I teach a college class on radio so I spend a decent amount of time with 18-22’s. And in the not too distant future these folks will be entering 25-54. They definitely do not have clock radios.
The assumption that most core radio listeners have a clock radio is faulty. Like so many things in radio, assuming these people will simply set their station without reminders or encouragement is questionable, too. And it also reinforces the importance of having presence on mobile phones.”
via Worldwide Radio Summit 2014 Exclusive TechSurvey10 Sneak Peek: The Decline Of Clock ….
I am one of the old-timers (at 44 with 21+ years in radio). I have a clock radio. When I had to head into the city every morning, I would set the alarm to WCBS at 6:15. I would get the Mets score, eat one commercial, traffic and weather and then click. Headlines could wait until I was in the car (or looked at email/twitter in the kitchen.)
More and more folks are getting those services, especially weather, from their phones.
I read an article last week that suggests that radio programmers shouldn’t forfeit the services to the phones. Now forfeit is a loaded word, but I will ask if it is necessary for all stations to do traffic and weather.
WCBS New York (an All News* station for you out of towners, the asterisk is for those pesky sporting events) should do traffic and weather. Of course.
But why does WFAN need traffic reports. Is anyone listening to Boomer & Carton thinking I really need a traffic report here. Or is it just one more thing to billboard. Couldn’t we come up with something else to billboard? WFAN figured out how to do mornings without 20/20s and they have a very popular show. Maybe they don’t need that traffic report. Does anyone miss the news that they used to do in the first year of Boomer & Carton?
So maybe you don’t need the traffic. And maybe Z-100 doesn’t need the weather (do they even do weather, I haven’t listened to Z-100 since Shannon was there. It’s me, Z, I aged…you do your thing and you do it well.)
There was a time when school closings was not only a smart thing to do, it was a money maker. Now, nobody does it on the radio. I get woken up by texts at 4:45am…why do I need John Gambling to read me everyone else’s texts?
So maybe you don’t need that traffic and weather. Maybe it’s clutter. Just asking.