Top 40 and News Talk; The Two Best Formats

The two best formats for the world we live in today are Top 40 and News/Talk. They are always changing, they're always fresh and they both create a sense of dependency. If you are a music fan, you want to know what new music is "out there." If you are interested in news, then you find yourself dependent on News/Talk to stay abreast of the current affairs.

These are two of the best formats to own. They are the two best formats to program and the two best formats for advertisers because of the large cume that both formats can generate. There was a time when I owned radio stations. The strategy I had was to own Top 40 FM stations and News/Talk AM stations. The reason was the aforementioned. The benefit of both formats remains the same, but given multiple-station ownership (when I owned, you could have only two FMs and two AMs) it makes sense to have Talk stations on FM as well as AM. The question is as to what type of Talk? That's a topic for a different article. There is no doubt in my mind that News/Talk will do even better on FM, but then what do you put on those AMs?

Top 40 radio, when programmed to win, is a "family reunion." Moms and kids can listen to the same radio station. A 54-year-old enjoys the same music as a 12-year-old. A smart Top 40 programmer is spiking music from the Jonas Brothers and other Disney artists into morning drive when moms may have kids in the car. This makes a lot of sense because the People Meter from Arbitron tracks listening as low as the age of 6. You can believe that 6+ listening will show ratings for Radio Disney. Allow them to make the hits.

Hey, what about combining the formats? Okay ... I was jesting. There is value to news on Top 40 radio. However, it is a given that your news bulletins will alert listeners that they should be listening to a News/Talk station. Since that is the case, you should be prepared to cross-promote your own News/Talk station. What I mean by that is if you are going to announce that a repeat of 9-11 just happened, then you should also announce to your Top 40 audience where they can tune on the radio dial for ongoing coverage. The other option you have is when a crisis the magnitude of 9-11 happens, you immediately go to a 100% simulcast with your News/Talk sister station. The similarities between News/Talk and Top 40 are striking. Pay attention to them. News/Talk and Top 40 are the two formats with the greatest opportunity for growth in 2009.