LISTENERS AWAIT RADIO'S NEW WAVE Nick Lewis and Theresa Tayler – Calgary Herald Four new stations squeezed themselves onto Calgary's FM radio dial this week, but it remains to be seen if Calgarians will enjoy a greater breadth of music programming because of it.
Some critics say Calgary, a city of a million residents, is being underserved by its existing nine commercial music stations, and that the four new stations -- one alternative rock (Extreme FM), one hot adult contemporary (Energy FM), one adult album alternative (Cafe FM), and one unnamed folk -- don't diversify the aural landscape much.
Others suggest the newly approved stations address a gap -- specifically the hot adult contemporary and alternative rock markets that have been ignored for too long in Calgary. They say these stations will get younger, hipper listeners off their iPods and CD players and back to radio.
"Every time you put a signal on, there's some sort of diversification," says Greg Diamond, a consultant with Byrnes Media, an analyst firm that works with 50 radio stations across Canada. "It's part of the process, the applicant has to show that what they propose to do is different than what's already in the market. But how long they plan on doing what they propose to do, that's the question."
Calgary is one of the hottest radio markets in Canada, as its radio stations boast higher profits than the national average (31 per cent locally versus 23 per cent nationally). That has much to do with all the economic spinoff from the oil and gas industry.
"The radio market is tributary to disposable income and population, and it's because of the growth in southern Alberta and the increase in wealth that these applications went forth," says Denis Carmel, spokesperson for the Canadian Radio-Television and Communications Commission (CRTC).
The CRTC's decision was based partly on economic opportunity for other broadcasters in Calgary and partly on expanding Calgary's on-air music.
"There's a variety of standards, but the first one is, 'Is there room in the market for new players?' " says Denis. "We determined that there were. Then we determine what the best application is in terms of complementarity, meaning how they serve audiences and how they complement the stations already available."
Alberta-based public broadcaster CKUA opposed the CRTC's decision to add the new stations to Calgary's mix. According to Ken Regan, CKUA's general manager, they're worried the addition of this many new stations could mean a saturation of the industry.
"I'm less concerned about the the impact on CKUA, because I think our product is strong enough and unique enough that commercial radio is not going to erode at our audience too much. Our audience is looking for an alternative to commercial radio," says Regan. "But if I were a commercial broadcaster, I'd be worried."
While the market may be growing as Calgary expands in population, Regan says, there's still only one market of listeners for stations to draw from.
"If the stations were all significantly different, that would be one thing, but they're not," he says. "I'm not against competition, but part of the CRTC's mandate is to foster development of the industry, not just issue licences whenever somebody asks for them."
Part of the problem is the days when radio stations were simply trying to compete with other radio stations is gone, Regan says. Today's broadcasters are up against satellite radio and Internet radio service. "The question is, are four new stations coming into the market all at once going to have a serious impact?" he asks. "I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two stations fold in the next five to 10 years."
Not all local radio stations are sweating the addition of more competition. Gavin Tucker, program director for JACK FM, says the addition of more competition into the Calgary market means the listener is ultimately going to be the winner.
"Competition is good, we've seen that in other industries. As far as JACK is concerned, I think our audience is pretty loyal. Jack has been on the air for three years and carved out a good position for itself in terms of being a non-radio -- radio station," says Tucker. "Competition, bring it on -- and it will make us all better."
While these new stations say they will spin underplayed artists such as Modest Mouse and Jack Johnson, how long will that last? Though these artists have loyal followers, it remains to be seen if there are enough of them to attract enough advertisers to make a commercial station viable.
Modest Mouse's bestselling album is 2004's Good News For People Who Like Bad News, which in two years has sold 1.3 million copies. Typical radio stars, such as Nelly, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, move that in the first month.
"They're corporate, so they're trying to draw in advertisers, not just listeners," says Anthony Charron, a 29-year-old Calgarian who says he doesn't listen much to radio unless he's in his car.
"I think a station that will play stuff like Modest Mouse will probably be fairly successful because there's no station like that in Calgary -- and the hipsters need something to listen to," he says. "Hopefully these stations stick to their promises of playing these types of music and it doesn't dissolve into a situation where we have 10 classic rock stations."
Charron says he wonders if the younger generation will even be listening to traditional radio in the future.
"They're listening to podcasts and downloading music to their iPods, so I think it's a question of whether or not traditional radio can even continue to work," he says.
One new licence promising diversity outside the rock format is the newly proposed folk station, granted to Calgary based mostly on the immense success of the Calgary Folk Music Festival, going 27 years strong.
"The folk station is going to be an experiment," consultant Diamond says. "It has raised more than a few eyebrows. But, having said that, what's it actually going to be like when it's on? I can't think of any one instance where folk was ruling the roost in any market. And I'm really hard-pressed to think of any folk stations, period. That's a new beast we'll have to keep an eye on."
Considering Calgary's radio market is so hot, there's a good chance all four new stations will enjoy some success, Diamond says. |