You and I are saying the same thing and your post puts it so eloquently. I feel like EMF's purchase of 95.5 is in many respects the beginning of the end of FM as we know it. There are no more super "tested" formats that anyone will take a gamble on so quality and uniqueness disappear from the airwaves and we're left with stations that are willing and can pay to "get their message out". K-Love functions as WBAI. They want to broadcast their message. Ratings don't matter, only donations do. Perhaps the future of FM is brokered programming and/or listener supported stations. That would most likely reduce the cost of fms and could that ultimately benefit radio as small independent broadcasters would be able to afford to purchase stations and broadcast some great content...just thinking out loud. I have no idea.
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PLJ SOLD
- Thread starter leethalweapon
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You and I are saying the same thing and your post puts it so eloquently. I feel like EMF's purchase of 95.5 is in many respects the beginning of the end of FM as we know it. There are no more super "tested" formats that anyone will take a gamble on so quality and uniqueness disappear from the airwaves and we're left with stations that are willing and can pay to "get their message out". K-Love functions as WBAI. They want to broadcast their message. Ratings don't matter, only donations do. Perhaps the future of FM is brokered programming and/or listener supported stations. That would most likely reduce the cost of fms and could that ultimately benefit radio as small independent broadcasters would be able to afford to purchase stations and broadcast some great content...just thinking out loud. I have no idea.
A
andreajesus
Guest
Thank you, I like that!
But what EMF has is a business model that also works to support public radio.
In many markets, ranging from DC to San Diego, NPR affiliates are in the very top tier of all stations, commercial and non-commercial, as far as ratings are concerned. But they are predominantly listener supported, with most revenue coming from donations and private grants rather than government coffers.
EMF uses that model, but for its Christian music formats. And they get significant listening levels, doing as well as or better than many full signal commercial stations in each market.
All EMF has done is change the income sourcing. The programming is, like much of NPR, good and highly competitive and meets a significant listener need.
Key words being "as we know it." I'm fine with that. The music is also changing. You say there aren't super tested formats, and that's because the most popular genres are merging. The fact that we have country stars collaborating with rappers is all you need to know. The Grammy winning country album by Kacey Musgraves was produced by an EDM guy. So we're heading to a point where radio stations won't be defined by their format any more. That's why I said radio stations aren't in the music distribution business. They use music, but they aren't meant to be a replacement for personal devices.
What's the future? I don't know. That's why I'm investing in a variety of things. I think I'm not alone. We're all looking a each other, waiting to see who gets a hit.
Interesting and good points. You're right about the merging of genres of music. Country with rap is intense but it is happening.
I used to be in radio and quit the career about 25 years ago. I'm now in a field that is rapidly due to technology and we continue to find new ways to make money as we advance with technology.
I would be curious as to your thoughts about the future of radio as I know you are investing in some different things. I thought HD sub channels would take the industry by storm in this country but most people don't even know they exist despite many cars now having HD radios.
As of today, I'm stepping back from that, because there appears to be an attack on big tech from both side of the political aisle. Have to wait and see how that will shake out.
I guess I don't understand the big deal about WPLJ's impending demise. The station has earned ho-hum ratings for the better part of the last 25 years. It's been a semi-important station for middle aged women in New Jersey and little more.
102.7 does the Hot AC format better.
95.5 WPLJ - everyone's favorite station for car radio preset button #4!
102.7 does the Hot AC format better.
95.5 WPLJ - everyone's favorite station for car radio preset button #4!
That would sure be a lively discussion. My guess is the old PLJ, if it could just come back would solve all the issues and answer all the questions. As for business model - you know I have my hundreds of crazy ideas, but the top Crazy Seven would certainly liven things up.
Jeffrey - forgive me. Are you in the radio biz? Because if you are not, then you are one of those really special people that get the odd, emotional companionship of real radio. It's even better than you are here. That connected relationship has been lost. Especially beginning in the the mid-90's. That cigar for those sweeping changes goes to my favorite president, Bill Clinton.* So, you YOU DO HAVE AN IDEA, Jeffrey. Give your self some credit. Plus you seem like a really good person.
All the "experts" that have managed to get themselves tangled up in this decades old radio debacle DID NOT have a lot of RIGHT ideas, because the average amount of money LOST from the "brilliant minds" business practices in the industry would literally stop all hunger, teach all the world and cure many of the diseases on our planet. I am obviously blowing things out of proportion, but I am serious that all the "brains" that go us all into this mess never had the brains to figure an economic downturn would happen? Computers and technology would grow and beat the ease and quality of radio? Or people would get older? Sure, we cannot predict the future, but the party could not continue. Everyone saw that.
So, Jeffrey, I think your ideas are most welcome and probably more valuable that the thousands of people we all assumed had this industry figured and would at least transition it somewhat profitably into the year 2000 and beyond. Things didn't go as planned. And yet, we still kinda use a lot of that flawed logic to justify why crazy things like EMF have managed to kick the a$$e$ of iHeart, Cumulus and certainly next TV and cable.
*Only BigA would have been a better president than Clinton.
Well, we all know where that cigar ended up, don't we?
*Only BigA would have been a better president than Clinton.
