AirRaid
2007-10-05 20:47:52 UTC
(old news, but good news)
On Radio: The plug is about to be pulled on 'talk radio for women'
network
GreenStone Media debuted with a splash a year and a half ago, with
ambitious
plans to target what was perceived to be a potentially huge market --
talk
radio for women -- and high-powered financial backers.
The ending will be considerably quieter. Unless executives of
GreenStone can
cobble together a last-minute financial rescue, the network will sign
off
Friday.
That won't make much of a dent in radio schedules. GreenStone has just
11
affiliates, seven carrying all of its shows. Although GreenStone's
organizers included two longtime Seattle radio executives -- Edie
Hilliard
and Jim LaMarca -- none of the affiliates are in Seattle.
And although FM talk has long been predicted to be radio's coming
format,
only one of the 11 was an FM station.
"We didn't get penetration into the bigger markets," LaMarca says.
With just
11 affiliates, "that's not enough to prove the concept for a lot of
broadcasters."
Therein lies one of the reasons for GreenStone's threatened demise, he
adds.
GreenStone was trying to persuade radio stations to try a new concept
in an
industry not prone to try new things, especially when it's under
increasing
pressure to show immediate results.
Talk radio takes longer to build a following than newly introduced
music
formats -- such as Jack or Movin' -- have in Seattle. "The marketplace
never
took the chance," LaMarca says.
Talk radio also is a more expensive format than music, what with
hosts,
producers and other support staff, he adds. That hastened the burn
rate for
GreenStone, which had announced initial backing from Jane Fonda, Rosie
O'Donnell, Billie Jean King and Gloria Steinem.
Did GreenStone also limit itself by defining its format as
specifically
aimed at women? LaMarca says that label was adopted so that potential
affiliates "understood what they're getting," and to specify that the
network wasn't offering just another lineup of political talk shows.
"Listeners in the markets we're in got it," he says.
LaMarca still thinks the concept of talk radio oriented toward women
can
work, although it's likely to be driven more by a specific personality
hosting a specific show (such as Oprah, who does a satellite-radio
show)
than as a slate of programs.
Although GreenStone's approach wasn't enough to entice them, radio
programmers probably haven't written off the concept of finding a way
to
reach women listeners who don't listen to traditional talk radio,
LaMarca
adds. "That's where the advertising dollars are."
On Radio: The plug is about to be pulled on 'talk radio for women'
network
GreenStone Media debuted with a splash a year and a half ago, with
ambitious
plans to target what was perceived to be a potentially huge market --
talk
radio for women -- and high-powered financial backers.
The ending will be considerably quieter. Unless executives of
GreenStone can
cobble together a last-minute financial rescue, the network will sign
off
Friday.
That won't make much of a dent in radio schedules. GreenStone has just
11
affiliates, seven carrying all of its shows. Although GreenStone's
organizers included two longtime Seattle radio executives -- Edie
Hilliard
and Jim LaMarca -- none of the affiliates are in Seattle.
And although FM talk has long been predicted to be radio's coming
format,
only one of the 11 was an FM station.
"We didn't get penetration into the bigger markets," LaMarca says.
With just
11 affiliates, "that's not enough to prove the concept for a lot of
broadcasters."
Therein lies one of the reasons for GreenStone's threatened demise, he
adds.
GreenStone was trying to persuade radio stations to try a new concept
in an
industry not prone to try new things, especially when it's under
increasing
pressure to show immediate results.
Talk radio takes longer to build a following than newly introduced
music
formats -- such as Jack or Movin' -- have in Seattle. "The marketplace
never
took the chance," LaMarca says.
Talk radio also is a more expensive format than music, what with
hosts,
producers and other support staff, he adds. That hastened the burn
rate for
GreenStone, which had announced initial backing from Jane Fonda, Rosie
O'Donnell, Billie Jean King and Gloria Steinem.
Did GreenStone also limit itself by defining its format as
specifically
aimed at women? LaMarca says that label was adopted so that potential
affiliates "understood what they're getting," and to specify that the
network wasn't offering just another lineup of political talk shows.
"Listeners in the markets we're in got it," he says.
LaMarca still thinks the concept of talk radio oriented toward women
can
work, although it's likely to be driven more by a specific personality
hosting a specific show (such as Oprah, who does a satellite-radio
show)
than as a slate of programs.
Although GreenStone's approach wasn't enough to entice them, radio
programmers probably haven't written off the concept of finding a way
to
reach women listeners who don't listen to traditional talk radio,
LaMarca
adds. "That's where the advertising dollars are."