Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Women of Country

Willy Cole, Program Manager/Morning Host at 620 CKRMRegina (306-546-6219 - willyc@620ckrm.com), was kind enough to alert us to the new syndicated show hosted by Michelle Wright, and the production values of the demo are indeed pretty impressive.

Take a listen to it: http://www.dasilvagroup.com/MW_womenofcountry.htm

Seems like an interesting concept and a great choice for a host, as long as Michelle is dedicated to really giving time to it and it's not just a weekly voice track gig for her. She certainly knows where the skeletons are buried.

Concerns I hope they keep in mind:

1. Addressing the listener as 'everyone' right from the top sets the wrong tone. It needs to be one to one, if it's to make use of radio's strength and power - intimacy. They need to make Michelle less of an 'announcer' and more of an authentic person.

2. The fact is that 60% of country's biggest hits are by MEN not women. It's a great way to creatively package country artists and certainly the largest percentage of country's youngest audience is women, so they certainly relate to country females. But, it can't become too 'girly' in appeal or it's going to chase off the core. I hope that at least 40-50% of the music of the show is by men, or it won't get ratings, I fear.

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