Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Radio Dazed...
I must be feeling frisky, as I've sent out lots of comments on web pages, emails, etc. I even thought of a topic for a post, so the neurons must be firing on overdrive. Today's topic deals with the radio, and I've touched on this subject before. As a low-tech medium who's glory days have long passed, my attention is understandably odd, even to me. When thinking about this post, I understood why I have anything to say on the subject: it's the only standardized mass media to which I am exposed. I don't count the Internet, as A) the are so many choices in terms of content, and B) radio is far more commercial. This little blog certainly isn't a money making operation, although there are those who use their sites to make money, in some cases scads of it. However, I don't have to visit these sites; there are millions more from which to choose. Radio is far more costly, and therefore your choices are proportionally limited. The only time when the 'Net seems truly a commercial enterprise is when a fave site shuts down due to hosting costs. It's rare but painful.
Radio is much more fluid, and it's temporality was demonstrated on 02/29/08. Rocky Allen, of the Rocky Allen Showgram, was shown the door on WPLJ. I may have mentioned the PLJ is the station I listen to most, with the now common "Hot AC" format. Essentially, it's top 40 radio sans rap with '80's and 90's music filling the space. The ratings haven't been spectacular, but the target audience is wealthy white people from the NYC hinterlands, and the relative wealth of the listeners makes the station a cash cow (as per Wikipedia). It's an excellent lesson in marketing, teaching that quality of customer is more important than quantity. Sill, low ratings are low ratings, and the drive time DJ Rocky Allen had his show canceled. I liked the Showgram, and I would listen on the way home from work. This why the term "drive-time" is used, and it's the second most important slot in radio. Still, I am more concerned about the thought of PLJ changing it's format than the fate of one it's DJ's. Liking the show is not the same as no being able to survive without it.
The owner of the station was Disney for the longest time (the station was under the umbrella of ABC, which owns Disney - or Disney owns ABC... *migraine time*). Anyway, the radio division was sold, and you could sense the change instantly. The playlist, for all its potential vastness, was rather small. When they tried to include C+C Music Factory (dance/rap) from 1990, the reaction was so venomous and swift, they dared not get experimental. I was no different in my shock either. I listen to PLJ to get away from rap and hip-hop, so don't fuck with my expectations. It was like listening to an AM news station and hearing Anthrax. I was lucky I didn't wreck my car. Anyway, the playlist has been tweaked a bit, and I expect more changes soon. A full-blown format change is hopefully unlikely though. More to the point, what format would they choose? All the major potential formats are well entrenched at other stations, save country music. The new owners started as a country music conglomerate, so there's some speculation online this could be the new format, but not a single country music station has ever succeeded in NYC, and I don't see it survivng now. Oh well, at least I have the normal AC stations WHUD and WFAS to listen to while I drive to and from work. Oh wait, they've had to tweak their playlist as well, since their biggest rival is... WPLJ. I have to wonder what has caused the drop in ratings, but I cannot say. No matter what the cause, the world continues to change and evolve, and slowly and surely I fit into it less and less. On that note, I'm turning on my IPod. I feel the need for a little Counting Crows and and an audiobook. Er... oh I get it. Maybe I'll listen to 107.1 The Peak instead. Maybe I'll call in a request for the Crows instead.
Radio is much more fluid, and it's temporality was demonstrated on 02/29/08. Rocky Allen, of the Rocky Allen Showgram, was shown the door on WPLJ. I may have mentioned the PLJ is the station I listen to most, with the now common "Hot AC" format. Essentially, it's top 40 radio sans rap with '80's and 90's music filling the space. The ratings haven't been spectacular, but the target audience is wealthy white people from the NYC hinterlands, and the relative wealth of the listeners makes the station a cash cow (as per Wikipedia). It's an excellent lesson in marketing, teaching that quality of customer is more important than quantity. Sill, low ratings are low ratings, and the drive time DJ Rocky Allen had his show canceled. I liked the Showgram, and I would listen on the way home from work. This why the term "drive-time" is used, and it's the second most important slot in radio. Still, I am more concerned about the thought of PLJ changing it's format than the fate of one it's DJ's. Liking the show is not the same as no being able to survive without it.
The owner of the station was Disney for the longest time (the station was under the umbrella of ABC, which owns Disney - or Disney owns ABC... *migraine time*). Anyway, the radio division was sold, and you could sense the change instantly. The playlist, for all its potential vastness, was rather small. When they tried to include C+C Music Factory (dance/rap) from 1990, the reaction was so venomous and swift, they dared not get experimental. I was no different in my shock either. I listen to PLJ to get away from rap and hip-hop, so don't fuck with my expectations. It was like listening to an AM news station and hearing Anthrax. I was lucky I didn't wreck my car. Anyway, the playlist has been tweaked a bit, and I expect more changes soon. A full-blown format change is hopefully unlikely though. More to the point, what format would they choose? All the major potential formats are well entrenched at other stations, save country music. The new owners started as a country music conglomerate, so there's some speculation online this could be the new format, but not a single country music station has ever succeeded in NYC, and I don't see it survivng now. Oh well, at least I have the normal AC stations WHUD and WFAS to listen to while I drive to and from work. Oh wait, they've had to tweak their playlist as well, since their biggest rival is... WPLJ. I have to wonder what has caused the drop in ratings, but I cannot say. No matter what the cause, the world continues to change and evolve, and slowly and surely I fit into it less and less. On that note, I'm turning on my IPod. I feel the need for a little Counting Crows and and an audiobook. Er... oh I get it. Maybe I'll listen to 107.1 The Peak instead. Maybe I'll call in a request for the Crows instead.
