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92.9 - - - What should we do?

A

atlantascum

Guest
The morning show on 92.9 is in desperate need of a morning show with gusto. So, what do they do? In radio it is ok that 90 percent of the city hates your guts as long as the other 10 percent listen on a regular basis. What a great job to have. Really it is quite simple. Just find 10 percent and cater to their warped needs in the morning. Sounds pretty simple really. So how come they can't figure out that formula? What is the problem? Should they just jump from one radio hobo to another to host the morning show? You are a creative bunch. What is the answer? Please don't turn this into a bash outlet. I am certain the PD reads this board. Help him out. Give him the answer.
 
On my way to work each morning, I scan the dial. I try to listen to Dave, but really I don't enjoy it. It is not funny, it is not informative it is not fun. I say they should try a different combo. Let Barnes and Firfer go find another gig. Find a news person, and 2 hosts. I think a 3 person show is more entertaining. They lack interaction right now . Everything sounds so rehersed, it doesn't sound like they are having a good time.
 
First, "more music in the morning" isn't a morning show, it's a consultant's excuse for ignoring this daypart. So that's not going to work.

But this station needs to radically quit trying to sound like everyone else in the morning.

What MIGHT work is a take off on what CBS did with its KEZK St. Louis. Bear with me here: it's a soft AC, but instead of doing the standard no-morning-show morning show, they actually increased their local services. More traffic, more short news breaks, more weather. No stupid bits. No hokey-jokey nonsense. They treat their listeners like adults.

A version of that could work for Dave, albeit without B&F. There's no way those two could pull this off. Combine this extra local services concept with an intelligent and intense focus on music. Have hosts who know the albums and care about them AND who know how to impart info using word economy. Have guests on who relate to that mindset. When bands come to town, that's the morning show focus.

As far as the station goes: again, they need to sound MORE different. Stage the station with no contests or b.s. giveaways. No stupid sweepers, strip the station down. No music beds. Make it seem like an old fashioned free-form AOR in presentation (but without the drugged sounding jocks). Take it further: it's OK to not segue the songs so they ram together. Let them fade completely out, maybe even a split second of silence before the next one starts, almost like the old beautiful music stations used to do.

They have nothing to lose with this approach. What they're doing now plain isn't working.
 
Fade out for a second, silence, then start the next track? Maybe, here's an idea, we could toss in the "click-kaka" sound and pretend we're all listening to 8-tracks?

But, I agree, what they're doing don't work.

Barnes and Fluffy were a mistake from the get go. That dangly-pineapple earing wearing PD should have known better, but she didn't. In the end, maybe she shouldn't have known better. She's queen of the "quirk" format... but only for the first couple books. In truth, anyone can be that person.

And as someone else remarked, if you listen closely, you can hear Eric spinning the chamber, click, sigh, before every break.

Listening to DaveFM... it's "too hip for the cume." Don't steal that. I'm thinking about service-marking it. Maybe t-shirts. Or 11oz mugs.

As I've said before, contrary to what others may say about my particular focus, Mara is a good, comfortable jock. She's funny in a sort of "I'm not wearing makeup and don't wanna" kinda way. Have her do mornings, with quick asides. AND, NOTE TO THE PD, NOT ALL OF THE ASIDES HAVE TO BE ABOUT WHAT DAVID BOWIE HAD FOR DINNER TWO NIGHTS AGO. I CAN LOOK THAT UP ON THE INTERNET, TOO.
 
The last poster here was right on the money.. I like the whole Idea.. More music in the morning is the last thing we need.. More information, More interaction with the listner.
 
Mara is good but leave her were she is, she does a good job with the lunch thing. Dave gives off the impression that "we are so hip" but in all reality they isolate the listener. Eric shound like he hates his job. They have pretty fair weekend talent, a couple of guys that are good, and a girl I hear once in a while who is pretty funny.
 
The lack any entertainment period. The best bet is to fire both of them and bring in Opie and Anthony. I promise they will have the #1 morning show 18-34 and 25-54 male.
 
Don't you guys read this board? The answer of course is DAVID PAUL!
 
I don't think it's a problem of the jocks so much as it's a problem of programming. The people posting that it's too hip for the room are dead on. You can't program that way if you're not hip anyway...and the PD is the antithesis of hip. Barnes & Firfer aren't my cup of tea, but Barnes & (insert bubbly female jock here) do what they're supposed to do. I see them as more of a Star type show than where they are now.

An imaging fix, better afternoon show and expanded AAA library. How could they do any worse?
 
Since Jesus was in pampers, I've been saying:

a) Two-voice morning shows dont work in Atlanta. Name ONE that's been successful. Tom Sullivan is as integral a part to S&V's Star 94 success as S&V themselves. The RGs best days included another sidekick - Southside Steve. The morning X depended on Rich more than anyone will ever let on. Randy&Spiff give the news girl a LOT of air time.

b) you dont put "potential" on the radio in a top 10 market. Admittedly, Firfer is better than in she was '04 but that's like saying Ford Pintos are now safer than ever. She's ok, but you've got to be better than ok when you're launching a format change and your on-air partner is trading dangerously on his past success.

c) Barnes is competent at what he does. He runs a tight show and he does bring good, creative ideas to the table. Whoever said in an earlier post that the morning show needs to embrace the music more has never heard his show. Whoever said he needs to interact with listeners more has never heard his show. I hear more listener opinion phoners on Dave than any other white station. BUT , Barnes is stuck in a bad place. If you're unlikable, then you better be funny (e.g. Larry Wachs). If you're not funny, then you better be likable (Kelly & Alpha). But you cant be neither, especially in a two-voice show. And a previous post was correct: Hollywood Dirt doesnt get it done in the internet world.

