“AM Radio Is Dead and its Rotting Corpse is Stinking Up the Airwaves"....

[L Chanon Gade]

- The late Tom Donahue said that nearly 47 years ago. Prophetic then -True now.

Case in point: WABC. Last Monday I tuned over to 770 to hear the latest right-wing agitprop from the bilgemeisters there.

As is often the case on these sorts of stations, I landed on a commercial. The spots on this sort of station are usually pretty grim -but this one took the prize.

The copy went: " ...unlock the secret code in the Bible that will make you rich". It went on promising to make one a millionaire if one just bought.....whatever. I turned it off.

In addition to the usual parade of boner pills, get rich schemes and a weekend filled with infomercials -not to mention the cynical programming...this is a new low. NONE of the current sponsors would have gotten past the sales desk in the station's top-40 days.

If this is what it takes to keep right wing propaganda on the air, find the scrap value of the tower in Lodi. Negotiate a buyout for the staff and put this garbage vender out of it's misery.

LCG

 

[FredLeonard]

Not that FM radio is in much better shape.

The problem is not competition from new media. The problem the short-sighted greed and incompetence of the people who run things and the plain bone-headed stupidity of the people who work in it.

Pittman should send Dickey a bottle of champagne for Christmas. Thanks to Cumulus, Clear Channel is no longer the Great Satan of radio. Not that there are any class acts among major broadcast operators.

 

[BigJimmy]

- The late Tom Donahue said that nearly 47 years ago. Prophetic then -True now.

Case in point: WABC. Last Monday I tuned over to 770 to hear the latest right-wing agitprop from the bilgemeisters there.

As is often the case on these sorts of stations, I landed on a commercial. The spots on this sort of station are usually pretty grim -but this one took the prize.

The copy went: " ...unlock the secret code in the Bible that will make you rich". It went on promising to make one a millionaire if one just bought.....whatever. I turned it off.

In addition to the usual parade of boner pills, get rich schemes and a weekend filled with infomercials -not to mention the cynical programming...this is a new low. NONE of the current sponsors would have gotten past the sales desk in the station's top-40 days.

If this is what it takes to keep right wing propaganda on the air, find the scrap value of the tower in Lodi. Negotiate a buyout for the staff and put this garbage vender out of it's misery.

LCG

Now---- let us know how you really feel about WABC. (are you a former employee ? )

 

[BigJimmy]

Or----- LC Gade-----are you a current employee of WABC / Cumulus ?

 

[wadio]

LCG, thank you for calling attention to that "Biblical Money Code" commercial. I've been meaning to post about it -- you beat me to it.

When I first heard the spot I thought it was a joke -- maybe a spoof of Coast-to-Coast AM or something -- but then I realized it was an actual attempt flimflam the faithful. You're correct, it should never have gotten past the sales manager and onto the air. Any shred of credibility WABC (and AM Radio by projection) might have had is out the window with the airing of that spot. Never has the expression, "You can't make this stuff up," been more appropriate!

 

[BigJimmy]

to be fair to tired, old WABC------------ many other AM, FM, TV stations air crappy
questionable spots & infomercials these days. ( to make $$$$$ ---- which many people
feel is just fine. Making $$$$$ by any means. Its All---American. )

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

As is often the case on these sorts of stations, I landed on a commercial. The spots on this sort of station are usually pretty grim -but this one took the prize.

The copy went: " ...unlock the secret code in the Bible that will make you rich". It went on promising to make one a millionaire if one just bought.....whatever. I turned it off.

Welcome to the club.

Over in the church, and in religious broadcasting, we have been dealing with "The Prosperity Gospel" big time for 3 or 4 decades now. So now it reaches into right-wing Talk Radio?

I guess the news here is that the genre has now reached into mainstream NYC?

Appalachia, met NYC. NYC: Meet Appalachia.

 

[rjt45]

The new philosophy seems to be, if the check don't bounce, the spot gets on the air!! Didn't FAN air spots for condoms and "Gentlemen's Clubs"? Look, AM radio as owned by these huge companies is dying! If only we could go back to the days of 7-7-7 when companies like ABC owned prime properties and just about everyone with an FCC license made money! Yes, there is a lot more competition for a buck these days, but I sincerely believe that companies owning 1200, 800, or 500 radio stations tends to turn the properties into factories and what we now see is what you get!

And L Chanon Gade if you are a current WABC employee...my sympathy!

 

[TheBigA]

The new philosophy seems to be, if the check don't bounce, the spot gets on the air!!

If you come up with a better way to pay for radio, let me know.

If only we could go back to the days of 7-7-7 when companies like ABC owned prime properties and just about everyone with an FCC license made money!

First of all, it's not true. Most stations lost money then, and secondly there were a whole lot fewer radio stations, and less competition from other media.

The fact is that Donohue is right. AM radio has been dead for a long time, and there's really nothing anyone can do to revive it.

Consider the fact that NBC got out of the radio business in 1988 where 7-7-7 was the law of the land. They didn't sell their prime properties because they were making money.

