The Lost Consumers - Ages 45-65 Are Ignored by Marketers

I live in the New York Metropolitan area so most of the radios stations I listen to in my car are based in New York. (For the record, I still listen to radio because it is free!) I am in my 30s and yes I like to listen to Top 40 like most people my age, but sometimes I just want to listen to easy listening music and jazz.

The other day I pushed button #4 on the radio console of my car which is the favorite button I programmed for "Smooth Jazz" CD 101.9. I pushed the button and outcomes an electric guitar heavy rock song blaring out of my speakers. I thought - this can't be right, so I pushed it again. Same song. WHAT ? I looked at the tuner and it said 101.9. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! CD 101.9 changed formats? When did this happen? No more Kenny G or Michael McDonald? This can't be.

CD 101.9 as we know it has gone the way of the dinosaur folks. Do you know why? Because the people who pay the bills over at the radio station can't make top dollar on ads because the companies paying top dollar don't want to market to people over the age of 45. (Metamucil anyone?)

Here is the sad message left about the change in format on the OLD CD 101.9 website:

Dear CD101.9 Smooth Jazz Listeners,

The staff of CD101.9 would like to thank you for your support over these past 20 years of Smooth Jazz CD101.9. Due to a declining audience for Smooth Jazz over the past few years, we are sad to announce that Smooth Jazz will no longer be available on the 101.9 signal. On February 5th we launched an innovative new adult rock format on the 101.9 frequency called 101.9 RXP The New York Rock Experience. 101.9 RXP is a respectful and intelligent mix of new music, classic rock and alternative - we invite you to try it. If you are solely a Smooth Jazz lover, "Smooth Jazz CD101.9" will continue to exist on our HD2 channel. Just purchase an HD capable radio and you will be able to listen to your favorite Smooth Jazz artists for free as always! CD1019.com will continue to provide you with upcoming smooth jazz events in association with the HD2 channel, and if you are a member of the CD101.9 Loyal Listener Club you will continue to receive e-mail updates.

If you do not have an HD radio and are not a fan of Rock, we invite you to try 98.7 Kiss FM The Best Variety of Old School and Today's R&B as an alternative. Listen to 98.7 Kiss FM for your chance to pick up tickets to the "Concert In Red" Valentine's concert at the Beacon Theatre February 14th. It's one of the many amazing shows coming in 2008 that you can find out about on 98.7 Kiss FM.

We hope that this note finds you sharing the same excitement that we feel! We look forward to many more years of providing New York with Smooth Jazz in HD, and The New York Rock Experience on 101.9 RXP!

Please if you would like to leave a comment, email us at feedback@cd1019.com.
[end]

Less people are listening to Jazz? There are more people age 55 and older than ever. There is a market for easy listening. Unfortunately, advertisers don't care to market to the folks that listen to this type of music. The worst part about this whole debacle is that they are asking people "of a certain age" to go out and buy a
HD2 channel capable radio without explaining what it is or why they need it. Now that's a way to confuse a non-tech savvy demographic.

I am a media professional and I read that traditional analog stations were going to start broadcasting on frequenicies that have never been used. It has been some time since I have seen anything written about it or discussed on news programs. Do the programming and communications folks at 101.9 REALLY think that their older listeners know what the HD capable radio stuff is all about? They do not bother to explain in the note why people need to buy a special radio to listen to their old station. Instead, there is a button on the top of the site called "The Future" which delves in to HD2. Good news - if you buy the HD2 radio - you can hear commercial free radio. Sounds like satellite radio WITHOUT the monthly fees folks! Woo hoo!

As a teenager, I shunned the easy listening and jazz for heavy metal (a phase) and hip hop. Now that I am approaching "a certain age" easy listening is a great compliment to the music I have been listening to for 20 years. The HD2 situation is not all bleak - I suppose after you purchase the HD2 radio you can hear other stations offering commercial free music. But there was nothing like pushing #4 on my radio console and getting smooth jazz without the hassle.

And a note to consumer product companies - people ages 45-65 like to spend money too and oh yeah the older demograhic is quite loyal - didn't you know?

HD Radio Tuners are available at Best Buy Car Electronics



Pioneer HD Radio Tuner for Select Pioneer Headunits



Sony HD Radio Tuner for Select Sony In-Dash Decks

Obama's Former Pastor Speaks Out - Again

Were Dr. Rev. Jeremiah Wright's miscontrued? Democratic candidate Barack Obama's former pastor claims that his words have been twisted. Wright,an alumnae of Howard University, provided copy of a letter to the editor he submitted to the New York Times Reporter, Jodi Kantor to his alma mater which in turn blasted it out to various people. I was one of those people. Here is a copy of the letter. Has the media twisted Wright's words to create a firestorm around Senator Obama? Read the letter and decide:

March 11, 2007
Jodi Kantor
The New York Times
9 West 43rd Street
New York,
New York 10036-3959

Dear Jodi:

Thank you for engaging in one of the biggest misrepresentations of the truth I have ever seen in sixty-five years. You sat and shared with me for two hours. You told me you were doing a “Spiritual Biography” of Senator Barack Obama. For two hours, I shared with you how I thought he was the most principled individual in public service that I have ever met.

