If you’ve spent time in radio programming or management, chances are you’ve spent time (and perhaps, money) on a research study known as a “Format Finder.”
You conduct this type of research when you’re at wit’s end with the format your station is running now. You usually come to this conclusion when you’ve tried pretty much everything, and your station is still in the starting gate.
A “Format Finder” examines the current station lineup in a market, looking for opportunities and vulnerabilities of existing competitors. How good is that Country station? Is the Classic Rock station attackable? Could you maybe squeeze in a Hot AC station that would steal audience from both the market’s CHR and that traditional Adult Contemporary station that just changed PDs? These are some of the questions you might ask, along with assessing a couple of possible flanker formats or other options that might work.
These days, most of the obvious formats are taken in most competitive markets. But you never know. It hasn’t been frequent, but I’ve heard research companies point to a format option with this conclusion:
It’s a format hole you could drive a Mack truck through.
But most of the time, programming teams are walking a fine line when they’re format hunting. Most end up having to thread a needle formatically. Or worse, sign on a station whose music can be heard on at least one other outlet in the market.
That’s why it’s surprising more programmers and strategists don’t take the road less travelled. In other words, a format that’s not “taken” because no one’s thought to do it before. That may sound daunting, but the fact is, it may be less risky than launching a format that already exists.
The book, “Moneyball,” by Michael Lewis showed us what a sports team – or business – could be like if it looked at the data differently. When radio tests new formats, it does so conventionally, staking out an age group (usually 25-54 year-olds), as well as looking at variables such as gender, ethnicity, and geography. That’s the way radio has always done it.
But what if broadcasters turned that model on its side? What if they looked at the marketplace through a different lens – such as life groups, occupations, or other variables that ran counter to conventional demographic lines? This approach wouldn’t work everywhere, but there are markets that represent different kinds of commonalities, and that means there are fascinating possibilities.
Take Washington, D.C., for example. It’s different from every other market in America because of its high concentration of federal workers. What if the D.C. metro had a station dedicated to serving that community? Rather than evaluating the market by age, income, and the other typical variables, what if there were a station whose mission it was to disseminate information curated specifically for those who work for the U.S. government?
In fact, Government Executive‘s Tom Shoop tells us the D.C. Metro population is made up of more than 14% of workers who toil for Uncle Sam. And here’s a surprise – there are actually three metros with a higher concentration of government workers: Colorado Springs, Virginia Beach, and Honolulu.
In all those markets, federal workers (mostly servicemen and women in various branches of the Armed Forces) arguably make up a larger potential audience than listeners who favor mainstream radio formats like Country, Rock, Hip-Hop and other conventional station types.
Now before you pick up the phone to start calling brokers to see if any D.C. station owner wants to sell, you might want to do a little due diligence on existing Washington, D.C. stations. And you’d
learn that it’s already being done – by Hubbard’s WFED, known in the market as the Federal News Network.
The station was launched more than two decades ago by Bonneville as a streaming operation. WFED now broadcasts on 1500 AM. While it doesn’t have a 14 share, it uniquely represents a major life group in its market. And that means it’s in a competitive category all its own.
And its success might lead other broadcasters to look at other radio markets with a high concentration of a nonconventional group or audience segment. So, in that spirit, let’s climb in the cab of our massive Mack truck and take a trip completely across the country to Palm Springs, and a station whose call letters say it all – KGAY.
The estimates are that approximately half the town’s population is gay, a target-rich environment for a station that caters to that audience. Think about that – a cume rating potential of 50%.
Our old friend, Brad Fuhr, bought the station in 2021 after creating the successful Gay Desert Guide.
Brad comes out of renowned college radio station, WPGU, in Champaign, Illinois. He programmed one of Jacobs Media’s early Classic Rock stations in Wichita under GM Mike Cutchall, KRZZ.
With KGAY, his LGBTQ Media is off to the races, proving once again that radio formats don’t have to take on the same-old same-old forms.
Not every market has a high concentration of an ethnicity, lifestyle, and/or workers. But there are more opportunities for broadcasters who’d rather cultivate a unique audience where the ratings are secondary to the delivery of a key group that makes a region unique.
There’s Mid-West Family’s The Farm, broadcasting on AM and FM signals out of Madison. The face of the station is the “Fabulous Farm Babe,” Pam Jahnke who has reported on Wisconsin
agriculture for more than three decades. These lifestyle-targeted stations don’t have to emanate from large markets to survive and thrive. A station for farmers? Why hasn’t one of these been tried in central Iowa?
