casual listeners. So to fight off Movin and improve our TSL, we must concentrate on the heavy users. We should design our presentation and arrange our music and other elements so that our heavy users, as well as the urban "music freaks," will love the station.
Make certain the music is properly dayparted and balanced. Are the rotations set up properly? Does the format offer the variety, tempo and texture that research shows the audience prefers? The time spent listening could suffer if we're sidetracked by industry trends, weak research, no research or a program or music director who pays no attention to the research. I've seen situations in which a lot of program and music directors who didn't grow up on research, even though their stations pay for it, ignore it or don't use it to its fullest.
Redesigning Commercial Stopsets
One of the often-overlooked "tricks" that can make a difference is improving and limiting the stopsets. Everybody has commercials, yet some stations seem to keep their audiences right through the stopsets. What's the real trick here?
For one thing, listeners will find it a lot tougher, more irritating and frustrating to sit through stopsets that include a series of local commercials that sound bad because they were poorly produced and written. Fortunately, most agency-generated commercials are not the problem. If the production is sharp, well written and well produced, about useful products and services, you have a chance to hold your audience through the stopset. And before they know it, they are back to music, the jocks and the fun.
An overwhelming majority of stations have a problem with length. Many salespeople who write their own copy tend to write lengthy copy that they believe will help their client. The reality is that if the audience tunes out because the commercial is both long and boring, nobody benefits. Many salespeople are not trained writers, and they tend to think that newspaper or print copy will work on radio, and it simply will not. Bad copy or poorly written and produced commercials can ruin time spent listening, even if the music and other elements are right.
Your time spent listening is the byproduct of keeping your valued guests happy. Understanding this is one of the new tricks of the game. Some of you may remember when Hot AC was born. It was born out of a need. There was a need to keep their young adult listeners happy. There was a need for a format that hot AC eventually became. Hot AC really took advantage of the hole when Top 40 over-rapped and over-danced. Now, in 2006, Movin is the format that promises to save its audience from the blight of too many interruptions, too much repetition and too many alternatives.
What Urban radio needs to do is influence its audience with the right dayparted and researched music mix and something Movin can't offer yet -- a strong personality approach, filled with local content that its audience can identify with.
Musically, Urban radio needs to create new stars for the format. An iPod can't create a new star. And recent studies have shown that people still have to come to our stations to find out what to download or put on their iPods.
All of these things we've mentioned will affect how well our stations do this winter. And for those who see the big picture, the other trick is to continue to market effectively and use your influence well. We have to learn to really listen to each other, feel each other, and respect space, dark and light, personal and public. We have to understand we can live together without living alike. We can talk without saying the same thing. We can conquer the final frontier the same way NASA did -- with a new space program.
Word.
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