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Consultant: T.O.'s "Today" Radio Format Will Be A Big Hit In The U.S.
Consultant Alan Burns calls it "Social Radio," a kind of Twitter/Facebook format that plays music in between telling stories of average human beings. It's based on the recently launched "Today Radio" format that 93.5 now uses, after transferring the Flow format to 98.7.
“It’s a mix of music and listeners’ stories about things that have happened to them. Humans are hard-wired to tell and listen to stories, and Social Radio features great, real, personal stories all day,” Burns tells All Access.
The article indicates that, unlike "Today" and "Now" being used in Canada, he's trademarked the names "Social FM,” “The Story,” and “You-FM.” Not sure if his pronouncement that it's the future of radio isn't a bit premature, but I'll be curious to see how Toronto's "Today" format does in upcoming books.
I'm constantly being told younger listeners want you to "shut up and just play the music" when they listen to the radio. This would seem to be the opposite of that.
"In Social Radio...the listener is the star. And while Social Radio...has talented, forefront hosts, those personalities become popular for their talent in eliciting listener stories. Social Radio puts the consumer first."
"Social Radio" The Newest Format In The U.S.
More on how Social Radio will work
- HD1
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Re: Consultant: T.O.'s "Today" Radio Format Will Be A Big Hit In The U.S.
Just over a month into the new format, Today Radio's Twitter account has a mere 84 followers. A decent portion appear to be industry people. Their posts get zero interaction. That's not promising. I have no idea where the on-air callers are coming from. Repurposing content from other markets? Using a service?
- RadioAaron
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Re: Consultant: T.O.'s "Today" Radio Format Will Be A Big Hit In The U.S.
HD1 wrote:
Just over a month into the new format, Today Radio's Twitter account has a mere 84 followers. A decent portion appear to be industry people. Their posts get zero interaction. That's not promising. I have no idea where the on-air callers are coming from. Repurposing content from other markets? Using a service?
Actors.
- RadioActive
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Re: Consultant: T.O.'s "Today" Radio Format Will Be A Big Hit In The U.S.
To be fair, they just started out with a new format and not a lot of publicity (except bad headlines about abandoning the Flow brand and music) so it may be way too early to judge.
That said, I believe the consultant is expecting way too much with his enthusiasm, but he's probably hoping to attract some new clients. Personally, I'm not enamored of the idea of putting callers on between songs talking about their first date or what happened in the grocery store - or whatever anecdote they're toting.
If I'm in the mood for music, that's what I want.
If I want to hear talk, then I know where to find it.
Mixing the two together seems like a recipe for failure, but I suppose we'll see.
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Thread Starter- ED1
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Re: Consultant: T.O.'s "Today" Radio Format Will Be A Big Hit In The U.S.
To be fair, they just started out with a new format and not a lot of publicity (except bad headlines about abandoning the Flow brand and music) so it may be way too early to judge.
That said, I believe the consultant is expecting way too much with his enthusiasm, but he's probably hoping to attract some new clients. Personally, I'm not enamored of the idea of putting callers on between songs talking about their first date or what happened in the grocery store - or whatever anecdote they're toting.
If I'm in the mood for music, that's what I want.
If I want to hear talk, then I know where to find it.
Mixing the two together seems like a recipe for failure, but I suppose we'll see.
If done right, the format really is compelling to listen to.
102.3 Now Radio has been at the top, or near the top of the Edmonton radio ratings in terms of the demos (and total) since their launch in 2010. They were letting people text them for free when others were charging to have their listeners text them. Their sister station in Calgary switched to this format in 2019 and shot up to #1 in A25-54/M25-54/F25-54.
The consultant's sales pitch of the format seemed to be a bit slimy, but this format feels more authentic than any other music format that I've listened to, and many people who've had this kind of radio station in their market for a while seem to agree.
- paterson1
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Re: Consultant: T.O.'s "Today" Radio Format Will Be A Big Hit In The U.S.
This format does well out west and I have noticed here in Kitchener that CHYM FM for the last couple of years during the daytime will put callers on air to talk about whatever topic the host has put forward. With stations like NOW and TODAY it is more structured and the programs normally have co hosts rather than a single personality.
Twitter means nothing, stations like BOOM, one of Toronto's most popular only has 9,882 twitter followers. If you are a news station or all talk you will have more followers. Music stations not so much. Staged or fake calls have been happening in radio for years. The callers in the promos for TODAY sound fake, but the calls during shows are sounding more legit.
The appealing thing about TODAY for me at least is their music, more than the chit chat on air. The music is pretty good and interesting. They are somewhat repetitive but do play a different array of songs than other stations in the city. This is similar to what Pattison does out west and generally it works for them.
There is no reason why the format or something similar wouldn't be successful in some markets in the US. The Social Radio consultant needs to correct all the typos in his release. Doesn't give a very good first impression to potential customers when your hype about a new format has spelling mistakes throughout.
Notice how NOW in Edmonton puts their personalities front and centre on the website...
- ED1
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Re: Consultant: T.O.'s "Today" Radio Format Will Be A Big Hit In The U.S.
Now Radio in Edmonton also has live cameras in their studio, so you know when the show is being hosted live, and when a show is voice tracked/recorded.