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May 20, 2022 7:59 pm  #1


What Ultimately Influences What Radio Station You Listen To?

It's the question all program directors would love a definitive answer to. No doubt, music genre (assuming you're listening to music and not talk or news) is a huge part of the decision. But with so many stations playing a lot of the same stuff, what else is there that attracts you to one over the other?

A personality or jock? The actual sound of the station? (Q107 has a definite sound, so does Boom 97.3, so much so that you could almost tell when you're on them even if you can't see the dial.) Fewer spots? The way they perform the format? Or something else?

While I don't listen to a lot of music radio these days, when I do, it's definitely what they play more than who's playing it. But a really talented and fun jock can get me to tune in for a while, even if I'm not fond of every song.

Talk, on the other hand, is totally topic and host dependent. I'll linger to hear a subject that matters to me, even if I'm not crazy about the person behind the mic. But a terrible subject means whoever is on the air discussing it will be doing it without my ears.

And I actually like it when they go to the phones and not just have interview after interview after interview. But a lot depends on who the screener lets through. Sometimes when a producer is desperate for listener input, a few duds can get on. (Sonny from Richmond Hill?) And it can kill the whole thing.

And yes, I'm an inveterate dial switcher, so if I get bored or a song I don't care for comes on - not to mention a four-minute spot break (I'm looking but not listening to you, NT1010!) - I'm out of there. 

But nothing drives me away faster than a two minute Tom's Place spot! It's the only one for which I will physically get up from my chair to change the station if the radio is in another room.

But that's just me. What most influences your station of choice or drives you to "touch that dial?"

 

May 21, 2022 1:20 am  #2


Re: What Ultimately Influences What Radio Station You Listen To?

I program on community radio as I enjoy presenting an alternative that's freeform within my own chosen genre

 

May 21, 2022 1:30 pm  #3


Re: What Ultimately Influences What Radio Station You Listen To?

The music, mostly. But a good jock like Pat St. John will keep me listening.


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