 

[FredLeonard]

This is what I meant. Radio is in a sorry state because people who work in radio tolerate, condone and justify sleazy and abominable sales, management and programming practices. Somebody points out the nasty truth about the state of radio and a bunch of radio "true believers" immediately start playing the "disgruntled ex-employee card."

The way the industry treats people, it's amazing there aren't more disgruntled ex-employees out there but what the industry really needs to worry about are all the indifferent ex-listeners.

The really shocking thing is infomercials or infomercial variants are popping up on public broadcasting.

When the industry has listeners and made money, it had class. Then it wanted more money and as result lost listeners, class and - yes - money.

 

[TheBigA]

When the industry has listeners and made money, it had class. Then it wanted more money and as result lost listeners, class and - yes - money.

You really should spend some time studying radio history. And after you're done with that, spend some time in other industries. Show me a business that's NOT run by people who want more money.

The entire motivation for everything we know in radio from 1922 to the present was about wanting more money. That's why they started network radio in 1926. More money. Tell me that H.L. Mencken quote again. Maybe the one from P.T. Barnum.

 

[davideduardo]

Not that FM radio is in much better shape.

The problem is not competition from new media. The problem the short-sighted greed and incompetence of the people who run things and the plain bone-headed stupidity of the people who work in it.

I'd argue that nationally AM has troubles due to... in no special order...

-Dramatic increases in man made interference, reducing coverage.
-Two generations who have grown up on FM and find AM "sounds funny".
-Poor quality of AM radios of last several decades.
-Urban sprawl that has put much of each market's population outside the average AM signal.
-30% decline in inflation adjusted dollars for radio since 1999.
-New media

All these things, combined, make it necessary for AM owners to cut costs and to accept the newer reality of the kind of client they can attract. It's cause and effect. Most of this thread criticizes the effects, without looking at the causes.

 

[ronald54321]

Gripe, gripe, gripe. This board is getting worse all the time.

 

[davideduardo]

Gripe, gripe, gripe. This board is getting worse all the time.

I think you post, itself, was a gripe.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Is anyone not tuning in to a program or format because of the spots?! Okay, us industry pros and armchair radio geeks get all bent out of shape, but does the average listener notice, or care?

It's the programming in between the spots that gets them to tune in and/or stay tuned. Fix that and you can air a minute of goat bleats in between segments and "they" will stay put.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Had "The Bible Code" been a TV commercial broadcast on NBC between 11:30 P.M. and 1 A.M. Eastern time on a Saturday night, it would have likely been a commercial parody from "Saturday Night Live".

But they probably would have spoofed the old-school hard-sell pitchman to make it funny.

 

[rjt45]

What is...IS!

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Is anyone not tuning in to a program or format because of the spots?! Okay, us industry pros and armchair radio geeks get all bent out of shape, but does the average listener notice, or care?

It's the programming in between the spots that gets them to tune in and/or stay tuned. Fix that and you can air a minute of goat bleats in between segments and "they" will stay put.

You have any documentation to support that claim?

Why someone will listen or will refuse to listen may well be a rather personalized decision.

As something of an expert on the "bleating of goats", may I suggest you walk with care when wandering in the barnyard. We also have bulls in the barnyard at times, and you may have just messed up your shoes.

 

[bturner]

I am sometimes amazed at how people think. I was working at one place and had to take a client I didn't care to take. I did so to make payroll. The biggest complainer thought I should not have accepted it and he's the guy who would have been the biggest complainer if I didn't have the cash for payroll. To this biggest complainer, he couldn't understand I couldn't make money appear from thin air. His idea was to not take the money, not meet payroll but somehow pay everyone. It's hell when you call the shots but you can make statements: If you don't like the commercials, why don't YOU find them an advertiser that will meet with your approval.

The Bible Wealth Scam...yep, that's really low..I'd have a hard time saying yes, but I've been duped before from a deceptive client that presented the product in one way to me only to want to advertise it in a very different way. As I recall, when I refused to air it, I wound up in court to defend my right and I won but it cost a few thousand to defend. I have the right to cancel and yes, they can sue. So, the lowlife sued and we went from needing their dollars to losing a few grand more thanks to it all. Luckily my owner backed me up. And this incident wasn't the Bible Wealth people.

 

[wadio]

I'd argue that nationally AM has troubles due to... in no special order...

-Dramatic increases in man made interference, reducing coverage.
-Two generations who have grown up on FM and find AM "sounds funny".
-Poor quality of AM radios of last several decades.
-Urban sprawl that has put much of each market's population outside the average AM signal.
-30% decline in inflation adjusted dollars for radio since 1999.
-New media

All these things, combined, make it necessary for AM owners to cut costs and to accept the newer reality of the kind of client they can attract. It's cause and effect. Most of this thread criticizes the effects, without looking at the causes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please note that nowhere in this list is even the mere mention of ON-AIR CONTENT! Yes, this list is valid and the items are important, but SHEESH!

To a statistician the last thing that matters is the one thing that might actually attract an audience. Does programming mean nothing to the bean counters running radio today? No wonder radio is in such a sorry state. Why not just go ahead and air the bleating goats in between the commercials as well?