Future of AC (was Re: NorthEast Radio Watch 7/17:)

[Mark Shneyder <mshbc@bu.edu>]

On Tue, 22 Jul 1997, Steve Sawyer wrote:

> 
> What about WXLO?  They seem to be chasing Mix nowadays (sounds better
> than their sleepy past).
> 

Good point. They've been chasing Mix for the past few years. They even
shared the same jock for a while -- Greg Daniels would do a mid-day
shift(12-3p) at 104.5 then drive down Mass Pike for a night gig(9p-1a)
at Mix.(Mix finally gave the guy a guaranteed deal and afternoon drive
shift earlier this year).

Great aticle in last week's issue of R&R on Hot AC's move to
Pop/Alternaitve. It seems like ARS is leading the way with many of its
AC's jumping on the new trend. Others in the industry think that
Soft&Sleepy ACs like WMJX in Boston or WLTW in NYC will still have a huge
audience as the babyboomers are getting older and tune in to the music
they are very familiar with(nothing like that safe and comfortable
feeling in radio...:-). So, if you own the only soft AC in the market and
all the others are either uptempo or targeting younger
with Pop/Alternative, your future looks pretty bright if you believe what
the 'experts' are saying...Personally, with so many types of niche and
fragmented programming there'll be place for everyone under the sun --
everyone will be making a living. It's just some will be making a much,
much better living than others...
 
- -Mark

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