"JACK/BOB/WHATEVER" Mike McVay - All Access Everyone is talking about Jack and Bob...and now Mike.
Several days before Entercom launched "Mike" in Boston, one of our PDs joked "we're going to change our format to Mike. We play what Mike McVay wants us to play."
I'm not sure what the magic is in using a man's name for your station, but some broadcasters are convinced that the magic is in the name.
The "Variety" format is radio's flavor-of-the-half-decade. Smart broadcasters who are changing to this format understand the value of its unique image and position; and they're researching the music they plan to play. It IS about Variety, but a variety of the listener's FAVORITE songs. Not just any songs. "Playing what we want to play" is imaging, not strategy.
The lemmings blindly chasing the format -- without research, or even common sense -- are generally those who change formats every three years. For their market, it's another name and another music type on the same old frequency. Those stations are like the restaurant that was something else last year. Same building, new name, new menu.
McVay Media has been watching this new format "from across the street" in several Canadian markets we're in. Where we compete with Jack and Bob, our clients are winning. Yes, Jack and Bob have had impact, but they haven't been able to beat well-positioned, well-marketed stations. That's not to say that the format hasn't been successful. It is to say that where there was a huge hole, they've filled it.
Several USA stations have had success with the variety formats. Keep an ear on WENS/Indianapolis, owned by Emmis. They changed to a Country version of Jack/Bob, calling it "Hank."
A little history is instructive. Jack/Bob/Mike, etc. is a new name, not a new format.
Jack-like on-air "attitude" came first from rockers like WMMS/Cleveland, WDVE/Pittsburgh, KSAN/San Francisco, and KLOL/Houston. Z100/New York City, and before that, WRBQ/Tampa, under Scott Shannon's leadership, were sassy, and they were copied around the world.
We have worked with radio stations in Australia and New Zealand that have been every bit as creative or ingenious in developing liners and formatics and have the same attitude as the Bob/Jack stations. Our clients in New Zealand, Classic Hits-FM/Auckland, have been successful for years now by featuring "variety." They play a variety of the listener's favorite songs. They're well researched, and Operations Manager David Brice is continually freshening his station. Oh, and they play currents. "Variety" can come from playing new music, too.
Jack's roots can be traced to Alice/Denver. Secret Communications owner Frank Wood created that station. Next came Jacor, creating a "Mix" format that was more Classic Hits than Hot AC, and it displayed plenty of outrageous attitudes. Jacor had the format in Cleveland, Rochester, Dallas, Houston and Tampa. These stations played exceptionally wide variety and transcended AC and Hot AC while siphoning listeners from Classic Rock. We had similar "Variety" formats in the USA as long ago as the mid-80's.
Jack wasn't actually first in Canada, either. Bob launched in Winnipeg in the winter of 2002. According to Ross Davies, then head of programming for the CHUM-FM group, the airdate was March 4, 2002. Ross, Howard Kroeger and consultant Mike Doran launched the format. The first Jack-FM was launched in Canada on December 27, 2002. That's a full 10 months after Bob.
My stating the fact isn't intended to belittle those who are syndicating the Jack format, but rather to make that point that what sometimes appears "new" is just another "old" strategy repackaged. The folks who created the Bob format deserve credit for their accomplishments as much as those that created Jack.
The success of the format in Canada, swift as it was, has Canadian law to thank. "CanCon" rules require 35% of the music in every hour to be Canadian content. And the CRTC (Canada's FCC) enforces this by insisting that all FM stations must play 50% "Non-Hit" music. CRTC determined that 1980 is the cutoff year for determining "Hit Status," effectively blocking FMs from playing 50's/60's/70's. Anything after 1980 is considered a Non-Hit. So, in Canada, the 50s/60s/70s oldies format isn't permitted on FM, protectionism for AM owners who still play music. So variety formats appeal to the Canadian listener who would otherwise cume Oldies FMs.
We have found in many international situations, where there are fewer radio stations and less diversification than in the USA, that the more successful radio stations satisfy the needs of two life groups. The variety of format enables you to do that and could even arguably be seen as serving three life groups. One challenge American broadcasters will have is that there is more competition, and more choices, thus people program their own radio stations. They do this by tuning up and down the dial. That means the audience's desire and need for a multi-format-format is less.
Broadcasters are also faced with the fallacy of "variety." Listeners tell us via research that they want variety, but in this on-demand world, what they really want is a variety of their personal favorite songs. They don't necessarily want the variety of the program director's favorite songs. Their favorite songs are what they want to hear regularly. That does not mean that you don't surround their favorites with songs that showcase variety, but to play AC/DC into Barry Manilow does nothing more than alienate two different life groups, instead of satisfying both.
Sean Ross from Edison Media Research noted that some broadcasters were distracted by the trappings of Bob/Jack, overlooking the success of stations like WQBW (The Brew)/Milwaukee. That station combines Classic Hits, Lost 80s and female-friendly Rock in a much more straightforward package. Ross noted in a recent article "KPLX (The Wolf)/Dallas pulled off a mile wide, inch deep Country station with transcendently stationality… long before the first Bob debut. Much less the recent arrival of WENS (Hank FM)/Indianapolis."
The Wolf in Nashville has been doing a version of the format for more than a year and is impacting the market, but they're not waving the "we play what we want to play" flag. They've made an impact in the capitol of Country music, where there were already two other Country stations.
