Specialty Weekend Programming

[finallyescaped]

Did stations stop doing specialty weekend programming because the limited available audience is not worth the effort?

Or did listeners stop listening on weekends because their lives are different and radio stopped doing anything to get their attention?

Last question: Are there any stations still doing fun specialty weekends? I would like to stream some.

 

[TheBigA]

Did stations stop doing specialty weekend programming because the limited available audience is not worth the effort?

It depends on what you mean by "specialty weekend programming." A lot of stations run outside specialty shows on weekends, such as countdown shows, flashback shows, or artist-hosted shows.

Listener usage on the weekends is different than weekdays. During the week, they seem to mostly listen for short periods of time going to & from work. On the weekends, they tend to listen for longer periods of time.

But it depends on the format. The "specialty" shows are called that because they typically appeal to smaller more niched audiences. So you're more likely to hear them either Saturday night, Sunday morning, or Sunday night. Lots of specialty programming on Sunday night.

Talk stations tend to run repeats of their weekday shows, because the assumption is people can't listen to the whole show live during the week. But as I said, it depends.

Last question: Are there any stations still doing fun specialty weekends? I would like to stream some.

Give me an example. I think Stryker's "Out Of Order" is a fun show, but you might not. Alice Cooper does a pretty fun show too.

 

[finallyescaped]

All good points. I should have been more specific. I was referring to full-weekend specialty programming. Maybe theme weekends is a better label. Like all 80s weekend, or party music weekend, or double shot weekend, etc.

 

[TheBigA]

All good points. I should have been more specific. I was referring to full-weekend specialty programming. Maybe theme weekends is a better label. Like all 80s weekend, or party music weekend, or double shot weekend, etc.

Sorry but those sound more tired than fun to me. Everyone has burned out the 80s weekend thing already. The classic hits stations do it every day. NBD. I'm sure you're going to hear a lot of patriotic military songs next weekend, if that's exciting to you.

 

[CTListener]

Syndicated countdown programs still have their place on weekend radio, as well. Some stations still do long-form countdown-type shows on summer holiday weekends.

 

[finallyescaped]

Sorry but those sound more tired than fun to me. Everyone has burned out the 80s weekend thing already. The classic hits stations do it every day. NBD. I'm sure you're going to hear a lot of patriotic military songs next weekend, if that's exciting to you.

Those were examples as I haven't heard stations doing themes recently. That's the point of my question. Why is no one doing these when they used to be very popular? Radio ran out of fresh ideas and stopped? No one wants an all 80s weekend in 2022, I agree. Most of the speciality shows out there are tired too. And by most, I mean all but maybe 1 or 2. Where are the fresh ideas for a station to have vibe on weekends? Stations are so uninteresting on weekends anymore.

 

[TheBigA]

Those were examples as I haven't heard stations doing themes recently. That's the point of my question. Why is no one doing these when they used to be very popular?

Depends on where you live. When a big concert comes to town, some stations do big promotions around the show, changing their name, and giving away free tickets. Here's an example from last week:

Hubbard Broadcasting country “97.3 The Wolf” WYGY Cincinnati rebrands as “Garth 97.3” this weekend, as Brooks plays two nights at Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium. Through Saturday at midnight, the station will play only Brooks’ records, featuring nearly 70 songs that span almost 30 years. “As a lifelong Garth Brooks fan, the amount of time and passion put into this project is something I can’t wait to share with all 97.3 the Wolf listeners,” APD Jesse Tack, who spearheaded the project, said in a release. “The Garth 97.3 playlist includes all of Garth Brooks’ biggest hits, forgotten favorites and popular live cuts. Whether you’re able to make it to the shows or not, Garth 97.3 is the perfect way to celebrate all things Garth all weekend long!” Brooks’ shows tonight and Saturday at Paul Brown stadium are his first Cincinnati concerts in five years.

That story was in Inside Radio last week. If you read the radio trades, they report a lot of the special promotions stations do around the country.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Did stations stop doing specialty weekend programming because the limited available audience is not worth the effort?

Depends on the daypart. Weekend evenings have always been wastelands. Hardly worth the effort now.

