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LA's Oldies/80s 'Consultant' speaks about the new K-SURF

DavidEduardo said:


But advertisers have next to no interest in reaching the geezer demos.

And, actually, life expectancy has plateaued in the US and is declining in some areas.
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Radio advertisers. Still plenty of TV and print advertisers addressing seniors. ("Geezers" is a sub-population of seniors.)

And, as for life expectancy, if you remove self-inflicted causes of death in the current U.S. population such as smoking, drugs, alcohol and suicide the average life expectancy is increasing albeit at a slower rate than in the past.
 
adradio said:
love the discussion. Reminds me of how important radio was (still is) to those of us in the 55+ demo. I doubt you would get this much passion from the current radio target demo. In our day, with limited entertainment choices, personality driven radio, radio was a pretty big deal. Now it feels like radio is something people have on in the background in the car, without much emotional investment in it.

Question: Is there any passion out there from the younger demo over their favorite radio stations? In 20 years, would any of these people engage in these kind of discussions over radio?
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very well stated!!!!
 
Hope they succeed, L.A. needs a much better alternative to K-Earth and if done right, will eat into their base.
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On FM, maybe. On 1260 that ain't gonna happen.
 
landtuna said:
Still plenty of TV and print advertisers addressing seniors. ("Geezers" is a sub-population of seniors.)
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You're right, and for some reason, the geezers don't complain about the lengthy TV infomercials about reverse mortgages and various drugs that pop up on TV Land and Fox News. But when those same types of advertisers show up on AM talk stations, you see pages of complaints.
 
landtuna said:
Radio advertisers. Still plenty of TV and print advertisers addressing seniors. ("Geezers" is a sub-population of seniors.)
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The reason why senior targeted campaigns pick TV: they require images. Prescription medicines show people living a fun lifestyle thanks to a drug. Travel accounts show older people enjoying cruises and Hawaiian luaus. Stair lifts show people enjoying the increased mobility. And so on. Radio can't show the image of the pleasure of using a product like TV can, even with the most skillful writers.

And TV has national media with considerable senior appeal that can live off the reverse mortgage, gold and pharmaceutical accounts. Those senior-based accounts seldom buy local media of any kind unless it is on a PI basis with trackable call codes.

And, as for life expectancy, if you remove self-inflicted causes of death in the current U.S. population such as smoking, drugs, alcohol and suicide the average life expectancy is increasing albeit at a slower rate than in the past.
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But for a marketer, they are all dead... and no longer active consumers.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
On FM, maybe. On 1260 that ain't gonna happen.
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No, it is not.

KSUR's current audience is about 60& over 65 and 80% over 50. The tiny bit under 50 is likely "exposure" and not listening.

Part of the issues is not just that KSUR is an AM station... it is that it is a limited coverage AM. The minimum signal level for good listening in LA is between 10 mC/m and 15 mV/m. That means that in a market of just over 13 million, less than 3 million live in the good signal area. And only a small percentage are over 65 and like the kind of oldies that station plays. It is a pretty limited audience.

The average quarter hour listening to KSUR based on several month averages is about 3,600 persons. Out of, again, 13,000,000.
 
TheBigA said:
You're right, and for some reason, the geezers don't complain about the lengthy TV infomercials about reverse mortgages and various drugs that pop up on TV Land and Fox News. But when those same types of advertisers show up on AM talk stations, you see pages of complaints.
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Perhaps the Geezers just accept those obnoxious commercials as the price of "free" TV or use the lengthy ones to visit the, uh, "necessary" room. :) Or maybe it just takes the Geezers more time to find that bag of chips or fix a sandwich (after they find their glasses). Or, it could be that Geezers listen actively to AM radio and use Geezer-TV as something to put them to sleep. It's complicated. :)
 
DavidEduardo said:


The problem here is that later 70's music and 80's music was new when FMs were already dominant. 50% of radio listening in 1977 was to FM, and about 60% to 70% of music listening was to FM by then, depending on the market.

