The Slogan Of The Decade
Written Oct. 2, 2009 by Sean Ross in Content + Satellite with 1 Comment
It's a recurring riff here among Edison Research staffers: We're almost done with the '00s and broadcasters still haven't decided how to verbally identify them on the air. What's going to happen in the not-at-all-distant-future when "'80s, '90s and today" or "'90s and now" can no longer be taken to cover everything? Hot AC stations, already unable to come up with something more creative to be famous for than the decades of music they play, are going to really be in trouble.
So we now have our first sign of how this will be handled at Sirius XM 26, "The Pulse," a favorite channel of some Edison staffers, which has repositioned its "'90s and now" Modern AC format as "2000s and today." The change is so new that it wasn't on the channel's own homepage as of this morning. There are still some '90s titles, but they're playing roughly once every other hour according to a Mediabase monitor from yesterday.
The decade name aside, it's a logical switch for a service that already offers the "'90s on 9." And while broadcasters are just now grappling with how to give the '90s their own format, we're likely to see a few Hot ACs ankling the '90s because they haven't yet provided that many viable titles, and because Top 40's adult success continues to highlight the surprising power of now.
As for "2000s and today," it's not quite the catchy name we were hoping somebody would come up with. But having batted this one around a little, we understand the challenge. Here's The Pulse around Noon today:
Nickelback, "If Everyone Cared"
Melissa Etheridge, "Come To My Window"
Timbaland & Onerepublic, "Apologize"
Daughtry, "No Surprise"
The Calling, "Wherever You Will Go"
Gavin DeGraw, "In Love With A Girl"
Collective Soul, "Staring Down"
Goo Goo Dolls, "Let Love In"
Dave Matthews Band, "You And Me"
Our Lady Peace, "Somewhere Out There," a 2002 song that got a flashback stager
Pink, "Sober"
Reader Comments
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How about some slogans that don't have decades in them, and as such, don't have to be changed every ten years:
* "We Play Music You'll Love!"
* "The Best Variety Of The Past Two Decades And Today's Best Hits"
* "The Best Music Of Then And Now"
See how these slogans test with the focus groups.