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A few things I need to know..

C

Chris Anthony

Guest
Hey there...thanks for the replies to my first post. Just had a few questions...things I've been wondering.

Did CC start offering a traffic service like Metro? I hear a CC traffic guy on WDJO and last I knew...DJO wasn't CC.

Why is CC dropping the branding off when their jocks are on air? I hear "92.5 fm" instead of "92.5 fm the Fox"

Is anyone willing to take in a radio guy and help him perfect his skills?
 
CC is making big mistakes. They are doing that everywhere. They are running listener-created drops here. They dropped the Lite from 93-3. But.. they aren't flipping.
 
lovejamminoldies said:
CC is making big mistakes. They are doing that everywhere. They are running listener-created drops here. They dropped the Lite from 93-3. But.. they aren't flipping.
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i agree that CC is making mistakes, but listener-generated content is NOT one of them. to say it is is to turn a blind eye to the Web 2.0 revolution in content generation across all media. one only needs to take a peek at myspace this past week to see Wendy's new promo featuring user's faces with a Wendy's wig on them for all to see. or to the Payton Manning Pep Talks where you can put your name in, and Payton will use your name in the online version of the commercials. the lastest 94.9 billboards are fantastic - "myPod" - which to my knowledge were listener-generated. you look at any kind of media directed at any given demo for any given industry, and user-generated content is the key trend. it's not going away any time soon.
 
Chris Anthony said:
Hey there...thanks for the replies to my first post. Just had a few questions...things I've been wondering.

Did CC start offering a traffic service like Metro? I hear a CC traffic guy on WDJO and last I knew...DJO wasn't CC.

Why is CC dropping the branding off when their jocks are on air? I hear "92.5 fm" instead of "92.5 fm the Fox"

Is anyone willing to take in a radio guy and help him perfect his skills?
Click to expand...

Look what they did in New York dropping the "Lite" from WLTW, and they did it at the worst possible time also firing their long time morning man to cut the budget and firing their local "Love Songs" host in favor of the always horrible Delilah. To top it off this all pretty much coincided with CBS putting FRESH on against them. Bad decisions, bad timing to boot. A station like WLTW makes a huge mount of money and there's no need at all for the firings. They've been doing this all over the country. They believe that with the PPM they don't need to use brands, or even call letters, but you still want to attract listeners and I think any ad man who sells a product will tell you that you don't blow up a brand especially if it is a success.
In Southern California CC owns a traffic service that was called Airwatch, but I don’t know if that name has changed or if they have similar services in other cities.
 
This all started back in March. 4 segues an hour, jock talk cut back to 7 seconds, etc. This is a company- wide mandate, Program Directors were told they would be fired if they didn't comply. The regional V.P.'s work with the local O.M. on each station's clock - the Program Director is the last to know.

LTW, as the flagship was doing this long before the other stations. And for a while Jim Ryan was raving about the results. However, you may have noticed that LTW is slipping, and company-wide their stations are just now beginning to lose steam - it takes a while to kill a brand.

This is all in anticipation of their fear of satelite radio and the PPM. Though some initial PPM research is coming back saying that branding is more important than ever.

The bean counters love it, because eventually the company will only have to pay for electricity and the occasional bonus to the G.M.
 
Chris Anthony said:
Hey there...thanks for the replies to my first post. Just had a few questions...things I've been wondering.

Did CC start offering a traffic service like Metro? I hear a CC traffic guy on WDJO and last I knew...DJO wasn't CC.

CC has been offering its own traffic to its own station and some outside clients since about the early 2000's. at one point i remember the Buzz and or WCIN was using John Phillips before he went to the KRC Morning Show

Why is CC dropping the branding off when their jocks are on air? I hear "92.5 fm" instead of "92.5 fm the Fox"

Is anyone willing to take in a radio guy and help him perfect his skills?
Click to expand...
 
loneranger said:
This all started back in March. 4 segues an hour, jock talk cut back to 7 seconds, etc. This is a company- wide mandate, Program Directors were told they would be fired if they didn't comply. The regional V.P.'s work with the local O.M. on each station's clock - the Program Director is the last to know.

LTW, as the flagship was doing this long before the other stations. And for a while Jim Ryan was raving about the results. However, you may have noticed that LTW is slipping, and company-wide their stations are just now beginning to lose steam - it takes a while to kill a brand.

This is all in anticipation of their fear of satelite radio and the PPM. Though some initial PPM research is coming back saying that branding is more important than ever.

The bean counters love it, because eventually the company will only have to pay for electricity and the occasional bonus to the G.M.
Click to expand...

Of course branding is important. It always has been since the invention of fire and the wheel. You can not beat an IPod by simply pretending to be one.
 
To answer your traffic question.....WDJO is a Metro Traffic affiliate. Not sure which reporter d'jour is doing them now, but DJO IS Metro. Could just be whoever the reporter is for Metro is just using a very generic and/or familiar name. A few of the regulars for Metro are Mary McConnell (Mike's wife), Bryan Pitts, Bruce Davis, Don somethingoranother and Jim Stevens.

CC does not have a traffic service in Cincinnati. They do all their own traffic in house using ARTMIS emails and website. Since Dave Habisch sold TrafficWatch to Metro Traffic/Westwood One....Metro is the only traffic service in town. They closed their Dayton office recently and do Dayton out of Cincinnati with 1 person.
 
ihearvoices is only partially right. WDJO does use Clear Channel's traffic service. WCIN used to also. WDJO uses Metro for news and Accuweather, not traffic.
 
