blog post #4

Matt Cornwell
News Article #4
http://www.denverpost.com/firstinthepost/ci_12604583


“…the future of radio is local," according to Jeff Wilks , whose company acquired three Denver FM stations from CBS Radio this year. It is obvious that radio is not nearly the powerhouse that it once was before the new technology brought about myspace.com, iPods, Itunes, and satellite radio. All of these new advancements have become damaging to radio but has not totally eliminated it. Not only has new technological advancements hurt the radio industry but also the wounded economy has had some effect. Radio’s advertisers have not had the big dollar like they had once had to be able to spend for commercial spots on the radio. The plus to radio and its advertising dollars is that it is still cheaper to have a commercial on the radio then it is to have it on TV. Because of this radio has still survived and has had decent numbers for listeners. The future seems to have radio more localized than on a national level because the ratings will be higher for a more target based group.
I chose this article because if AM radio jumps on localizing some of its stations to certain targeted areas then those AM stations will have guaranteed listeners if what they are playing (and commercials aired) reflect and target their target audience. This would also benefit AM stations being local because they would not have to worry about spending a lot of money to reach people outside their demographic and can focus putting that money into more programs and stuff that will benefit that local target audience. Listeners still need to hear the weather and news for their town so if you cover that and have other stations dedicated to a certain town or group then the stations may bring in better and steady numbers.
This article does make a good point about how other technology has had an impact on radio. I would have thought that radio’s numbers have gone down more drastically then the article said. I was surprised to find that the radio still has a future. The future for radio can still be strong but they are just going to have to change it a little bit to fit in with the times.
The book says on page 382, “sometimes information stations that have a comparatively small share of the listening audience can still be successful because of the connections they make with their niche audiences and the loyalty that follows.” I feel that this is what AM radio should do. They should focus more on localizing themselves so that they can make a more personal connection with the listeners who in return will continue to listen to that station.
I feel that if AM radio does not do something soon that they may be lost in the radio world. If they can not come up with new ideas and better quality then why would anyone bother to listen to it? I can not name a single person that I know who listens to AM radio. I can name a few that have turned it one for a second to hear the score of a game but turn it right off after they find out because the sound quality is so bad. AM radio needs to change in order to survive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9tzmKjQQ9o

What I like about this video is that this guy gives that average persons opinion on AM radio