Ballad-Free Music Formats Wednesday, April 20, 2011 By Jerry Del Colliano WBEB (B101) in Philadelphia has eliminated ballads from its weekends to make them more lively – and less like where the station is popular, at work during the week. Good idea? Actually, dropping ballads from the weekends is just the tip of the iceberg. The adult contemporary format has been declining in recent years.  Once a staple of music radio, the future of AC radio is uncertain. More importantly, it’s what WBEB is not saying that you should be focusing on and I’m going to reveal it in this article. •  How not to be left in any radio format when it starts becoming long in the tooth. •  How to keep your loyal fans while you undergo what may be some radical surgery.  •  How to protect the brand and not the format. •  How hanging onto the past can guarantee that your station will have no future (this will be good advice for everyone but particularly for stations with a lot to lose if their listeners stray). If you would like to read this story, have access to my entire archive (over 1,200 pieces) and get the next month of my writing included, click “read more” for your choices.  It’s as low as 27 cents a day. Read more at Inside Music Media You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to Inside Music Media Click here to unsubscribe or manage your account.