In the time before consolidation, it was a radio truism: Competition made everybody better and listeners were the winners. Legendary format battles were part of radio’s excitement for industry people, but we see now that the marketing they prompted also benefited radio overall.
In the late ’90s/early ’00s, as consolidation took hold, the rise of cluster strategies redrew the landscape, and the nature of competition changed. Some historic format battles ended because one owner controlled both stations. New stations were not launched to win, but to interfere with a competitor or diversify a sales portfolio.
The wars of attrition that popped up in those years weren’t the stuff of legend. They didn’t make everybody better. They sapped an incumbent’s resources. If a format was hot — Country in 1992, Top 40 in 2008 — a new competitor might expand a format’s shares. Just as often, it would replace a 7-share radio station with two 3.5 share outlets. When KRRL (Real 92.3) took on KPWR (Power 106) for L.A.’s Hip-Hop franchise, the clearest winner was Adult R&B KTWV (The Wave), the recipient of KRRL’s former Jammin’ Oldies shares.
We haven’t thought much about the impact of competition lately:
- The sort of marketing that went with format battles ended with the advent of PPM ratings measurement, first because broadcasters thought they no longer needed it, but then because the resources were not there. From here, we now see the impact of less promotion on radio listening overall.
- While many of the wars of attrition remain, direct format battles have often been replaced by adjacencies on a format spectrum. Los Angeles had four AOR stations at most times in the late ’70s. Now, you can hear their hits on a rock-leaning Classic Hits (KRTH), an Adult Hits outlet (KCBS), and a gold-based Active Rocker (KLOS), but no dedicated Classic Rock.
- Prominent mainstream stations continue to be taken out of circulation on a regular basis. WJBR Wilmington, Del., is this week’s example. Now the issue is when format holes are created and not always filled, which isn’t good for overall radio usage when listeners no longer have to default to a second-choice station. Sometimes the hole is Country in New York City, one that isn’t always occupied, but sometimes it’s Hot AC in Washington, D.C., now unfilled for four years.
So it’s worth noting a few July PPM ratings developments:
- Audacy Country KKWF (The Wolf) Seattle has had a phenomenal several months following the departure of Hubbard rival KNUC (the Bull). That station has hovered at or under a 1 share since becoming Triple-A KPNW, but non-comm rival KEXP has lost two shares. (To be fair, KEXP has had big ups and downs without direct competition).
- Alternative KITS (Live 105) San Francisco, the station that prompted my article about “format holes” last fall, returned from Adult Hits “Dave-FM.” July PPM saw a record high for the frequency (2.2-3.1-3.), but Classic Hits KOSF (103.7 FM ’80s Plus) also benefited (2.4-3.0-3.9).
- Hip-Hop/R&B WERQ (92Q) Baltimore returned to its market’s top spot (5.5-7.0). 92Q was one of the last dominant stations in the format before COVID. 92Q does not have direct competition, although you can hear both D.C.’s WKYS and WPGC, mired in their own war of attrition 45 minutes away.
- WRVW (The River) Nashville was up 3.9-5.5, following WNFN (Hot 106.7)’s switch to Classic Country. Eyes are now on Tampa/St. Petersburg, where WPOI (Hot 101.5) is rumored to be undergoing changes as I write this. Tampa Bay is a market where legendary CHR battles (Q105 vs. WFLZ in 1990, Hot 101.5 vs. WFLZ in 2011) have settled into wars of attrition. In the mid-’90s, WFLZ, left to its own devices, was one of the stations that revitalized CHR. So what happens next?
All contemporary formats have struggled, particularly over the last three years. With streaming clearly responsible for some of that, it’s been harder to troubleshoot the individual format issues that also exist. I’ve wondered for five years why Country no longer dominates such onetime strongholds as Seattle, Atlanta, or Houston. Now, KKWF has higher combined shares than KKWF and KNUC a year ago. Was it as simple as Country just having its own lane again? In Top 40, Seattle was one of CHR’s last strongholds; it’s easy to see that one end when KQMV (Movin 92.5)’s Brooke & Jubal became two separate morning shows.
It’s hard to tell what benefits will accrue to Tampa’s WFLZ if WPOI makes anything less dramatic than an outright format flip. So far, in markets like Miami and Chicago, having a mainstream CHR and a gold-based CHR (or two, in South Florida) hasn’t changed the landscape much, suggesting those changes read as modifications, not outright flips to listeners, and stations like WBBM-FM (B96) Chicago and WFLC (Hits 97.3) Miami still play some currents. In some markets, CHR is alone and still in the 3-4 share range.
The effect of our radio-dial contractions is harder to know when not all the stations involved have published ratings. In Memphis, the loss of Hot AC WMC-FM (FM100) last month led to a huge jump for WLFP (The Wolf) — which replaced it on 99.7 — and a noticeable one for 102.7 Kiss FM, which changed frequencies and segued to Hot AC as a result. But Country WGKX and another Hot AC convert, WHBQ, aren’t published this month, so the exact dynamic is hard to judge.
Here’s how I feel about competition now:
- I still believe there are programming solutions for CHR, Hip-Hop, Alternative, and Country — all formats where wars of attrition still exist. Only Country seems to have a path forward right now; even there, spring diary market ratings and July PPMs are inconsistent. Not every station in a war of attrition is there of its choosing, or has as obvious a way out as KITS. Nor should CHR get comfortable as a 3.7-share format anywhere. This column exists to troubleshoot format issues, and these are all discussions that need to continue.
