Three NY Radio Stations Go DJ And Commercial Free

According to Kurt Hanson in his RAIN online newsletter three Long Island,NY pop/rock FM stations are relaunching with a new format "…that mimics satellite radio, which they call "FM Channel Casting."

"Described on their press release as "the next generation of radio," TMO says that it "has reinvented  the medium by creating the nation’s ONLY completely FREE music source… and it not only surpasses traditional AM and FM broadcasting, but it rivals satellite and Internet radio as well."

"Its approach involves (A) changing the branding of the stations to channel numbers (e.g., "WLIR 98.5 FM" becomes "Channel 98"), (B) eliminating DJs entirely, and (C) dropping 30- and 60-second spots in favor of sponsored hours (sold via its website) in which the sponsor gets four brief mentions per hour. TMO plans to characterize this as "commercial free."

HYPEBOT: This approach plus commercials is working for the JACK format; so if done correctly it might be even more popular without ads.  By cutting all DJ’s and most promotional costs operating budgets drop dramatically.  According to the article even ad sales will be handles via the web.

The approach is clearly aimed at competing with commercial free satellite, internet and public broadcasters.  But it doesn’t take into effect that many of the most popular satellite and channels (like XM’s brilliantly programmed The Loft or the wonderful RadioParadise.com) are voice tracked by intelligent informed DJ’s who add to the listening experience.  It also further erodes any "local" effect that DJ’s bring – talking about local events and weather or adjusting programming when for example a hurricane hits or even a rock icon dies.  And if there are no announcers how will buyers no who performed that great new song so they can go buy it? 

It’s easy to applaud the inventiveness of this move, but it’s also a sad day for radio and the few talented disc jockeys who served as gatekeepers to new worlds of musical and cultural discovery.

Read the full RAIN article here.