CHR Radio in Jordan, What you Hear is what you Get!

I've wanted to do this “tiny self-study” while ago, and finally I was able to do, especially with the fact that i started my radio segment lately :)

CHR Stations in Jordan (standing for: Contemporary Hit Radio) are probably representing the biggest competition rate in the Jordanian radio sphere at the time being. Being currently 4 radio stations, CHRs are notably competing with everything from shows to bringing in the hottest western hit music for the Jordanian listeners, And from coming up with all sorts of creative event ideas, to bringing in the biggest competitions and prices for its listeners.

All of this, despite the fact that, according to statistics, those stations' ratings are the lowest in Jordan in general, since most of the population prefers to listen to Arabic music, or no music at all even! But maybe because we are not really finding this competition in other radio genres in Jordan, nonetheless Arabic ones. And maybe because those people behind CHR stations are more “skilled” and “business-maniacs”, this competition is hot out there.

[more about CHR stations in Jordan will be discussed on Episode 3 of My Radio Segment, next monday 10,30 PM on Radio Al-Balad 92.4 FM]

So, what I did was that i've chosen random times, random dates, and gave a listen to all 4 CHR stations, documenting all that went on air in those selected time-frames: Tracks, Promos, Ads, and talk!

2 main sample time frames where studied, one OFF PEAK (same date and time for all 4 stations), and one PEAK (same time, but different dates among the 4 radio stations).

General Notes:

• Promotions and jingles are stated with the word [PROMO]

• Unknown artists are stated with [N/A] followed by the title of the song, or part of its lyrics between double quotes in case i was not able to know the song title.

• Fresh new hits are colored in Blue

• Older Hits from 2008 are colored in Green

• Older hits from before 2008 are colored in Red, and much more older ones are colored in light red.

Sample 1:

Saturday: 27-12-2008

Between the hours of 14:05-15:05

Period status: Non Peak Hour / No shows / Weekend

In this grid, in between most (if not all) the songs, an identification jingle was aired. Those are not mentioned in this grid.

Energy FM	Spin FM	Beat FM	Play FM
The Script – Break Even	Rihanna – Its Over Now	Jes – Imagination	Wrap up for the play top 40 of the year + [PROMO]
			Madcon – Begging
N/A - “I wanna say i'm sorry, don't wanna say goodbye”	Fedde Le Grande – Put your hands up for detroit	Maroon 5 – This Love	N/A - “day & night”
Jay Sean - Tonight	Kings of Leon – Loose somebody	Hinder – Without you	Daughtery – Its not over
Rihanna – Disturbia	One republic – Stop and Stare	Kanye West – Heartless	David Deejay – Sexy thing
Katy perry – Hot & Cold	Taylor swift – You Belong with me	Kevin Rudolf – Let it rock	Ne Yo - Closer
Estelle feat. Sean Paul – Come Over	Toni Braxton – Wasn't a man enough for me	Simple Plan – Untitled	Linkin Park – in the end
Coldplay – Viva la Vida	Second hand Serenade – Fall for you	Jessica and Ashly Simpson - The Little Drummer Boy	David Guetta – Love is gone
Flo Rida - Low	Nelly Fortado – I'm like a bird	Enrique – Escape	Beyonce – Like a boy
Metro station – Shake it	MGMT – Kids	Freemasons (Feat. Bailey Tzuke) – Uninvited	Fedde Le Grande – Put your hands up for detroit
Voodoo feat. Sirano – Trans Atlantic flow	N/A - “that was a turning point”	(2) Advertisements + [PROMO]s	Nickleback – Rockstar
N/A - “What a feeling, nothing but a lie”	N/A - “told you how it used to be”	R.I.O. - Shine On	(4) Advertisements + [PROMO]s
Kaskade – Move for me	Leona Lewis – Run	Nickleback – Got to be somebody	Rihanna – Live your Life
Will I Am – Its a new day	Kanye West – Home Coming	Cherish - Killa	Akon – Na na
Will I Am – I've been thinking about you	Jesse McCartney - Its over	Shaggy – Feel the Rush	Chris Brown – With you
Antique - Moro Mou	Jack Jonson – Cocoon	Jay Sean - Tonight	(3) Advertisements + [PROMO]s
Lil' Wayne – Lollipop	Mariah Cary – Touch my Body	Ian Carey – Redlight	ATB – Till I come
N/A - “You can't get enough, keep up pumpin'”	The Script – Break Even	Albert Neve & David Oleart - I'm Alive	Armin Van Burren - In and Out of love
		Three Days Grace - Never Too Late

Sample 2:

