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87.7 Holding Auditions?

U

unpwn

I find it unusual. Not only for a radio station, but for a "rock" station. And they encourage "stardom". Again, seems odd to me. Anyone planning on attending this?
 
Believe it or not, I have no idea what you're talking about. Details? Location/date? Where did you hear about it?

(I've checked on the station itself, and haven't heard anything but occasional plays of its testing loop...yesterday, it was on carrier wise, but had dead air.)

I have heard that they are actively searching out folks, but have no idea if they've had any luck finding people.
 
I agree with OMW. This is the first I've heard of this. It would be cool if they brought it fresh talent instead of having nothing but veterans. That was a mistake from V. Nothing wrong with having veterans, but having newcomers involved can be good as well. Maybe a blend to help the station sound good.
 
Recall what made the original WMMS popular in the beginning was the new talent mixing in with the established talent. If new talent was not allowed to break in then you would have never heard of Jeff/Flash, Matt the Cat or Kid Leo.
 
But an "audition" reeks of a publicity stunt.

You want to bring in "new voices"? Scour the college (or high school!) stations. Check out the local podcasts. An open "audition" is extremely unlikely to bring in anyone but the curious.

Still would like details about this.

And yes, they are looking for some radio pros, but I can't say any more. Whether they find the right mix of people...is another matter.
 
Have a copy of the flyer here, thanks to who sent it!

Will have an item up later tonight or tomorrow, but:

Sat. July 21st
10 AM-2 PM
Beachland Ballroom & Tavern (15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland)
E-mail: [email protected]

A whole bunch of "are you (better) than" a laundry list of existing big name/successful radio personalities.

The unwieldy name they're using for the station, at least in this flyer, is "87.7 Clevelanders Rock".

I get why they're doing that, but it stinks as a station name.

And really, if you were really trying to get radio people to show up, wouldn't you notify a certain media blog that is pretty much read by everyone either in the business or who used to be/wants to be in the business? That's not me honking a horn here, it's fact...their "radio silence" with me is puzzling, especially when they're trying to get people in.
 
Here's the text of the flyer, courtesy of the Beachland Ballroom's website calendar (they misidentified the item as "88.7"):

-------------

Sooo… do you ‘wanna be Cleveland’s next Radio Star? Bigger than Trivisonno? Edgier than Rover? More caustic than Lannigan?

Here’s your chance… cause we're looking for kick ass talent, funky writers, and comedians who will make us pee our pants laughing…

Were kicking off a brand-spanking new radio station, 87.7 Clevelanders Rock!, and we're looking for your beautiful self!

If you think this could be your thing… and you believe you are star material… here’s what you do:

Just show up LIVE… & Yes, you can bring some of your peeps… Bring your "A" game and show us your stuff in 3 minutes or less. WOW us and you could be a star on 87.7 Clevelanders Rock!

(from the flyer, not on the Beachland Ballroom calendar entry:)

P.S.: Triv orRover or John, if you decide to apply, we will keep it confidential...

-------

If they're gonna invoke John Lanigan's name, they should probably spell it right. It's misspelled on the flyer itself, too...
 
OhioMediaWatch said:
And really, if you were really trying to get radio people to show up, wouldn't you notify a certain media blog that is pretty much read by everyone either in the business or who used to be/wants to be in the business? That's not me honking a horn here, it's fact...their "radio silence" with me is puzzling, especially when they're trying to get people in.
Click to expand...

The flyer is one of the sloppiest, most poorly written things I have ever seen.

And why not professionals? Because they are probably paying peanuts.
 
To be fair, given that this is a start-from-scratch operation, starting up during an economically challenging time, in a business that lots of people are saying is not a growth industry right now, on an expanded part of the radio band that no legal radio stations have ever been on, it is to be expected that most, if not all, salaries will likely be on the low end.
 
I did see on OMW that a key staffer has left even before it started. Maybe they're working to fill holes with the auditions, but I think they're looking for experienced staffers behind-the-scenes as well.
 
This is a brilliant publicity stunt that will get coverage from tv and the pd. I predict that the FrankenFM will not hire anyone from those who appear. They may go through the motions, but...
And there there is the question of legality.

Robert Conrad
WCLV
 
CleveFan said:
Tom Wilson and Tom Embrescia went on Channel 3's "Good Company" earlier today (7-19-2012) as they were promoting the auditions, and one of them mentioned the format is going to be Adult Album Alternative, which is basically AAA.
Click to expand...
Well, this is going to be a huge success! (not) IF there was any hole for a rock format here, it would be for an Alternative that actually covers the market, not AAA.
 
Adult Album Alternative? Quick get Ravenna Miceli, Rocco the Rock Dog and Brad Hanson in there that was a huge success the first time! Maybe John Gorman can consult as well. Seriously of all the formats why did they pick that one?! Alternative has been a failure time and time again in this market.
 
chrocket87 said:
CleveFan said:
Tom Wilson and Tom Embrescia went on Channel 3's "Good Company" earlier today (7-19-2012) as they were promoting the auditions, and one of them mentioned the format is going to be Adult Album Alternative, which is basically AAA.
Click to expand...
Well, this is going to be a huge success! (not) IF there was any hole for a rock format here, it would be for an Alternative that actually covers the market, not AAA.
Click to expand...

I agree. Considering the kind of talk it looks like they are planning to do, it does not really jive with a more music intensive AAA format.
 
CleveRadioInsider said:
Adult Album Alternative? Quick get Ravenna Miceli, Rocco the Rock Dog and Brad Hanson in there that was a huge success the first time! Maybe John Gorman can consult as well. Seriously of all the formats why did they pick that one?! Alternative has been a failure time and time again in this market.
Click to expand...

The Cleveland market does not need yet another nostalgia-driven rock music format (97.5, 98.5, 100.7, and even 106.5). 107.3 was shoddily run with poor programming decisions and almost no promotion. Even then the format did manage to have ratings get up into the high 2s before the bottom fell out. 92.3 (with their limited signal) cleared 4.0 a couple of times and was still in the low 3's when the format switched to sports. The only reason the station flipped is because CBS really wanted to put a sports station in Cleveland. After nearly a year, that station is still only getting a 1.7 on its last book (and I realize sports formats sell well.)

After the previous modern rock station in Chicago at 101.1 was flipped to news, that stations owner Merlin, put another one at 87.7. In a two-month span, the stations ratings had jumped to 1.9. That may not seem like much, but it was over 6 times the ratings that the now defect news format had. The other Merlin failed news format in New York was switched to Alternative.

That being said AAA will probably have an uphill climb, especially considering the station position and imaging. I still think a modern rock oriented station, either Alternative or Active-Leaning Alternative could be sucessful there.
 
The audio is messed up in that Good Company video, but I also heard AAA mentioned as the music format.

The "key staffer" that has come and gone at 87.7 was former "M105" program director Eric Stevens, who was in the PD chair at WLFM for roughly a week or two.
 
Sorry to see he's no longer involved with the station. Who knows why he left, but I do hope they have someone in place to replace him. They would have to in order to keep their launch date on target, whenever that is.

I do think the station needs a better name than "Clevelanders Rock." Not sure if it will fit with the format and personalities, but we have to see. Anyone wonder how many will show up at the auditions? And who will actually get pick?
 
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