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Myth Busting
By: Walter Sabo
Shockingly, one myth about young-appeal FM Talk prevails. Let's kill it right now. Young Skewing FM Talk does not "steal" audience from the traditional AM talk station. The classical music station does not steal audience from the CHR station. Both play music, but they are in different formats.
"Talk" is not a format. "Music" is not a format. You can target talk just like you target music to reach any demographic you select. When FM stations target 18-34 year olds or 25-49 year olds with talk programming, they are going after an audience that most AM talk stations don't reach.
Just the facts: Look at these real-world cumulative duplication reports:
· WJFK FM Washington DC shares only 10.7% of it's 25-54 Adults with WMAL AM.
· KLSX FM Los Angeles shares 15.3% with KFI AM.
· Real Radio 104.1 Orlando shares 8.8% with WDBO AM.
· New Jersey 101.5 New Jersey shares 8.0 with WABC AM.
If you saw those cumulative duplication patterns on music stations, it wouldn't ever occur to you that they are competitors. They're not.
Young Skewing FMs that we've helped create over the past ten years win a unique talk audience. Thirty-year-olds are attracted to FM talk stations by topics, production and imaging that appeal to them, not to the traditional AM audience. It's not an accident. It's a science.
We can now target a talk station to an exact age (not a demo cell) as precisely as we target music stations. There is virtually no cume sharing with AM stations because they are in different formats.
Success on FM in talk requires a precise answer to this question: Who do you want to talk to? Usually talk programmers start talk stations by asking, "Which hosts can we get?" You wouldn't start a music station by asking, "Which jock can we get?" You'd first identify an audience and do whatever you had to do to learn everything you could about their music preferences. Then you'd build a playlist, a format, an image. The last ingredient would be the jocks. They would be hired to implement your format.
That's the same formula that works on successful FM talk stations. Very talented, gifted hosts are hired for their superior ability to communicate with a target listener. They don't bring in their own carts. Their carefully crafted topics are designed to appeal to a different audience than the one drawn to AM's. The result: almost no cumulative sharing. No audience is "stolen" from AM talk stations. So, be smart. Take your third FM AC, or Second country FM, and turn it into an FM talk profit machine. It won't hurt a thing---except your competitor. First-in, wins!
Sabo Media has started more successful FM talk stations than any other programmer in America. Looking for the common trait among the most successful FM talk stations? It's SABOmedia.
Sabo Media welcomes London's talkSPORT radio network to our international division. Congratulations to Pat Holiday for his promotion to General Manager of CFRB, 50,000 watt, talk giant and client in Toronto, RADIO Unica for its upcoming coverage of the Sydney Olympics. Kevin and Karen Straley for their healthy baby boy. Their first.
Source:Arbitron. Cumulative Duplication Analysis Mon-Sun 6AM-Mid Persons 25-54 Winter 2000. (Except New Jersey which is based on Fall '99). Prepared especially for Sabo media by Anne Santos of Arbitron.
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