If you’re waiting for a new music format – a knight in shining armor – to save your flagging ratings, then you will be waiting for the rest of your professional career. Because there never will be one ever again. What’s the next big new format? Radio has been asking that question forever. Most recently, the answer was Classic Hip Hop. Is it the next big thing? Maybe not (from Radio Ink): If you listened to Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins on his earnings call you might come to th

Have you noticed? There hasn’t been a significant new music radio format introduced in a decade. Sure, we’ve had Rhythm AC and Classic Hip Hop and perhaps other approaches that make nominal sense in a smattering of markets. But nothing big, nothing widespread, nothing popular across markets. Not since the so-called Adult Hits format. And that, you should remember, was presented as the antidote to the narrowness of terrestrial radio formats when those were the only formats we

If you are in Nashville for the Country Radio Seminar, stop by my presentation at 11am on Thursday, February 20. The title: BUILDING A STRONG BRAND NO MATTER WHAT TECHNOLOGY DOES Here’s the description: Radio is suffering a crisis of attention. The time spent with radio is declining as attention scatters to sexy alternatives. The solution to this problem is not more social media, better apps, a slicker stream, or some new techno-integration in the auto dashboard. The solution

I’m not talking about the radio station (which is New York’s newest Country station), I’m talking about the website. Yes, I know this is an “opening act” site and not the “final” one.  But in many ways this is a much better “final” site than whatever might be “final.” Consider what it provides: A clean, clear representation of the brand and its benefit The opportunity to listen live one click away An email entry form to find out more about the brand and, in the process, to ga

From Radio-Info, reporting on research at the Country Radio Seminar: From a country station website, the most loyal (P1) listeners want attributes such as concert schedules for their favorite acts and the ability to listen online. What they don’t particularly want (as primary content) is DJ bios, photos and blogs. Why would anybody want a DJ bio? Yet most stations seem to have them on their websites.  And that’s because stations tend to view websites as digital brochures rath