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what is wrong with KYW Newsradio 1060?

J

Jul

Guest
I think its time that Dan Mason and other CBS brass to make major changes to KYW 1060 AM. I think its long overdue. The station should have a WCBS type of format and schedule that includes airing 60 Minutes on Sundays, CBS news top of the hour newscasts 24/7, Possibly add some new and experienced news anchors to the on air team, perhaps from the CBS radio sister stations. In other-words, the station needs a total makeover and yes that include firing Steve Butler and the current management at the station.
 
Julius, anything wrong with KYW that you haven't posted before?

And for the record, I'd rather see them go back to the classic Group W format, which 1010 WINS still follows. But, yes, what they are doing now is hodge podge of two formats and they should pick one and stick to it. So, going with the CBS format would be an improvement.

The people reading news are OK. (Is there somebody in particular with whom you have a problem? Or somebody from out of town you wish worked here?) What they need to do is get some real reporters and go back to actually gathering news. Once upon a time, KYW actually uncovered stuff and broke news. No more. Now their idea of reporting is going out and doing person on the street interviews (talk radio by sound bite) or sending somebody out where nothing is happening now (but did happen yesterday or may happen later) with wire copy or a press release to do a live shot.

And don't run promos telling people to tune in two, three, four times a day and then keep running EXACTLY the same pieces for the entire day. Do they think people don't notice that they are hearing the same stuff on the way to work, they heard the evening before on the way home. The station sounds stale. No wonder people are tuning out.
 
FredLeonard said:
Do they think people don't notice that they are hearing the same stuff on the way to work, they heard the evening before on the way home. The station sounds stale. No wonder people are tuning out.
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People don't notice it's the same stories because most people only listen for a short period during the day. They expect people will come and go.
 
TheBigA said:
People don't notice it's the same stories because most people only listen for a short period during the day. They expect people will come and go.
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Depends on how you define "short." For P1 listeners, I've seen figures putting it at just under an hour a day. Tune-in is somewhat random. So, a listener could "miss" hearing the same story again - and again - and yet again. Then they could hear another story two, three, four times. It doesn't have to happen often for a station to sound stale.

What's ridiculous is KYW taking material from CBS, ABC and for a long time CNN. With all that material, they should have multiple versions of any story but they keep repeating the same one.

People come and go. Increasingly, they come back less.
 
Meanwhile, over at NPR they actually have rules about story repetition. The same story will not be used more than once in any of their news magazines. They require fresh voicers for all their top of the hour newscasts. The only way you can hear the same story twice is if you hear one of their repeats, which is a full two hours later.
 
TheBigA said:
Meanwhile, over at NPR they actually have rules about story repetition. The same story will not be used more than once in any of their news magazines. They require fresh voicers for all their top of the hour newscasts. The only way you can hear the same story twice is if you hear one of their repeats, which is a full two hours later.
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OK, you tea droids hate NPR. We get it. So what that NPR has nothing to do with "what's wrong with KYW?" Maybe you could start a what's wrong with NPR thread on the public radio section. The show is two hours long. The feed is repeated for different time zones. Some stations carry more than one feed of each show. But, yes, they often do run essentially the same story - or interview - on ME that ran the night before on ATC. Or run something on Weekend Edition that ran during the week. Or do an interview just like the one that ran on Fresh Air. KYW drones are not the only ones who assume that people don't listen long, so it's OK to be lazy.
 
You took that as a bash on NPR? The way I read his comment led me to believe he is giving NPR credit for not boring listeners by essentially giving the same story over and over again.

I'd say TheBigA is the furthest thing from an NPR hater. Over the years, he's made many pro-NPR posts....

I never noticed that they had different announcers for their TOH newscasts. I'll have to pay more attention next time.
 
I do still listen to them sometimes daily. But, I honestly think they should try a music/ TOH news format. I think it could just work out and maybe give a very bland radio station some life again. Remember, KYW used to be a music station.
 
FredLeonard said:
OK, you tea droids hate NPR. We get it. So what that NPR has nothing to do with "what's wrong with KYW?"
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Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe you should re-read my post.

My point is: Don't like KYW? Change the station. You have a choice. There's no need to complain when you have alternatives.

FredLeonard said:
But, yes, they often do run essentially the same story - or interview - on ME that ran the night before on ATC.
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"Essentially," maybe. If it's a big news story, they cover that story again. But with different content, a different approach, maybe even a different reporter. They will never run the exact same piece twice. Especially a feature. The interviews are different because they have different hosts.
 
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TheBigA said:
"Essentially," maybe. If it's a big news story, they cover that story again. But with different content, a different approach, maybe even a different reporter. They will never run the exact same piece twice. Especially a feature. The interviews are different because they have different hosts.
Click to expand...

With all due respect, Dude: I don't know where you are or whether you listen to this station on a regular and frequent basis. I am telling you, yes, they often run EXACTLY the same piece - not twice, but repeatedly. Same content. Same approach. Same "reporter." Same audio file (previously same cart).
 
FredLeonard said:
With all due respect, Dude: I don't know where you are or whether you listen to this station on a regular and frequent basis. I am telling you, yes, they often run EXACTLY the same piece - not twice, but repeatedly. Same content. Same approach. Same "reporter." Same audio file (previously same cart).
Click to expand...

Then it's a local insert in an NPR show. As I said, NPR has rules about reusing stuff. Morning Edition and ATC have two completely different staffs.
 
TheBigA said:
Then it's a local insert in an NPR show. As I said, NPR has rules about reusing stuff. Morning Edition and ATC have two completely different staffs.
Click to expand...

I'm talking about KYW. I have no idea what you're talking about. Hint: See the title of this thread.
 
FredLeonard said:
Depends on how you define "short." For P1 listeners, I've seen figures putting it at just under an hour a day. Tune-in is somewhat random. So, a listener could "miss" hearing the same story again - and again - and yet again. Then they could hear another story two, three, four times. It doesn't have to happen often for a station to sound stale.
Click to expand...

I have greater detail of information for New York than Philadelphia, so I looked at WINS, the near-mirror of the KYW format. The daily TSL is about 50 minutes, divided into three or four incidents averaging around 13 minutes each.

Like Top 40 stations that play songs 15 to 18 times a day, the repetition is not noticed by most and when it is, it is welcome.
 
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