[BC] The future of broadcasting...

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 09/02/2006 7:42:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
shnewman at alaweb.com writes:

> Easy Listening or Beautiful Music appealed (more or less) to my parents. 

That makes sense... but for about a year or two during my teens, I actually 
liked listening to the local EZ station because it was soothing to my somewhat 
jangled nerves. (Wicked stepmother syndrome.) Eventually, though, I "outgrew" 
that, and started listening to the music of my own age group, and found myself 
enjoying it a lot more. ;)

>  instance, at one time KFOG in San Francisco (snip)
> had huge numbers but like the MOYL formats 
>  the audiences LITERALLY died off. 

You do have a point, there... but I still wonder if an EZ station could "pull 
its own weight" these days... especially with the advent of lower-cost & much 
easier to maintain automation systems! Someone could literally rent an 8x10 
office and run the whole studio/office from there. If it grew sufficiently that 
a larger sales staff was needed, they could expand to fit them.

> My generation's easy listening is Adult 
>  Contemporary or Classic Rock or Oldies. (fragmented amongst the three) 
Now, 
>  what has surprised me is the baby boomers seemed to have abandoned the 
very 
>  music they grew up on. This is of interest to me because I happen to like 
>  the music of the 50's & 60's. Now, I contend that library balance and 
>  execution is the reason they haven't held on but I could be very wrong on 
>  this one.

Could it possibly be total and absolute *burnout* for them, though? I mean... 
think about it... listening to the *same* couple of hundred songs for nearly 
*fifty years*? Time to update your iPod's playlist, ain't it, Grampa? <ggg>

>  Maybe Rich Wood could shed some light on the Beautiful Music/EZ 
>  Listening and Oldies from his perspective and experience.

I'd be interested in his thoughts, as well.

>  Now, I'm NOT at all surprised at the surge in those formats you mention 
>  below Willie. Look at the population surge in Latinos, Blacks and the (my 
>  opinion) great music that is available for Contemporary Christian Stations 
>  AND the spiritual awakening in the country in general.

Has their population *really* surged, though? Or are they simply moving into 
more and more concentrated areas, giving the illusion of "population 
explosion"? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't all races having about the same number 
of babies per couple? Of course, immigration must factor in, but I can't 
imagine it being *that* dramatic... but obviously, I could be very wrong.

>  So to summarize: I do believe the Beautiful Music formats are dead. (does 
>  anyone remember the panic to get rid of those formats or die?) Baby 
Boomers 
>  are trying to act younger than they are. :) and I'm not surprised at the 
>  surge in listeners to the formats you listed.

Hmmm... I dunno... like Country or Oldies in NYC, or the Smooth Jazz in 
Chicago, where the stations "blew up" their popular Formats... I get the impression 
that EZ also "blew up" a number of years ago. I can't help but wonder if it 
*could* be viable, again, on a limited basis. (One EZ station per TSA, for 
example.) Of course, you know what would happen if one station *did* prosper, 
right? There'd be half a dozen copycats, and then every station would tank due to 
oversaturation. (I think that's part of what happened to EZ: too many 
stations, then all of a sudden, *none*.)

What I still can't figure out is why and how the *glut* of "Top 40" stations 
not only survive, but they multiply. Blow up a Smooth Jazz, and make it 
another "A/C"? Gimme a break.

As for a "spiritual revival", that would be nice, but I don't think it is so. 
You *are* correct about the very high quality of the music, tho. :) I immerse 
myseif in it constantly.

Willie...