Mike McVay delves into the state of the CHR and AC formats in 2011. Where do they overlap? How can you better separate the music between the two formats? Which audiences are you targeting as a programmer? What sort of promotions should you be focusing your time and energy on? McVay tackles all these issues in this week’s Programming To Win column.
Mike McVay
By: Mike McVay
I read with interest recently in a competing trade publication that we can look for more stations to flip to CHR as “opportunities present themselves” and as “the relevance of AC comes into question.” It was curious to me that this author reached that conclusion based on the quotes from the group programmers that were interviewed. None of those interviewed were critical of AC, but were more so positive about CHR, which is an opinion that I share. CHR has some very strong artists in its stable and that will lead to “the running of the lemmings.” You’ve heard of the lemmings run. It’s where the rodents known as lemmings follow each other off of the cliff.
This cycle is one that we’ve seen repeated many times in the past. CHR starts to grow and more stations move into that arena. It cut into the leading CHR. They usually maintain their lead … but at a smaller share. The AC format grows as the #2 or #3 CHR in a market changes format. That enables the AC format to then grow. Here’s reality: there’s room for two AC’s and maybe two CHR’s in a market. The highway between CHR and AC is heavily traveled by the listeners.
Most AC radio stations remain “Upper Demo” in their market, despite their efforts to contemporize their music and their image. The situation is that Hot AC’s and AC’s are, by nature, still positioned as being older than the market’s CHR’s. My focus for this article is on guiding AC’s and Hot Ac’s in order that they can benefit from the increased CHR competition across North America. The target for Hot AC should be a 30 Year-old woman and for a Mainstream AC it’s a 40-year-old woman. The most desirable 10-year Arbitron demo is 35-44 regardless of being an AC or a Hot AC. CHR’s are strongly ensconced in the 25-34 arenas. Ages 30-40 is the battlefield for Hot AC and its 35-50 for Mainstream AC. A woman who is 30 was born in 1980. A woman who is 40 was born in 1970. The listener’s formative years for their musical tastes are from ages 18-28. Look to those years for what years you should use as the core for your gold library.
We are clearly seeing another contemporization of Adult Contemporary music, much like we’ve seen in 1990 and 2000, and that means that AC music must be contemporary music for adults. Your air-talent content must be contemporary entertainment for contemporary adults. Everything that you do must be focused on a 30 or a 40-year-old woman.
There are “models” for you to observe. Stations like FRESH-FM/NYC have shown that there is a contemporary music blend that isn’t HOT AC and isn’t OLD AC. 104.3MY-FM in Los Angeles is a contemporary station that just happens to target adult women. I consult WRAL-FM/Raleigh, which is a personality-oriented “Today” sounding music station that is now the dominant radio station in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill market.
My proposal is that we, as programmers, take one-more-step musically toward the music of 2000-2009. Unless you purposely want to be the upper-end AC (and there are some that do exceptionally well in North America) focus on the nearly total elimination (from the daily library) of the music that is pre-1985. This means that the 90s and 00s will become your musical backbone. Playing “80s” in your noon hour and as “Spice” on the weekend remains desirable. Keep doing that and image it as “special” during those hours. However, play only the titles that make sense and that at one-time received Top-40/CHR airplay. When it comes to your regular hourly music clocks, titles from 1985-1990 should feature only the songs that are the BEST OF THE BEST. You should play no more than one, maybe two, songs from pre-1990 per/hour.
The musical and production energy level of AC is brighter today (for Hot AC and for Mainstream AC) and it will get brighter. We expect to see new releases in 2011 to stay up-tempo and bright. We believe that Hot AC will be the “oasis away from Rap and Hip-Hop” while Mainstream AC will be more gold than Hot AC and much more familiar than CHR. Imaging should sound contemporary. Get away from “Old Men Growling” and use contemporary voice talent. Look for the unique. Consider females and males combined in your imaging. Bring back jingles as it’s a musical way to image the station without talk. Produce a radio station that is memorable.
It’s a little humorous to me that some programmers think that the evolution we’re facing is ground-breaking? Evolution isn’t new because it is what the definition of the word implies. We’re always changing. If the music in the HAC and AC formats wasn’t evolving, we’d still be playing John Denver songs. Artists like Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Stevie Nicks and Carly Simon have been replaced by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Pink, Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus. Elton John, Billy Joel and Rod Stewart have been replaced by Train, John Mayer, Michael Bublé and Daughtry. The imaging of the station must be contemporary and yet walk that fine-line of being “Adult” in nature. Adults want to hear currents. Be “safe” though in what you select. Allow the CHR to break your music. Allow the CHR to familiarize the audience with the hits. We live in a world where The Blake Eyed Peas as being piped into grocery stores.
We know that the woman listener that AC is targeting suffers from TIME POVERTY. This listener is likely a young mother. She may or may not be married, but is likely in some form of a social relationship, and she’s actively involved with her family. She is employed and may also be involved in community/social activities. She is on Facebook and uses social media to stay in touch with family and friends. She never takes time for herself. She wants to be able to “Chill Out” and finds value in information that makes her life easier. She watches the biggest TV shows, likes reality TV, and watches most of her movies on-demand and DVR’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for her children. This woman wants music that she says “GETS ME UP AND MAKES ME FEEL GOOD.” The content of your air-talent needs to be better focused on this woman and her husband/boyfriend. The type of Content that The John Tesh Show has should be a part of your every hour.
