Jacobs Media’s Keith Cunningham talks about the biggest entertainment trends of 2007, and what they might mean for ’08.
In a televised special last year, Saturday Night Live’s Lorne Michaels said, “If you’re not about what people are thinking about that week, then I think you don’t have any relevance.” Our friends at Nielsen recently released their year-end look at the top trends in the U.S., I thought I’d highlight a few to illustrate what Americans were about last year, while giving us clues to ’08 trends. And not surprisingly, Nielsen’s findings back much of what we’ve seen in the annual Jacobs Media Tech Surveys:
VIDEO GAMES: Gamers continue to supply some incredible TSP (time-spent-playing). World of Warcraft, the most popular online game, has a mind blowing average TSP of nearly 17 hours per-week. (That’s a TSL that radio stations would kill for.) And retail darlings like Halo and Madden still look more than addictive with about 7 hours of TSP per-week, on average.
If this isn’t a reminder of the incredible pressure Radio is under to create unique and compelling content, I don’t know what is. As we all know, it’s not just TV, the Internet, or digital music that’s cutting into Radio’s usage time. Video games, in many cases, are earning more weekly attention from their consumers than Radio.
And in the interest of combating the war for usage time, you have to ask whether voicetracking and “re-expressing” assets (i.e., gutting the hallways) are really Radio’s solution to creating more compelling content so that usage time and cost-per-point will increase. Electronic Arts, Activision, and other gaming companies aren’t cutting back on content creation. Research and “programming” development are the fuel that drives their business.
ONLINE: Google and Yahoo! have a wide lead in the number of unique visitors per-month, with about 110 million each. How’s that for reach? And if you run radio stations in Austin, San Francisco, Portland or Seattle, and you’re not blogging or giving listeners the opportunity to post online or participate with programming, think again. Those cities lead the pack with adults who read or participate with blogs. While the numbers aren’t astronomical – around 15% – is there any reason to think they won’t increase quarterly in most markets around the country? This small little stat is merely the tip of a much larger “customization” iceberg. “Power to the people” is not just a cliché; it should be Radio’s mantra for the foreseeable future.
MOVIES/TV: It’s no surprise that Spider-Man 3 and Shrek were the biggest movies of the year, and that American Idol and the Super Bowl topped TV trends, but did you know that Lost and Heroes were the top “time-shifted” primetime shows? Not unlike Radio’s revenue pressures, TV execs are under the gun, as time-shifting means eyeballs on TV advertisements will continue to diminish.
Time-shifting is here to stay and it represents a severe revenue problem that’s only going to become more poignant for television. We saw this up close and personal in our trend finding – Control, Variety, Choice – in “The Bedroom Project.” Is product placement and downloadable content the solution? Some think so. Interestingly enough, American Idol, Fast Cars & Superstars, and Extreme Makeover Home Edition top Nielsen’s list for Television Product Placement Occurrences.
MUSIC: The most interesting finding for music stations is that with little airplay (aside from Radio Disney, of course), High School Musical 2 topped the Top 10 albums list. Think about that for a minute and let it sink in. And remember that Gen Y drives those sales, a demo Radio has all but abandoned.
Those who think there isn’t money in Gen Y are clearly not paying close-enough attention or willing to make the commitment to go after these dollars. All of us at Jacobs Media are still waiting for, and willing to help a company develop programming strategies for Gen Y. The younger demos are literally Radio’s future, and yet PPM’s 6+ ratings are thought to be too fringe to be useful. A medium that used to appeal to everyone is limiting its own potential.
There is some good news for Rock, however, as Daughtry and Linkin Park come in at #2 and #3 on Nielsen’s list. And The Eagles and Nickelback had themselves a great year as well, ranking 6th and 8th, respectively.
If you’re a marketer, programmer, in sales, or an on-air talent or producer, Nielsen’s findings should be of interest to you. It’s like having the keys to the “House of Mass Appeal.” There’s a lot more data included in the full report – click here if you’d like to download a copy. Kudos to Nielsen for making it publicly available.
If you like this type of stuff and want to know more about what your audience is up to in 2008, we hope you’ll join us for Jacobs Media Tech Survey IV. It will uncover some important, new, actionable data for 2008. If you haven’t already RSVP’d, contact Lisa Riker at lisariker@g5j.8ac.myftpupload.com.
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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