thegame - you may want to change your handle to onemangang. The listeners have spoken......or former listeners I should say.
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1560 & 790 Might Have a Chance
- Thread starter adguy
- Start date
Speak for yourself. I am not now and have never been in the radio industry and maybe my opinion of what is "good" radio and "bad" radio isn't as refined as some others', but I've been logging onto 1560's stream about 6:45 each morning and not disconnecting until it's time to go home @ 5 since August 20.
I suspect I'm not the only one with this habit.
Also, thegame (whoever you are)--I absolutely LOVE the promos you guys run. The "another rejected promo" with Granato shooting the guy in his car for not listening to 1560 caused me to laugh hysterically for 5 minutes the first time I heard it and still gets a chuckle to this day. It may be time to retire that "ooo what you say/Dear Sister" stuff though; funny the first 10-20 times; not so much after 400-500...
I suspect I'm not the only one with this habit.
Also, thegame (whoever you are)--I absolutely LOVE the promos you guys run. The "another rejected promo" with Granato shooting the guy in his car for not listening to 1560 caused me to laugh hysterically for 5 minutes the first time I heard it and still gets a chuckle to this day. It may be time to retire that "ooo what you say/Dear Sister" stuff though; funny the first 10-20 times; not so much after 400-500...
I'm like most of these guys, I listen to sports radio all day everyday but after 11am I have no use for 1560. Ken Hoffman writes great columns for the paper but leaves a lot to be desired behind a mic. Anybody ever heard Calvin Murphy's show? I want to check it out but every time I change directions in my truck the ESPN fades out and country music starts coming in.
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thegame
Guest
I was just thinking...after reading all of the comments in this thread I realize that most of the folks on this board are radio people. The ideas and observations are all going to come from a perspective of tried and true radio formulas, methods, and suggestions. I get upset and take some of the challenges personally and I shouldn't. We are doing everything differently. Everything. And we are small and independent and most of you guys actually want us to succeed but what we are doing is counterintuitive to all you know and expect. Now the taste thing is something I cannot fix. What we do is certainly not everyone's cup of tea from a content perspective. We are programming for P1s. We will then grow that P1 base.
As far as the running of promos I think they are great. They are better than any promo set on any station on earth.
As far as the running of promos I think they are great. They are better than any promo set on any station on earth.
For one, I have been in support of The Game and I hope it will be successful. As far as promos go, I make the best. Actually, I do like the promos. However, I think The Game needs more promos and perhaps two minute and three minute features until more advertisers come on board.
Chuck, I think you are spot on 99% of the time, but here is the 1% I disagree with. The Game does have the best promos hands down. And that is because they are unencumbered by the corp approval chain. I think they run the correct length promos now, but there are too many, but that has to be because of the lack of advertisers.
The Game: I am not a radio person. I have been in both radio and TV in my past, but currently am away from the medium thank God. I am truly looking at this radio business from a knowledgeable fan base perspective. I probably know more than most because of my vast prior experience, but I truly look at you guys from a fan's perspective (with knowledge). My sentiments are very similar to 95% of the posters to this thread. Glad you listen to us somewhat. AND, I don't speak for anyone but myself, but I think there are lots of folks around here rooting for you guys. I also root for BizRadio for many of the same reasons. I'm all for independently owned and operated radio. I think the days of indy radio are long gone, but I applaud anyone willing to make the effort in a major market. KUDOS!
The Game: I am not a radio person. I have been in both radio and TV in my past, but currently am away from the medium thank God. I am truly looking at this radio business from a knowledgeable fan base perspective. I probably know more than most because of my vast prior experience, but I truly look at you guys from a fan's perspective (with knowledge). My sentiments are very similar to 95% of the posters to this thread. Glad you listen to us somewhat. AND, I don't speak for anyone but myself, but I think there are lots of folks around here rooting for you guys. I also root for BizRadio for many of the same reasons. I'm all for independently owned and operated radio. I think the days of indy radio are long gone, but I applaud anyone willing to make the effort in a major market. KUDOS!
I have been lurking on the Houston board for the last couple months. Radio interests me, the business interests me.
I'm 28, so i am probably right where their demo needs to be. That being said, I enjoy The Game more than any other station I have listened to since I left Dallas and The Ticket 10 years ago. This is the type of thing I want to listen to. I dont want everything to be so serious all the time, I want to laugh. The morning show being the best goes without saying. I think their afternoon show is the best in the city, Rich Lord and Palillo annoy me to no end. That being said I still think they should make the afternoon show more of a group thing with some more of their personalities chiming in on that show, having 3 or 4 voices increases the wit and character of the show IMO. I love The Game, I am a P1 and I talk to other P1's every day.
