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WABC hires Cindy Adams

N

NewsStud

The notorious socialite who boasts of her Park Avenue penthouse and of having a chauffer at her beck and call, earning whatever she needs from throwing words about the meandering lives of social elites the into newsprint of the New York Post, will now host an hour - a whole hour - of talk radio programming, on a Sunday, at WABC.

It's a throw-away. It will be on Sunday afternoon, when nobody is listening. Maybe it generates some press and a few weekend ad dollars from a sponsor with money to burn thinking Mrs. Adams is still as popular as she was 30 years ago. Or that anyone under, say 65, thinks she's as relevant to the world of celebrity gossip-spreading as those meddling kids at TMZ.

But Adams is 90 years old. God bless her. I mean that. It's a miracle for sure, considering her religious practices forbid modern medicine. But she's not the future. Not of WABC, nor of media success. Weekends are wastelands on radio as a whole, on talk radio for sure and on AM definitely. Perhaps, Mr. Cats is just to trying to use this wasteland as a destination for senior listeners. I really think this great. They're the ones who grew up with radio as an important part of their lives but who are underserved by radio today due to advertising realities. But as WABC is no longer ridden with debt thanks to Mr. Cats, that pressure to fill weekends with horrific informercials which pay cash, is lifted. He's (economically) free to try and experiment with weekends. I say "good luck.."

But at some point, Mr. Cats is going to want to turn a profit with his investment. How long of a fuse does he have? People on these boards (and over at the dental board) talk about the need to do something new with talk radio. How "new" can it ever get? You talk, people listen. Maybe they call in? What is ever going to change? The host? Will Charlie Kirk (who is a nice guy and a genuine people person) doing the same steps as a Barry Gray really be what invigorates things?

I have no solution. I'm just marveling that a nonagenarian scribbler is WABC's latest hire.
 
from a distance ( I am far away from NYC) it seems to me the folks in the nursing homes (the folks that didn't die by Cuomo's hand) are getting the finest programming money can buy for the 75 to dead P1

Cousin Bruce, Ms Adams, the list goes on.... WABC where it is 1955 all the time
 
MRBIboredop said:
from a distance ( I am far away from NYC) it seems to me the folks in the nursing homes (the folks that didn't die by Cuomo's hand) are getting the finest programming money can buy for the 75 to dead P1

Cousin Bruce, Ms Adams, the list goes on.... WABC where it is 1955 all the time
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Have to agree with you on this. Cindy Adams? Really? It feels like 1985 all over again!
 
NewsStud said:
People on these boards (and over at the dental board) talk about the need to do something new with talk radio. How "new" can it ever get? You talk, people listen. Maybe they call in? What is ever going to change? The host? Will Charlie Kirk (who is a nice guy and a genuine people person) doing the same steps as a Barry Gray really be what invigorates things?

I have no solution.
Click to expand...

Try NPR. You'll probably have to expand your mind in order to accept the fact they are presenting factual news and worthy talk topics instead of the constant red meat gutter trash broadcast on AM radio all the time. But NPR stations like WNYC attract a broader age range and more diverse audience, and they are soaring high in the ratings lately.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
You'll probably have to expand your mind in order to accept the fact they are presenting factual news and worthy talk topics instead of the constant red meat gutter trash broadcast on AM radio all the time.
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To those whose worldview is left-of-center, NPR news might seem entirely factual. But they slant what they cover and, worse, willfully decline to report stories, some of which AM talk radio addresses. That's why AM talk has a dedicated audience. Of course, a reference to radio content and its listeners as "gutter trash" exhibits a distinct inability to parse that nuance, even with an 'expanded mind.'
 
The difference is that WBAI is listener-supported and targeting the 60+ demographic tends to produce a valuable number of donors. Many listeners in that age group will also pay for satellite radio which is why '50s and '60 music channels still thrive there.

It's not considered a desirable advertising demo though, which is why most commercial stations aren't putting 80-90 year old hosts on the air unless they buy the air time, which is apparently the case with the Cindy Adams show being discussed here.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
The difference is that WBAI is listener-supported and targeting the 60+ demographic tends to produce a valuable number of donors. Many listeners in that age group will also pay for satellite radio which is why '50s and '60 music channels still thrive there.
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Those 50 and over progressives did not support WBAI enough to avoid them going nearly a year in arrears for tower rental and having to move to the low rent district.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Those 50 and over progressives did not support WBAI enough to avoid them going nearly a year in arrears for tower rental and having to move to the low rent district.
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Well yes, that's true. But in general, the 50 and over group is a good target for listener-supported stations and even WBAI with its miniscule audience somehow manages to keep hanging on, fueled by those donations.

It would be interesting to know if WABC turns a profit from its advertising. My guess is no, the owner will have to prop it up with his own money, and that's likely fine by him since he's wealthy and the station seems to be his personal indulgence. I'm sure we will never really know.
 
I guess one good thing about having "hosts" that old is you know who the advertisers are going to be....Rascal Scooters, The "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!" life alert alarm companies, Metamucil, Colonial Penn, Depends and funeral homes.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
Try NPR. You'll probably have to expand your mind in order to accept the fact they are presenting factual news and worthy talk topics instead of the constant red meat gutter trash broadcast on AM radio all the time. But NPR stations like WNYC attract a broader age range and more diverse audience, and they are soaring high in the ratings lately.
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I don't know about their particular NY area demos, but NPR's listeners are an older, predominantly white (over 80%) and well-heeled audience. Not exactly diverse.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Those 50 and over progressives did not support WBAI enough to avoid them going nearly a year in arrears for tower rental and having to move to the low rent district.
Click to expand...

On the other hand they were able to organize and kick out the parent Pacifica Foundation when they made an attempt to shut them down.
 
boombox4 said:
I don't know about their particular NY area demos, but NPR's listeners are an older, predominantly white (over 80%) and well-heeled audience. Not exactly diverse.
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Here's what Nielsen said a couple years ago about WNYC:

Nielsen data also shows that in 2018, WNYC-FM reached its most diverse audience ever, with Black and Hispanic listeners comprising 30 percent of the station’s audience.
Click to expand...
 
JBraddock said:
To those whose worldview is left-of-center, NPR news might seem entirely factual. But they slant what they cover and, worse, willfully decline to report stories, some of which AM talk radio addresses. That's why AM talk has a dedicated audience. Of course, a reference to radio content and its listeners as "gutter trash" exhibits a distinct inability to parse that nuance, even with an 'expanded mind.'
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Such as Hunter Biden and election conspiracy theories?
 
Back to the original subject of this thread, the title of this discussion is "WABC Hires Cindy Adams". Elsewhere it appears it's a brokered situation and she's not actually hired by WABC as much as they've sold her the airtime. Anyone know the details?
 
Mikey Radio said:
Back to the original subject of this thread, the title of this discussion is "WABC Hires Cindy Adams". Elsewhere it appears it's a brokered situation and she's not actually hired by WABC as much as they've sold her the airtime. Anyone know the details?
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That would make sense. I can't see the logic of paying her given the one hour show in what is basically a dead time slot.
 
Many of WABC's programs are sponsored by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Does anyone know how that arrangement works?
 
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