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

[SteveOrdinetz <steveord@xtdl.com>]

At 09:52 AM 7/22/97 -0400, Mark Shneyder wrote:
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>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.


Or else they're leading all their stations off the same cliff.  The public
is very fickle, and my guess is that people will get sick of sensitive
lyrics soon enough and want something new.  Look at the CHRs that went
heavily dance, urban or alternative thinking this fad was here to stay, and
got left out in the cold when tastes shifted.


Speaking of that R&R article....did anyone read the profile on Dick Summer
that was part of it?  Kind of interesting, though full of errors (left Jay
Dunn and Jefferson Kaye off of WBZ's "dream team" of their Top 40 heyday and
included Larry Justice who didn't arrive until Top 40 was long gone).  I
also doubt that WBZ was as lax formatically as it implied!!

 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.

Look at who is the #1 AC in Boston, and has been for years....as much as
Magic puts me to sleep, my guess is that they'll still be around doing
pretty much what they're doing now when pop/alternative is gone and
forgotten, and WBMX is on their 10th new variation on the format.  Here in
N.H. WZID is every bit as sleepy, sappy and boring, and you know what?  A
bad book for them is when they dip below a 20 share.  Just gotta feeling
that Mariah and Whitney will be around a lot longer than Fiona Apple and Jewel!

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