I’m writing this blog post from my hometown of Detroit, Michigan, where two of these lifestyle format opportunities are waiting for someone to come along and seize the moment.
First and foremost, the largest population of Arab Americans in the U.S. resides in the Detroit Metro. The Census tells us more than 400,000 live in and around the Motor City.
Yes, I know about Lotus’ KIRN in L.A., a station serving a similar community in Southern California. Just over 300,000 Arab Americans make their home in and around Los Angeles. The Detroit opportunity is a bigger one, especially relative to the size of these two metros.
The other opportunity in Motor City Radio is obviously automotive. Using a similar model to WFED’s, it’s not difficult to imagine a station styled to appeal to those in the region’s leading industry, from corporate types to factory workers.
Clearly, there are many fewer auto jobs in Metro Detroit than there were a few decades ago. But cars still represent the heartbeat of the region, and OEMs and Tier Ones might find it especially useful to have a media outlet dedicated to cars. Over the years, they’ve advertised on the market’s big AM stations.
We talk a lot on this blog about the power of local, a quality that we continue to see rise in importance among audiences everywhere. There’s no better way to embrace the concept than by signing on a radio station that leans into the heart of a community.
What about where you live and work? How many lifestyle, ethnic, or special interest formats might there be in metros all over the country? What if you Moneyballed your metro to determine if there’s a major opportunity no one has considered before?
Creating radio that super-serves these communities transcends the ratings by delivering a key audience that defines a city and region. Where it ranks in cume or AQH may be secondary to the market it reaches. And in most cases, there are advertisers interested in reaching these groups.
And it is actually easier to research these potential opportunities because of the homogenous nature of the target audience.
You never know. You just might discover that hole you can drive a Mack truck through.
P.S. Thanks, Dave Beasing!
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I believe future radio stations will thrive with niche formats that attract smaller but more passionate listening audiences, likely getting higher TSL. Advertising targets qualitative, not quantitative.
Meanwhile can someone launch a damn station that plays rock currents here in Boston? This has to be the biggest gaping format hole in the USA.
Agree with you, of course, about the power & potential of specialty formats.
As for Boston, can’t do much for you there.
A “visitor focused” format in a heavy tourism market could focus on weather, local info and only local commercials. Deals with hotels etc to put the calls on flyers and other things in rooms. Familiar music and lots of event calendars and other information about the area. Advertisers would have to buy yearly schedules because the audience turns over every week. Perhaps even offer “category exclusives” to some sponsors.
Love it! Good one, Mark.
That was done in the tourism market that I live in. It was a continuous loop of info about hotels and attractions, and was promoted by billboards near the exit. Their idea was to get visitors to stop by their contracted welcome center and get signed up for a timeshare tour. They went off the air several years ago. I have had thoughts about reviving it in a somewhat different way.
Thanks for the comment, Brad.
I also love that idea! Thanks!
Joining the bandwagon on this one! I’ve been suggesting this to my colleagues here in the Nashville market for years. We’ve always been a tourist destination, but has recently exploded into something much bigger. In the downtown area, hotels have gone for as much as $1,000/night when there’s a big event happening (like 3 nights of Taylor Swift stadium concerts or the NFL Draft). The perfect opportunity for a station’s advertisers in that format to partner up for some great promotions & packages for the tourists.
Love this: It’s a format hole you could drive a Mack truck through! There sure are opportunities, especially in the Great Northeast! Play the hits as you define them for the local audience. The original CBS/FM Softrock did that playing The Eagles. Without the turkeys. Thank you, Fred, for the continued inspiration! Digital 1220watx.com Serves the Southside of Connecticut.
My Dad used to talk about Mack trucks (for some reason). And I remember those CBS-FM stations – tasty and well marketed.
An easy one: Take the WFED model and scale it down. There are 50 state capitals, each one comprising thousands of state employees and elected officials. I live in one of these cities, yet there’s no evident broadcaster speaking to this audience, just the usual claptrap you can hear anywhere. A weekly 5-minute segment on the state’s public radio network is the only hat-tip to listeners who want to hear what’s going on under and around the dome of the capitol. Maybe it could be a day-part only approach, but streaming would let you reach potential listeners who don’t live/work within the countour (telework being vogue).
