RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION
As I pen this column, there’s an AARP Member who is presently driving north on I-95 from South Florida to the Empire State. Like other “snowbirds,” Bubbe from Boca has packed her car, put the cute little puppy in his belted-in canine crib, and has made her way to New York State.
Two days. Eighteen hours of driving. How much time will she spend listening to the radio?
Zero.
There are many directions we can turn in commenting on this reality. Today, we wish to discuss the No. 1 value of Radio, and how efforts to hyperlocalize the medium may be counter-productive to its greatest asset: Reach.
Asked what she’d spend her time listening to across 18 hours of driving, Bubbe from Boca replied, “I’ve got the Broadway channel on SiriusXM, and I can listen to the TODAY show on Channel 108.”
Yes, Sirius XM is a factor. Just talk to the people who invested money in the “Highway Stations” as a way to not only keep travelers from Los Angeles driving to Las Vegas entertained but to monetize Vegas casino resort dollars. With the advent of satellite radio, the Highway Stations fizzled.
Today, the driver who goes outside of their market on a long drive is highly likely to turn not just to satellite radio but to streaming audio before hitting “scan” and seeking out a broadcast radio station that isn’t local to them. In days past, the Compact Disc, cassette and 8-Track would have also taken away radio time. But, with more in-dash options than ever, Radio’s consumption is likely to be less than ever before.
That’s a shame. The highway listener still has merit — especially in a nation emerging from a year of pandemic woes. Many, including yours truly, are still wary of boarding an airplane and traveling anywhere. But, in the last year, there have been numerous car trips and mini-vacations to destinations between three to six hours from home.
Shouldn’t Radio take advantage of these highway travelers?
We can hear the laughter and giggles already.
Bubbe from Boca, or perhaps Adam the Editor, doesn’t live in Titusville. Our radio stations focus on Savannah. Our ratings come from people who live in Florence, South Carolina, not those who spend the night here.”
That’s too bad. As midday host “MJ” weaved through 2000s tracks on WAOA-FM in Melbourne’s “Back in the Day Buffet,” we enjoyed the tunes just as much as a local would. If only travelers on I-95 knew of this station, so they could tune in, too. But, enough of that … it’s lunch time. Where should I stop?
We instantly thought of ways this Cumulus Media resurgent Adult Top 40 station could cross-promote to Interstate 95 travelers quick and close places for a bite to eat while also telling people they exist.
Something as simple as outdoor advertising is rare these days, unless you are an iHeartMedia station using a Clear Channel Outdoor billboard. Radio gets a big fat F for its failure to market and promote its own brands. But, back to our main point: Wouldn’t it be awesome if a radio station could monetize all of the potential listeners that may be driving through the area?
Not to single out Cumulus, but they do own “I-95.”
Seriously. That’s the 35-year-old branding associated with Rocker WIXV-FM in Savannah, Ga. Wouldn’t it smart for Cumulus to monetize the fact that this 100kw Class C1 blowtorch reaches so many people between Jesup, Ga., and Walterboro, S.C.?
How quickly we forget the past. “Musicradio WLS,” with Larry Lujack, was my wakeup choice in the years before FM radio’s proliferation. I didn’t live anywhere close to Chicago. I lived in Woodstock, N.Y., and tuned in every morning until the sun rose in the early 1980s. WSM’s nighttime signal, with its Country format, could be heard across the Eastern Seaboard. The same could be said for WMAQ in its days as a Country station.
Yes, much has changed since 1979. But, one thing changed for the worse. With the transition of music stations from AM to FM, the Radio industry’s reach story went from regional to market-wide. Today, there are now efforts to bring ZoneCasting to life, splitting a signal’s reach to supposedly localize what, by definition, is broadcasting?
Let’s think about this a bit while driving down the highway.
At the end of a day, Bubbe from Boca is indeed meaningless to the all-important ratings results used to set ad rates and attract clients. But, wouldn’t it be a great Radio success story to convert highway travelers that could consume your big radio station into profit for a client?
It starts by rethinking what your market is. For Radio, the market is every potential listener within your signal contour — even those who may be trekking on through. There are dollars there. If you don’t want them, the Local Digital Demolition Destroyer will leave the interstate at your exit, ready to suck up the cash.
The views expressed in a RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION are those of the editor only and not the views of Streamline Publishing’s executive leadership team nor its associated radio industry trade publications.
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