11 May 2005

By Gary Strauss, USA Today

As more consumers turn a deaf ear to traditional radio, stations
increasingly are switching formats.

The Internet, iPods, computer games, podcasting, commercial-free satellite
radio and staid programming have combined to slice average weekly listening
time 9% since 1998, prompting many "terrestrial" commercial stations to
jettison even relatively strong formats, such as rock, in several big
markets.

Country, talk, adult contemporary and religious formats still dominate. But
with satellite radio growth exploding, format flips are accelerating as
stations "become more earnest addressing the erosion in listenership," says
Sean Ross of Edison Media Research. Hot concepts:

..Jack. Aka Bob, Alice and other first-name monikers, the format focuses on
'70s, '80s and '90s hits, sprinkled with current tunes. Target audience:
twenty-somethings to baby boomers. A hit in Canada since 2002, Jack could be
in 100 U.S. markets this year.

Jack is often backed by "throw away your iPod" marketing hype because it
employs playlists of 1,200 or more songs - triple most oldies-style music
stations and a bit closer to iPod capacity. "Jack's a reaction to stations
that are tightly formatted and predictable," Inside Radio editor Tom Taylor
says.

Baltimore station WSQR jettisoned its 17-year-old oldies format for Jack on
May 4. "With Jack, people don't know what to expect, and we hope that's what
they'll gravitate to," says programming director Dave LaBrozzi.

..Hurban. Spanish-language formats are hot. Hurban, a fusion of Spanish
hip-hop and English-language R&B, targeting young second- and
third-generation Hispanics, is even hotter. Strong in Southern markets,
Hurban "is a concept coming up bigger every week," Billboard Radio Monitor
editor Paul Heine says.

..Progressive talk. Talk radio has long been dominated by syndicated
conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh. But liberal formats, led by Air
America, have sprung up in 75 markets. "It appeals to those left out of the
current conversation in talk radio," Heine says.

Some formats, such as contemporary Christian music, are bolstering ratings
at 15 Salem Communications stations, says chief operating officer Joe D.
Davis. Other stations are simply tweaking playlists. New York's WXRK-FM
(K-Rock), home to Howard Stern until his 2006 ascent to satellite radio,
modified its non-talk rock format to classic rock to keep core
25-to-54-year-olds, says industry consultant Robert Unmacht.

Operators also are avoiding listener static by slashing commercials,
following Clear Channel. The USA's No. 1 operator with 1,200 stations has
initiated a "Less Is More" campaign. "We had some stations with 15 to 16
minutes of ads an hour," Clear Channel programming executive Doc Wynter
says. "Now, it's no more than 10 minutes."

About 80% of the USA's 13,838 terrestrial radio stations are commercial
stations.

Favorite formats:
News/talk: 2,179 stations
Country: 2,066 stations
Religious: 2,014 stations
Adult contemporary: 1,556 stations
Adult standards: 1,196 stations
Oldies: 1,060 stations
Rock: 869 stations
Source: Arbitron

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/n...11-radio_x.htm