I believe that it will work if they used the concept that I've adopted for my internet country station. My station is on I-Tunes and is number one in country #24 overall on the live 365 internet radio network.
Radio ratings don't work the same way Internet statistics work. Radio is a combination of total listeners plus the time the listen weekly, which gets you the share of local audience and the number of people that are tuned in at any given time. You see, advertisers can't evaluate the total reach... they need to know how many people are listening at any given time in a specific market.
Until a cross-media (web streams, iPhone streams, etc) ratings system is developed, radio will be bought market by market.
My main concept is that country listeners are not like top 40 listeners.
Nobody in radio ever suggested they were. Top 40, called CHR since the 70's, is principally an 18-34 female play, while country is a 25-54 play, and is actually 25-64 (but 55-64 is unsalable, so we don't look at it much).
First of all they are (older 35+).
That is the art of saying the obvious. Top 40 developed on a teen base...
It has been proven that they listen much longer than your average top 40 listener.
Proven where? In many cases, like KIIS in LA and WHTZ in NY, the adult TSL for CHR rivals that of country stations in the PPM ratings. A lot depends on other factors, like competition, etc.
Cuntry listeners may listen longer per incident, but CHR listeners tend to come back a little more often. It evens out.
My station averages 1+ hours per listener.
A day? A Week?
You must program today's hits which I do and add in lots of new releases but I don't repeat them over and over until it makes you nauseous!
If a listener wants to hear the big hits, then a station should play them often.
I add some oldies from the 70's and 80's and some "hall of fame" cuts like Marty Robbins, Tammy Wynette and Patsy Cline. Despite what the "bright" consultants say - THIS WORKS!!!!!
Consultants don't say that... listeners do. If a station wants 25-54 listeners, they test the music with people who like country in that age range, and if a song does not do well in the demo they want, it is not played. Generally, the 25-44 part of a country audience will not want to hear Earle Flatt and Lester Scruggs.
Consultants will say that the playlist should be short and songs should repeat every two or three hours!
Listeners determine the playlist on country stations. Generally, it is between 600 and 800 songs, and big hits will play every 4 hours roughly. That's none too often, given that the listeners will want to hear them often.
THIS DOES NOT WORK FOR COUNTRY!!!! They are ridiculous!
Your proof that something else works is anxiously awaited. What is on country radio is there because radio stations have the $100 k a year or more it takes to research listeners and each and every song.
I know we have been constantly fed with the thoughts that you can't mix new country with old country. I don't know who came up with that idea. If you frame the "Gold" or "hall of fame" cuts properly, it works and the audience actually looks forward to hearing them!!
Radio does not feed things to listeners, the listeners, upon being asked, tell radio what they want, song by song, and in overall blend.
