Category Archives: Marketing Tips

In a recent article, self-proclaimed cheerleader of AM radio, Richard Wagoner [A San Pedro freelance columnist] boldly declared, “AM Radio….it’s dead!”

WOW.  Pretty dramatic.  Being a “radio marketing specialist” his announcement surely caught my attention thanks to social media!

I did some homework.  He wrote that  just 9 AM stations made the “list” of 41 and they accounted for barely 10% of all listening in the LA marketplace.

Let’s  take a closer look.  Most of my clients are looking for “boomers,” potential clients and customers who have disposable money.  And, they focus on homeowners.  If we target homeowners, we know we’ll hit money.

In the Scarborough Ra:Feb15-Jan16 survey,  KNX was the 15^th best station reaching homeowners with 875,000.  If you can’t find some clients amongst that pool, then you’re compelling ad needs some work.  Drilling deeper, KNX has the sixth best average quarter hour with 18,800, beaten by KOST-FM, KRTH-FM, KBIG-FM [Barely  by  only 100 listeners], KIIS-FM, and KCBS-FM.   Essentially, KNX  is tied for #5 in delivering homeowners by average quarter hour.   BTW, KFI comes in at #8.  Beam me up, Scotty.

I agree with Richard if  you’re going after the mass market or maybe Millennials,  best look toward FM’s.  However, and a BIG HOWEVER, if you’re looking toward folks with dollars, especially “boomers”  AM’s audience is too juicy to overlook.

ADD to that, the foreground format  advantages of attentive listening and affinity with talk hosts and news anchors………….I submit it’s a bit premature to slam the coffin door shut!

Are you struggling  with your ROI or too busy to make your campaign work, get 25 years of direct/response radio marketing on your side of the desk with a quick call to 310-991-7098 and ask for THE RADIO DOCTOR………..

Here’s the article:

Radio: What do AM stations have to lose but go back to music formats?

POSTED: 10/08/16, 4:02 PM PDT | UPDATED: 3 DAYS AGO

8 COMMENTS

As a longtime cheerleader of AM radio, much as I hate to say it, AM is dead.

It’s not even on life support here in Los Angeles any more, it’s dead.

In the most recent monthly ratings released in mid-September by Nielsen, only nine AM stations made the list out of 41 stations total, accounting for 10.1 percent of the listening audience. The highest-rated AM station, KNX (1070 AM), earned a 2.9 percent share of the audience aged 6 and over; KNX and KFI (640 AM) account for over half of the listenership of the entire AM band with a total of 5.5.

Read the rest of the article for yourself…