It’s Throwback Thursday – #TBT – for those of you into hashtags, and a chance to go back to a July of the past – in this case five years ago. In the summer of 2017, scientists warned about climate change, predicting it would be the second warmest summer on record (after 2016). Facebook announced its 2 billionth monthly user, and “Depacito” by Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee became the most streamed song ever, played 4.6 billion times.
And five years ago, Classic Rock was continuing to make ratings history, enjoying another strong summer of Nielsen ratings, especially in PPM markets.
But there were murmurings about the potential of a new, up-and-coming gold-based format: Classic Alternative. In other words, what’s old…is old again.
When I read the post, it struck me there’s been a lot of similar nostalgic buzz wafting through alternative circles these days, as programmers try to navigate a new music period in the format that’s fallen short of expectations. And newly released data from Luminate reveals the 90’s are now the most popular decade of music.
So, let’s do some time-tripping five years back in time when the Detroit Tigers would go on to finish in last place in their division, a road of ignominy they’re still sputtering on today. – FJ
July 2017
As we firmly move into the second half of 2017, the format ratings stories of the year are becoming clearer. As we’ve seen in the past few years, an odd demographic pattern has been forming around both the Classic Hits and Classic Rock formats in PPM markets:
They are both very competitive among 18-34 year-olds.
In fact, Nielsen declared that Classic Rock is in serious contention to be this year’s “format of the summer.” Not bad for a collection of songs that was first heard on the radio 30, 40, and even 50 years ago.
Whether Classic Rock earns summertime honors or not, it continues to defy format logic by maintain strong shares in all demos – 6+, 25-54, and amazingly, those 18-34s. Here’s the updated chart from Nielsen, tacking the format each June in metered markets:
(BTW if you work for a Classic Rock station, you have Nielsen’s permission to post this chart in every sales cubicle and in the jock lounge.)
Earlier in the week, musicologist, radio pro, and mega-blogger Alan Cross posed today’s post title as a question in his highly entertaining blog, “A Journal of Musical Things.” Quoting a story in the Vancouver Province by Stuart Derdeyn, the burning issue on the table is whether “Classic Alternative” is poised to be the next incarnation of Classic Rock.
As we learned over the years – and I include myself in that group – there have been many different successful iterations of the original format, from Classic Hits to Classic Rock That Really Rocks.
The “Classic Alternative” concept floats to the service every few years or so. As Derdeyn points out in his story, many Alternative bands from the ’80s (actually, they were more often referred to as “Modern Rock” back then) are still popular concert bands today – especially at the myriad summer festivals scheduled throughout North America.
Artists like the Psychedelic Furs and Violent Femmes are part and parcel of the phenomenon Derdyn says could be on the verge of happening. And in his story set-up, Cross alludes to the fact that most Classic Rock stations have beefed up ’80s music on their playlists.
Derdeyn notes many of these bands didn’t get a “fair shake” when they first hit the music scene back in the ’80s. And certainly here in the States, there were many markets that did not have a true Modern Rock station back then. Most of these songs didn’t cross over to Top 40, while most mainstream rockers (known in those days as AOR) didn’t touch them. They were visible on MTV during that time, but less prominently played on FM radio.
While these bands may do well at state fairs and other summer festivals boasting well-stocked lineups of bands, their ability to support a format is questionable. Classic Rock – and its derivatives – as well as Oldies stations were predicated on the power of nostalgia – not just for a few thousand fans in a market, but for tens of thousands or more of die-hard supporters. We’re talking mass appeal vs. niche. 
If you’ve never heard of the band pictured at right*, 7 spins a week on a Classic Alternative station isn’t going to turn their music into high-testing big hits in 2017. It’s hard to create a groundswell of support for poorly exposed music that’s now 30+ years old.
Personally, I’m a fan of a lot of this stuff, despite the fact it received consistently sporadic airplay in Detroit where I programmed. Oddly enough, one of my favorite satellite music channels is “1st Wave,” which features a steady diet of bands like New Order, Depeche Mode, and others that Derdyn mentions in his column. I would bet the folks at SiriusXM would tell us it’s not among the most popular of their themed music formats.
For a new nostalgia-based format to succeed on a sustained basis, it needs a strong base of existing fans that loved and adored the music in real-time – when it was first released. That’s just not the case here.
Just because music is old doesn’t make it classic.
And by the way, imagine how Sean Ross’ head will explode if the song of the summer of 2017 turns out to be “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
* The photo is Echo & The Bunnymen
Thanks to Nielsen and Jon Miller for the data.
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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It’s true that a lot of the alternative rock of 80’s was not widely supported by radio. But you can’t say the same about the alternative rock of the 90’s or 00’s. It was everywhere. Grunge, Brit Pop, Pop Punk, Emo, etc. I think if you incorporate all of these styles in addition to 80’s modern rock and new wave you could have a viable format in some markets.
