Say what? “There’s a hole in the market” is something radio people have long said to each other when figuring out how to compete with other stations in their towns. Like: a city has no country station, so you consider changing your third-rock-station-in-town to country, a no-competition position. There are some format holes in lots of towns these days, but the niches to be filled are considered too tiny to get enough audience to show in the ratings, thus making money from ads. Should a radio station go classical? Or jazz? Most owners or stockholders wouldn’t hear of it. I think the biggest hole in most markets today is what I’ll call “hometown radio.” I call it that to avoid using the word “local,” which I think is meaningless in theory and practice. Radio stations haven’t had their hearts in “localism” for a long time. But I think there’s an untapped–maybe unrealized–longing for a radio station that feels and sounds like its hometown. I think such a station could succeed big in its market, and, maybe even in the ratings. I’ll be listening, then writing about stations and places I think exemplify Hometown Radio in coming posts. Stay tuned.

• BROWSE / IN TIMELINE
• « TOM TAYLOR’S BACK.
• » WHERE DO YOU GO FOR NEW MUSIC? WHY, THE NEWSPAPER, OF COURSE.

• BROWSE / IN money new media ratings
• « WHAT iPODs STILL WON’T DO…
• » WHERE DO YOU GO FOR NEW MUSIC? WHY, THE NEWSPAPER, OF COURSE.