Audience Composition

[11south]

What percentage of a well programmed Newtalk station should fall in the following demos?

A 25-44
A 45-54
A 55-64
A 65+

What percentage male and what percentage female?

Additionally what happens generally on the weekends with specialty programs like gardening or home improvement?

Thanks

[fred flintstone]

See Arbitron Research Report:
Top Arbitron Performers in News-Talk
This is a PDF file.  Adobe Acrobate Reader required.

Bottom line: News-talk skews old.
The winning formula is a higher than average proportion of P1 (very loyal) listeners - people who listen longer and tune in more.

[MikefromDelaware]

 That does make sense that All News, News/Talk, and All Talk skew old.  The younger folks don't read the newspaper either.  They are FM listeners.  Those stations rarely if ever do any news, other than maybe during a national emergency like 9/11.  The younger gens aren't interested in news, politics, which means they generally are not interested in talk radio either, be it Conservative or Liberal. That Arbitron slide show does make that point rather clearly. 

Now the next question would be, can the all news, News/Talk, and All Talk stations make money?  If so, then that format will survive for quite some time, if not, then.....

[fred flintstone]

Now the next question would be, can the all news, News/Talk, and All Talk stations make money?  If so, then that format will survive for quite some time, if not, then.....

To paraphrase Mr. Spock: It's talk radio, Jim, but not as we know it.
Talk radio is trying to re-invent itself in search of younger listeners.  A prime example is NJ101.5.  Another attempt (seemingly less successful so far) is CBS Radio's Free FM.
The strategy to get younger listeners includes:

• Move talk to FM
• De-emphasize politics in favor of life-style topics
• Younger, more outrageous personality hosts

In the Arbitron report what Arbitron calls "personality/talk" skews younger than traditional news-talk (and all news).

And for station operators the question is less "can news-talk make money" but "with which format can the station make the most money."  News-talkers are not among the top revenue generators.  An AM station has few other viable format options.  FM stations still have other format options.  But, again, will news-talk generate more in sales on an FM station than a music format (or minority-targeted format)?

[11south]

  But, again, will news-talk generate more in sales on an FM station than a music format (or minority-targeted format)?


[/quote]

The question is not about top line revenue, it is about bottom line cash flow.  Can News/Talk on FM generate more cashflow than a music format?

Additionally, how are these experiments with simulcasting AM on FM working?  Are they getting the desired results in terms of younger demos (KSL, WBT, WTOP)?

[barooosk]

All news stations generally get better ratings than "news-talk" or "talk" stations.  The reason they are a dying breed is that the cost of producing an all news station is too high.  Station groups like Clear Channel prefer the much cheaper syndicated talk format even if the ratings are lower.  You will hardly find an all news channel outside of the top 20 markets.

[fred flintstone]

Cost is a big factor.  But when AP All News Radio was around (and way before that NBC News and Information Service) the format was more affordable.  Even without them, it's possible to all news on the cheap (and a few stations do). 

The problem is short TSL.  You need a lot tune ins to make up for that.  In contrast, talk keeps people listening longer.  All the successful all news stations have been around 30 or 40 years.  Their audiences skew old but they keep those people tuning in "two-three-four" times a day.  But they don't seem able to get newer/younger listeners and when those lists of top revenue producing stations come out, all news stations don't seem to do as well as the top talkers.  (Even in TV, the so called news channels have become mostly talk show channels.)

Part of the problem is people don't look to radio for news any more.  Traffic and weather, yes.  Maybe headlines and ballscores.  Terrestrial and cable/satellite TV have taken over mornings.  The Internet has mostly taken over "news the minute you want it."