Evolution of Formats

Radio formats developed in response to the competitive threat posed by television and the growing number of competing radio stations. For decades, radio stations had been a mass medium, with each outlet trying to be all things to all people. But as television grew in popularity and as more television and radio stations went on the air, audience fragmentation occurred, prompting radio programmers to seek ways to differentiate their programming and attract audiences. By the mid-1950s, radio programmers were willing to try almost anything to preserve the medium.

One lesson was learned from an independent (i.e., non-network-affiliated) radio station in New York, WNEW, which had successfully programmed a music and news format as early as 1935. While other radio network audiences defected to television, WNEW maintained its audience levels, presumably because its music and news format did not demand long-term or high-level attention from listeners, unlike the typical dramatic productions on the networks. The simpler, less demanding programming apparently allowed listeners to tune in for shorter periods of time and while doing other things, such as household chores.

Another lesson was learned from the success of "count-down" programs such as Your Hit Parade, a popular radio network program since the 1940s. Countdown programs tended to play the top 40 or so songs, and audience numbers were very strong. Not surprisingly, some programmers working for independent stations tried playing only the top 40 or so most popular records and were successful. In this sense, they were simply attracting an audience by playing what the audience had already proven they wanted to hear. Station owners Todd Storz and Gordon Mclendon were among those who turned the concept into a continuous format, creating the hit-oriented playlist.

Many stations quickly adopted the new approach. But as more stations played the same top 40 songs, a further need for differentiation and refinement arose. In 19 57 Storz and programmer Bill Stewart are said to have noted the behavior of jukebox users who repeatedly selected their favorite tunes. Taking this observation back to their Omaha station, they refined the playlist to repeat the most popular hits more often than other songs. Other stations followed suit, positioning themselves as stations that guaranteed the top hits.

Eventually various formats evolved as stations sought to differentiate themselves from competing stations with similar formats. Rock, including soft rock and hard rock, was spun off. Adult contemporary (AC) developed as a way to appeal to an older audience demographic by playing current songs, minus the tunes that appealed mostly to teens. As album sales increased, many stations presumed that listeners wanted to hear certain artists, so they switched to playing primarily album cuts, eventually becoming known as album-oriented rock (AOR) stations. Formats were also distinguished simply by the creative names given them, such as "Hot Hits." The names would sometimes be intentionally vague in order to appear distinct to listeners while still seeming inclusive of all listeners to advertisers. AM stations also responded to the competition from FM and its superior frequency response and stereo capability by creating information formats such as news, talk, sports, agriculture, and education. Listener perceptions about AM sound quality became entrenched by the 1980s, forcing most AM stations to switch to non-music formats to survive.

New formats also emerged, partly because of the increasingly sophisticated ratings reports that provided more detailed demographic data. Stations pushed radio ratings companies to provide specific listener demographic data beyond an overall market headcount in order to justify themselves to advertisers. Once sub-audiences could be clearly identified, a symbiotic relationship emerged, with programmers developing formats that appealed to those audiences. Likewise, music trade magazines such as Billboard developed specialized charts that coincided with the formats of stations, and vice versa. Some format names, such as rhythm and blues, were in fact coined by Billboard.

Format Categories

The increase in artists, particularly crossover artists, has made it difficult for popular music stations to claim a "pure format," that is, one based on agreement by stations nationwide as to what artists are included and excluded. However, today this definition primarily applies only to classical, big band, and similar formats consisting of older music. Many of the originally pure formats, such as AOR, country, and urban, have split into variations of their respective formats. From the standpoint of promotion, advertising, and ratings classification, it is best for a station to identify with a pure format, but the need to be competitive forces stations to adjust to the demands of the audience and industry. In the 1990s the concept of the "microformat" emerged, whereby syndicated and network music and information programming became fine-tuned to a specific audience and market, relying less on a cookie-cutter approach.

