There was a proposal a few years ago to build a NASCAR race track on Staten Island, which was not well received by King Bloomberg. That was a mistake – Cumulus in the 3rd month of running a Country music station is up to a 1.8% share and approaching a 1 million cum (the person listened to the station at least once during the month).
More important, country is becoming the #1 music format among young people nationwide.
Why is this happening? I don’t know – here are some theories:
– people who like country music are the least likely to have an MP3 player or stream – so it isn’t so much that more people are listening to country but that people who listen to other music aren’t listening to radio
– people moving out of the North discover country music like it, even if they move back north
– adults who like country music have more children
– rock and roll is grandpa’s music
– white teenagers are drawn to a music format that aligns more with their culture than gangsta rap
I’ve noted since I compiled the station list how there is a huge gap between how many country and contemporary christian music stations there are, and how the radio “biz” pundits and major market radio people view with contempt.
When country format 96.5 WHOO-FM Orlando was sold to TK Communications in 1987 the DJs were excited about the new CD players that were being installed in the studio. They were quoted in the Orlando Sentinel as being excited that they would be perhaps the first country station in the nation to play CDs rather than vinyl.
They were fired before ever being able to play a country CD- TK Communications changed the call letters to WHTQ-FM and the CD players were used by the new staff to play Orlando’s Best Rock. 😉
My sense is country music – especially if you wander into bluegrass, gospel and folk is a mine field when it comes to royalties. That live recording of Uncle Ray and the Kalamazoo Kampers from the Hoedown in North Wilkesboro in 1963 may be great music, but who wrote the song? Who were the background musicians? So recent, big label stuff is the playlist with perhaps some Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn to make the playlist “authentic”
“- white teenagers are drawn to a music format that aligns more with their culture than gangsta rap”
I agree with that one, Art.
The country I listen to today isn’t what my old man listened to back in the 60’s and 70’s. I liked ‘Alabama’ in the 80’s but some of the other county music still had a little twang to it.
I think rock & roll left me in the early 90’s.
Yeah I like Jason Aldean and Big & Rich, and Carrie Underwood, I admit it. I would listen to more of it through SRG if it wasn’t for that dam “heart radio” thing.
They are trying to screw up traditional country stations. WTQR in Winston Salem went by ‘WTQR’ forever, but now they think it catchy to dumb it down and call it ‘Q104’. oh well
parrott