Period status: Peak hour / Morning shows / Weekdays

Time: Mainly between 8:00 – 8:45 AM

Dates Specified on each station

Beat FM	Spin FM
30 – 12 – 2008 8:00 – 8:45 AM	30 – 12 – 2008 7:59 – 8:45 AM
David Deejay – Sexy Thing	[PROMO] + (1) Advertisements
[PROMO]	On Air Talking (2m)
Dido – Don't Believe in Love	The Script – Break Even
[PROMO]	[PROMO]
On Air Talking (1m)	Ne Yo – Closer
Kanye West – Love Locked Down	On Air Talking (0m 40s)
On Air Talking (3m) + (1) Sponsor Advertisements	The whosiers – Goodbye Mister
(1) Advertisements + Promo	[PROMO]
Nickleback – Got to be somebody	Kanye West - Heartless
On Air Talking (0m 30s)	On Air Talking (1m)
Enrique – Taking back My Love	Milo – Drop in pressure
[PROMO]	On Air Talking (0m 20s)
Craig David – Unbelievable	The Johnas Brothers - “”
On Air Talking (2m)	[PROMO]
Robbie Williams (Close My Eyes)	Madcon – Begging
On Air Talking (3m)	On Air Talking (0m 50s)
(2) Advertisements + Promo	Lady gaga – Just Dance
Britney Spears - Womenizer	On Air Talking (0m 30s)
[PROMO]	[PROMO]
On Air Talking (1m)	Rihanna – Live your life
T Brothers beat – Pennies , Henny, & Bitties	On Air Talking (1m)
	Shantel – T Shirt

Play 99.6	Energy 97.7 FM
31 – 12 – 2008 7:56 – 8:45 AM	5 – 1 – 2009 8:00 – 8:45 AM
On Air Talking (0m 50s)	[PROMO]
Nickleback – Got to be somebody	On Air Talking (1m)
On Air Talking (1m 10s)	Rihanna – Live your Life
Katy Perry – Hot & Cold	On Air Talking (2m 30s) + (2) sponsor advertisements
On Air Talking (0m 40s)	Goo loo josh Project – Infinity
Ian Carry - Rise	[PROMO]
(1) Advertisements + Promo + (1) Sponsor skit	Beyonce – All the single ladies
Modjo - Lady	On Air Talking (2m)
On Air Talking (2m 20s)	Voodoo & Serano – Trans Atlantic Flow
Rihanna – Live your life	On Air Talking (2m 20s)
On Air Talking (1m)	[PROMO]
(3) Advertisements + several Promos	The Killers – Human
On Air Talking (1m)	On Air Talking (0m 20s)
The Script – Break Even	Christina Agulera – Keeps getting better
[PROMO]	On Air Talking (4m) including a live phone call
Timberland – The way I are	Craig David – Insomnia
On Air Talking (1m)	[PROMO]
Dj Flava Vs Stefani – Beautiful Lie (A Jordanian Song)	Britney Spears - Circus
On Air Talking (1m 40s)	On Air Talking (2m 30s)
September – Cry for you	[PROMO]
[PROMO]	Akon - Beautiful
Kevin Rudolf – Let it rock	Paul Van Dyk feat Jessica – White Lies

General Findings and observations (Despite the fact that this is not a “scientific research” to have accurate enough numbers, but according my listening experience, thats the situation in general on the CHR airwaves):

	Energy 97.7 FM	Spin Jordan	Beat FM	Play 99.6
Nr of Advertisements (Non Peak hour sample)	0	0	2	7
Nr of Advertisements (Peak hour sample)	0 + 2 sponsor	1	3 + 1 sponsor	4 + 1 sponsor
Talking time	14m 40s	6m 20s	9m 30s	9m 40s
Percentage of Fresh Music (Non Peak hour sample)	70%	64%	45% (But most of the other are labeled in Green)	33%
Percentage of Fresh Music (Peak hour sample)	90%	80%	88.8%	60%
Percentage of Fresh music (All)	79%	70%	58%	44%

Maybe its too clear that 3 out of the 4 radio stations are beating hardly on getting the latest and hottest hits, while Play 99.6 is out of this competition at the time being! Mention that even the fresh songs being played on Play 99.6 at the time being are not premiers, and have been playing on other stations for at least 1 month (A good example is The Script's – “Break Even”, and Play's claim to remember where we heard it 1^st while its been on the other 3 station's airplay for 2 months or more [More was in this week's episode of my radio segment] ). While Energy 97.7 FM are jamming the airwaves with a big quantity of hits, and almost no before 2008 songs at all!

Despite this fact, Play 99.6 is still the dominant when it comes to advertisements, with around 60% of the market, followed by Beat FM with around 30%. While no notable ads are being aired on the airwaves of the newer Energy FM and Spin FM, despite the fact that Energy for Example is there for almost a year now!

Talk-wise during the shows at the peak hour sample, Beat FM and Play 99.6 are probably just the right balance, while on Spin Jordan things are bit more silent despite announcement for ways to support people in gaza where being aired as well when taking the sample, talk on Spin Jordan is actually more of a direct one. On the other hand, Energy FM's Martin B spent almost 30% of the time during the taken sample, though he no announcement regarding supporting gaza went on air, and though the last 2 songs of the sample were part of the so-called “no talk triple play” on Energy FM, when there is no talk at all between 3 songs in a row.

Back to the music according to the grids above, and according to my personal “listener” mentions as well, you will be able to mention that Beat FM plays un-popular tracks from time to time , though they might be new (actually, Thanks to the people from Beat FM who helped me in finding the names of alot of tracks from their playlist). While Spin Jordan has a bit of “over redundancy” for the fresh hits, that might not be observed in this study, but when you listen during weekdays to their series of shows from 7 AM – 7 PM.

On last notable thing, is that the only Jordanian track that went on the airwaves of the 4 radio stations was one on Play 99.6, which is known for its notable support for local talents all over those year by the way, the song appearing in the sample is called “Beautiful Lie” and its by “Dj Flava Vs Stefani”

So, let see what do you think of all the above, and what do you listeners think of CHR stations in Jordan in general.