J
Johnny Diablo
Guest
I'm curious. If you'd be so kind, will you please tell us your profession?
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It's 2015! Time to get rid of the '70s.
- Thread starter CurtisNEPA
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I'm curious. If you'd be so kind, will you please tell us your profession?
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
Given that following this post a clarification was requested, I'll use myself as an example and try to answer landtuna's question above.
I began in radio in 1973, after four years in local television (both broadcast and local origination cable). I spent my first four years at a hybrid MOR/Classical station and worked practically every daypart and position. I was even the Public Affairs Director at one point, back when that title meant something.
In 1977, I was urged by the owner to take a position at an automated soft AC station in the same market because a sale was pending to the flamethrower top-40 AM and the owner thought I shouldn't get stuck knowing only one kind of music format. The joke was on both of us, as the station flipped to Beautiful Music after the sale and I was only kept on because I had thought to learn how to program the IGM automation system. Once they consolidated studios with both stations, all of us who had come along with the FM were summarily dismissed ("the AM guys can change the tapes on the FM.")
This is where luck enters the equation. When I became available, I was approached by a mom-and-pop operation in the market who wanted to make their AM/FM simulcast "more hip" (the AM had been all-news with the ill-fated News and Information Service from NBC, the FM had gone on the air only a couple years' previous with a badly done "contemporary MOR" format, and when NBC pulled the plug on NIS they started simulcasting). They had a clear vision of what they wanted: Contemporary, heavy on currents, targeted at 20- to 40-year-olds, no hard rock, no bubblegum, no novelty songs. And they thought hiring someone who had grown up in the market who was (barely) inside the demo to program the music was a good move, so they offered me the PD/OM position, even though I had never programmed before and it had only been five years since my first radio job.
This was a smaller market, and even if I knew what music research was, we certainly couldn't afford it. So I used the Whitburn books, arbitrarily rejecting anything that peaked below #10, eliminated the songs that weren't going to fit the "sound" the owners had in mind, added in a few dayparted songs that had been #1 or #2 on the Easy Listening chart, and then programmed the currents based on the Hot 100, eliminating the "don't fit" songs. It was research of a sort, I suppose, and like any PD I made decisions based on what songs were left after all my addition and subtraction.
I am convinced that the only reason it worked was because we were one of the first stations anywhere to do what came to be called Adult Contemporary. My competition on FM in-market was an automated top-40, an automated Country, and my former two stations. We had several Los Angeles stations which had in-market listening ... five were Beautiful Music,
one was the famous "mellow rock" KNX-FM, two AORs, one Classical, and two top-40s. And we were very successful for about three years until the owners sold out and retired. The new owners had their own ideas, and even though they offered to keep me on the changes they wanted to make just felt wrong, so I opted out. (I was later glad that I did, because they completely ruined the place and ended up in bankruptcy less than two years later.)
I'll summarize why I left my next gigs: Three were also from format changes by new owners, five were moving to larger stations from smaller ones, one was due to unresolvable personal conflicts between myself and a new GM hired after I had been with the station a while, and one was a breach of contract by the station.
I won't say I was perfect at all those gigs, but I was fortunate that my first station as PD did well in the ratings and I got a reputation as the "hot young programmer" and did well enough after that to be considered something of an "expert" (although, to be honest, I hate that word ... which is why, as noted by another poster, I don't use it very often in my posts here). Had that not been the case, I would never have hung out my consultant shingle after I left my last "on-hands" programming job.
So yes ... my first station was an "original idea" but it was the owners' idea, not mine. I just instinctively knew what to do with it. A lot of my "ideas" have been taken from other stations in other markets and tweaked to fit. Those of us who do this for a living know a good idea when we hear it and we also know when that idea may fit something we are doing.
Does that help?
K
K.M. Richards
Guest
I almost had a heart attack when I saw you agree with me.
I will give KWRP some listening time over the weekend so as not to jump to any hasty conclusions, if you don't mind. I'll get back to you early next week with my thoughts.
P.S.: In my post that you agreed with, I would like to add one additional qualifier. Near the end, I said "your personal likes do not make you an expert on radio programming, and that is where I have to draw the line." I want to make sure you understand that was meant to also convey that my personal likes don't make me an "expert" either, although I do think my broad base of musical tastes helps me sometimes.
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M
Music Lover
Guest
This is another lite AC stream that leans a little more heavily towards today's softer stuff: http://www.radionomy.com/en/radio/love-2-love-radio/index
Just like with the other link in the quote, could that work on today's FM or would it still be more of a niche audience?
There is no minimum time to become a PD.
In many smaller market cases, a former PD leaves and the jock with some organizational and people skills becomes PD. In small markets, as K.M. mentioned, the PD may also be Operations Manager, do an airshift, be music director, do production and do remotes.
Larger markets recruit from smaller markets or from people on staff or in the company with some smaller market PD experience.
First time PDs or PDs making big market moves may or may not succeed. A friend who is national PD with a large company thinks it is about half. The rest don't make it and the reasons range from being intimidated by the position or "doing too much" and wrecking a good format.
