The following is excerpted from Fundamentals of Radio Programming by Randy Michaels…. We need to research our music, and in my opinion any music station should be playing 50% Powers. If you’re in a really competitive situation, consider 70%. Consider 80%. ”Repetition” is a huge complaint from listeners. But think about it: People don’t complain about your playing their favorite song over & over. They complain about you playing the stuff that’s burned out over & over! Everyone says they want “more variety.” What does that mean? I saw this in one Classic Rock research project:
“More variety! I’m tired of ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ Give me more songs that I like that much.”
Well, they don’t exist! We’d love to play some songs you like as much as “Stairway to Heaven.” What are they?? Research is a wonderful tool and a real trap. Most stations don’t use it correctly. There’s a real tipping point in picking the sample. I’ve attended auditorium tests where they recruited warm bodies, 18-34 year-old men. It’s for a Rock station, and they’ve got people who listen only to Country. Let’s see if we can make sense of this:
If you never listen the radio, I don’t care what you like.
If I’m a Rock station and you happen to love Clint Black, I don’t care. If I’m a Country station and you’re a huge Rock fan, that’s nice; see you later! You want people who sample your product. On the flip side, you get PDs who say, “Oh, I only want my core audience. I don’t want my cume; I want only my core, my P1s.” And then you can end up with another problem. Research is like a big parabolic mirror. We collect data and we play back the center of the reflection. If you keep tightening up that focus, suddenly you have a declining core and a continually narrower target. The right way to set up your research is to look at your cume, look at the stations you share with, and have a ratio of core to cume that is in line with the ratings data. You don’t want want to research Country-exclusive listeners if you’re a Rock station. But you don’t want to be researching only your core either, because they’re already your core! What do you want them do? Not sleep?? When they’re listening to the radio, they’re listening to you! It’s an intelligent balance. Once you’ve got that right, use it! Excerpted from Fundamentals of Radio Programming.
This is hardly a secret, but most people don’t know that the title of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day” was inspired by John Wayne’s repeatedly uttering that phrase during the film, THE SEEKERS….
Radio programming legend Chuck Blore describes the stunt that attracted the attention of the Los Angeles Police Department immediately before the launch of KFWB/Color Radio.
I have to admit that this is one marketing campaign I can’t quite figure out:
