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C lassic Alternative. Theres that phrase again. I just heard it as a positioning imager on Live 105. Classic Alternative and The Cutting Edge. Then there was the news that Jones Radio net- works will be offering Classic Alternative as a format choice. And you probably read that Coleman research did some instant analysis of the classic alter- native movement. Its high time we tried to make some sense out of all the hysteria. Lets continue our look ahead at 2004 with a Q: and A: with Jacobs Medias D Da av ve e B Be ea as si in ng g, whos been a guiding hand behind the clas- sic changes at FM 94/9 and The End. Dave, is what were seeing in Seattle and San Diego
the start of a trend?
When I talk to listeners in focus groups, they usually
qualify what we in the industry classify as an
Alternative station by saying it's sort of Alternative
or Mainstream Alternative. And as they say that, they're wincing. Mainstream Alternative is an oxy-
moron, but that's what the format has become.
Listeners want Alternative to be an alternative again.
At Jacobs Media, we believe this is a major trend, but
not only within the Alternative format. Look at what's
happening with stations like KQMT in Denver or the
Jack FM stations in Canada. Look at the audience
increases at National Public Radio. These other sta-
tions have nothing to do with Alternative, but they rep-
resent a change in values that transcends the music.
It's about being listener responsive, genuine, unpre-
dictable. So that it has a handy label (and we all know
how much we radio people love handy labels), we've
dubbed it NeoRadio. We believe it's not a format, but
more of a movement that crosses formats. Overall, what's behind this NeoRadio movement?
Here's one example. At last year's Jacobs Rock Summit,
we unveiled an amazing statistic: 85% of Alternative lis-
teners nationwide agree with the statement, The DJ's
should have more control over the music they play. I
can't think of too many other things that 85% of them
would agree on. Does that mean you give the DJ's total
control of the music? No. But great program directors
like Garett Michaels and Phil Manning hire jocks who
know the music, carefully explain their vision to them,
give them some guidelines, and empower them to pro-
gram in some surprises now and then GET READY NEOALTERNATIVE IS HERE! January 15, 2004 Page 1 Alt from Inside and Out THE REPORT Sands Contact: Richard Sands (415) 383-5955 richard@thesandsreport.com