For two hours, I talked with you about how idealistic he was. For two hours I shared with you what a genuine human being he was. I told you how incredible he was as a man who was an African American in public service, and as a man who refused to announce his candidacy for President until Carol Moseley Braun indicated one way or the other whether or not she was going to run.

I told you what a dreamer he was. I told you how idealistic he was. We talked about how refreshing it would be for someone who knew about Islam to be in the Oval Office. Your own question to me was, Didn’t I think it would be incredible to have somebody in the Oval Office who not only knew about Muslims, but had living and breathing Muslims in his own family? I told you how important it would be to have a man who not only knew the difference between Shiites and Sunnis prior to 9/11/01 in the Oval Office, but also how important it would be to have a man who knew what Sufism was; a man who understood that there were different branches of Judaism; a man who knew the difference between Hasidic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews and Reformed Jews; and a man who was a devout Christian, but who did not prejudge others because they believed something other than what he believed.

I talked about how rare it was to meet a man whose Christianity was not just “in word only.” I talked about Barack being a person who lived his faith and did not argue his faith. I talked about Barack as a person who did not draw doctrinal lines in the sand nor consign other people to hell if they did not believe what he believed.

Out of a two-hour conversation with you about Barack’s spiritual journey and my protesting to you that I had not shaped him nor formed him, that I had not mentored him or made him the man he was, even though I would love to take that credit, you did not print any of that. When I told you, using one of your own Jewish stories from the Hebrew Bible as to how God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?,” that Barack was like that when I met him. Barack had it “in his hand.” Barack had in his grasp a uniqueness in terms of his spiritual development that one is hard put to find in the 21st century, and you did not print that.

As I was just starting to say a moment ago, Jodi, out of two hours of conversation I spent approximately five to seven minutes on Barack’s taking advice from one of his trusted campaign people and deeming it unwise to make me the media spotlight on the day of his announcing his candidacy for the Presidency and what do you print? You and your editor proceeded to present to the general public a snippet, a printed “sound byte” and a titillating and tantalizing article about his disinviting me to the Invocation on the day of his announcing his candidacy.

I have never been exposed to that kind of duplicitous behavior before, and I want to write you publicly to let you know that I do not approve of it and will not be party to any further smearing of the name, the reputation, the integrity or the character of perhaps this nation’s first (and maybe even only) honest candidate offering himself for public service as the person to occupy the Oval Office.

Your editor is a sensationalist. For you to even mention that makes me doubt your credibility, and I am looking forward to see how you are going to butcher what else I had to say concerning Senator Obama’s “Spiritual Biography.” Our Conference Minister, the Reverend Jane Fisler Hoffman, a white woman who belongs to a Black church that Hannity of “Hannity and Colmes” is trying to trash, set the record straight for you in terms of who I am and in terms of who we are as the church to which Barack has belonged for over twenty years.

The president of our denomination, the Reverend John Thomas, has offered to try to help you clarify in your confused head what Trinity Church is even though you spent the entire weekend with us setting me up to interview me for what turned out to be a smear of the Senator; and yet The New York Times continues to roll on making the truth what it wants to be the truth. I do not remember reading in your article that Barack had apologized for listening to that bad information and bad advice. Did I miss it? Or did your editor cut it out? Either way, you do not have to worry about hearing anything else from me for you to edit or “spin” because you are more interested in journalism than in truth.

Forgive me for having a momentary lapse. I forgot that The New York Times was leading the bandwagon in trumpeting why it is we should have gone into an illegal war. The New York Times became George Bush and the Republican Party’s national “blog.” The New York Times played a role in the outing of Valerie Plame. I do not know why I thought The New York Times had actually repented and was going to exhibit a different kind of behavior.

Maybe it was my faith in the Jewish Holy Day of Roshashana. Maybe it was my being caught up in the euphoria of the Season of Lent; but whatever it is or was, I was sadly mistaken. There is no repentance on the part of The New York Times. There is no integrity when it comes to The Times. You should do well with that paper, Jodi. You looked me straight in my face and told me a lie!

Sincerely and respectfully yours,
Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. ,
Senior Pastor
Trinity United Church of Christ

(end of letter)

What do you think - is Wright a victim of the media or has he said too much?