Why does commercial radio suck?
I read a local radio personality’s blog (somewhat infrequently). She works at KEXP, a great local noncommercial station that is also the most successfully internet radio station.
Today she had a fascinating post from one of her readers about “Why does commercial radio suck?” , which details how unreliable (and probably unrepresentative) the ratings system is.
June 9th, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Let me count the ways………money
June 9th, 2005 at 8:47 pm
So, Anon, you think the old outdated word “Payola” is “Still Alive and Well”?….
June 10th, 2005 at 11:51 am
TTop’s link has nothing to do with payola. It has to do with programming for 30’s something females. I knew there had to be a reason I feel like wearing pink when I listen to commercial radio.
Seriously though, I question the source of the following statement in the linked article: “The Seattle-Tacoma listening population is 3,165,700 people.” Where does that info come from? How valid is that number compared to the validity of the sample size. From reading the article, Arbitron does seem out of touch with good statistical practices. As a commenter on the linked article pointed out, it is possible to adjust for bias in a population sample. It seems hard to believe that Arbitron wouldn’t account for that. Is it possible that 30’s something females are the majority listeners of commercial radio? 😉
Of course, internet radio is, by nature, completely trackable. Incidently, Aural Moon is my favorite station.
June 11th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
No, not “payola”. Well, maybe that still goes on too. I dont know. But stations play music for listeners who buy the products advertisers want to sell….so the kind of music played is geared to the tastes of listeners with money to spend. You pick your demograghic with money and play their music. Dumb it down, dont take risks, and dont offend.The business of stations is to sell listeners.