Country on course at AM540

AM 540 Stays The Course: Country

AM 540, as reported below in Monday’s edition, will stay the course: Go Country.
Michael Levine writes: “Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters has no plans and continues to have no plans to switch Standards to Country 540 AM.
Brad Martini Chambers writes: “A listener forwarded your article about 540 AM and it was news to me, despite being the guy identified in the story as the PD. You linked back to our website as the attribution and all I said there, as I’ve said on the air, is that we’ve been offered an HD multicast channel in Los Angeles.

Don’t get me wrong, we were in the process of building a decent audience in San Diego and would love a shot at getting back on the air there as well as L.A. (and the rest of the universe for that matter). We’ve had conversations with a couple of San Diego broadcasters about offering our “Contemporary Standards” format via FM or HD. It is available now only on the Internet, at www.martiniinthemorning.com.

Our experience working on the launch of 7 XM radio channels (while working for Clear Channel) suggests that the audience most likely to purchase new technology, in this case HD receivers, is the group who feels they’re most ignored by mainstream media - also the group with the money to pay for the new receivers. 40 plus consumers feel passed over by broadcasters dependent on revenue from youth obsessed advertisers. And Baby-Boomers, representing 27% of the US population, control 59% of all discretionary spending. So they have the motivation and the means to act on that motivation. What better format than the contemporary blend of standards selling millions of Rod Stewart and Tony Bennett CDs?

One of the challenges faced by conventional broadcasters trying to blaze new trails on HD multicast channels is that their revenue model is based on selling commercials at rates determined by audience levels. That makes it tough to sink a lot of money into multicast channels unlikely to generate audience numbers worthy of traditional advertiser attention. As a result, how much money can they afford to commit for talent, contests/promotions, interactivity, production and other elements listeners, especially Boomers, have come to expect. Through our Fabulous 570/690 experience, we’ve figured out how to monetize a niche and can offer compelling personalities, promotions, events and the kind of entertainment value the audience will demand before they plunk down $150-$500 for a new receiver.

That’s one of the challenges to selling HD with the multicast “Jukeboxes” generally available. There are a few shining examples across the country, but they are few and far between. We’re ready to roll the dice in San Diego and Los Angeles, knowing there’s an audience out there. We’ve met them. We’ve traveled with them and we’ve seen their passion for the format…done right. And that doesn’t mean a whole bunch of songs back to back…even the right songs. These folks grew up with Shotgun Tom, Bobby Rich, Beaver Cleaver, Rich Brother Robin, Happy Hare and too many others to mention. If they want a bunch of songs on shuffle, they have their iPod. If they want to be entertained, they turn on the radio.

Thanks for thinking of me.

Brad “Martini” Chambers
www.martiniinthemorning.com

thanks Brad for checkin’ in (original post is in the “comments” section).

As indicated, Michael Levine writes as of now, AM 540 stays with Go Country.
The original post is below. Stay Tuned.

AM 540 ch-ch-ch-changing to adult standards!

SDRadio EXCLUSIVE: AM 540, broadcasting from Baja California, has signed Brad “Martini” Chambers to program adult standards! The country format on the station will fold into adult standards “soon”, station insiders confirmed.
The station is slated to carry the moniker The Lounge. Mount Wilson, operators of 540 AM, deny a change in format is in the works. Stay Tuned!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 6:15 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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