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Arbitron would be wise to include all stations.

J

joshzz

I think it's good for radio in general if Arbitron included all stations. Looking at the Atantic City/Cape May ratings and there are only a handful listed. In some markets like Trenton there are two stations listed.

I believe Arbitron will become less relevant as policies that exclude stations continue to be implemented by the former ratings giant.

DO you agree? 8)
 
They DO include all stations. You just have to buy the book.
 
HI Zackster,

Actually, WZFI-FM had between a .7 and .9 ratings in the Fall of 2012 according to the Radio Resource Consortium. We're waiting for Spring 2013 numbers.

It's pretty amazing considering we only cover a small portion of the AC market and we're an LPFM. We're thankful God has given us visibility in this manner.
 
What? Now, god is tweaking Arbitron numbers as a promotional stunt? That's almost as sneaky as somebody connected with the station coming on a message board to say what a great station it is. Fortunately, neither approach is likely to draw listeners.

All LPFM does is create interference by "hobby stations" and drive people away from radio. It will make FM as unlistenable and as cluttered as AM. Nobody cares. Nobody listens. It's all for people who want to play radio.
 
FredLeonard said:
All LPFM does is create interference by "hobby stations" and drive people away from radio. It will make FM as unlistenable and as cluttered as AM. Nobody cares. Nobody listens. It's all for people who want to play radio.
Click to expand...

That's an awfully sweeping statement given the wide variety of programming models on LPFMs.
 
All LPFM does is create interference by "hobby stations" and drive people away from radio. It will make FM as unlistenable and as cluttered as AM. Nobody cares. Nobody listens. It's all for people who want to play radio.
Click to expand...

WRONG. Just like "regular" radio, it's all in how they are programmed. There are a lot of LPFM's that serve specific communities, that wouldn't otherwise be served by a large station. Take the 107.9 in Lakewood, for example.

There are good LPFM's and terrible ones, but most of them that I've heard are reasonably well programmed. Most sound better than your average college station by leaps and bounds.

Radio, as in large, corporate radio is what is driving people away. Lack of new talent that can connect with a target demo, stale playlists, non-involvement with the community by using a birdfeed format. Those are all the things that are driving people away from radio to other media.

A well-executed LPFM that connects with its community will bring people IN to radio.

Also, FM and AM interference is quite different. An LPFM only goes for a few miles, and there is no interference beyond that radius. Further, since it is ratio based, the interference than an LPFM can CAUSE is quite low and limited to a couple hundred feet around the antenna. They receive interference from full power stations much more than they can create.

And maybe some of those people who start out "playing radio" go on to a bigger station because they've been bitten by the radio bug. Since the farm system of smaller markets is all but gone thanks to remote voice tracking and satellite formats, maybe LPFM will help bring about some new, fresh, innovative talent. Better than Seacrest all over the country.

You sound bitter, Fred. What's your solution to bring people back to radio?
 
WNTIRadio said:
You sound bitter, Fred. What's your solution to bring people back to radio?
Click to expand...

None. No point. Rusty towers terrestrial radio is obsolete technology. People who create audio content need to wake up and embrace new technology and new media.
 
Fred youwrote: "All LPFM does is create interference by "hobby stations" and drive people away from radio. It will make FM as unlistenable and as cluttered as AM. Nobody cares. Nobody listens. It's all for people who want to play radio."


I would probably agree with you for the most part as I have listened to other LPFMs that have little or not connection with their communities but with that said I do know our station has a lot of listeners. As proof we held a concert over a year ago. Attendance totaled more than 1,300 people. If we had any more people we would have had to turn them away.

We run our station it just like any commercial station interacting with listeners on a daily basis. We have an online Community Calendar that is updated often. On Fridays we have listeners call in "live on the air" with news of upcoming events.

Also, our Arbitron numbers beat some full power stations with far better penetration in the AC market.

Too many people that run LPFM do it with the intent of getting their voice on their air and that won't work in this day. The station needs to sound as professional as the top stations in the market.

We have a station concert coming up on October 11, 7 PM. I invite you to come out. It will be held at at Chestnut Assembly Auditorium, 2554 East Chestnut Avenue, Vineland, New Jersey. The headliner is Plumb - Her song Cut was a feature song of the Vampire Diaries - you can watch it here. note almost 4 million views http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diaHnF-zfEg

Also our morning host, Wally will emcee the event.

I hope you will come out as I would like to personally meet you and shake your hand. Just ask for "Joe Josh"

We will have the LIFT FM TENT set up and there will be prize give-aways too. I will give you our latest LIFT FM pen as souvenir (I can tell you they nice not just your typical pens).

We're also very active in the community. We sponsor a highly competitive women's fast pitch softball team and broadcast some of the games. We also some high school games along with remotes, etc.

I look forward to meeting you! listen when you can >> liftfm.com
 
Radio's demise has been predicted since the dawn of television broadcasts. Even with Sirius and Pandora, over 90% of Americans still tune in each week to radio, according to Scarborough.

Listeners are finding new sources of entertainment in addition to radio. And unfortunately, it's because of greedy corporate radio groups who have stripped local radio stations of their uniqueness in the quest for lower overhead and higher profits, that radio is not listened to by 100% of Americans. Radio needs to find out what makes it's product entertaining and unique, and then DO IT. That will require air talent, personal interaction with listeners and dedication to local markets, something Sirius and Pandora will never be able to do.

It also requires $$. We'll see...
 
Local is about the one advantage terrestrial radio can claim for itself and even that claim is dubious. Internet radio, like blogs and news sites, can be hyper-local.

But long-established "local" stations - in small towns and in suburban communities - have been dropping like flies (turned into repeaters for paid preaching or other brokered programming, or pay to play syndication). There is a certain fondness for many of these stations. A lot of radio people got their start their, or grew up with one.

But local is not necessarily good radio. Local high school basketball games. Local council or school board meetings. Puff ball interviews with local officials and people from local NGOs. Remotes from the chamber of commerce luncheon. PSAs for anybody who would type up a notice about some event (band concert, church social, park clean-up).

This is radio for people who want to be on the radio or who want their thing promoted on the radio - not for listeners. Radio is a terrible way to announce or cover this kind of stuff. Local newspapers are better. You can skim a newspaper (or website) and find the small percentage of local "doings" that interest you; you can't skim radio. Radio's great short-coming is it's one size-fits all (and they pick the content).

Somewhere along the line, people stopped paying attention to those fondly-remembered local stations. Local radio sank to the level of public-access cable.
 
Radio stations can be local without broadcasting the school board meetings.

I have ten thousand songs on my IPhone. If all I want is music, why would I listen to some national music list when I can listen to ALL of MY favorites. No researched list will ever come close to my personal likes.

But, I will never be able hear local news, traffic and weather. Information that I need for my day. I will never hear about what the local teams did last night, or what is the hot water cooler topic at work. I will never be able to win a pair of tickets and backstage passes to see my favorite band in Atlantic City if I only listen to my IPhone.

Local radio must of all things be entertaining. The hosts must be engaging and relevant. It must provide music AND that something else that Pandora cannot. But it can't be boring and predictable.

Radio can still be that person in the passenger seat who is sharing your ride to work, talking to you one on one about life while still entertaining you with your favorite music. Owners who want to survive the next 5-10 years need to figure out how to do it for their stations, or they will end up simulcasting Rev. Whats His Name out of Waco Texas doing a beg a thon for his ministry.
 
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