We’re actually already getting down to the end of the posts I want to keep from the Radio Crytic. Part of the reason this post is late is because I didn’t really have a plan as to what I wanted to post today, so this evening I sat down to take a look at what was left on the Radio Crytic. That’s how I came up with the idea for this post, which actually ties into a recent discussion on the Seattle board of Radio Discussions.
The question of the day is what is radio going to be like in the future? Recently, I got a couple of airchecks from Seattle’s 80s station, 96.5 The Point KYPT. I received an aircheck of Tampa Bay’s similarly formatted station a couple years ago as well. Both sounded like a standard Classic Hits station would today. I didn’t see the GenX stations as the 20 year old decade format of the early 2010s, but could that be what Classic Hits sounds like in another 10-15 years? There’s no telling that hip-hop is going to have to make its way back onto the radio in a major way in the next decade. Will the rhythmic throwback stations we’ve been seeing the last few years be reclassified as Classic Hits in a few years, giving rise to a rock-based and rhythm-based station in most markets?
The other question I have is whether stations may program to asthetics rather than a traditional format. Austin City Limits Radio uses this model, programming to a wide demographic rather than in a traditional format. Unfortunately the Tailgate format from about 10 years ago didn’t last, but that’s another format programming to a certain asthetic rather than a demographic or format. We are also seeing a trend in society of age lines blurring, such that 35 year old songs are seeing a resurgence thanks to internet meemes or TV shows enjoyed by young people. Could we perhaps see a format that not only plays today’s hits, but also older songs that seem to be having a moment, or that are well known across generations?
Leave a Reply