The irony: Barnes made a shrewd move coming to Dave. The ratings were low 2s and not moving. There was a world of upside. He was the savior on the white horse. Ready to stick it to Jimmy. But here's the downside: He has fewer listeners than a 25k Mexican signal licensed to Buford. He cannot recover. He will be out by end of 2006 - on his own terms probably, because he's a very shrewd guy. But he's done in Atlanta radio, at least on-air.
 
deadman said:
The lack any entertainment period. The best bet is to fire both of them and bring in Opie and Anthony. I promise they will have the #1 morning show 18-34 and 25-54 male.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's a brilliant idea except for one small point....Dave is at least half (if not more) a female skewing station. Dude, your O&A and Fred Toucher campaign is getting comical.
 
Is there anyway to get Deadman/Joey Mills banned? We aslready know his rant. He typed that same messae 8 times already.

I am glad other people though are saying what I have been saying that Eric is the most detached radio dj out there. Biding time until the axe falls. It is like a struggle for him to bring an ounce of energy to the show and their afternoon traffic reporter makes him sound exciting. She sounds more phony than him.

As far as the PD not being hip I don't really knnow her but I have heard on air once or twice filling in on the B & F Friday afternoon show. She sounds like her danger level is one margarita and her favorite hobby is scrapbooking.

What they really need is Sean Demery to come back to Atlanta and build the 92.9 signal into something good. I believe he has had a lot of success in Cali. 92.9 could become what 99x should have morphed into.
 
You want to ban me.. how nice. You must be a Socialist. Sean is a good friend of mine and I know that he wouldn't want to leave that nice PD position over at Live 105.
 
wooder said:
deadman said:
The lack any entertainment period. The best bet is to fire both of them and bring in Opie and Anthony. I promise they will have the #1 morning show 18-34 and 25-54 male.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's a brilliant idea except for one small point....Dave is at least half (if not more) a female skewing station. Dude, your O&A and Fred Toucher campaign is getting comical.
Click to expand...

What's comical is DAVE's ratings. So they DAVE may have 1000 chicks listening to them. Being last place doesn't mean squat to you I guess as long as some [EDIT] listen.


[EDIT=demeaning comment]
 
Sell it to Atlanta Spirit. It will become the home of the Thrashers and Hawks. People will hear the game at night.
 
Here we go again. All is hear is people talking about how terrible stations and shows are. All the people here that bash all these morning and afternoon drive shows, why aren't you show producers? If you have your finger on the pulse of Atlanta radio, why isn't someone taking your suggestions on how to make things better? If somebody has all the answers, I would love to hear it. As I'm sure a few radio execs would as well.

As I've said before, I like DAVE. And, I also enjoy the morning show. I don't need ridiculous street audio from the monster truck rally, silly pranks, or planted listener phone calls. They play tunes, they have some interviews, they talk about things that regular people deal with on a daily basis. Works great for me. I just think it's rather funny that people are calling for peoples heads because they have an axe to grind. Joey Mills, for example, can no longer show up at 99x events like he did forever and hang with his radio buddies and collect free tickets, and T-shirts, and CD's, and whatever other prizes he can get his hands on. And, since he worships at the alter of Toucher (along with deadman, who may be the same guy. I don't know and haven't spent time trying to figure it out) and Toucher hates Barnes, people that loved Toucher should hate Barnes to. So, instead of just finding something better to do with your time, you are going to make it a mission to bring down the man your boy hates. Maybe you'll score some Red Sox tickets if you can pull it off....

Outside of all that, I'll give you a big reason why DAVE isn't seeing the success it probably should be. We've already covered the music thing ad nauseum. They should just take all the rock/alternative hits from 1990-1999 and play 'em, while occasionally mixing in an older song or two. But here's a main thing that no one on this board has pointed out yet:

CBS has done everything over there on the cheap. Guess how many marketing dollars have been put into making the morning show, or even the station, for that matter? About $36. On the other hand, let's look at the marketing and advertising of the competition, shall we: Star-TV, 96Rock-TV, B98-TV, LiteFM-TV, Q100-TV. I couldn't watch an episode of Lost or American Idol this past year without seeing Steve and Vicki throwing money in the air, or Eric slapping Larry on the but in a Braves uniform. That is a much bigger issue. A billboard at the intersection for South Atlanta Road and Bolton Road just ain't gonna cut it. Oh, and if you don't believe that the marketing things helps, guess who the other station is that only did a billboard here and there? You got it. 99X. Who is also underperforming. The mechanics of marketing a product are a big problem over there.
 
First, I tend to agree with your asessment of Barnes and Firfir. I don't think they're nearly as bad as people on this board say they are. Sure, they're far from funny, but they do a serviceable job of getting out the daily information I want with some discussion and interviews sprinkled in. Their problem probably is Barnes. He's a solid jock, no doubt, buta poster on this board earlier made a great point...you have to be either likeable or funny but you can't be neither. And his reputation for being a jackass is so well known in this town that nobody buys him as a nice guy.
I totally disagree with you, however, about CBS not ponying up marketing dollars. While they may not be on tv like Steve and Vikki (nobody is, for that matter), they've been pretty generous with busboards, billboards, bus wraps, etc. In fact, shy of they 96Rock/Braves billboards I don't know that there's a station with more outdoor than Dave.
 
Barnes, & ratings aside. It was my understanding that they mortgaged the farm on the Atlanta Falcon's broadcasting rights when they were still Z93, and that's where most of the marketing goes per contract. I wonder how much revenue they pull from that?
 
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