Tom UnTerrific

Monticello Media announced the arrival of a new radio format to the Charlottesville area -- Tom.

Sometimes people are so deep into a particular subject that they lose touch with how the general public looks at it. And the development of the single-syllable-male-name-radio-format is a perfect example of that.

According to their press release on VARTV.com:

"Tom is a new radio station at 107.5 FM that is unlike anything available in the Charlottesville market because Tom plays Anything. Anytime.

Traditionally music radio stations have limited themselves to playing one particular genre of music such as country, classic rock, oldies, etc. playing the same songs over, and over, and over… Tom is anything but traditional. Tom may play a U2 song followed by the Bee Gees then Matchbox 20, Lou Rawls, Def Leppard, Madonna, Nickleback then Earth, Wind and Fire."

"Anything, anytime?" How about "Some things -- a lot."

Whether it's called Tom, Bob, Sam, Dave or whatever, the intent is to present a greater variety of music, simulating an iPod on shuffle play. The promise is a wild, crazy, unpredictable listening adventure. The reality falls far short of that, primarily because of the short-sightedness of the programmers.

Imagine someone who ate every single meal at McDonald's. Of course they're excited about the addition of the McRib sandwich to the menu. Pork?!? At McDonald's?!?!! It's wild! It's crazy!

Perhaps to someone who's only been exposed to McDonald's fare. To the average person, a rib sandwich at McDonald's is nice, but not earth-shaking. And many who like barbecue (whether North Carolina style or Kansas City style) consider the McRib to be too bland and characterless to be taken seriously.

And the same is true with Tom/Jack/Sam/Bob/Dave. Radio programmers who never strayed far from their top 40 formats looked at what the kids were doing with their iPods and tried to mimic it. Instead of a list of a few hundred songs, they expanded it to a few thousand. How? By combining the tightly regulated playlists of a few closely related formats. So instead of just top 40, Tom/Jack/Sam/Bob/Dave gives you the approved top 40 songs, the approved adult contemporary songs, the approved 70's and 80's oldies, and so on.

Here's the programming philosophy of the Sam format: [italics mine]

"..the format that delivers hit after hit from different eras and different genres, without getting stale or repetitive. Meticulously researched to pinpoint exactly what Adults 25-54 want to hear and aren't sick and tired of, Sam supplies the highest familiarity with the least amount of burn."

My local station, WOLJ, uses Sam from Westwood One, with the slogan "You never know what we'll play next."

Perhaps not, but I know what they won't play next. No classical music. No jazz. No blues. No folk. No bluegrass. And most importantly, no local music.

I've got it all on my iPod, though, and more.

And what about the artists they do play? Any chance of hearing anything other than the same old tunes over and over? They may play "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves, but what about their other hit, "Sun Street?" I've got that on my iPod, too. Ditto with other songs by other "one hit wonders," such as the Ides of March, Thomas Dolby, The Jam, and more.

Tom/Bob/Dave/Sam sounds fresh -- when compared to current radio fare. But placed against the incredible variety of music currently available to almost everyone, it's like putting a McRib sandwich side-by-side with the fare at Arthur Bryant's. It's just plain sad.

And saddest of all the large number of people whose musical tastes have been so stunted by a steady diet of commercial radio that they will indeed be thrilled by this "wild and crazy format."

- Ralph

Sam(e) FM

So I tried once again to listen to our local mix format station, 105.5 SAM FM Louisa, Virginia (I'd link to their website, but they, like WJMA, are part of the Piedmont Communications radio empire and don't have one). Like similar-styled "eclectic" stations (like Jack/Dave/Tom/etc.), the idea is to keep things fresh by playing a wide variety of music both from yesterday and today.

OK, I did. I gave it a good long listen, too. Here's what I thought of the experience.

The slogan overpromises.
"You'll never know what we'll play next." Perhaps -- but I know what you won't play. SAM plays the hits from several different charts. But they only play the hits. I heard "Brandy" by the Looking Glass, but I know I'll never hear "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" by that same group (which also charted), or any other song they recorded.

Radio support of artists is a sham.
All the new media -- satellite radio, Internet radio, and so on -- have to pay artist royalties in addition to publisher royalties for every song they use. Broadcast radio, on the other hand, currently doesn't have to pay artist royalties. Why? Because they made the case back when the rates were developed, that radio play promotes the artist, and that valuable exposure more than made up for any royalty payment.

True enough in the 60's, but not on SAM FM. Not one song or artist was ever identified. If I did hear a song I was interested in, I'd have to remember the lyrics, and hope that the chorus bore some relation to the title of the song, which would help me when I went online to find out the artist and what album it might be on. That's already three steps too many. I wouldn't bother.

Now RDS (Radio Data System) has been in place for years, which allow regular AM and FM stations to send text info. Most stations never go beyond using it to show their call letters. So SAM FM forgoes an opportunity to use technology already installed to identify the songs they play. No wonder artists are questioning that royalty waiver.

I get better programming on my iPod
And I'm not talking about just the choice of music, either (although being able to skip past a song I'm not in the mood for is a definite plus). The music flow on SAM was interrupted by commercials and canned station ID/bumpers.

Anything perceived as an interruption to the programming is annoying. There weren't many commercials, but between every single song there was a snarky little station ID that said absolutely nothing (not even dial position, save the top of the hour).

In the end, it wasn't the song selections that made me bail -- it was those vacuous station IDs, delivered once every four or five minutes that finally did me in. At least my iPod just shuts up and plays the music.

So I'll give up a chance to hear Billy Idol's "White Wedding," Elton John's "Crocodile Rock," and Natashia Bedingfield's "Unwritten" for the umpteenth time and get that new Los Campesinos EP that I just bought transferred over to my iPod. I may not know what SAM FM will play next, but I know it won't be "You! Me! Dancing!"

- Ralph


Day 117 of the WJMA Web Watch.

Less Talk - Less Interest

I've mentioned my dislike of the single syllable male name radio format before. Whether it's called "Sam" or "Tom" or "Dave" or "Jack," the concept's the same. Take tracks that market-test the best across several near-related genres, mix them together in a "crazy" format, and add minimal voice tracks that do nothing but make short, snarky comments about... nothing.

Personally, if the DJ isn't going to say anything interesting or helpful, then I'd rather have no voice at all. And if I'm just listening to music with no DJ, well, I'd rather listen to my own crazy mix on my iPod than some else's generic blandness.

It turns out there's I'm not alone. Mark Ramsey, in his Hear 2.0 blog asks the question "Where's Radio's Humanity?" As he says, "people respond to people."

"voices" and the passions of those "voices" and the brands born of those "voices" will become more important to radio, not less. I don't care what lessons PPM gives us in that regard, because PPM is essentially mapping a path for music-intensive stations to be easily substituted by music-intensive alternatives. What makes one station different from another - one digital solution different from another - is its voice. Its humanity.

Now the sardonic wiseacre voice of Sam (et al) is certainly identifiable, so it qualifies as a brand. But is it a voice you can respond to? I can't, because there's nothing there to relate to. The voice is provided as part of the syndicated service that is Sam, and is generic enough to fit in any market, large or small.

And that's perhaps the problem. I'm sure it's cheaper to boradcast Sam then to staff a station. But it's also less engaging. Which means listener loyalty is low. Which means ads aren't very effective. Which means smart businesses go elsewhere to get their message out.

So how much money does that save in the long run?
People respond to people. Makes sense to me.

- Ralph

Day 114 of the WJMA Podwatch.