Or did listeners stop listening on weekends because their lives are different and radio stopped doing anything to get their attention?

There is no significant change in weekend vs. weekday listening proportions.

Last question: Are there any stations still doing fun specialty weekends? I would like to stream some.

A lot of stations dropped such shows during the pandemic. It is probable that they will come back, as in medium and smaller markets it is easier to sell a concept show than just saying "wanna' buy some spots?" to a client.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Sorry but those sound more tired than fun to me. Everyone has burned out the 80s weekend thing already. The classic hits stations do it every day. NBD. I'm sure you're going to hear a lot of patriotic military songs next weekend, if that's exciting to you.

There are lots of alternatives such as "Superstar Weekends" where each set starts with a two-fer by a big artist in the format. Like that, there are plenty of ways of repackaging the format... often an excuse to play some secondary songs by big artists that don't test negative but are not the power gold type either.

There is a finite number of ways to present differently a format. Part of the secret is to do it with creative imaging and, when possible, playing some deeper cuts that can't be played during the week due to format mechanics never getting to them (if you have a current, a new cut and a couple of recurrents by a big artist, their gold will never play due to protection rules...)

 

[TheBigA]

There are lots of alternatives such as "Superstar Weekends" where each set starts with a two-fer by a big artist in the format.

It helps when the station plays currents and can integrate record label promotions with the feature, as I described in post #7. At one time, label promo staffs were integral in these kinds of special weekends. It's less frequent now because labels have forgotten the art of creative promotions. But I still see some great ideas from time to time. It depends on the format.

 

[DavidEduardo]

It helps when the station plays currents and can integrate record label promotions with the feature, as I described in post #7. At one time, label promo staffs were integral in these kinds of special weekends. It's less frequent now because labels have forgotten the art of creative promotions. But I still see some great ideas from time to time. It depends on the format.

That is very true. Back when I was doing one of the Emmis stations we worked with labels to do artist features on weekends. Typical would be some way of calling or texting in them moment a song by a particular artist began and winning a set of CDs (when those things still were used) or artist merchandise like T's or autographed posters.

The most fun was having a caller hear a prepared edit of a line from a song and having to sing the rest of the verse acapella. We'd frequently get the artists themselves to do the first line in their own voice... and that made us seem to own the music, not just the format.

We even did contests based on a question that could only be answered with a line from a song lyric. Call with the lyric line, win something.

In that market we had at least one rock concert a week, often several, so we did lots of "you can't buy it anywhere but you can win it here" contests for tickets. We also liked doing a row of seats where winners all had to wear our T-shirts (that was intended to send a message to the market that we owned the genre and trying to launch a competetitor was futile).

 

[MrJohn]

it is easier to sell a concept show than just saying "wanna' buy some spots?" to a client.

Wait...so is this why stations use syndicated programming (80s shows, countdowns, etc) on weekends? Because the chances of them selling that are better than if it was just regular programming?


Because I have always had a hard time understanding the business logic of doing specialty programs during wasteland listening hours. If nobody's there, why run something "special"?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Historically, the main reason to run specialty syndicated shows was so you wouldn't need as many jocks.

But yes, some sales managers want to have programming that is saleable as a small package. If you have business owner who isn't biting on a large package, maybe they would be interested in sponsoring "Classic Top 40 with Casey Kasem" for $75 a week.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Wait...so is this why stations use syndicated programming (80s shows, countdowns, etc) on weekends? Because the chances of them selling that are better than if it was just regular programming?

Two reasons:

First, a syndicated show does not require local talent or programming efforts. Today, automation makes that less a reasoning factor.

Second, it is a way to get a client to buy weekends, which many don't normally do. It is also a way to get some clients to add on to the regular spot budget.

Because I have always had a hard time understanding the business logic of doing specialty programs during wasteland listening hours. If nobody's there, why run something "special"?

Many local accounts like to own a program of their own via sponsorship or co-sponsorship. It is the same reason why companies like to buy naming rights to stadiums.

As PTBoardOp94 said, those clients like to be part of a named special show.