Interesting idea, John. Thanks for sharing it.
All exciting excellent ideas Fred. And of course the companies with the resources, sales teams and signals to develop these formats are navel gazing at the music format slices that consumers can’t distinguish (Hot AC vs. CHR…?) Hope to see some of these ideas develop…and thanks for continuing to contribute to the radio industry dialog.
appreciate the encouragement, Jackson.
From the “someone please explain this to me” folder: Why, when almost every cluster has at least one full signal POS, is no one willing to try something different? When you don’t crack the top 10 in any important demo, what exactly to you have to lose? In some cases there’s an HD2-4 station getting numbers close to what that full signal is – why not swap them? And there is probably almost no advertising directed specifically at those stations, just packaged low rates to bring in a a buy. 3rd AC, 3rd Country, 2nd Classic Rock, 3rd Regional Mexican, the list is endless.
Programming to shared experience like Govt. work is a great idea to try – and there are some music formats that are worth a shot too. Again…what do you have to lose?
We’re on the same page, Bob. One of the disappointments of consolidation (and there are several) is that there has been little-to-no experimentation with the runt of the radio litter. Thanks for the comment.
Thank you Bob for your comment.
I was gonna ask the same thing.
Terrestrial radio can and should be able to compete with satellite radio. Plus there is no subscription fee to be paid. But you can’t have programming free 10 minute commercials blocks either. Sales has to sell.
First thing that needs to be fixed is HD radio needs to be open source. That will increase competition in the receiver product market. It will reduce operator costs because licensing fees are probably outrageous to use HD currently.
To clarify: sales needs to sell the product that is in front of them.
Here in the D.C. area (and no, I won’t call it “the DMV”), it’s definitely not just the actual government employees; it’s also the many, many contractors.
Also, I remember when KFWB tried revamping its News format to focus significantly on the entertainment industry–although it apparently didn’t last long.
Finally, I’m also surprised that there isn’t already an Arab-focused station in Detroit. Among the examples that I can think of off the top of my head, there are Vietnamese stations in places like the Twin Cities and Houston; Portuguese stations around Boston and Providence (including a good-sized FM, WJFD); and Korean stations in Atlanta and here in D.C.
Los Angeles:
KYPA – Korean
KAZN/KAHZ – Mandarin
KMRB – Cantonese
KVNR – Vietnamese
KMPC – Korean
KFOX – Korean
… and the aforementioned KIRN (Persian)
Thanks for rounding out the list, KM. Wonder how they’re all doing.
I see only one of these stations listed in the online radio ratings- and in the most recent Nielsen, KIRN had an N/A. That’s aside from the Hispanic leaning stations. Perhaps the others aren’t subscribing to ratings because there’s no breakout of Korean or Arabic or the other groups targeted. KFWB for awhile was South Asian Bollywood music -and much of it was very listenable. When new owners bought it, it fell in line with a few other stations with Spanish Classic Hits. On AM. Getting bigger ratings than one-time market leader KABC. Of course in the realm of defining one’s own success, I’m sure their revenue is listed somewhere. Interesting that those stations may not be owned by a conglomerate looking to put 90% to the bottom line. We might be seeing local businesspersons running a station aimed at a local population, with local programming. Interesting thoughts, aren’t they ?
Most may not subscribe to Nielsen and I get that. Given what they deliver, it likely has little ROI. And of course, that’s the other upside. No real competition and no reason to compete with the same metrics as everyone else. Thanks, Dave.
Thanks for reminding me of the KFWB experiment. Appreciate the comment.
Good piece. Haven’t heard the Madison station. Will check that out. So many farm country stations esp the legacy AMs have the community feel with school board announcements, PSAs, h.s. sports, town-team baseball and programming steered toward that community’s life. It was the very definition of community involvement. They aren’t cash-machines but many have stayed viable. As I was considering buying one of those 15 years or so ago, a friend/mentor/station-owner said to me. Tim, be sure you’re not just “buying a job”. Ha. He was correct, at least in my example. But many passionate folks want exactly that….a community driven medium.
There’s a lot to be said for radio that TRULY serves its community – not just a Classic Rock or Country station slightly modified for the local marketplace. Yes, it takes an initial investment….and time. Not unlike buying a transmitter, tower, land, and a building in the 1940s and 1950s did, along with a full staff. It takes time to build venerable media brands.