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The Most Intriguing Stations Of 2007 (And Echoes Of 2005)

Every year Edison Media Research’s Sean Ross looks at the stations that weren’t just successful, but had larger implications for programming trends. And in 2007, the most influential stations may have been a small-market cluster and their experiment that ended more than two years ago, after just a few months. Read about the return of the Adult Modern format, the resurgence of Oldies, the rise of the “new adult music” and the stations that sparked it in this week’s “Ross On Radio: The Most Intriguing Stations Of 2007.”

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Does Imaging Still Matter?

Does on-air imaging still matter? That’s the question raised recently by a comment on the Edison Media Research blog, The Infinite Dial. In this week’s Ross On Radio, Edison VP of Music and Programming Sean Ross looks at the value of imaging in 2007 and finds that even some of today’s “hype-free” stations are actually making very extensive use of imaging. The question then is whether anybody is ready to bring that other, more aggressive type of imaging back.

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Hell Is Still In the Details: Fixing What’s Between The Records In 2007

Three years ago, one of the most popular “Ross on Radio” columns looked at the various ways that stations unnecessarily clutter their own air — immediately following a live promo for an upcoming station event with a recorded promo for the same thing, for instance. This week, Edison Media Research’s Sean Ross looks at whether the industry’s subsequent attention to clutter has solved most of these issues in “Hell Is Still In the Details: Fixing What’s Between The Records In 2007.”

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How Format Trends and Press Coverage Intersect

Is Hip-Hop hot, or tapering off? Is Rock radio making a comeback or more marginalized than ever? Over the last few months, the consumer press has reported both of those stories both ways. In this week’s Ross On Radio, Edison VP of music and programming Sean Ross looks at how format trends spread, both through the industry and the consumer press, and how the “hot or not” perception of a format is affected by the logistics of news coverage.

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Who Goes Deeper? Satellite Or Terrestrial Radio?

Who Goes Deeper? Satellite or Terrestrial Radio? That shouldn’t be a hard question to answer, right? But Sean Ross noticed that whenever he heard Sirius or XM Radio on in public, they were playing mostly the same hits as everybody else. So this week’s Ross On Radio stacks up two Sirius and XM channels against a terrestrial competitor with surprising results.

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Is This The Year You Can Compete With Christmas?

Since all-Christmas music became a December juggernaut, it’s been hard to formulate any AC strategy for NOT playing Christmas music that would effectively compete, except maybe an Oldies-based one. But in 2007, AC had its best current music in years, while broadcasters also learned that you could pull off a lot of surprising things by explaining them well with a lot of TV. So even if Christmas music is still the best choice for AC, Edison Media Research’s Sean Ross asks a provocative question in “Is This The Year You Can Compete With Christmas?”

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Second Listen: HD Radio

Last November, Edison Media Research’s Sean Ross bought Radio Shack’s $99 HD Radio and found that there was relatively little local content available in New York, as well as processing, programming and signal issues with those stations that were available. As the HD Radio debate continues, what has changed over the last 10 months? Check out “Second Listen: HD Radio” in this week’s HD Radio

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Rock Radio Is Back . . . But As What?

Before PPM, younger targeted Rock Radio (which is to say anything younger than Classic Rock) found itself multiply challenged. Younger listeners were either listening less or just less measurably, while many of those who were still reachable seemed as interested in Classic Rock as today’s Rock. Since PPM results were unveiled in Philadelphia and Houston, […]

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Oops…They Did It Again? Is It Time To Reconsider Teen Pop?

Over the past 40 years, nearly every major genre of pop music has eventually made its way back on to the radio somewhere. ’70s Disco and late ’80s hair bands were stigmatized for years, but, eventually, the listeners who grew up with those songs find a place for them on the radio. Now, acts like ‘N Sync, Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, Hanson, and the Backstreet Boys are at or approaching their 10 year anniversary. Edison Media Research VP of music and programming Sean Ross asks if those songs are due to resurface in this week’s “Ross On Radio: Oops…They Did It Again?”

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How Urban Radio Can Compete In a PPM World

In its early months, the switch to PPM in Philly has been followed by lower rankings and smaller shares for the market’s African-American targeted radio stations. But in “How Urban Radio Can Compete In a PPM World,” Edison Media Research VP of programming Sean Ross argues that the PPM has merely heightened some issues that were already kicking in at a format hit by fragmentation and lower young-end listening levels. Ross argues that Urban radio can still compete and win in the new landscape. ((Find out how in this week’s Ross On Radio.))

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Celebrating A Turning Point For Top 40: A Look Back At April 5, 1997

By April 4, 1997, you could tell that Mainstream Top 40 was heading for its best year since the early ’80s. No Doubt was at No. 1. The Spice Girls and Hanson had broken through and the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync were on the way. In between, we were to get hits from Will Smith, Sugar Ray, Puff Daddy, Matchbox 20, and Third-Eye Blind. Edison Media Research VP of programming Sean Ross looks at the state of Top 40 (and the other major formats) in 1997 in this week’s Ross On Radio, “Celebrating A Turning Point For Top 40.”

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“Failure To Launch” And How To Avoid It

There used to be a few sure-fire ways to put points on the board immediately for a new radio station. One was to play more Hip-Hop than anybody else in the market. Another was “oh wow” oldies. But in recent years, some new stations-including some well-funded, group-owned major-market stations-have found that it’s harder to make a first impression than you might expect. In this week’s Ross On Radio, Edison Media Research’s Sean Ross looks at why WWFS (Fresh 102.7) New York, whatever its long-term prospects, posted a strong first month when others have not.

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