Today, each of the major music categories- country, AC, rock, and urban (black)-has several subdivisions. According to Eastman, et al (2002), the country format has three subcategories: traditional country, young (or hot) country, and country gold-each aimed at a specific demographic group. Adult contemporary offers hot AC, mainstream AC, soft AC, and a jazzier version called new adult contemporary/smooth jazz. Urban music is subdivided into urban contemporary, urban adult contemporary, and urban gold. Rock formats include adult album alternative (AAA); contemporary hit radio (CHR); churban (a blend of CHR and urban); active rock (hard/heavy metal); classic rock (popular rock music of the 1960s through the 1980s); and oldies, which is further divided into the decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. In addition to these primary formats, there are many distinct formats, such as big band, alternative, contemporary Christian, classical, progressive, and beautiful music/easy listening.

Format Popularity

Country has overwhelmingly reigned in the U.S. as the most popular format among stations, followed by AC, although both of these have slipped in recent years. One of the fastest-growing formats of the 1990s was modern rock, otherwise known as alternative, which capitalized on the mainstream popularization of many "alternative" bands. Because of AM stations and the interests of aging baby boomers, news and talk formats have increased in popularity. Sports and Spanish language formats, including Tejano, have also taken off in the last decade. A relatively new format called adult album alternative (AAA or Triple A) has also emerged, featuring an eclectic choice of music ranging from hard rock to folk music. Christian formats have increased dramatically in recent years.

Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 2002-03 ranked the U.S. radio formats in terms of the number of stations identifying with each format. The top 20 formats were (in order): country (2,318), AC (1,863), oldies (1,208), news/talk (1,199), religious (889), Christian (869), sports (837), news (769), talk (726), gospel (652), CHR/Top 40 (646), classic rock (606), rock/AOR (601), Spanish (582), classical (529), jazz (426), urban contemporary (350), diversified (321), educational (264), and middle of the road (MOR; 261).

The next most popular formats among stations were (in order): alternative, variety/diverse, progressive, other, nostalgia, black, big band, blues, beautiful music, inspirational, full service, AAA, AOR, agriculture, foreign language/ethnic, public-affairs, Top 40, easy listening, children, new age (soft rock and jazz), Tejano (bicultural Spanish programming), light rock, bluegrass, golden oldies (hits of the 1950s), and folk.

A relative handful of stations identify their format as: polka, Korean, American Indian, reggae, Portuguese, French, Greek, Polish, disco, Chinese, new wave (rock from the United Kingdom, popular in the early 1980s), smooth jazz, comedy, sacred, Native American, Arabic, Russian, Eskimo, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Filipino.

Choosing and Creating a Format

Stations switch formats frequently to pursue more profitable demographic segments and in response to shifting audience tastes. According to Eastman, et al, the steps taken in choosing a format involve an evaluation of (1) the technical facilities of the station (i.e., AM, FM, range), (2) the character of the local market, (3) the delineation of the target audience, (4) the available budget, and (5) the potential revenue.

Stations assemble their formats in several ways. Some simply program recordings in a sequence throughout the schedule, whereas others carry different formats during different dayparts. Still others rely on "Format Syndicators," which provide ready-made formats for a fee via satellite feed or music tapes. The formula for constructing a format goes beyond just music and includes a focus on production, personality, and programming.

Format Audience Characteristics

Certain audience demographics are predictors of format preference. For example, listeners to news are more likely to be married and to have lived in the area for at least two years, whereas AOR listeners are more likely to be single and on the move. Some studies also suggest that urban contemporary fans are the heaviest listeners, country listeners are the most loyal, and AC listeners are less involved in their station.

Formats can also be profiled on the basis of education, income, and age. For example, higher.education levels are associated with beautiful music and news. In 1998 the highest household median income numbers were associated with AAA ($62,954), news ($62,722), alternative ($55,298), classical ($55,248), and modern rock ($54,488). The two formats appealing most to older audiences are full-service (60.3 years) and nostalgia (59.3 years). Most formats, however, are showing an increase in the median age of listeners, with one exception: news/talk listeners are getting younger.

Finally, where a listener resides has some effect on format popularity. Country is more popular in the South and Midwest, and news and talk formats are listened to most in the West. Spanish has been the most popular format in Los Angeles.