In other words, if you can figure out how to play great music, add the illusion of variety, and do a great job of imaging your station in order to be memorable, you CAN be successful without having to "thumb your nose" at the audience.
Jim Ryan, VP/Adult Contemporary for Clear Channel Radio and Program Director for WLTW/New York recently noted that "The Jack format may be right for some stations with nothing to lose, but if you are programming a healthy successful AC, do not veer from the songs that people have told you that they want to hear."
Ryan continued, "I do believe that a little spice can go a long way, and there is room for PDs to feature spice on their stations." I whole-heartedly agree with Jim's assessment. Stations that we consult utilize tactics like "The Wide Variety Workday," "The Workday Pick Me Up," "The On The Way To Work Pick Me Up" and "Desk Dance." There are many more features we use for our stations, but I think you get the point. Come up with your own and make it special.
One thing I believe, and that I know will be controversial to some programmers, is that currents (new music) lend to the illusion of variety. Find the very best currents, those that sound right for what your image is, and play them. We sometimes (myself included) hide currents because we're afraid that they'll alienate the audience. The trick is in knowing what currents belong on your station and which ones the audience will search the dial to find. Playing new music, along with older songs, creates variety.
If you are an "oldies only" station, you'll have to ask yourself what you'll reconfigure to next. Oldies stations have been faced with this challenge for years. The late, great Al Ham was a brilliant programmer who created "The Music Of Your Life." Ham connected with listeners emotionally, by playing music from their life. That format was launched in the early 80s and featured music that was already 40 years old. I learned from watching his success that if you are nothing more than a "novelty" or if you play nothing that's new, you can expect at some point you'll have to change format. Sadly, in this day and age, many broadcasters are satisfied with a two-year format.
Mark Ramsey from Mercury Radio Research said, "If everybody copies the Jack language, what was once special will quickly become cliché. What was once unique would quickly become nouveau radio. What was once exceptional would quickly become mundane. And what was once a refreshing change of pace for radio listeners would become the latest reasons to become bored."
Ramsey continued, "What listeners want from us is something fresh, not the same 'something' twisted like a pretzel in every single format category." KMXZ/Tucson, Program Director Bobby Rich recently noted in a trade publication, "there's probably a place in every market for an AC station that is intentionally all over the place." Rich continued to state, "Such a station may actually do okay, if it has a good signal, great local talent and is aggressively marketed." He makes sense on stating, "They may carve out a piece of your cume and slash into your TSL, too. But don't think you can beat it by joining it."
It seems to me that the opportunity for "variety stations" is to be the first in a market, focus on Hot AC and Classic Hits (to own two life groups), have great imaging and present a unique marketing approach. You also need to play a lot of music.
I am not of the opinion that they should present imaging that is "in your face." Rather, the imaging would be better if it were listener centered and not station centered. Keep in mind as to what medium you are battling today in the way of iPods, satellite radio, Tivo, and CD's. And, be credible when you write promos and imaging statements. Playing variety on your radio station is NOT like "your station on shuffle." Does it make sense, at a time in our history when consumers want it THEIR way, to tell them we'll give it to them OUR way?
We recently connected with Ross Davies, mentioned earlier in this memo as one of the originators of the Bob Format. Ross has recently launched a format (named Charlie) that takes the positive elements and attributes of variety formats and wraps them in a much more listener-centered banner. He's looking to move into markets that still have an opportunity and opening for a "variety music intensive station."
What I like most about what Ross is presenting is that he has made alterations to it from its Canadian form and has crafted it for the USA. It is better suited for those stations that intend to be more than middle-of-the-pack, and hope to be around for significantly longer than 36 months. We will have more information on Ross and his format, and a complete analysis, as it rolls out. I plan to watch it and track it and determine if in fact the audience will know what they want when they hear it. If anyone has the chance to be long-term successful, I think its Ross, mainly because he's applying the elements of sound radio to a format that's designed for the USA as much as it is for Canada.
The-bottom-line? Bob/Jack/Hank/etc. are certainly viable formats. But, other than Dallas, they tend to be middle of the pack stations. They are best served as part of a cluster of stations and not as a stand-alone. Look at the format as a way to add shares to your overall cluster, not as the end-all-be-all solution to your rating challenges.
In Dallas, the radio station is showing very good growth in Adults 25-54. In Fort Collins, Colorado, a Denver signal has scored #2 25-54. Interestingly, the station performed poorly in its home market, where it comes in 9th with Adults 25-54. The format is a killer in Vancouver, and Bob continues to win in Winnipeg. It's yet to perform well in several USA markets and it never got off the ground in Toronto. To be fair, it's still too new to be judged.
If you are going to be more than a novelty format, you will have to apply strong basics, great imaging, personable talent and researched music. Be consumer (listener) focused, not internal (broadcaster) focused.
Does anyone remember New Coke? Do Jack and Bob have "legs?"
The best performers in this format will do what the best performers in any format do: a big heritage morning show, great personalities, and they'll evolve their music mix over a period of time to keep it fresh and introduce the format with extensive marketing. The "variety" format has to be heralded as "the next coming" if it is to be successful. You can't "soft launch" this format. And, you need to be prepared for what comes "next." |