It's sort of like college coaches moving to the NFL, or from a team in a less prestigious league to a bigger one. They were good where they were, but against stiffer competition, they do not succeed.
There is a lot of risk in going from one station to a bigger one, both for the station and the PD. Just look at Scott Shannon. A dozen major successes, from Nashville up to Z-100. And then came Pirate Radio. But he bounced back upon his return to New York, and has beens successful ever since. But he had no guarantee of making it in LA, and he didn't. The same goes everywhere.
No, they are not. You could be doing well, and a competitor comes right at you or comes at a hard to defend flank. You drop. Or a classic hip hop station takes the upper end off the Churban station... and you can't defend against that. And so on.
Or you lose the morning show that gave you dominant shares and a halo effect in mornings. Or your GM did not renew the sports team franchise. Or corporate cut the research or promotional budget. And so on.
The sports analogy fits here, too. How often are key players traded or coaches and managers changed. Someone finishes last, even if they "played well". They just did not play well enough.
In radio, if we care, we can easily find out why a PD left... Fired why? Moved on? Why? Left radio? Why?
I understand. And even though I'll always believe more songs should be played on classic hits than is played today, I'll acknowledge your summary as informative to my existing background in radio. Yeah, I hope you get a chance to listen to KWRP. I'm a bit confused though, as to why it's last book was a 0.0 (according to David), but yet they are simulcasting on 100.3. I assume they are competing with 95.5 (which is at an 8.0 at last check)
The only thing I can come up with is that 95.5 can be heard in Colorado Springs, where as 100.3 cannot (only in Pueblo). 690 can be heard here, but only in the daytime, too much interference at night
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Sirius just lost another court case today with The Turtles over use of pre-1972 music. This one in New York. Very likely that all digital outlets (online and satellite) will be forced to stop airing pre-1972 music because they're not covered by the blanket copyright.
http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...-once-again-rules-in-favor-of-flo-eddie-again
http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/a...-once-again-rules-in-favor-of-flo-eddie-again
The Colorado Springs and Pueblo markets are separate. The rating in one has nothing to do with the other.
This was more directed at media types in general than just PD's. It seems whenever any significant person leaves their current position it is, outside the industry anyway, a huge secret. All you hear at the end of their last shift is a goodbye and how much they enjoyed their gig. Press releases, if any, give only fluffy generic notification. Unless they are fired for felony type conduct you never hear anything. Now, in the days of social media, the person might document his/her decision for leaving but in the old days that never happened and still doesn't in the majority of cases in my market. We could have a full-time forum on Where Did They Go?
M
Music Lover
Guest
Quite agree that the pre-1972 recordings is a rather hypocritical issue. http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2014...-and-the-hypocrisy-of-the-music-industry.html
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I tuned back into Big 103.7 in San Francisco today to find their latest promo says "no repeats". Since this is a CH station it will be interesting to browse their playlist and see just how many unique songs get played.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
And if you're a radio suit with a large personal network of contacts. That's true in all industries. But the fact that insiders can get inside information is only meaningful to insiders.
Not bad Landtuna, not bad at all!!
Here's a list of songs heard tonight just since 745pm tonight!
I didn't list the everyday songs heard on most CH stations, just the "uncommon" ones. Good choice Tuna, I'll have to BM this one!! It is weekend "party" programming, so we'll have to listen on regular weekdays to get a better comparison. Thanks!
Da Doo Ron Ron (Shaun Cassidy)
Stir it Up (Johnny Nash)
She's A Lady (Tom Jones)
Pop Muzik (M)
She Blinded Me With Science (Thomas Dolby)
Start Me Up (Rolling Stones)
Outta Space (Johnny Preston)
New Sensation (INXS)
Vehicle (Ides of March)
I Love A Rainy Night (Eddie Rabbit)
Middle of the Road (Pretenders)
In the Summertime (Mungo Jerry)
867-5309 (Tommy Tutone)
TSOP (MFSB)
Stand Back (Stevie Nicks)
Nobody said that was not so. You are arguing with yourself. Or posting with absolutely no content.
593 songs were played in the last 7 days. That is fairly typical for the traditional end of the gold spectrum. KOOL-FM did 573 songs last week.
Which really means there were many repeats within those 7 days. How many different titles were played in those same seven days? It's got to be far less than 593.
That is the total library size. 593 different titles.
A typical classic hits station plays about 12 songs an hour, for a total of around 300 spins a day and 2000 or so per week.
So, if someone actually ran 10,000 different songs, it would only take about five weeks for them to start repeating and since most of them would be stiffs, everyone would hate it!
M
Music Lover
Guest
The RESPECT Act can mend the issue of the pre-1972 recordings and enable all digital performances of songs – regardless of the year they were recorded – to become eligible for royalties. https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/4772
Did you read it? It doesn't actually solve the copyright issue. Read the last line:
"Declares that this Act does not confer federal copyright protection upon such recordings fixed before February 15, 1972 (sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, remain under applicable state laws notwithstanding the payment of royalties under federal statutory licensing requirements)."
That means that broadcasters can still get sued. All it requires is that broadcasters pay royalties, not that they're allowed to play the recordings. This Act has zero chance of even being discussed, much less passed.
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