- That said, radio also benefits from big, successful stations and the signal that they send to listeners and to ourselves as broadcasters. It was good to see so many success stories in July, especially as stations like WJBR continue to come off the board.
- At a moment when losing WJBRs or WMC-FMs is a regular occurrence, it is probably better for broadcast radio as a medium to be able to offer local FM listeners one station in every major music format rather than “two of some, none of others.” The long game is still creating a better streaming experience and a new platform to succeed FM with lots of easily managed choice.
- The competition that would make everybody better at the moment is stations competing more vigorously against themselves and their own legacies. The history of Live 105 in 1987 or 1995 made returning to Alternative a daunting proposition. For this month anyway, it’s not.
The competition that would truly make everybody better is by radio as a whole against other platforms. Right now, that seems to be manifesting itself mostly as liners about radio having “no subscription fees.” I actually consider that to be a viable selling proposition, but more so when broadcasters can offer a robust, better-organized platform. And the question remains whether the unity that can either organize or market radio will continue to be undermined by a 25-year-dynamic of broadcasters weaponizing stations against each other.
In the case of losing a direct format conpetetitor, I would always look at the net gain in listening to the format. If, for example the surviving station gains ALL of the audience of the departing station inarguably it is a good thing for listeners, who benefit from the option of a new format. If the remaining station only gains only SOME of the listeners it’s certainly a bad thing for the Format, but would be a good thing for listeners if the new station attracts more listeners with the new format.
There is also a sales benefit in being the only station in a market. With the era of consolidation, many companies no longer always tried to maximize the audience on each of their signals, but would sometimes choose to directly compete against a station just to diminish its market share.
KKWF Seattle definitely qualifies under the “repatriated all the shares, and then some” rule. It certainly makes Country look hot in Seattle in a way that it doesn’t yet in some other markets.
It will be interesting to see what happens with WRVW (The River) Nashville over the next few months. Hoping they have a success story similar to what WKQI (Channel 955) Detroit has been experiencing.
Great piece, Sean.
In terms of competition, it’s a very good thing.
That being said, when the major players are “battling it out,” I’m not sure that these are actually competitive wars at all, but simply our generic product up against your generic product.
Then let the chips fall where they may. And, of course, you also have spoilers in clusters, which are typically throwaways, but can knock off a share
or two from a competitor. Is there great innovation abounding?
Do the stations have any remarkable differences from each other, let alone even point them out to the listener? Or is the whole experience magic and connecting, or is it just a collection of songs? Can they even state or repeat the differences between stations, other than “when one station is playing commercials, I just go to the other one.”
Let’s face it, saying that we play better music over here than they do, or more of it, lacks any credibility to begin with. In reality, the “most music” is on streaming platforms. The listeners aren’t stupid, but radio historically has been able to fool people into believing what they want. It doesn’t work.
Radio cannot, and should not compete with the same kind of content experience (streaming), which at this point is generally just a utility.
THIS is why younger people are gone. It’s not just about the technology, because we have it as well. It’s about the content and the entire experience, not solely one collection of songs versus another collection of songs. The only thing that tends to save the older skewing formats is that those who listen to them are less aware of the options. In some cases, it’s habit, and in others, there may be some content elements that keep them more loyal and listening to over the air radio.
I do believe we miss the main point of all of this.
Younger people handle discovery in different ways today. They also have far better options on the stream, because it is not jam-packed full of commercials and generic 1980s imaging. Besides cranking out a playlist between 20 minutes of commercials, what specifically does radio do for them? What does it do to relate to them? How does it influence them? Is there a community face, for example, in alternative, that everyone knows and is lead in some respects by that person. That person goes to the places, and does the things that they like, and that person actually talks about it. And that person does not focus on minutia, such as who played the drums on a certain cut. But actually a pier. A companion. A true local friend.
As soon as we accept that “Radio Is Fundamentally A Local Business TM, things can change.
We continue to erroneously, live and die in radio, with the belief that we can beat streaming platforms with our “playlists.”
What’s also sad to see is that so many radio people shrug their shoulders, and don’t understand this fundamental element. It’s really as simple as that. People in radio shouldn’t be puzzled at all at why younger listeners have no passion for it.
Of course playlists are important, but in what world would a young person, particularly because they consume and can get that utility in a much better way without a bunch of clutter, would they listen? Music discovery also happens WHEN they want it to happen.
Since radio is an advertising-based platform, it’s much more important to create a full range vibe that connects emotionally to the listener, and that is locally, with somebody that lives in that life group, and is a local influencer and very visible while playing that same list of songs. It’s been proven that that kind of experience is notably different, and listeners will listen to the commercials to get something that is different.
Here’s to more competition that actually does compete, versus competitors who simply sleep next to each other waiting to die!
Tom Langmyer
President & CEO
Great Lakes Media, LLC
Acquisition & Advisory Group
Tom@GreatLakesMediaCorp.com
Great Lakes Media, LLC is a Delaware Corporation.
Great points. Thank you, Tom. I think it all starts with the playlist (and not enough work goes into that now, either), but the key word there is “starts.”
I’m not so sure how useful it is for radio to position itself as having “no subscription fees.” Many radio users already have paid streaming subscriptions that they aren’t planning to cancel at this point.
Radio needs to promote the things it still offers that the streaming services don’t, Things like creating a sense of community and social connections among its audience, offering friendship and entertainment with a human factor.
If radio just plays automated music with 12 minute commercial breaks all day, I don’t think that’s a very compelling reason for people not to flip over to their streaming service instead. The subscription fees likely don’t even factor into making that choice.