- •The Radio Industry
- •Determining the Use of Radio
- •The Creation of the rca
- •Government Regulation of Radio
- •Radio in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s
- •Network Programming
- •The Baby Boom, Radio, and Recordings
- •Ethics and Payola
- •Fm Radio and the Fragmentation of Rock Music
- •Challenges of Fragmentation and Digitization, 1970 to the Present
- •Internet radio a service in which streaming audio is distributed to digital devices that access the Web location
- •An Overview of the Terrestrial Radio Industry
- •Where and When People Listen to the Radio
- •Am vs. Fm Technology
- •Commercial Radio Stations vs. Noncommercial Radio Stations
- •Radio Market Size
- •Production in the Radio Industry
- •Radio Formats
- •Determining Listening Patterns
- •Working with Formats
- •Producing the Playlist
- •Conducting Research to Compile the Playlist
- •Maintaining the Format and Retaining the Target Audience
- •Distribution in the Radio Industry
- •The Role of Networks, Syndicators, and Format Networks
- •Learning Who Listens
- •Conducting Market Research to Determine Station Ratings
- •When Stations Fare Poorly in the Ratings
- •Radio and the New Digital World
- •Satellite Radio
- •Traditional Radio’s Responses to Digital Music
- •Commercial Time
- •Hd Radio
- •Internet Participation
- •Media Literacy and the Radio Industry
- •If you had to create an industry that streams music and talk formats to Americans, would the radio industry as it is now organized be what you would choose?
- •Questions for Discussion and Critical Thinking
- •Case Study
Determining Listening Patterns
on-air talent term referring to radio workers whose voices and personalities are broadcast over the radio’s airwaves
Listening patterns are the habits that describe people's use of radio Radio industry executives suggest that the following five propositions about listening patterns help them effectively segment audiences:
Individuals tend to listen to only three radio stations at any particular period in their lives, with the most “preferred” of those stations taking up 65-70 percent of their listening time
In the United States, there tends to be a large and widening divide between the music preferences of black, white, and Hispanic people 1! Men and women often have separate musical interests
People who are ten years apart in age tend to belong to different “music generations” with different tastes
These music preferences can be useful tools for identifying people with distinct styles of living and buying
Format consultants argue, for example, that they can construct formats that will divide the African-American audience by age and lifestyle. For example, several cities have urban/adult contemporary stations that combine the features of both adult contemporary and urban contemporary stations. They try to reach an older African-American audience by playing both current songs and the “soft” tunes that were popular in these listeners' youth. In a similar vein, the news/talk format can be further divided into distinct subformats such as all news, sports talk, motivational talk, and political talk.
Consultants point out that it is the combination of a radio station's cues—the kind of music or talk, the presence of announcers and their speech patterns, the presence or absence of jingles and other identifiers (interstitials)—crafted in particular ways, that keep listeners of particular genders, ages, races, and ethnicities coming back.
Working with Formats
dead air the silence on the airwaves that is produced when a radio station fails to transmit sound
playlist the roster or line-up of songs that a radio can play on the air during a given period of time
Once station management chooses a target audience and a format for a local station with the help of consultants, the station's personnel are typically responsible for working with the format—producing it and making it attractive to the target audience on a daily basis (see Figure 11.3).
The general manager is in charge of the entire station operation. He or she represents the owners of the station and is responsible for its activities. The station's sound is controlled by the chief engineer, the news director, and the program director. The chief engineer makes sure that the station's sound goes over the air reliably and, with the help of the compliance manager, that the station's equipment complies with the technical rules of the Federal Communications Commission. The news director supervises news that is read over the air, perhaps assisted by reporters. In preparation for delivering the news over the air, these workers scan the news wires for relevant stories, and conduct brief interviews with local officials to supplement their stories.
The program director works to make sure that the station's programming is consistent with the format and popular with the target audience, and controls the station's on-air functions. Almost everything a listener hears over the air is the responsibility of the program director. The air personalities, or DJs, work for the program director. The program director is often assisted by a music director and a promotions manager. In many cases, these individuals also handle a shift on the air.
The average on-air personality (also known as on-air talent) works a four- or five- hour shift. Although this may sound like cushy work, it isn't. Running a format requires being able to handle many different, time-sensitive tasks simultaneously. During his or her hours on the air, a personality may play up to seventy-five records and an equal number of commercials. In addition, the personality will answer select listener phone calls, perhaps give away a few tickets to lucky listeners, and update the weather forecast or sports scores. Keeping all these format elements in order while sounding upbeat on the air requires a fair amount of technical skill. Station employees carefully ensure that when a song ends a new one smoothly begins. Otherwise, the station will transmit dead air—that is, nothing. Silence is a big taboo in radio, because the mandate is to keep the target audience interested. Figuring out how to fill time attractively is a big challenge for a DJ. After their shift in the on-air studio, many disc jockeys move to a production studio, where they create items like commercials or comedy bits for later airing.
Figure 11.3 The Organizational Structure of a
Typical Radi© Station