Week Four 1/26-1/30

Country music has a new radio station: 'The Bull' 93.5-FM

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-07-25/news/fl-the-bull-country-station--93-5-fm-has-gone-20140725_1_country-music-tortuga-music-festival-new-radio-station

Country music has a new radio station: 'The Bull' 93.5-FM. (2014, July 25). Retrieved January 27, 2015, from http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-07-25/news/fl-the-bull-country-station--93-5-fm-has-gone-20140725_1_country-music-tortuga-music-festival-new-radio-station

Since South Florida's popularity has  grown for country music a new radio station called "The Bull" has formed. This new radio station combines Kiss Country and South Florida Country station's styles. Stars like Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, and Blake Shelton will be played on this new radio station. The people in South Florida have spoken out they want more country. From the help of "The success of the two-year-old Tortuga Music Festival along Fort Lauderdale beach and the arrival of four new country bars in Broward and Palm Beach counties this past year point to a region that's hot for country" have helped show how these demands are being fixed. From the popularity of concerts and bars, it helps produce marketing for radio stations and give them more opportunities to succeed. 

"Country music and artists are now topping the charts and ruling pop culture," said Tear, noting that younger country stars like Taylor Swift are appealing to more mainstream audiences. "Today's country music is young and exciting."

"Now that music is more diverse in its integration of multiple music styles and artists across genres, the potential to appeal to culturally diverse areas has significantly grown," Hasford said. "As a result, regions like South Florida will experience a rapid increase in the popularity of country music. I would expect additional growth in South Florida in the near future, ranging from more country bars to a greater number of country stations to more country concerts and festivals in the area."

   I agree with the article that music is more diverse these days. It's great to add a new country station to South Florida since it's something fairly new and popular. "Country music and artists are now topping the charts and ruling pop culture." The Tortuga Music Festival on Fort Lauderdale Beach, and the recent Chili Cook off has opened the country world to South Florida. Since the People of South Florida found a new interest in this music, distributors thought it would be a strategic move to create this new radio station. 

   I think it's a very smart idea of the producers to introduce an area to certain type of music and then have concerts and bars to keep the trend going. After they see the consumers react in a positive way they create a new radio station that "will reflect the energy and fun of our music."

Week Three 1/19-1/23

Top 5 Digital Radio Trends for 2014 and 2015

http://www.socastsrm.com/blog/top-5-digital-radio-trends-to-hold-on-to-for-2014-and-2015

Top 5 Digital Radio Trends for 2014 and 2015. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2015, from http://www.socastsrm.com/blog/top-5-digital-radio-trends-to-hold-on-to-for-2014-and-2015

In this article, it summarizes five digital radio trends that happened in 2014 and will continue in 2015. Radio has always been a trendsetter with it's sports highlights, and release of new hit songs. Keeping the five trends of Insights for drive radio, mobile friendly matters, build an interactive ecosystem, stay in tune with new technologies, and understand your audience's habitats will  help keep the radio in tune for 2015.

" In fact, 72% of people who stream radio expressed a strong willingness to provide registration information in exchange for access to station streams. "

"Being “mobile first” allows stations to ensure that content is both is compatible with all users, and crafted with them in mind! The majority of today’s listeners are tuning from their vehicles, and probably looking for casual entertainment or information. "

"Not only is your audience consuming more digital content than ever, they’re expecting more of it all the time. Meet this need through creative, strategically placed content across your social media outlets, and drive conversations across all digital platforms- like in on-air programs! "

   Creating an organized list of trends we need to continue to keep up with is a smart and well-panned idea to keep being successful. I think the most important trend is stay in tune with new technologies.  Researching and reporting on how consumers want their products is the most important thing. Markets and brands need to understand how their consumer's behavior is so they can change to be the most effective. 
   I think the second most important trend is build an interactive ecosystem. Not only is your ecosystem consuming more but their expecting more from the producers. Having social media everywhere at any time is very important.  Producers need to meet this need in order to be creative and be able to compete and strengthen their brand. The more satisfaction they get the more popularity they get. 
   

Week Two 1/12-1/16

Who Will Benefit Most from the Proposed SIRIUS - XM Satellite Radio Merger

http://radio.about.com/od/radionews/i/blXMSIRIUSMerge.htm

Deitz, C. (n.d.). Who Will Benefit Most from the Proposed SIRIUS - XM Satellite Radio Merger. Retrieved January 13, 2015, from http://radio.about.com/od/radionews/i/blXMSIRIUSMerge.htm

In this article, it talks about the pros and cons of combining the popular stations of SIRIUS and XM satellite  radio. Having both companies combined has many pros such as providing better financial performance for investors, but can be expensive and time consuming.  

"Allowing both companies to operate as a single entity could simultaneously create new positive and negative repercussions."

"XM and SIRIUS claim such a merger would be to everyone's advantage, but some critics claim programming and choice will be subjugated to business expediency."

"...less service, less affordability, less diversity, and less choice in content and hardware," according to a report released by the Carmel Group in Apri, 2007.

Due to the significant technology increase, I can see why popular companies like Sirius and XM Satellite would want to converge together to become the most popular and financially stable company.  The owners who distribute these stations can see the great ratings, and how merging these companies together would be a good marketing technique. I think more companies like this will catch onto this great idea, even though it will take money and time it will benefit them in the long run. Hopefully local audiences will like the idea of merging the companies together, even though there is a chance of less diversity and less affordability. 

Week One 1/5-1/9

Never Listen to Céline? Radio Meter Begs to Differ

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/media/16radio.html?_r=0

Clifford, S. (2009, December 15). Never Listen to Céline? Radio Meter Begs to Differ. Retrieved January 5, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/business/media/16radio.html?_r=0

In this article, it talks about people's reactions to the decline of their favorite radio stations. Surveys have been taken place electronically to monitor how much people listen to certain stations. From the surveys they can see classical radio stations have dropped 10.7 percent in certain areas like New York, and Los Angeles. 

“It’s education but also expanding horizons, understanding the existence of a whole host of art forms that are extremely related and important to our cultural history,” Joseph W. Polisi, president of the Juilliard School, said."

"Talk radio, a largely conservative format, turns out to have fewer fans than previously thought. Talk radio’s market share declined 2.6 percent in the study of areas where the meters were used. Talk radio (excluding sports and news) is about 80 percent conservative, says Michael Harrison, publisher of the trade magazine Talkers. He cautioned that the sample size in markets using meters was relatively small."

"The new ratings have contributed to other shifts. Mainstream formats like oldies, news and country have fared better."

   Reading this article reminds me of just how new technology is changing the world. More and more articles are coming out with how radio station ratings are going down. Either over long periods of time or quickly. People are finding other more confinement ways to listen to their music. Either through Pandora, I Heart Radio. or Air Supply. 

   I feel bad for the Radio stations who have worked so hard to get their ratings up, and then one day see them slowly be brought down from competition. The radio stations need to up their game if they want to be in the business for much longer.