Inside Music MediaJerry Del Colliano

This is the most mystifying metric of all.

Before digital media, social networking, iPhones or even short attention spans, radio began losing time spent listening.

And it hasn’t stopped for 25 straight years.

The former Arbitron first started to track the figures and each year (and into the Nielsen era) radio has posted this almost unbelievable erosion of time listeners spend with their favorite radio stations.

There are a lot of Band-Aids for this continuing loss of interest in radio, but to be fair it helps to understand the mitigating circumstances.

Even back in the early 90’s listeners complained in research studies commissioned by numerous stations that there were too many commercials, repetitive music, too much talk and not enough variety.

This led program directors to fire up their liners and sweepers to position their music stations as “more music, fewer commercials and the best variety”.

Of course, what radio was touting on the air in response to these objections wasn’t true and over time listeners got the real message that radio was not listening to them.

And, the erosion continued.

When satellite channels, digital and eventually streaming music services became a competitor, radio was left with the same complaint -- too many commercials, repetitive music and not enough variety.

What’s important is that radio listeners (and potential radio listeners) want radio to listen to them.

But now their list of demands includes even more things that they are afraid radio is not listening to.

For example …

They want a different kind of morning show – not the good old goofy gang, something different and while we have identified specifically the changes they want, most radio people cannot name them.

And they are radical changes to say the least.

Listeners want to be talked to differently --- not as a mass audience out there but one-to-one. Last year at my conference Dan Mason, Jr. shared some of his research that listeners didn’t like it when station’s tried to relate to them.

Huh?

If they didn’t like radio trying to relate to them, what did they want instead?

Most listeners know radio stations have to run commercials but they don’t like the way they sound or the way they are run.

To be fair listeners do not understand that most stations hate the national and agency spots they get because they are moronic, but as a business they must accept them and run them.

Still, there is emerging new evidence that stations can run a full schedule and mitigate some of the negatives associated with commercial clutter.

But is anyone listening? Do stations care?

Do stations even know what they can do to make the spots go down with listeners easier?

That’s why there is a growing divide between listeners and the stations they want to like. In fact, they want to crave.

Yes, they want to love radio but not something that doesn’t speak to them.

Services that listeners expect are not traffic, transit and weather – they can get these things readily on their phones.

They want an advocate. I think if you knew what that advocate concept looked like, you’d gladly run out and do it.

Our research on Millennials show they are more concerned with whether they (the listeners) are seen as being fun-loving than whether the on-air jock or personality comes off as fun-loving.

Again, what does this look like in terms that could allow stations to adapt?

And all the cash prizes (yes, cash), tickets, trips and other enticements are not as important to them as their dreams.

And there is a way to get new age in-demo listeners “hooked” by helping them achieve their dreams.

These are important issues.

We are going to discuss the problems as well as the solutions to end TSL erosion at my upcoming Radio Conference in 6 weeks.