Liz Janik
by Liz Janik
Super-serving Hot AC Listeners
The easiest way Hot AC stations can boost their ratings is to maximize the use of their most powerful songs – Recurrents.
Ratings are built by playing familiar favorite songs. The definition of ‘familiar favorite’ changes depending on the age of the target listeners and their preferred musical styles.
A key principle in designing winning formats is to create the right balance of Current, Recurrent and Gold songs. The ratio of new and old songs must suit the needs of targeted listeners. The listeners’ interest in hearing new music, as well as their ability to absorb music, slows dramatically with age
For CHR, it’s the newest ‘now’ songs that matter most, so these stations use mainly songs less than six months old. Mainstream AC listeners prefer a steady diet of gold songs.
Research shows that a typical 15-year-old wants only new music. By the age of 20, listeners want 80% new music and a little bit of gold. That new/old ratio reverses by age 40. Older respondents preferred 80% gold.
History of Hot AC
Hot AC was originally designed specifically to super-serve women aged 25-39 years. The format emerged in the early 90’s when research identified an opportunity for a new format for young women, 25-39.
These women were dissatisfied with the juvenile ‘jangliness’ of CHR and were seeking relief, especially from the ‘Rap’ and ‘Grunge’. These music styles are extremely polarizing.
They also disliked the ‘snooziness’ of Mainstream AC stations, and had no interest in the core AC artists. By the early ’90s, women 25-39 did not want to hear Elton, Bolton and Rod. Instead, their fave artists were U2 and REM. They loved an eclectic music mix featuring pop, rhythmic and modern rock hits from the ’80s. Their gold universe extended back only a little more than a decade.
An important point to note: That was 15 years ago, or one generation of radio listeners. This means that those women who preferred REM and U2 back then are now 40 – 55 years of age. Which means that the audience for those heritage AC artists – Elton, Bolton and Rod – is now aged 55-plus.
Key Needs of Young Women
Hot AC succeeds when it truly meets the needs of woman aged 25-39. Their key needs are on three fronts:
1. Mood Service. Hot AC must offer a ‘pick-me-up-and-make-me-feel-good’ mood. This is done by creating a station that is upbeat and family friendly. Patronizing and/or boring DJs, endless station hype and rudeness will drive women away.
2. Information Service Information is typically the single most important reason why women tune radio at all. The programming trend in recent years to move away from news and information on music driven station is not supported in research findings. It is a costly mistake to ignore this fundamental ‘need to know’ that women have. That ‘need to know’ covers regular news, weather, local community issues, and lifestyle and entertainment stories.
3. Music Service Today’s familiar favorite songs mixed with some newer gold selections are what young women most want to hear. They love very melodic songs that make them want to sing along and dance. And they prefer an eclectic mix of music styles. They are not passionate about hearing the ‘newest songs first,’ nor do they want a steady diet of songs from the ’80s. They want to hear mostly new music that has been established as familiar. The ideal age of songs for this audience are songs that have reached recurrent status in our industries.
Focus to Win
The secret of successful Hot AC stations is that they truly super-serve the needs of women 25-39. This might seem to be too narrow of a target demo to focus on for some programmers. In fact, a properly focused Hot AC station can also win 18-44 and 25-54, even though it is customized specifically for 25-39. Younger women prefer the more ‘grown-up’ adult tone, and older listeners choose it when they are in the mood for a youthful ‘pick-me-up’ service.
When Hot AC stations are under-performing, it is usually because of two common mistakes in where they put their focus:
1. They attempt to program to an age target that is too wide, more than 15 years. When stations target 25-49 with Hot AC it means that neither end of the demo will be truly satisfied with the music. Therefore there will be a lack of passion for what the station offers. That’s the most effective way to grow AC audiences. When women find a station they love, they tell all their friends, and they stay loyal to it with long hours tuned.
2. They are moving new songs through current rotations too fast for the audience. The most popular new songs are
moved to a more limited recurrent rotation too early, usually at the exact same time the women are really enjoying it as a familiar new song.
What’s Familiar to 25-39?
As listeners begin to age, they need a bit more time to absorb new songs. So the timing in moving songs through current and recurrent categories must be adjusted to meet their needs. That is not an easy task.
It takes discipline for a programmer to pace the aging of songs through the different rotation categories based on the needs of their audience.
There is significant pressure on radio from labels to keep up with their promotional agendas. Many programmers believe they have to age their songs based on the status the song holds on industry trade charts.
Charts or Listeners?
Unfortunately, the trade charts that programmers use really only measure the effectiveness of the record labels in convincing radio to add a song. The format charts do not measure the appeal of a song to a listener.
Furthermore, the chart position that a song might reach does not indicate the degree of familiarity the song would have for the audience. Songs move through the charts faster than what listeners can absorb. It’s not uncommon to see a song drop from radio play while it is still strong in retail sales.
The Power of ‘Power Recurrents’
Savvy programmers have modified how they use songs that are deemed ‘recurrent’ by the trades. They have created a two tier recurrent system. Power Recurrent and Regular Recurrent.
Power Recurrents are the heart of a successful Hot AC. These songs have the advantage of being still fresh and new and are also familiar and friendly. The 24-39-year-old woman feels plugged into today’s new music, and yet enjoys the benefit of being able to sing along to fave songs.
The old CHR programming tactic of ‘resting’ a song when it comes out of heavy rotation is very dangerous for Hot AC stations to use. They would be taking away their listeners’ favorite songs while they are still enjoying them.
With women, their ‘love’ for a song far outweighs any ‘burn’ issue. They get burned only with songs they dislike. That is why it is essential when doing music testing to measure both the appeal of a song and the burn of a song.
Power Recurrents will typically use about the same number of spins as a current song in medium rotation would. Songs could stay in the Power Recurrent category as long as the “Love” rating for the song stays high.
To be able to accommodate the increase of spins the overall balance of new to old has to be adjusted with Hot AC. This chart outlines the key differences between Hot AC and Mainstream AC.
|
Hot AC wins big in the ratings when it truly super-serves the needs of women 25-39. Successful stations know how to create that great ‘feel good’ mood by providing lots of familiar new songs with interesting and friendly ‘real people’ talk.
Liz Janik Media specializes in customized consulting services for programming for women. Contact Liz directly at 905-454-3865 or liz@lizjanik.com.
