Communication
130

Professor Joseph Turow

Radio

To survey the contemporary radio industry

The radio business in the late twentieth century was generally quite healthy—and then came under attack.

Revenues were growing--13% in 2000, though now things have gone down—past 5 year growth less than 1%; and now declining.

Listeners declining.

A BIRD’S EYE VIEW:

Never before in history have radio listeners had so many stations available.

In 2006, there were over 12,000 radio stations in the country.

How can so many stations survive in a major urban environment?

What does that station "produce"?

A format

Top 10 formats, by stations:

Selecting the right format

5 industry propositions:

Individuals tend to listen to only 3 radio stations

Widening divide between music prefs of blacks, whites and Hispanics

Men and women often have separate musical interests.

People who are 10 years apart in age tend to belong to different “music generations” with different tastes.

These music prefs can be useful tools for identifying people with distinct styles of living and buying.

Signaling to segment the audience:

Interstitials

The playlist- making it (call-outs, focus groups)

Format clock

Distribution:

Networks & syndicators help to augment locally produced formats.

Format networks

Exhibition:

Format segmentation that leads to audience segmentation is aimed at selling the audiences to advertisers.

Scarborough research

Lifestyle findings

Arbitron - major ratings source

Diaries

PPM

Controversy

Example of how technologies “changes” the audience metric and therefore the construction of audience

Radio and Consolidation

Telecom Act of 1996

Consolidation--

Sparked by Telecom Act of 96

9 firms control several thousand stations

Alternatives to Terrestrial “Radio”

Internet radio

Clear Channel Online