Your talent content, and our news content, should connect to the audience. They need to sound as if they’re living the lifestyle of the 25-45 year-old female. They should be able to provide that connection to the audience. They need to be better prepared than ever so that they can maximize music quantity and yet entertain in short bytes of content. The best talent will find a way to connect to the female. You must still target AT-WORK. It is our birth-right to own that listening arena. However, in this day-and-age, At-Work listening is not necessarily in an office. The correct phrase to use is “Listen WHILE you work.”
The afternoon program, because in many markets has the biggest available audience (persons using radio) is where you have the greatest opportunity for an entertaining personality, who can relate to the young mothers & fathers in the audience, to build day-to-day tune-in. The night show for many AC’s is syndicated. Delilah and Donny Osmond on Mainstream AC’s, John Tesh on Mainstream and Hot AC’s, and Billy Bush on Hot AC’s, remains many stations’ highest rated day-part. Evening programming was never designed that way, but the “use” of AC seems to lend itself to “quiet time.” The listener may even consider listening to her favorite radio station a “Guilty Pleasure.”
The promotions (Contests) that you present should fall into two categories; Major Promotions and Minor Promotions. The Major Promotions that you present on-air should be cash giveaways, Cars and trips and other such desirable prizes. These major prizes fall under the heading of FANTASY or MEAT & POTATO. Fantasy prizes are Cars, Trips and such. Meat & Potato promotions are Cash, Groceries for a Year, Gasoline for a Year, etc., and would be used as a major contest for a rating sweep.
The Minor Promotions are the ones that I’d like to see more AC’s focus on in a fashion that’s designed to solve the aforementioned problem of Time Poverty. A well-targeted and brilliantly positioned minor promotion can be less expensive to execute and yet more impactful and more memorable. Promotions like Girls Night Out, Pick-Your-Purse, and Shoesday Tuesday, Make-Up Monday’s, Wine Down Wednesday and other contemporary and fun giveaways make a statement about your station. The most successful AC stations tend to be conscious of what’s important to the female target and they satisfy her desires. When Wii Fit comes out with a new Application, your AC should be there to provide that product. Several of our HAC and AC clients gave away Wii Fit this past Christmas season.
Events are becoming an important part of what a radio station must participate in, and present, if we’re to avoid being left behind in the dust of social media. Radio is a medium that was early in generating social connectivity. Long before there as an Internet, we raced home from school to listen to the radio, and then call our friends on land-line phones and talk about what we heard on the air. You must develop that same kind of dependency.
Our most successful AC clients are involved in creating, or co-opting, events that endear us to the audience. The Chocolate Affair is a great event that WJYE/Buffalo presents as does KSNE/Las Vegas. The World’s Largest Singles Party is a regular event for many AC stations. WRAL-FM/Raleigh presents The Lipstick Luncheon (A Woman’s Fair) as well as presenting a yearly Healthy Living Lifestyles Fair. WYYY/Syracuse has fun with Tupertini Parties. Those are Tupperware parties at bars where they serve up Martini’s for a Girls-Night-Out. WMFQ/Gainesville presents The Polyester Prom every May. Stations are involved in giving away One Tank Trips and Wine Tours. One of our California clients presents Spa Work Escape Weekends every weekend.
Marketing for every AC station is critical if you’re to truly lower your stations average age. You will need to build new and younger cume among 35-44 year-olds. The tactics you use should include social media with all of your talent being on Facebook, using Twitter and in writing a weekly blog for the stations website. Train your talent in how to maximize the digital platforms that are available to you.
You should utilize outdoor (billboards) to generate talk about your station. Television is the best way to provide your audience with an example of what you present on the air and using your website to present On-Line video’s is a new and effective way to encourage on-line listeners to share your station with others.
Recommendations:
- Target the CONTEMPORARY LIFE GROUP among adult females
- Move the music “One More Step” closer to mainstream CHR
- Monitor successful mass appeal AC’s and Hot AC’s for titles to add to your playlist
- Keep the music mostly up-tempo – Ballads need to be powerful
- Dump the Pre-85 Gold (Unless you’re target is 45-54)
- Freshen – and keep fresh – the station’s imaging
- Contemporize the content of the air-talent
- Add a more youthful feeling to your news report. Use social media for greater connectivity to the at-work audiences.
- Present a fun and ENTERTAINING afternoon show
- Use social media for ALL talent to build listener loyalty
- Train the air-staff how to properly use Social Media
- Create a once-a-quarter event for the Audience
- Use all three aspects of Promotion – – Expectation – Realization –Memory
- Plan for Meat & Potato promotions in the spring and fall rating Sweeps (Major Promotions)
- Present Minor Promotions that women love ala Make-Up Monday’s, Mani-Pedi Workday’s, etc.
- Market with Digital, Social and On-Line media – Externally
- Use “Billboards” to build external Cume for the station
- Involve the talent in the community – Be Everywhere and Be Seen Everywhere
Mike McVay is President of McVay Media … a Full-Service Radio Consultancy. Mike coaches talent and program director’s alike. He consults programming, promotion, and marketing and is a motivational speaker. He remains a believer in radio. Contact Mike at 440.933.0440 or via E-mail at mike@mcvaymedia.com. Visit www.mcvaymedia.com to learn more about McVay Media Consulting.
