Format radio and TV your favorites gone
My readers requested that I document Format radio and TV news a bit more. Why are so many bands and singer/songwriters dropped from the air wave by format radio and information from TV news. I received many messages asking which bands and singers did Format radio drop and why! Perhaps, I hinted that there was a political reason in my previous post. Noted in that post music from Bob Dylan and Little Feat were dropped from radio. But, gentle readers there is much more and a BIG reason behind it!
Well here is what they give us now:
Music formats playlist are forcing on us its own rhythm and style. They can be broken down into several subcategories:
- Top 40/Pop: This format plays the most popular songs as determined by charts, often featuring the latest hits.
- Adult Contemporary: Here you’ll find a mix of pop, rock, and soul, targeting an adult audience without being too edgy.
- Classic Rock: This format rocks the classics from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, catering to nostalgia and a love for epic guitar solos.
- Country: From traditional twang to modern crossover hits, country format stations embrace the storytelling heart of America.
- Urban/R&B: Focused on African American culture, this format includes genres like R&B, hip-hop, and sometimes gospel.
And there you have it, modern 2025 format radio summed up in five easy categories! Gag me! But dear readers I would suggest there is a lot more we are missing! Where is jazz, classical symphonic music and lastly Americana music? What about that great Beatles music and Liverpool/British invasion sound? What more is missing for the times they are a changing. We know they axed Bob Dylan, when did you hear the Beatles and Rolling Stones on Sirius, FM or AM stations? From my comments, the common theme missing in today music was a bit of revolution! Most readers had not heard these music artists in years!
The WHY – They don’t want the sound of revolution in the air
Yes, it appears format radio and TV don’t want the later 1960’s and 1970’s sound of protest and revolution on the air waves or cable. They want good little minions. Who blindly listen to and follow the multi billionaires horrible new music. Gone are the songs of the Byrds, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bob Dylan and others. Replaced them are hip hop (hate, drugs and violence), slick pop (something Swift) a departure from so called classic rock stars of old.
Now about the News
Mass school shootings, murder and mayhem, blithering politicians and bad weather are the headlines now days. Mostly ads and you can then pay Google to take the ads off the YouTube videos you watch. You have pod casts with the right wing nuts getting priority when you do a search! Thus you become a good little minion. The the multi billionaires and big oil don’t want you to rock the boat about climate change or their tax decreases. The news dumbs you down and makes you numb. Learned helplessness in action! You can look up news scrips on the internet. This website has format news stories outlines. Hope this link will save you the search time.
The News Script Guidelines
Writing a script should be the final step in creating an entire news package. Long before you sit down to write out the script, you should be thinking of sound bytes and ways to structure your story. News packages need to have a beginning, middle, and an end, as well as characters. Be thinking of the direction you want it go as you shoot video and conduct interviews. Once you have enough audio and video for your story, you are ready to begin:
Separate the script into two columns. On the left side, write video. On the right side, audio. Because you are writing for a visual medium, it is vital to separate out what the audience will see and what they will hear.
- Choose sound bytes that are emotional, provide an interesting opinion, or help your story along. As you choose these sound bytes, mark the time on the tape next to the sound byte you write out so the editor can find it easily.
- Write voice-overs that you, the reporter, will say to push the story along. The voice-overs should not stick out, but rather sound natural with the story.
- Weave sound bytes and voice-overs together to create a cohesive audio section to your story.
- Find places to put natural sound, which is strongly connected with video.
- Write down video you have that complement the audio. You will have a large selection from shooting B-Roll in the field. Mark times next to the video so the editor can find it easily.
- Read over your script and make sure it sounds natural, follows the guidelines of a story, and is easy to read so the editor will have an easier time editing it later.
- Once the script is completed you are ready to go into the sound booth and record your voice-overs.
Not mentioned is the they use a Gunning Fog Index of around 5 for their words and sentences. Correspondingly, you will not hear medical terms, engineering terms, but they foment the impression that eschewing bloviation is for dotards. (Something they will not say on air).
My Negative Summary of Format Radio and Video
Be careful of what you let into your brain! Many have subliminal cues now! This book was written in 1974. In a class I taught on advertising most students could not see the images till I pointed them out. I then had them search and bring in subliminal ads the next day. Same thing is happening with the news now. Be aware – are you being programmed? Think! By the way, this paragraph has a Gunning Fog index of of 6.109
Remember bad news sells, good news does NOT!
