NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
The singers who became famous on the third season of Fox's American Idol earlier this year aren't getting much play on the nation's radio stations this summer, according to a published report.
USA Today reported that singles by winner Fantasia Barrino and runner-up Diane DeGarmo have yet to crack the top 40 charts, although Barrino is found on the adult R&B and adult contemporary charts.
Sales of the songs have been much stronger than the air time. Fantasia's "I Believe" is No. 1 with 363,000 sales and DeGarmo is No. 2 once again with sales of 155,000 of her single, "Don't Cry." But those sales have not convinced radio programmers to give the songs air time, according to experts quoted by the paper.
Despite the growth of music downloads and digital music players, radio exposure is still seen as a measure of success, and a spur to future sales and downloads, in the music industry.
"Popular radio is edgy and urban right now, so obviously programmers and TV networks aren't necessarily looking to serve the same audiences," said Chuck Taylor of trade publication Airplay Monitor.
The paper says that radio embraced first season winner Kelly Clarkson, but gave less play to the songs of second season contenders Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, despite greater ratings and media attention given to that pair.
Sean Ross of Edison Media Research said the show could be reaching a saturation point, with about 10 former contestants now releasing songs in different formats.
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