Where Have All The Boomers Gone? (Aug 21, 2002)

A few radio news websites are reporting that listeners in the 35 plus demographics are down from a year ago. Isn't radio supposed to be courting the older demographics in the first place? They're the ones with all the disposable income (unlike me, but please feel free to send money to David Tanny, PO Box 19569, San Diego, CA 92159 to help with his monthly expenses in America's Behindest City) and who can most afford what's advertised on the radio.

Has advertising on the radio become stale? All I keep hearing are ads for those wireless phone services that are still not ready for prime time (until they standardize the whole friggin' thing and get rid of those blasted contracts), homes over 75 percent of us can't afford (Shae Homes should be ShaMeFUL over this), endless fast food ads for fatty burgers that clogs your arteries such as those from Carl's and Jack in the Box, body-part enlargement surgery, health insurance you probably can't afford anymore (why not Wal-Mart the hospital industry, drive down salaries, and make insurance universal?), TV shows few over 35 will stand to watch such as reality shows, sensationalized local news, and the whole UPN network, car ads that never go away (Mossy Anything sucks donkeys!), bad sketches that have nothing to do with the product they are selling, soft sells that are so soft that I can't tell what they're selling (it took me five years to figure out what the hell Red Bull was), overpriced movies that are not worth two HBO subscriptions, and so on.

When will radio begin airing fresh commercials for a change? What about ads about vegetarian fast food outlets? Ads about TV shows for the whole family to watch together? How about ads for used home prices with 65% off for the weekend? What about more ads for the working poor to make them aware of services that can help them get insurance, food, and homes? When will San Diego radio realize that they are doing nothing to serve the local Outland community by not inviting a breed of businesses and services to advertise on their radio stations sevices we can really use to help our lives, not just their bottom lines?

How about paid ads for folk and country music that can make us older listeners aware of music that radio is not playing (no wait, radio won't do that! they don't want their listeners to buy music that is better than what they are programming). If they can skirt around payola, then let's have paid songs on the radio that enrich us the way junk artists just cannot do.

Back when I was a kid, I wasn't that much interested in radio, even in my late teens, I was still into watching television (before it really became a vast wasteland) in the 70's. Radio had a smattering of acts that supposedly appealled to the teenagers, but all I was interested in were acts that grooved and rocked, not those that sang syrupy love songs and other junk, and for that reason, I never stayed tuned to B100 or KCBQ for very long periods of time. I used to tape the songs I liked onto cheap 90 minute tapes I got at Longs for about 33 cents a cassette and listened to 15 songs in a row that I liked, skipping all the junk, on each 45 minute side.

I always thought radio appealled to the older listeners (those who are older than college age). Here is what the stations were formatted back in 1977. Note that a lot of radio music was once appealling to most of the older demographics (I.E. music teenagers don't like) up through 65 or so.

600 KOGO MOR music
690 XTRA easy listening music
760 KFMB MOR music
860 XEMO religious
910 KDEO Top 40 with an older demo slant
1130 KSDO news
1170 KCBQ Top 40 (teenager friendly)
1210 not on the air
1240 KSON country
1270 XSOL soul music (for about a few months)
1320 K??? probably easy listening, but that signal never reached my area
1360 KGB MOR music
1450 KOWN probably adult music
88.3 KSDS jazz
89.5 KPBS public radio
90.3 XHIS spanish
91.1 XTRA (I'm not sure if this was on in 1977)
92.1 KOWN easy listening?
92.5 XHRM soul music
93.3 KECR religious
94.1 KFSD classical
94.9 K??? not sure
95.7 Mexcian radio, moved to 99.3 in the 90's
95.9 KKOS not sure, moved to 95.7 in 1995
96.5 KYXY easy listening?
97.3 KSON country (that one I know)
98.1 KIFM MOR music
99.3 not on the air yet
100.1 not on the air yet
100.7 B100 Top 40 (teenager friendly)
101.5 KGB progressive rock
102.1 K??? not sure
102.9 KJOY? easy listening
103.7 KEZL? easy listening
105.3 KITT disco?
106.5 KPRI progressive rock

What happened to all the music that mature adults like to listen to? Where did all the former listeners of easy listening, classical, beautiful, standards, and light pop go to? They either have accumulated large CD libraries of their favorite music so they don't have to listen to the radio ever again, or they have given up on radio and have taken up books on tape or whatever.

What radio doesn't understand today is that older listeners are more open to music based on substance (like talent) rather than style (like Britney). The older listeners who were teenagers 25 years ago are more likely to be appreciating music in the categories of classical, jazz, folk, bluegrass, country, standards, filk, mature dance, electronica, novelty, traditional-style rock (not classic), fine arts, and new age. These are the musical styles that mainly appeal to listneers over the age of 35, and those in the 25-35 range are likely to be learning from the genres as they listen to them a bit at a time until they become familiar with those styles by the time they reach 35.

Why do you suppose San Diego listeners are tuning in KYXY, KIFM, and KSON (well, what's left of it, where are the listeners going). Because those stations are the only ones programming music the older demographics are likely to enjoy, yet music aimed at the older listeners are down because there are fewer stations for them to tune to.

Talk radio (there's too much of it in the Outland already) is keeping some listeners, but it's hard for anybody to keep track of what's going on talk radio when they're working where their attention is clearly not aimed at listening to the station, and for those kind of listeners, only music will do.

Older listeners are tired of music they heard during the days of "Happy Days" and "The Love Boat" such as those oldies stations programmed by KOCL, KGB, XHRM, and B94.9. They don't want to hear the same old songs everyday. You can't program a specialty oldies program 24.7 and expect to get an eight rating. You program an oldies program for about six hours a week, different songs each week, and program new music aimed at them the other 162 hours of the week.

Has radio closed their minds on music mature adults enjoy hearing? Most of the new music I hear are mostly forgettable, except for Shakira (aside of being good looking, she actually has singing talent) and any act that piques my curiosity (as in those that do not sound like 99 percent of the other clone acts played). What happened to playing new music by artists that adults enjoy?

It's funny. When I was a teenager, there were only two teenage stations I could listen to. Now that I'm middle age, I'm finding few stations I could leave on all the time (except for KPRI and DFSX on live365.com which I program, which doesn't play that Crazy Jay potty mouth comedy) that features music I enjoy hearing. I tried listening to some of the stations aimed at my demographic, but I'm less into saccharin and more into beefy melodies such as comedy folk, traditional rock, euro dance, rocking country, upbeat polka (take that, KPRI), and humorous rap (before it became corporate and bland).

A lot of music that appealled to me 25 years ago is the kind of music I like to listen to...about 3-4 hours a week; the rest: newer music that is upbeat, appealling, talented (no ripoff samples), and mind expanding. Let's face it, KGB, classic rock is a specialty program, not a format. Check the calendar: it's 2002!

A few folks think I don't like radio. Well, unfortunately for the critics, they're not thinking straight. I don't like what radio is doing, that is, ignoring the lucrative older listeners that will do their bottom lines more good than what any younger demographic can do in any time period. Radio needs to change and get their maturity back up to par with the rest of us Outlanders who are sick and tired of teenage era radio programmed over a dozen radio stations.

Let Dave Rickards rant and complain all he wants about this website; he's like a parrot; he speaks but knows not what he says. Perhaps if he did some research on his own, then he'll come to the same conclusions about radio as I have: nobody listens to KGB for long periods of time and doesn't get bored to tears anymore.

San Diego Period 1 Ratings Out

So where have all the older listeners gone? Radio is loosing listeners, and if this keeps up, they would be harder pressed to make a profit. Radio better get going and do something to stop the ebbing of their listeners now.