Aradio format,programming format (not to be confused withbroadcast programming), orspecialist station (British English)[1][2] describes the overall content broadcast on aradio station.[3] The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time whenradio was compelled to develop new and exclusive ways to programming by competition withtelevision.[4] The formula has since spread as a reference for commercial radio programming worldwide.[3]
A radio format aims to reach a more or less specific audience according to a certain type of programming, which can be thematic or general, more informative or more musical, among other possibilities.[nb 1] Radio formats are often used as a marketing tool and are subject to frequent changes,[5] including temporary changes called "stunting."
Except fortalk radio orsports radio formats, most programming formats are based on commercial music.[3] However the term also includes the news, bulletins, DJ talk, jingles, commercials, competitions, traffic news, sports, weather and community announcements between the tracks.[3]
Even beforeWorld War II,radio stations in North America and Europe almost always adopted a generalist radio format.[citation needed]
However, the United States witnessed the growing strengthening oftelevision over theradio as the majormass media in the country by the late1940s.[4]American television had more financial resources to produce generalist programs that provoked the migration of countless talents from radio networks to the new medium. Under this context, the radio was pressured to seek alternatives to maintain its audience and cultural relevance.[4]
As a consequence,AM radios stations—many of which were "independent", that is not affiliated with thenetwork—began to emerge in the United States and Canada. They developed a format with programming consisting of music, news, and charismaticdisc jockeys to directly attract a certain audience.[4]
For example, by the 1960s,easy listening obtained a stable position onFM radio – a spectrum considered ideal for good music and high fidelity listening as it grew in popularity during that period[nb 2][citation needed] – and themiddle of the road (MOR) rose as a radio industry term to discern radio stations that played mainstream pop songs from radio stations whose programming was geared towards teenagers and was dominated byrock and roll,[6] the most popular musical genre of the period in the United States and which held the first successful radio format calledTop-40. In reality, the Top-40 format was conscientiously prepared to attract the young audience, who was the main consumer of the records sold by the American record industry at that time.[4] Soon, playlists became central to programming and radio formats,[7] although the number of records in a playlist really depends on the format.[nb 3]
By the mid-1960s, American FM radio's penetration began achieving balance with AM radio since theFederal Communications Commission required that co-owned AM and FM stations be programmed independently from each other.[4] This resulted in huge competition between radio stations in the AM and FM spectrum to differentiate themselves for both audiences and advertisers.[6] At that time, it caused a proliferation of many radio formats, which included presentation, schedule and target audience, as well as repertoire.[6] Within a few years, FM radio stations were supplying program formats completely analogous to their AM stations counterparts, increased to more than 50% in 1970 and reached 95% in 1980.[6]
During the 1970s and 1980s, radio programming formats expanded into commercially successful variations, including, for example,adult contemporary (AC),album-oriented rock (AOR) andurban contemporary (UC), among others, which spread to most AM and FM radio stations in the United States.[4]
Over time, FM radio came to dominate music programming, while AM radio switched to news and talk formats.[8]
In some countries such as the UK, licences to broadcast on radio frequencies are regulated by the government, and may take account of social and cultural factors including format type, local content, and language, as well as the price available to pay for the spectrum use. This may be done to ensure a balance of available public content in each area, and in particular to enable non-profit local community radio to exist alongside larger and richer national companies. On occasions format regulation may lead to difficult legal challenges when government accuses a station of changing its format, for example arguing in court over whether a particular song or group of songs is "pop" or "rock".[citation needed]
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Formats constantly evolve and each format can often be sub-divided into many specialty formats. Some of the following formats are available only regionally or through specialized venues such assatellite radio orInternet radio.[9]
Seasonal formats typically celebrate a particular holiday and thus, with the notable exception of Christmas music (which is usually played throughoutAdvent), stations going to a holiday-themed format usually only do so for a short time, typically a day or a weekend.
The UK has several formats that often overlap with one another. The American terms for formats are not always used to describe British stations or fully set specified byRAJAR.[10]
A new report from the Henley Centre predicts a bright future for radio in the UK. The increase in the number of specialist stations and more people listening in cars and living alone is leading to a rise in radio's popularity.
Community, small and specialist radio stations in Bristol, Somerset and South Gloucestershire have started broadcasting on digital platforms...