So getting a demographic that grew up on FM for the most part to listen to music on AM is pushing the envelope a lot! And doing it on an AM with defective, partial market coverage is pushing it even more.
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I was listening for about two hours today and I like what Im hearing so far. Extended versions of some songs, a great variety of 60s and newly added 70s music. Cant remember the last time I heard "Love Rollercoaster" on the radio. Really, how a radio station should sound like. I will be sending the station suggestions for specialty weekends. Whether they take up the suggestions is up to them. They already have Disco Saturday Night which Fred is having fun with. Saul is doing what LA needs. A great choice of music, instead of the ad nauseum, repetitive corporate stuff. Despite your analysis, I hope it continues for many, many years. Please, give it a chance!
 
oldies76 said:
I was listening for about two hours today and I like what Im hearing so far. Extended versions of some songs, a great variety of 60s and newly added 70s music. Cant remember the last time I heard "Love Rollercoaster" on the radio. Really, how a radio station should sound like. I will be sending the station suggestions for specialty weekends. Whether they take up the suggestions is up to them. They already have Disco Saturday Night which Fred is having fun with. Saul is doing what LA needs. A great choice of music, instead of the ad nauseum, repetitive corporate stuff. Despite your analysis, I hope it continues for many, many years. Please, give it a chance!
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You are forgetting a key fact: Saul has continuously owned a station in LA since about 1959. He owes no money, and has made a goodly amount from the various and long-term formats on the FM. He can afford to dabble with an AM station, even if it does not make money.

I once had an FM of my own that programmed classical music. I did it because I wanted to have a classical music station. I did not care if it made money, and it did not for several years. It was a hobby... and I'd personally pull each day's music and set it out for the next day. It was fun, I was not competing with anyone, and it got my mind off of the real competitive battles of my other 8 stations.

The issue with the format on KSUR is whether Saul can justify keeping it. If it covers expenses... and at the rumored $1.5 million annual billing it likely does do that... and is amusing for the owner, it may continue. But if AM continues to lose share (it's down to just over 10% of listening, most all of that between KFI and KNX) and totally ceases to be a music medium, this could all change.

I'd bet for sure that they are not going to spend on any specialty shows on the weekend unless they can get someone to do them for free. It's too much of a hassle doing extra music scheduling and monitoring to see if they run correctly given the fact that selling such shows is really unlikely.

While it is always fun to have listeners send passionate pleas for programming changes, I can't think of any time that such ideas have been implemented. Quite frankly, most such unsolicited opinions, particularly from out of market, are handled either with a waste basket or the delete key.
 
landtuna said:
Perhaps the Geezers just accept those obnoxious commercials as the price of "free" TV or use the lengthy ones to visit the, uh, "necessary" room. :) Or maybe it just takes the Geezers more time to find that bag of chips or fix a sandwich (after they find their glasses). Or, it could be that Geezers listen actively to AM radio and use Geezer-TV as something to put them to sleep. It's complicated. :)
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This geezer has XM and Spotify and Prime music as well as Prime video, Hulu, Britbox and Netflix. I have cable, but most of the time I watch the OTT offerings. I can use all the audio sources in the car, and the video can follow me on my tablet and laptop.

I have many friends and neighbors who use these and more, and some that use fewer of them. But the idea that seniors are inept technophobes is a bit exaggerated.
 
DavidEduardo said:


Since robo-dialers are computers, they really don't have feelings at all. :mad:
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Actually, robo-dialers are computers but the robo-callers are people.

I have discovered having an internet based phone is a great way to avoid them as I can take advantage of other published 'ignore' number lists as well as add my own to the list. No more depending upon the gubmint's no-call list.
 
DavidEduardo said:
I'd bet for sure that they are not going to spend on any specialty shows on the weekend unless they can get someone to do them for free. It's too much of a hassle doing extra music scheduling and monitoring to see if they run correctly given the fact that selling such shows is really unlikely.
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Having an all 70s weekend or a super 60s, number ones, beach summer songs, ....etc.....is an easy thing to do. Not rocket science.


DavidEduardo said:
Quite frankly, most such unsolicited opinions, particularly from out of market, are handled either with a waste basket or the delete key.
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Im trying not to laugh to the negativity......again.....
 
oldies76 said:
Having an all 70s weekend or a super 60s, number ones, beach summer songs, ....etc.....is an easy thing to do. Not rocket science.
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They've been operating as an oldies stations for a few years...have they ever done any specialty shows that you can name? Ever?
 
oldies76 said:
Im trying not to laugh to the negativity......again.....
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Reality sometimes sucks when it gets in the way of preconceived notions.
 
DavidEduardo said:


I have many friends and neighbors who use these and more, and some that use fewer of them. But the idea that seniors are inept technophobes is a bit exaggerated.
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I totally agree however I am one of those geezers who likes his peace and quiet so I carry a minimum of technology around with me.
 
TheBigA said:
They've been operating as an oldies stations for a few years...have they ever done any specialty shows that you can name? Ever?
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None specifically, but there is always opportunity to try "new" and adventurous things, especially when youre trying to sound old school. The classic Firecracker 300 is a great beginning. The listeners would love it, especially the 55+ You may not, however.

Just because its 2019 doesnt mean stations cant return to original programming. The Game Show network still airs classic Dick Clark Pyramid shows from the 80s.....capiche?
 
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