Not All Songs Are Hits

The major three formats (AC, Country, HOT AC) that target 25-54 all have one important thing in common.  They all play approximately 50% currents in their music format.

Average # yearly adds per station:               91.83

A Reality Check

At the end of the year, out of the 91 records added and played, the listeners really care about the top ten songs only. For the benefit of this excercise, if you were to double that figure, and say the listener cares about the top 20 songs that year, that would mean that those stations would still be playing 71.83 "who cares" songs thousands of times a year. 

The 71.83 songs end up being "turntable hits." Every time one of these records get played, the chance that a listener tunes out to another radio station increases dramatically. These records generally never make it into a gold category.  

In a 14 record music hour, a station that plays 50% gold, would air seven currents and recurrents.

Out of seven currents & recurrents, three of the records aired will achieve legitimate gold status.

That means four of the records aired each hour have little to no emotional, sales, or chart impact, and could be viewed as being  “mistakes.”

 Over a year, the station will air these “mistakes” 35,040 times.

(4 x 24 = 96 x 365 = 35,040)

To get high quarter hours, get rid of tune outs. Unfamiliar music, or music that the listener does not care about, will kill  time spent listening. Any station that can eliminate over 35,000 errors has a distinct advantage in the ratings.