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Chapter 14 Programming, Production and Measuring Success. Radio is under attack. Cell phones represents the convergence of technology keyboard, e-mail, text messaging, plays MP3s, download and play video games, built-in camera. Many portable MP3 players hold
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Radio is under attack. • Cell phones represents the convergence of technology keyboard, e-mail, text messaging, plays MP3s, download and play video games, built-in camera. • Many portable MP3 players hold more music than a radio station can play in a day.
We do not listen to technology, we listen to people who use technology to entertain us. • Radio must return to “its roots of presenting enter- taining personalities and real-time interaction with listeners.” • Good programming is based on research,including psychographics, not hunches or guesses.
Arbitron Audience Ratings • “The book” – radio talk for the ratings. • Stations are usually rated four times a year. In about 100 top markets; Arbitron measures ratings continuously. • “The book” is issued to subscribing stations.
Average Quarter-Hour • AQH is one of several measures of listening. • Estimated number of listeners for at least five minutes in any given quarter hour of a daypart. • Broken into demographic age groupings: 18-34, 18-49,25-49, 25-54, 35-64; male-female.
Average Quarter-Hour (cont.) • AQH Rating: AQH listeners\Population X 100 • AQH Share: AQH listeners\All radio listeners X 100 • AQH tells advertisers how many potential people may hear their ad.
Cume (as in “cumulative”) • Average number of different listeners who tuned in for at least 15 minutes (five minutes) in a week. • Tells advertisers how many different people may hear their ads. • Cume rating: Cume listeners/Population X 100
Time Spent Listening • Number of quarter-hours the average person spent listening, either by the day or week. • Measures loyalty of listeners to a station. • Tells advertisers chances of a listener hearing an ad more than once.
Music and Format Selection • Music is a commodity, dependent on desires of customers. • Music is a tool to attract listeners, depending on the target audience of the station. • Some formats do not depend on music (see 14.2, p. 348)
Researching a Market Three main elements: • Footprint: Coverage area of a station’s signal. Also important to know competitor’s footprint. • Population: Also, the demographic makeup. • Competitors: Formats?Compete or counter program?
In-depth Format Analysis • Listeners are customers – they spend their time instead of money. • Two types of customers: (1) not being served at all, (2) not being served well. • Hole in the market? Standard format? • Weaknesses of other stations?
Selling the Target Demographic • Are there advertisers who will pay to reach the target audience? • See figure 14.4. Profile of “alt rock” audience. • Stations do quantitative and qualitative research; outside firm or in-house? • Audience surveys and focus groups.
Program Director’s Duties Four objectives: • (1) presentation exciting enough to cause listening. • (2) flow causes listeners to listen longer. • (3) Air staff trained to communicate with listeners. • (4) Listeners must know who they’re listening to, and be able to recall station.
Music Mix and Rotation • Play clocks (14.5), may change from daypart to daypart. • Promote smoothest music flow and longest time-spent listening. • How often to play the current #1 hit? How often to play recent past hits (“recurrents”). • Based on research, largely computerized.
Program Elements Other programming elements: • Traffic reports? News? • How often (and how) to give time and temperature. • Talk over music intros? • Back announce songs? P-D creates and enforces the rules.
Formatics and Inventory Control • Commercial inventory must not intrude too much into the format. • Commercials can become a tune-out factor. • P-D determines how stop sets are presented, number of spots, order. • P-D involved in deciding what types of spots will be accepted.
Coordinating All Program Elements • P-D uses all elements to create a “living, breathing” station. • Station develops a personality –part of “positioning,” creating an identity.
Strategy and Tactics • Program director decides on strategy and tactics. • “Strategy” is the overall plan (adopting alt rock format to reach 18-34 men). • “Tactics” are the specific steps (music rotation, stop sets, announcers’ attitudes, promotional events, contests, etc.)