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THE STATE OF THE OPRY
The problem that the Opry has is that attendance has really suffered over the last couple of years. You can chalk up three reasons for this. 1) Country record sales and radio listenership are down anyway (TNN viewership is reportedly down by 20% from this time last year; mainly due to programming changes at the network), 2) Younger, popular country stars rarely perform on the Opry, even if they're members, and 3) The older stars who *do* regularly appear on the Opry attract an older crowd - not so much of a younger audience - and the older demographic is death for advertisers. Take a look at the regular advertisers on the Opry's televised portion some Saturday evening. Viagra. Lawn care products. Sausages. Sexy, it ain't. I'm 36, unmarried, make a good living, and I think Charlie Louvin and Ray Price walk on water. But I'm unusual in that respect and I realize it. Reducing the stage time of the older stars is pretty clearly a precursor to *increasing* stage time for younger stars. My impression is that country radio and TV are willing to accept smaller audiences if they get a more desirable demographic in the deal (potential Lexus buyers instead of potential denture adhesive buyers, for example). As for the younger stars appearing on the Opry, you're seeing a bit more of them on there of late, though it's really been pretty recent - in the last three or four months - and I'm honestly not sure what kind of difference it's made in the ratings. Reportedly the changes in the Opry band were made because it was felt that the Opry needed some younger band members who were more familiar with playing the current style of pop-country; that a more versatile band would make the Opry more of an attraction for younger country stars. On a sidenote, I'm almost positive that this is why WSM hasn't started broadcasting over the internet yet, in spite of assurances for over a year that they're planning on doing so. The Opry is clearly in a period of transition and my guess would be that WSM doesn't want to put it on display to the whole world with what amounts to a big "Under Construction" sign in front of it. Just my .02.
Wrtitten By: Jon Johnson |