March 8, 2021, Issue 746
CRS Research: Going Deeper
Highly anticipated every year, the CRS Research Presentation has been impactful enough to create noticeable shifts within the format. This year’s version, “The Road Forward” presented by NuVoodoo Media, surveyed more than 3,000 listeners in unearthing so much information, one viewing likely meant missing a lot. Country Aircheck spoke with NuVoodoo EVP/Research & CoFounder Leigh Jacobs and Big Machine GM and CRS Research Committee Chair Clay Hunnicutt – who’ve been immersed in the data for weeks – for clarity on key takeaways. They’ve Got Personality: Contrasting results from two questions stood out in a related way to Jacobs. When respondents were asked if they thought they would hear more songs they liked on FM radio or via DSP, the DSPs were favored at 64%. But when asked if they preferred to listen to music on FM or DSP, FM won 53% to 47%. “If we pare it down to just a playlist, we’re on equal footing Leigh Jacobs with technology that’s coming to the fight with a lot more armament than we have,” Jacobs says. “Having that human element makes it just that much more relatable. It’s that added value that stations provide.” The data further confirmed air talent to be an essential factor for radio (see graph page 10). A full 57% felt that DJs make listening a more enjoyable experience, while only 8% felt Clay Hunnicutt stations would be better without them. “Were air personalities as important as we thought they were?” asks Hunnicutt. “This came back with a resounding ‘yes,’ and that’s a huge point of differentiation for the radio side. And you see the DSPs responding to that with what they’re trying to do.” Solid Gold: Hunnicutt points out another surprisingly strong result in the research: the power of the gold category. “We’ve always heard that Country’s appeal is [ages] ‘8 to 80,’” he says, pointing to high scores for all eras of music across the (continued on page 8)
On Cloud Kline: 19th & Grand’s Tenille Arts (l) and producer Alex Kline celebrate the first Top 10 song that was both produced and performed by solo women, “Somebody Like That,” on International Women’s Day. Check out Kline’s “My Tunes” here.
Antman’s Post-Radio Podcast
On the day of his exit from iHeartMedia, former KASE & KVET/ Austin PD Anthony ”Antman” Allen was discussing the idea of starting a podcast with industry vet Skip Bishop. Although Allen had given the idea some thought in the past, he wasn’t sure what he’d talk about. “I didn’t want to do one for Allen (l) with Granger Smith. the sake of doing one,”
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