“In some markets” is the operative caveat, Brian. I like it in west coast markets where Alt (or Modern Rock) was a real brand. And of course, it’s market by market. As you point out, much of it may lie in the nuance of how it’s structured. Thanks for the comment.
As a 50+ year old male living in Charlotte, WEND hits a lot of what you’re talking about for me. But also keeps me in the loop on new stuff. However, if they ever stopped playing any new stuff I wouldn’t miss it. Oldies and Classic Hits/Classic Rock played the same songs when I was in college in the late 80’s/early 90’s as they do now, and for the most part, don’t appeal to me as much as a classic alt station would.
Bob, your conclusion about ALT gold being preferable to newer music is a departure from the way it worked in the format in the 80’s and 90’s. Alt stations couldn’t play enough new music back then. Amazing how things have changed. Thanks for commenting.
I mentioned something similar recently, but a lot of what was considered “Alternative” or “Modern Rock” in the U.S. was (and, in many cases, still is) commercially popular elsewhere. I wasn’t listening at the time, but one of my usual go-to outlets for bilingual Classic/Variety Hits (Chile’s national Rock & Pop) apparently just went from a Jacksons hit (“Blame It on the Boogie”) to, in order, “99 Red Balloons”, “Enola Gay”, and “Kiss Them for Me”–with possibly no stop set between them. (There might’ve then been a break leading into “El Detenido”, an early hit for Chile’s own Los Bunkers–which, like most of that band’s output, is very much Modern Rock-sounding.)
All of that sets up what might be the most-important question here: Should a Gold-based format be dependent on music that was already popular locally? Or, to reference an old tagline that NBC used to promote reruns of “Must-See TV” shows, “If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s new to you!”
Your question is an interesting one. We’ve discovered at rock stations that when you play a gold song (usually an album track) that was never exposed (much) when it was new, it usually doesn’t work. Some have theorized the problem is that when a generally unknown song (even by a core artist) plays in a gold rotation (which isn’t very fast), it doesn’t accrue enough “spins” to become familiar enough to test well. And when you add in the fact it likely isn’t being heard anywhere else, it’s not enough emphasis or support for a song to break through. Appreciate the comment, as always.
Naturally, I have my own take on this.
Within the concept of my focused Classic Hits format “The Eighties Channel” I have the usual crossover hits, plus an accent category of easily recognizable Modern Rock/New Wave songs plus a four-hour block on Saturday night of “deeper” songs that I’ve cross-referenced against the relative popularity of airplay as currents (and don’t think THAT was easy since we didn’t have BDS back then) and being that selective results in a few hundred titles that work within the framework of Classic Hits.
Of course, to the south of me in San Diego, the legendary 91X is pretty much doing the format you predicted five years ago, Fred … but I think I’ve found the way to make this work in pretty much every market.
There are a lot of eyeballs and ears on 91X, K.M. If any station can pull this off, they can. Thanks for the comment.
As you mentioned Fred, “New Wave”, “College Radio” or “Modern Rock” didn’t get wide exposure in every market but why couldn’t it work in the markets that did have legendary stations?
Certainly KROQ isn’t going to revert back to their roots but there must be an underperforming stick in LA or a rimshot into the city that could use a boost.
When we were in the city, we could just pull in WLIR/WDRE and I couldn’t wait to get close enough to Boston to tune in WFNX. How could it not work in those markets?
The 80’s were not a great decade for Classic Rock (ahem Poison) but it sure was for “Alternative”. In fact, Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Cutter” just came up in my shuffle the other day.
And as K.M mentioned above, I’ve enjoyed 91X every time I’ve tuned in since they made that change. I’m hoping they are doing well.
As noted, Mike, I’m very curious about 91X. Success in San Diego might encourage broadcasters in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and a few other markets where the format has history to try a variant as well. Of course, many of those same markets have experienced large numbers of new residents who have no knowledge of heritage stations from the 80’s or 90’s. Thanks for commenting.
Very interesting post, and lots of intriguing comments. And this strikes a chord with me, After working for many years in commercial radio (mostly Country) I went back to my alma mater in 2002 as Operations Manager for 90.5 WERG at Gannon University in Erie, PA. Our weekday format is Modern Rock, but back in April, I tweaked it and our presentation to put a bit more emphasis on the Golds. So, in addition to currents from Florence and the Machine, Vance Joy, Weezer, and The War on Drugs, you get 2K favorites like Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Cage the Elephant…90’s Alternative from The Foo Fighters, Bush, Green Day, and Nine Inch Nails…and 80’s New Wave with New Order, Concrete Blonde, The Smithereens, XTC, R.E.M., and U2. I’ve always enjoyed the wide variety that the format offers.
Chet, it sounds like you’re ready to roll out your format. Thanks for posting the comment.