Funny 1410 is no Joke

[jon]

24/7 Comedy is a Ratings Winner - Hit-Driven All-Comedy Radio Format Triples Ratings, Proves Canadians Love to Laugh
Canada NewsWire

TORONTO, May 28, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Canada's first short-attention-span, hit-oriented, all-comedy radio format is delivering the goods when it comes to audience numbers at CKSL in London, Ontario.

Re-Branded as "FUNNY 1410", CKSL made the format change from Oldies to 24/7 Comedy in January 2012 and the station has enjoyed an unprecedented jump in ratings ever since.

Recent BBM market surveys show a staggering 850% increase in Cume for the Adult 18-34 demographic. Similar market share increases with both women and men, 18- 44, have moved CKSL to the #1 AM station in the market and catapulted it ahead of many FM stations as well.

Funny 1410 Brand Director, Al Smith, is ecstatic at the success of the format: "We couldn't be more thrilled with how our format flip from Oldies to FUNNY 1410 has worked out. Just like that Seinfeld episode where George gets caught by Jerry's girlfriend with his bathing suit off - there was some serious "shrinkage" with Oldies on AM! The time had come to try something new and innovative and the 24/7 Comedy numbers don't lie; listeners in London love to laugh."

Syndicated by Orbyt Media, 24/7 Comedy is available across Canada as a full-format option, or for overnight programming in select markets. This exclusive partnership with the producers of 24/7 Comedy, The Donkey Comedy Network (DCN), builds on a similar success story in the United States and marks an exciting new format option for radio markets in Canada.

"24/7 Comedy Radio is a unique addition to Orbyt's library of compelling radio brands for the Canadian market," says Lesley Soldat, General Manager of Orbyt Media. "The content is pitch perfect funny and the Top-40-inspired presentation is unlike any other comedy product on radio. We believe 24/7 Comedy will do for radio what The Comedy Network has done for TV."

Bill Bungeroth, President and Founder of the Donkey Comedy Network, agrees: "Comedy's universal appeal breezes through customs and across borders. The dynamics of comedy don't change at a certain parallel on the globe, and neither do the business objectives of a radio station. 24/7 Comedy Radio presents the same opportunity for a Canadian radio station to differentiate itself with a unique brand in its market as a U.S. station."

24/7 Comedy Radio features the biggest names in comedy, including Louis CK, Aziz Ansari, Russell Peters, Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, Lewis Black, Whitney Cummings and many, many others.

About 24/7 Comedy Radio
24/7 Comedy Radio is a 24-hour format designed to meet North America's insatiable appetite for all things funny. The comedy format is targeted to hit the funny bone of today's 18 - to 44-year-old adults. It showcases established and emerging comedians in a rapid-fire comedic delivery and is hosted by an array of stand-up and improvisational comedians. Recognizing North America's need for a laugh and capitalizing on the growth of comedy on the web, TV, and movies, the format is designed to build cume. A PPM friendly format, it has been shaped by Harker Research and Vallie-Richards-Donovan Consulting. For more information, visit 247comedyradio.com.

[SKradiophile]

In Saskatchewan, funny radio is the news department at any Rawlco Radio outlet which has the journalistic ethics of any inexperienced grade 9 student. I laugh a lot any time I attempt to listen to their newscasts. As for John Gormley, well he's so funny he should get his own station.

[drmusic]

Forget it, not worth it.

[DirkSteele]

Something I never understood about the "comedy" format.

How do rights to the comic's material work? Rhetorical as I know the answer is....what rights?

Radio stations pay to license music. So what gives a radio station the right to just grab miscellaneous comedy, take ownership by airing the material as a full on format, and then sell advertising? For all the stolen material on YouTube they seem to pull content stuff down when asked, but "users" are uploading that content they aren't doing it themselves. The radio format is deliberately sourcing and using the material to create ratings and then selling advertising. Is anyone being paid for that content? It can't be a simple as having a producer comb the internet for bits and air these bits on the station.

I'm not complaining. Genuinely interested in how it works and if there is any payment that is getting back to these comedians.

[tuned]

The material that they are playing were released on records and CD by the major labels. Same rules apply as for playing music. Radio stations don't pay anything for the performance but only for the publishing. So the bands don't get paid for being played on the radio but the songwriters do. In the case of comedy records the "songwriter" would be the comedian and they might get paid for publishing.

[CKNF]

I wonder now if this will be the fate for many of the remaining AM stations that have tried everything else and can't get an FM conversion license? Seems like most markets in Canada market can only support one Talk, one News and one Sports outlet.

[erratics]

It looks like Astral is trying to put on as much as as possible a positive spin to the format change for am 1410. But, in the longer term this station will be nothing more than a fringe player in the London BBM market. I wonder is Astral will do the same with their Calgary, Hamilton and Vancouver am stations?

[Dan Sys]

I'm not sure how similar All Comedy stations south of the border are doing in the Arbitrons, but to me it seems like a format that would burn out real quick.

[CKNF]

I'm not sure how similar All Comedy stations south of the border are doing in the Arbitrons, but to me it seems like a format that would burn out real quick.

Hey Dan, I was thinking that very same thing as well and I'm someone who really enjoys comedy. However, I can see anyone with half a brain grow tired of it very quickly. I'd be very curious to see how this format pans out in the long run. At least it's something different and it has the potential for a decent cume. But yes, I wouldn't think it's a station you'd want on all the time.

[Aaron]

You could make the same arugment for Top 40, Oldies, or almost any other format.

Here's Kansas City - Most recent (and biggest yet) on the left:

KCMO-FM HD2 3.0 242,500 2.4 211,200 2.5 203,000 Comedy Cumulus

[Big Voice]

Any modern (bleep) comedy these (bleep) days is so (bleep) riddled with (bleep) obscenities, it would never (bleep) get (bleep) aired on any (bleep) terrestrial (bleep) radio.

[Ross Ewage]

It looks like Astral is trying to put on as much as as possible a positive spin to the format change for am 1410. But, in the longer term this station will be nothing more than a fringe player in the London BBM market. I wonder is Astral will do the same with their Calgary, Hamilton and Vancouver am stations?

I'd think with the pending sale to Bell, Astral cannot make major changes to any of their stations formatwise. When London was first announced before Christmas last year, Astral did secure domain names for
most of their AM stations (funny650, funny1060 etc). The tended to do that with most of their "brands" in case the need for a format change popped up.