 

[TheBigA]

Because I have always had a hard time understanding the business logic of doing specialty programs during wasteland listening hours. If nobody's there, why run something "special"?

It's not that "nobody" is listening, but the numbers are fewer than during peak hours. That makes it ideal for specialty programming aimed at people who will tune in for something unusual during non-peak hours. There are many different reasons why stations do this. One is to give them a promotable program to talk about, other than saying "Here's another ten in a row." Another reason, and this comes up with countdown shows, is to get spins for songs that they haven't officially added for chart purposes. Another might be to increase their percentage of currents in the format, also for chart purposes. Basically the specialty show helps them in programming ways but won't hurt them in ratings because of when it airs.

You'd probably hear more specialty shows if there wasn't such a concern for ratings. For example, non-commercial stations do more specialty shows. Subscription services such as Sirius and Apple Music offer more specialty shows because they don't care about ratings.

 

[DavidEduardo]

It's not that "nobody" is listening, but the numbers are fewer than during peak hours. That makes it ideal for specialty programming aimed at people who will tune in for something unusual during non-peak hours. There are many different reasons why stations do this. One is to give them a promotable program to talk about, other than saying "Here's another ten in a row." Another reason, and this comes up with countdown shows, is to get spins for songs that they haven't officially added for chart purposes. Another might be to increase their percentage of currents in the format, also for chart purposes. Basically the specialty show helps them in programming ways but won't hurt them in ratings because of when it airs.

Don't forget the principal reason for doing many if not most specialty programs: they make good concept sales for local accounts. The client can be shown how they can "own" the station with their own show for an hour or two, and often sellers will present a plan where the spots cover different aspects of a client's business.

For example, a car dealer can have rotating spots for service, new cars, financing, used cars and other dealer features in different produced spots. Some can, aaaaarrrrrggghhhh, have the dealer's owner inviting customers to visit the showroom.

Promos for those shows can mention the sponsor. In the past, how many stations promoted with "Ernie's Ford and Smith's Appliance bring you Casey Kasem and American Top 40 every Sunday and 9 in the morning... the biggest songs, the newest hitbound releases..... "

 

[TheBigA]

Don't forget the principal reason for doing many if not most specialty programs: they make good concept sales for local accounts.

Assuming the station has an aggressive local sales department that seeks out sponsors for this kind of thing, rather than simply selling spots & dots (taking what they can get) based strictly on ratings. Because lets face it, a specialty show run Sunday morning isn't going to have the numbers of the morning drive show during the week.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Because lets face it, a specialty show run Sunday morning isn't going to have the numbers of the morning drive show during the week.

But sellers love to have a cheap package they can offer to smaller accounts. Often, once an account is signed, they can be pitched to add a bigger schedule if they are happy with the original buy. And for specialty retailers as well as accounts like medical services, tax accounting, and the like all they need is a few sales per week from a show to be satisfied with the buy.

 

[vw86]

We used to run Casey Kasem on both Sunday morning and evening, and our classic rocker would run Flashback with Bill St James on Sunday morning and evening. The hours were automated anyway (this was early 2000s), but we had what would now be considered P1s that made it a point to tune into those programs every week. It was a win-win, and we also did the whole "American Top 20 is brought to you locally by..." and give sponsors two reads an hour on the three hour show (this was the Hot AC AT20 Casey show). We didn't lose any listeners by airing shows that played the hits we were going to play anyway, but we gained a few by airing shows that were P1 draws.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Regarding specialty shows, this could be considered somewhat ancient history now, but back when there were a lot of independently owned and managed stations, you had more chances for the Dr. Dementos and those with truly unique or eclectic programming to be picked up by a number of stations. These "specialty" programs were often barter situations, and they arrived to the stations each week on LPs or CDs, and were later delivered via satellite or the internet. However, once Clear Channel and the other bigger media companies started grabbing up a lot of the once independent stations and programming decisions were made regionally or at the corporate level, a lot of programs like Demento's got left behind. His may be a somewhat bad example as there are a number of reasons he went from a few hundred affiliates down to about 1/2 dozen in later years when he himself was managing syndication after once being with Westwood One, but yeah...