People Under 35 - The Biggest Hurdle For Radio…

Since people under 35 need more than what radio offers they find the social networks they crave online.  Turn the clock back 10 years or more and new music, concert tickets and a good jock lineup gives you solid teen and 18-34 numbers but those days are gone forever along with a $3 gallon of gas.  A new “Media in Mind” report indicates that “among digital media’s bleeding edge - adults 18-34 - social media now is the dominant form of personal communication media, with 85% of this influential demographic group relying on one or more Web 2.0 platforms to stay in touch with others.” …

While those over 35 gravitate to radio for their daily fix, especially in the car, what’s a station to do in order to get listeners back to the lower end of the demographic scale?  The answer to that centers on finding a way to marry your station to the internet.  Remember how hot the dating line commercials that ran on radio were?  What radio needs to do is find a way to put that dating line concept both on the radio and on its website…

I would start at night where those dating line commercials first aired, open the phones and hook people up.  You’ve also gotta “talk the talk” which means using the same language used in text messaging.  Get the audience to use your website for their social networking.  Use your station as the conduit to your website.  And play the music they’re downloading and using for ringtones.  Do a countdown each night of the most popular downloaded songs.  Most importantly, find a way to make your station relevant again…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1868]  Patent no longer pending:  Christopher Latham Sholes  receives a patent for an invention he calls the ‘type-writer’.  Sholes will sell the rights to his typewriter to the Remington Arms Company in 1872 for $12,000…
2. 1955]  Debuted on this date:  Walt Disney’s “Lady and the Tramp“…1982]  Mary Hart and her legs debut on “Entertainment Tonight“.  This  is a clip of Mary doing local news…1989]  “Batman” starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson (The Joker) premieres…
3. 1957]  Curtains:  “The Roy Rogers Show” bows out on Sundays (NBC-TV) after 6 seasons but Roy and Dale will do a Saturday musical variety show on ABC-TV in the fall of ‘62.  Roy, Dale and Roy Jr. sing “Happy Trails“…1960]  “The Pat Boone Show“, a weekly musical variety show airs for the last time on ABC-TV after 3 seasons.  I used to watch this live show when I worked late in the ABC mailroom…
4. 1963]  Talkin’ Baseball:  To celebrate hitting his 100th home run, wacky Mets outfielder Jimmy Piersall runs the bases backwards…1981]  The Pawtucket Red Sox-Rochester minor league game picks up in the 33rd inning.  This time it only takes 18 minutes to finish the game as Pawtucket scores a run in the bottom of the 33rd.  Wade Boggs played for Pawtucket and Cal Ripken Jr. for Rochester…
5. 1969]  This I swear:  Warren E. Burger  is sworn in as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court…
6. 1972]  Title IX:  Richard Nixon signs an act barring sex discrimination in college sports.  On the surface it sounds like a good idea but not so much.  Title IX  allocates funds for female teams indiscriminately and is a lousy rule…
7. 1992]  Guilty as charged: John Gotti, convicted on racketeering charges is sentenced to life in prison where he will die of throat cancer…1993]  Lorena Bobbitt of Prince William County (VA) mutilates her husband John by severing a particularly sensitive male organ after he allegedly rapes her…
8. 1995]  ‘Happy Trails’:  Dr. Jonas Salk  who developed the first vaccine against Polio, dies of unknown causes at 80…2006]  Aaron Spelling passes away at 83 from complications of a recent stroke…
9. 1997]  Friendly fire:  Civil Rights activist Betty Shabazz, 61, widow of Malcolm X, dies from burns she suffered in an earlier fire set by her 12-year old grandson…
10. 2003]  Meltdown countdown begins:  Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean announces his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination which turns into a Barnum and Bailey Circus ending in this…

Music Memories:

• 1958]  Debuted on the charts on this date:  “Splish, Splash” - Bobby Darin…
• 1965]  Released on this date:  “Tracks of my Tears” - Smokey Robinson & Miracles…1979]  “My Sharona” - The Knack…

Commentary:

Several things crossed my mind on the shocking and sudden news of George Carlin’s passing.  Carlin would have gotten a good laugh reading the obituaries that referred to him as “the dean of the counterculture comedians“.  He hated to be categorized and shouldn’t be.  He was creative and funny before seeing Lenny Bruce perform live, brilliantly sarcastic and eye-openingly funny - an icon, post-Bruce.   Carlin was even more irreplaceable than the recently departed Tim Russert, something else that George would laugh about - that comparison.   George Carlin’s comedy, the endless and unparalled specials that popped up it seems every month will live on eternally.   The comedy of George Carlin was special.  We’ll never see it’s like again except in reruns but I’ll settle for that.  As a special tribute to his passing at 71, here is his infamous “Seven Words” routine and his comparison of baseball and football.  R.I.P. George Carlin… 

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”:

Matt Light (30), K.T. Tunstall (33), Frances McDormand (51), American Idol  judge Randy Jackson (52), Clarence Thomas (60), Bryan Brown (61), Ted Shackelford (61)…

Timeline Countdown:  11 days until July 4th and 22 days until the MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium…

This entry was posted on Monday, June, 23, 2008 at 08: 10:10 p06 and is filed under Today's Post. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.