Bristol wrote:

Today's Country Music is not targeting farmers. That notion is long gone as much as many farms are owned by large corporate organizations.  According to the Globe and Mail article on November 18; "Between 1941 and 2021 the number of farms in Canada fell by approximately 75 per cent".

I know traditionalists don't particularly like today's country music, but the younger audience does. Younger farmers and rural dwellers do like today's country.  Look at all of the country stations that have sprung up in Southern Ontario over the past 10 years. 

The number of farms as you say have declined a lot over the past 80 years. However these new larger mega farms spend a lot of money on very expensive farm equipment and supplies.  My point was that radio is not getting much of the advertising geared to the rural community.  And there is a lot of rural area south and west of Hamilton.  Rural audiences are loyal radio listeners even beyond country music stations . A lot of young farmers driving their $90,000 pick up trucks enjoy classic rock as well.     

paterson1 wrote:

Sorry, I was referring to the competition for audience when I was talking about Toronto.  As you said BOOM is often the number one station in Hamilton.  So for audience Toronto is the big competitor but not for local ad dollars.

What I was talking about was co-op ad dollars and more regional advertising which actually could be a bit of a gold mine.  Toronto and Hamilton radio tend not to go after this money.  Hundreds of thousands of coop advertising dollars are not utilized and it might as well go to radio. However the station needs to put the packages together, hunt down the potential participants and go out and sell it to the local dealers.  And this means some face to face calls.
 

Regional advertisers, like national, are going to want to see some numbers, and these stations won't have them. And it's a lot less money left on the table then you're making it out to be.

And whatever's out there, it's not going to add up close to the ~800k/yr in salary obligations a local airstaff, news, marketing and promotions would cost. A top rated station in the market with actual national ad dollars would have a hard time making that work.

The potential audience for a new AM station in 2023 are not consumers who are making major buying decisions.

Last edited by RadioAaron (November 26, 2023 9:44 pm)

I agree, country music fans won't be listening to AM radio.  The only AM around that plays all country is CKNX 920 and they are more traditional country with some of the newer material.

The two Hamilton AM stations will be 55+ but that is not all bad either.   That audience especially 55-70 actually has a lot of money to spend. But the problem really is that fewer and fewer of this group are listening to AM. This is why both CHAM and CKOC need to be local and offer something that will engage the audience and keep this 55+ listener however small. 

A good friend of mine who turned 70 last April and upper middle class bought a brand new Chevrolet Traverse this past summer, is currently renovating a bedroom and bathroom in his house and bought all new top of the line appliances in the past 18 months.  So for advertisers, radio, TV or agencies to ignore this group is a mistake. 

Regional companies that haven't done much or any radio likely won't be overly hung up on ratings.  And they won't be going through an agency so ratings won't necessarily be much of a factor.  It obviously helps that they are familiar with the station.

They care about cost and some results.  As mentioned with co-op they have already paid for most or all of the ad and head office will pay the balance.  Often there is already a produced commercial available which their head office will supply. 

Sadly, my experience with co-op dollars not being used was usually laziness on the side of the dealer or actually not understanding how it worked.  Also some laziness on the side of radio since it requires a bit of sweat equity and time.  However the payoff can be major, and once the parties have been through the process, much easier every time after the first. 

I am surprised how the 55+ group is overlooked. Many of these folks have no (or little) debt and money in the bank. As mentioned in previous messages they purchase vehicles, appliances (often high end), furniture, do renovations, travel, spend on their grand children, get dentures, enjoy fine dining and plan their funerals. I could never understand advertisers who ignore this group in favor of the younger demographic that is much more financially challenged with increased mortgage interest rates eating into their disposable income and have little money to spend.
 

radio islam could use one of those channels.

paterson1 wrote:

I agree, country music fans won't be listening to AM radio.  The only AM around that plays all country is CKNX 920 and they are more traditional country with some of the newer material.

The two Hamilton AM stations will be 55+ but that is not all bad either.   That audience especially 55-70 actually has a lot of money to spend. But the problem really is that fewer and fewer of this group are listening to AM. This is why both CHAM and CKOC need to be local and offer something that will engage the audience and keep this 55+ listener however small. 

A good friend of mine who turned 70 last April and upper middle class bought a brand new Chevrolet Traverse this past summer, is currently renovating a bedroom and bathroom in his house and bought all new top of the line appliances in the past 18 months.  So for advertisers, radio, TV or agencies to ignore this group is a mistake. 

Regional companies that haven't done much or any radio likely won't be overly hung up on ratings.  And they won't be going through an agency so ratings won't necessarily be much of a factor.  It obviously helps that they are familiar with the station.

They care about cost and some results.  As mentioned with co-op they have already paid for most or all of the ad and head office will pay the balance.  Often there is already a produced commercial available which their head office will supply. 

Sadly, my experience with co-op dollars not being used was usually laziness on the side of the dealer or actually not understanding how it worked.  Also some laziness on the side of radio since it requires a bit of sweat equity and time.  However the payoff can be major, and once the parties have been through the process, much easier every time after the first. 

This is all theoretical. Two AM stations in Hamilton are not going to change the structure of an entire industry, You can build a 55+ audience, but you'll never make back the money you spent getting there. It's just not available.

There's a reason these stations sold for $155,000 apiece and the Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Loondon stations didn't sell at all.

Last edited by RadioAaron (November 27, 2023 3:29 pm)

RadioQuiz wrote:

Here's the play -

Rent out blocks of time to guys from the SOWNY board to recreate 1050 Chum or their favourite time period of AM radio.

Profit.

If, somehow, anyone here could recreate what I felt cruisin' through the local A&W drive-in, in the mid-60s, with damn near every car on the property blasting 1050-CHUM out of their downed windows, wouldn't that be something.

Profitable? Who knows, but holy moly Charlie Brown was a clown.

Skywave wrote:

Apart from a morning and evening drive host (one, not two), I would run it as an automated jukebox with the old time PAM jingles and fast pacing.  Just give me the music, non-stop, with commercials in small clusters.  Let the computer figure out the Cancon ratios, but watch out for too much Snowbird.
Zoomer is all over the place with too much spoken word interstitial crap, and the weekend paid programming is downright painful.  You can't hold an audience that wants music if you don't have music all the time. 
And "the hits just keep on coming".
Don't forget to sing "On Top of Spaghetti" in memory of the late Biondi.

“1150 AM - CFMS - The MUSEUM”

Saul wrote:

RadioQuiz wrote:

Here's the play -

Rent out blocks of time to guys from the SOWNY board to recreate 1050 Chum or their favourite time period of AM radio.

Profit.

Sorry, radio friends, but I'd need acid to get that feeling back.
 

Not necessarily! There's an online radio station called WIWS that tries to recreate the old sound of AM radio on the net. The gimmick? They deliberately try to sound like an AM station, with sometimes scratchy and staticky "reception," old commercials and records that are anything but from CDs or .mp3 files. 

See if this takes you back, at least a bit. (The drugs are not supplied...)

WIWS Radio

WIWS FAQ