Production standards (or lack of)

[davideduardo]

The Kars for Kids spot on KFI is voiced by KFI's Tim Conway, Jr. -- likely a compromise to get the business but not punish the listeners.

OK, I heard that one today. It's apparently part of a campaign to get "personality" spots in quite a few markets... the agency negotiates a fee through the station's national rep, and the station bills for the use of the talent and then passes the fee on to the talent. It's not very likely that the station had anything to do at all with setting this up. Clients ask for such arrangements all the time. I know folks in LA who got half their income from that kind of talent fees... often going in to the low to mid six figures a year.

A station I had a connection with at one time refused to accept ad production that didn't meet the standards of the format. They explained why to advertisers and offered to re-voice the spots at no charge. They were quite successful and didn't turn away much business. Their spot rate was high for the market, in part based on their reputation for "excellence."

I have not heard of that since "Beautiful Music" and Shulke stations demanded it for loud spots. Of course, at KLVE we often got copy or "tapes" in English, and we had to explain that we did not run English spots and we would do a Spanish version at no charge. This came from buys where the agency did not notice that KLVE broadcast in Spanish, and where they had simply bought off a ranker.

Generally, agencies do not appreciate being told their spot sucks. Unless it is a question of format (no jingles on a classical station, for example) or standards (a company does not take hard liquor ads), it is a very very dangerous place to tread.

That was some years ago when management actually believed in standards and radio was held in some esteem as an advertising vehicle, not a last resort because the spots are cheap and they'll do practically anything to get the buy.

CPPs are actually in the higher range of where they have historically been in the last two decades. There were higher individual rates before Docket 80-90 overpopulated most American markets with stations, but that was because audiences were less fragmented.

Most management believes in standards. But they also know that they can not indiscriminately turn down spots based on creative concerns unless there is a legal issue involved as otherwise there are all kinds of fair trade and restraint of trade issues involved.

My guess is that KFI is attempting to set and adhere to standards for its air sound and I applaud that.

My guess, from dealing with clients and talent and station in LA for nearly a quarter century is that Tim Conway got a nice little talent fee because a client wanted a local personality endorsement.

I'm not sure why the usual wet blankets here are so eager to shoot down anyone who's in favor of at least trying to improve radio from a programming perspective.

It's not being a "wet blanket" to point out that stations seldom if ever tell clients their spot is bad. However, it is very frequent that clients request a station personality to voice a spot and they pay a fee to the talent for that.

 

[wadio]

Come on! The Kars for Kids folks are so enamored with their own "creativity" that they're not about to hire outside talent. Show us another station running a custom Kars for Kids spot.

 

[TheBigA]

Come on! The Kars for Kids folks are so enamored with their own "creativity" that they're not about to hire outside talent. Show us another station running a custom Kars for Kids spot.

It's their money. They can do what they want. Some people put ketchup on their hot dog. They paid for it, they can even put mayo on it if they want. Understand?

Don't like a spot? Don't buy their product. If you buy a spot on WABC, and you can do what you want.

 

[Oscar Madison]

It's their money. They can do what they want. Some people put ketchup on their hot dog. They paid for it, they can even put mayo on it if they want. Understand?

Don't like a spot? Don't buy their product. If you buy a spot on WABC, and you can do what you want.

Are you quoting the Ferengi "Rules of Acquisition?"

The line between "business" and prostitution is so fine, most people in radio can't see it - or refuse to. Either way, it's a key factor in radio's current state of distrust and irrelevance.

 

[davideduardo]

Come on! The Kars for Kids folks are so enamored with their own "creativity" that they're not about to hire outside talent. Show us another station running a custom Kars for Kids spot.

I'm told that they have approached local talents on about a dozen of their talk buys where they believe a similar approach would work. It's limited only because the talent cost is high and they are going for recognizable local names.

They apparently even considered having Spanish language "endorsers" do the spot over the English track.

And... show me another highly rated news/talk station that covers nearly 6% of the US population in its primary coverage contour.

 

[TheBigA]

Either way, it's a key factor in radio's current state of distrust and irrelevance.

Oh come on...this is the same business model for ad supported music on Pandora and YouTube. If it hurts on-air, it must be doing the exact same thing online. No? People want free content, and that means putting up with advertising.

 

[davideduardo]

Are you quoting the Ferengi "Rules of Acquisition?"

The line between "business" and prostitution is so fine, most people in radio can't see it - or refuse to. Either way, it's a key factor in radio's current state of distrust and irrelevance.

There is no "fine line" here. Radio exists as an advertising medium to sell time to promote products or services.

As long as a company is legally doing business, radio has a certain obligation to accept their advertising. It's not up to radio to evaluate advertiser's products, just as it's not a hardware store's obligation to test different brands of hand tools. In both the case of the hardware store and the radio station, testing or evaluating goods and services is beyond the scope, economic possibility and area of competence of the company.

As an example of how difficult it is to evaluate the "goodness" of a product, look at the reviews of various items on the sites of online retailers. Even the best products usually have negative reviews. Should online stores stop selling products with some negatives?