justsayin
I'm 28, so i am probably right where their demo needs to be. That being said, I enjoy The Game more than any other station I have listened to since I left Dallas and The Ticket 10 years ago. This is the type of thing I want to listen to. I dont want everything to be so serious all the time, I want to laugh. The morning show being the best goes without saying. I think their afternoon show is the best in the city, Rich Lord and Palillo annoy me to no end. That being said I still think they should make the afternoon show more of a group thing with some more of their personalities chiming in on that show, having 3 or 4 voices increases the wit and character of the show IMO. I love The Game, I am a P1 and I talk to other P1's every day.
justsayin
On this point I’ll have to agree with you “thegame”! A large percentage of the geeks that post on here are in the business. This definitely skews perspectives about what is right and wrong in radio and it also clearly makes it hard to listen as a “listener”
Funny story… I actually feel like a true “listener” when I listen to sports and talk radio. Here’s why, #1 I’m not in the format, and #2 When I call a sports show and get on the air… I still get the nervous butterflies ;D No matter how long I’ve been doing this, its always a rush to be a caller. Plus, it has also helped in the way I handle callers when I’m on the air because I have a little more compassion now.
That being said… You’re right, I do want to see you guys succeed. I think its good for the business. Although, I will use your own words to try and help you gain some perspective since you are drinking so heavily from the kool aid:
Do you think that the reason that these “tried and true radio formulas” work is because they are TRIED and TRUE?
I appreciate your passion to do something original… But there is no need to reinvent the wheel! There have been many radio cavemen who have tried and failed so that we could figure out what was “tried and true”. Maybe mix in your original ideas and ways of doing things with a couple of things that are tried and true. Right now it seems that in the attempt to do something original, whether from lack of knowledge or genuine desire to “buck the system”, you’re not connecting with possible listeners.
Speaking of listeners… how do you determine who your P1s are and whether you are programming to and reaching them if you aren’t subscribed to Arbitron and your signal is not encoded? Trust me, I’ve been at stations in a diary world where we didn’t subscribe but could still get breakdowns from friends at other stations to figure out if what we were doing was working, but that seems impossible in a PPM world if you’re not encoded. So how do you grow your P1 base if you don’t know who they are?
Funny story… I actually feel like a true “listener” when I listen to sports and talk radio. Here’s why, #1 I’m not in the format, and #2 When I call a sports show and get on the air… I still get the nervous butterflies ;D No matter how long I’ve been doing this, its always a rush to be a caller. Plus, it has also helped in the way I handle callers when I’m on the air because I have a little more compassion now.
That being said… You’re right, I do want to see you guys succeed. I think its good for the business. Although, I will use your own words to try and help you gain some perspective since you are drinking so heavily from the kool aid:
thegame said:
Do you think that the reason that these “tried and true radio formulas” work is because they are TRIED and TRUE?
I appreciate your passion to do something original… But there is no need to reinvent the wheel! There have been many radio cavemen who have tried and failed so that we could figure out what was “tried and true”. Maybe mix in your original ideas and ways of doing things with a couple of things that are tried and true. Right now it seems that in the attempt to do something original, whether from lack of knowledge or genuine desire to “buck the system”, you’re not connecting with possible listeners.
Speaking of listeners… how do you determine who your P1s are and whether you are programming to and reaching them if you aren’t subscribed to Arbitron and your signal is not encoded? Trust me, I’ve been at stations in a diary world where we didn’t subscribe but could still get breakdowns from friends at other stations to figure out if what we were doing was working, but that seems impossible in a PPM world if you’re not encoded. So how do you grow your P1 base if you don’t know who they are?
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SPOTS FOR DOTS
Guest
Gamer,
Without encoding, there are NO P1's as for your promos....."the fish without a spatula" has got to rank as one of the best in the world..........NOT!
I think most of us would like to see you guys succeed, you just got to loose the sophmoric antics and become a real man-talk station. just my opinion.
Without encoding, there are NO P1's as for your promos....."the fish without a spatula" has got to rank as one of the best in the world..........NOT!
I think most of us would like to see you guys succeed, you just got to loose the sophmoric antics and become a real man-talk station. just my opinion.
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thegame
Guest
Harry - on your points. The tried and true methods is what we would be doing if we had done this a year ago. However as the radioscape changes on a virtually daily basis we are forging our own model. Local and national live sports radio will always have a home. The method of delivery might change as satellite spectrum is made available, 4G opens up, or Wi-Max is globally adopted but a content creation point will always be needed. No way in hell we would buy an FM stick and put music out. That would be a foolish business move in my opinion rather like buying a typewriter factory. I digress. Tried and true works for what was. Still sort of works for what is. Will not work for what will be.
For your (and Spots) encoding question. Right now we look at our streaming data and do a crude extrapolation to determine CUME and TSL. And we are VERY pleased. Shocked almost considering our, um, surprising start.
justsayin - Thank you.
For your (and Spots) encoding question. Right now we look at our streaming data and do a crude extrapolation to determine CUME and TSL. And we are VERY pleased. Shocked almost considering our, um, surprising start.
justsayin - Thank you.
