RadioBanter - View Single Post

Mark Howell · April 8th 10, 02:08 AM posted to rec.radio.broadcasting

On Sun, 4 Apr 2010 16:03:48 EDT, (Scott Dorsey)
wrote:

We have here in Williamsburg, VA. a local commercial classical station that
opened up just a couple years ago, and which seems to be doing very well.
You can turn on WBQK any time and hear Pachelbel's Canon or Vivaldi's Four
Seasons. The thing is, there's only a limited number of times I can listen
to the Four Seasons without going off my nut. The playlist is as short as
a typical Oldies format station.

Here's what you have to understand about commercial radio. Regardless
of format, it's about Playing The Hits. (This includes news and talk,
which must play the hit topics). Once you stray from The Hits,
audiences flee, ratings drop, and the revenue is gone. Every genre of
music, from classical to country, has its hits. The only, I repeat
only way to success in commercial radio is to confine your station's
playlist to hit music of whatever genre you've picked.

Over and over and over again, longer playlists have equaled plunging
audience shares. When people say they want more variety, what most of
them really mean is they want to hear their favorite songs more often.
If you really give them variety, they're gone.

Mark Howell