No interns allowed.
A comparison to NPR is not accurate in anything beyond the most cynical terms.
Only if one Is willing to overlook the subterfuge and deception inherent in the operator’s name and slogan can this seem legitimate.
There is nothing “educational” about what they are up to. The truthful name for it is proselytizing.
The slogan “positive and encouraging” is more of the same. Create a format that uses bands and singers who sound like current CHR and Hot AC acts but have them constantly referring to “something” that ends up being an ancient superstition.
Why not be more truthful in both name and game. Call your operation something like Contemporary Christian Broadcasting –or similar.
Call the format Today’s Christian Music (or CCM).
That would negate the stealth element. Wouldn’t it.
The bigger issue is what happened here, last year in Chicago and in a rapidly advancing number of markets where these operators have been able to scavenge full market facilities, often for pennies on the dollar. We’ve seen this script before. It is what a dying medium looks like.
You can ignore-deny these signs, quote some positive earnings reports, which are substantially down from a decade ago, but then ask around to find how many people you can find who still use anything that resembles radio.
Pandora, podcasts and Youtube are not radio.
That is where the listeners are going in increasing numbers and it leaves what we know as radio in the rear view.
LCG
My point of reference is to the business model, not the operating philosophy. NPR and K-Love are listener supported (although NPR gets grants and underwriting, which EMF stays away from), and both are non-profit entities. One could throw in Pacifica, too. But it has severe financial issues. Or the Farm Workers / Chávez Foundation., but it is not as well know.
EMF began with the operation of a conventional teaching and preaching station in Santa Rosa, CA, nearly 40 years ago. As such the name was appropriate. They discovered the potential of an all music format that embodied Christian values. They don't "proselytize" as they don't preach and their outreach is via the radio, not a formal ministry (although they maintain listener help lines as often listeners may not have anywhere else to turn.
In your opinion. There are many who believe in some form of Creator or Supreme Being. Having music that embodies that faith and is not misogynistic, violent or overtly sexual is a boon to them. You may not find it to your liking, but there are many who do. It's not necessary to insult their beliefs.
Actually, they use names like Air-1 and K-love on the air. For most purposes, the refer to themselves as EMF, and I don't see any chicanery in the name... it's just a corporate name that was fine at the beginning and likely not worth the effort to change later.
They have a number of formats. Each one has a name.
EMF was there when Cumulus could not take their LMA to the purchase stage. They had cash. Nobody else did, mostly due to the effects of the recession and not to the state of a medium that reaches about 92% of adults every week.
Actually, earnings are up compared to 10 years ago. 10 years ago was the deepest stage of the recession and radio has recovered quite a bit since them, despite more competition for entertainment time.
Poll a few tens of thousand of people as I have. Pandora and Satellite and Spotify are "radio" to consumers. Any real-time audio that does not have pictures is radio. And their phones and tablets are their reception device.
And who has the greatest podcast usage of all the providers? NPR and iHeart, two radio organizations. You are confusing distribution channels with content. Radio is in the content business, not the AM or FM transmitter and tower business.
A "dying medium" would have just shut down. That's not what happened. Change is not death. When you open the door to new buyers, it means a change in the status quo. That can be scary to some who want the landscape to remain the same. The radio environment has been in a constant state of flux. Don't be afraid of new owners or new approaches to radio. Just because they play a style of music you don't like doesn't mean they're dead.
I've been talking about how the FCC has over-licensed the spectrum. They keep adding stations, from Docket 80-90, the LPFM act, and now the AM Revitalization Act with translators. You can't keep jamming new radio stations onto the same piece of spectrum without it becoming overcrowded. We're seeing the results of what happens when you have too many radio stations in a town. The market shares go down, their percentage of ad revenues go down, and their values go down. The medium is forced to adjust. People are still listening to the radio, but not in the same way they did 50 years ago.
We're also seeing it in television. Traditional platforms such as cable and satellite are losing viewers, and instead there's a rise in alternative video packages such as Hulu, YouTube TV, and Sling. Real time viewing is decreasing, as people watch at their convenience, rather than at appointed hours. Does that mean TV is dying? No. It's changing. The companies that create the shows are just adapting to a new marketplace, and that's what we're seeing in radio.
From my standpoint, Russian programming (Radio Russkaya Reklama) on 95.5 HD2 might move back to 102.7 HD4 or settle on 94.7 HD2. I don't know much about the future of 77 WABC and Radio 103.9. But all I have to say is that Salem Media Group might even buy those 2 outlets and convert WNBM into a Christian AC format (103.9 the Fish) and keep WABC as it is for now (albeit with a new name).
In the event of WNBM becoming a Christian AC format, the NYC area will likely be able to support 4 Christian AC stations (Star 99.1, 95.5 K-LOVE, 96.7 Air1, 103.9 the Fish). Ha!
I am going to guess that you are not in the target audience. ;-) Both in demo and philosophy.
A few years back there we tons of ex-rock guys on these boards who would constantly berate any female formatted station.
Most people "in the biz" can appreciate a job well done, well run, and quality produced product...even if it is targeted to "someone else".
There goes the fun of listen to the radio.
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