I'll tell you what Gamer, I would not use your own produced data to buy spots. I always want to use independent, widely used and unbiased data to determine listenership for a station or group of stations in a buy. I know that most agency and sophisticated in-house buyers think the same way.
If you want to be taken seriously by the ad community in general you need to encode. I believe you would be pleasantly surprised by your PPM delivery. Stations that skew male are doing much better with the PPM's than female or general market stations. Just think, if you had the dinero you can create the local independent powerhouse station that I referred to in an earlier post on this thread.
If you want to be taken seriously by the ad community in general you need to encode. I believe you would be pleasantly surprised by your PPM delivery. Stations that skew male are doing much better with the PPM's than female or general market stations. Just think, if you had the dinero you can create the local independent powerhouse station that I referred to in an earlier post on this thread.
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thegame
Guest
And you are not buying our spots. It is business owners that are buying our spots. And we are delivering. The agencies that are buying us are doing so because business owners and managers are going to them and saying, "Go see what you can get on that there 1560 thing." It is a movement not a radio station.
Your're right, I'm not buying spots on your station. I actually buy for a select few clients that are close friends and I do it for very little, but as a favor to some of my old friends in the business. The one thing these businesses want is the number of listeners they are reaching. They want a finite number from a reliable source. That's why I only buy what is measured. I won't buy "movements". I can't believe "movements" will ultimately lead to your station's profitablity and survival. I also don't believe Gow and his "investors" risked their money for something that won't ultimately bring profitability. The "movement" strategy you speak of will only bring the bowell type of movement at the end of the day. If your station is not profitalble after a certain length of time you can best believe it will all be over sooner rather than later. I can tell by listening that you don't have that much revenue at the moment. Encoding will get you a number, I'm certain of it. And it will be a higher number than you probably expect. Bring that to the agencies and your "movement" will survive.
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thegame
Guest
You are assuming we are not profitable now.
Yes I am assuming and I'm very confident in my assumption. Very few businesses with heavy up front capital costs are profitable in the first couple of years of existence. Ask your boss. My guess is your boss (who has a solid reputation as a very smart guy) is giving it at least a year and half or more before he starts examining the next step. Your station is picking up a few new advertisers, but I know from just listening that you could not be billiing more than $80-$100K per month on traditional advertisers. And that might be generous. I don't hear a lot of paid programming on the station, which is where BizRadio gets the majority of their revenue.
Look, I'm not into a pissing match with you. I'm just trying to encourage your station to encode your signal so you can show agencies and larger accounts you really have something different that is probably working and could work to their clients' advantage. I love the renegade spirit the station carries and would love to see it succeed.
Look, I'm not into a pissing match with you. I'm just trying to encourage your station to encode your signal so you can show agencies and larger accounts you really have something different that is probably working and could work to their clients' advantage. I love the renegade spirit the station carries and would love to see it succeed.
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bigstory12
Guest
Until you give us proof or a few consecutive hours with more than 5 paid commercials then, yes, we're going to assume you are not profitable at this point (not entirely unexpected). Just the on-air talent expense has to be more than the revenue you are producing via sales of commercials on a monthly basis (just an assumption). Those initial advertisers will only stay loyal so long. This is a business and they will begin to expect a significant return on their investment. You can't give it away forever. In my opinion what you need is less "buddy-buddy mentality" and more structure both on the sales and programming side. I know, I know that's too corporate but let's see where you guys are a year from now. I hope you take this as constructive and not as an attack. With all of that being said, I do hope you do well.
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thegame
Guest
I do take it as constructive.
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Dragrage
Guest
You guys on here continue to amuse i mean amaze me. All 8 of you. Why don't you listen to what "thegame" is saying? They are not trying to be another charlie pallilo radio station. As you guys go, he is the only "talent" in sports radio. Yet he is still not dominating his daypart 
Don't get me wrong he does a very good job. But you guys don't think that anyone else can look up info on a computer? That's what they all do. You also keep talking about sophomoric antics. Obviously they want to try more humor. Is that wrong? Geez why don't all of the other stations just turn off there transmitters now. Charlie has got it locked up. Oh yah, PPM is not the end all be all either. Ask Radio Disney. No PPM and yet they are paceing 26% ahead of last year. KCOH does not subscribe to ppm, and they are one of the billing AM's in Houston. I know of a particular cluster that has PPM out the ying yang, the have good ratings but they are behind by about 5% from projections. What now? Bash away!
Don't get me wrong he does a very good job. But you guys don't think that anyone else can look up info on a computer? That's what they all do. You also keep talking about sophomoric antics. Obviously they want to try more humor. Is that wrong? Geez why don't all of the other stations just turn off there transmitters now. Charlie has got it locked up. Oh yah, PPM is not the end all be all either. Ask Radio Disney. No PPM and yet they are paceing 26% ahead of last year. KCOH does not subscribe to ppm, and they are one of the billing AM's in Houston. I know of a particular cluster that has PPM out the ying yang, the have good ratings but they are behind by about 5% from projections. What now? Bash away!- Status