Well I can tell you what I thought when I heard that CC was dropping the branding from its stations. I thought they were going to sell them and my instinct was, that if you drop the branding and don't hold yourself to a specific format, the station would be able to sell easier. A new buyer would seem to me to have better luck making the station his/her own if it didn't have a brand attached to it. The jocks are dropping the branding very creatively from what I hear. They'll say "the fox" during one part of a break and "92.5" in another part of it.

This should probably go in another message, but I have to say that 94.1 has an interesting thing going on. They do surprise me with some of the things they play and then some of the things sound like the old Mix. It sounds like they are just "letting things happen" on the air there. Example: going straight to traffic with no introduction.

For country in this market...here is what I think. Tell me if I am wrong! I actually enjoy what the wolf is doing. Jessie Tack is one of the better DJ's I have heard on the country format. He is hilarious and very listener interactive. I just hope they put that on a bigger stick where it can really succeed and help B out.

Another thought. What are your opinions on this market's capacity to support a full-time dedicated FM jazz signal? I think it could be done if executed the right way. Just open City Beat or Cin Weekly and you have plenty of live jazz in the Queen City.

Thanks!
 
Chris, you need to remember that it's all about revenue. How much revenue can the station generate? How much does it cost to operate? How is easy the format to sell in the market? It's not about "good radio" or "bad radio," it's about how much is on the books.

Also remember that Clear Channel is not just operating the Fox, Mix, and Kiss as brands in Cincinnati. They're national brands, and these changes are not just happening on the local level. It's quite possible that research has shown the suits in the boardroom that the branding doesn't matter. Maybe they have a plan that involves selling one or more of those brands as they move to private instead of public ownership. Maybe a consultant convinced someone that this was the way to go (happens all the time).

That said, the Wolf is not going to compete with B. It helps out just by being owned by the same company: now one company owns all of the country signals in the market, making an attractive advertising package. B105, a heritage country station with consistently strong numbers, and a "flanker" as they're called, which can be bonused into an advertising package. The sales reps are selling the country product, not an individual station. Clear Channel does this also; the Fox is where older WEBN listeners are supposed to go. If it does too well, it gets hobbled on purpose. What purpose? To prevent it from lowering advertising rates for other stations in the cluster.

Jazz has been tried and doesn't succeed in this market. For it to work, it takes too much effort; there are easier formats to deal with that will produce the same revenue for less overhead. The math goes like this: I invest a total of 10 million in a format. After all the bills are paid, I am left with 1 million in revenue. As an executive, it makes more sense to adopt a format that only costs 6 million up front, because the bills are the same: I still clear 1 million after it's all said and done. Why would I tie up an additional 4 million in cash for no resultant gain in the end?

Something to think about.
 
Chris Anthony said:
Another thought. What are your opinions on this market's capacity to support a full-time dedicated FM jazz signal? I think it could be done if executed the right way. Just open City Beat or Cin Weekly and you have plenty of live jazz in the Queen City.

Thanks!
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Market capacity to support is definitely here...execution on the part of any company in this market that owns an FM is not. Wylly is correct in one sense...it requires too much work. The big boys don't want to operate stations...just profit from them. It will only work with a stand alone like is being done at 1480...not FM, but studies show 76% of SJ listeners don't particularly care about the band, just the music, particularly when paired with an internet stream. Add that to the fact that stand alones can survive ONLY if people do ALOT of work, and you see where I am going here....
 
ihearvoices said:
To answer your traffic question.....WDJO is a Metro Traffic affiliate. Not sure which reporter d'jour is doing them now, but DJO IS Metro. Could just be whoever the reporter is for Metro is just using a very generic and/or familiar name. A few of the regulars for Metro are Mary McConnell (Mike's wife), Bryan Pitts, Bruce Davis, Don somethingoranother and Jim Stevens.

CC does not have a traffic service in Cincinnati. They do all their own traffic in house using ARTMIS emails and website. Since Dave Habisch sold TrafficWatch to Metro Traffic/Westwood One....Metro is the only traffic service in town. They closed their Dayton office recently and do Dayton out of Cincinnati with 1 person.
Click to expand...
They Do all there traffic in House which means there own traffic service lol just because they use Artmis emails and website. in Indianapolis Clear channel does there own reports on there stations and i believe they use traffic.com. I Dont know what traffic sites they use in other markets ball all of clear channel stations do traffic in house. CC's traffic Service is called Total Traffic. In Fact ever since Traffic reports became a major income source. Cincy Clear channel has never even used Traffic Watch or Metro. the only thing close was when WSAI/WCKY was not technically Owned by Jacor was the only time anything remotely releated to Jacor that used TW/MT but as soon as Jacor could technically put its own people on 1360/1530 they did
 
The traffic reports that originate out of the CC Death Star go to all CC stations, WDJO and WNKR. Out of a brand new high tech studio, I might add. Big sign, big tv, big board, big time. Anyone tells you different is lying or a moron.

As to the branding stuff...I have no idea. I just say what the boss tell me to. I will say, as far as the books and ratings go, it doesn't matter if I say "kiss," "radio," "Fox," or "Wink" as long as I say that frequency.
 
TheGrudge said:
as long as I say that frequency.
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Amen to that! Listeners may forget names, but if they can find you on the dial, that's what matters.
 
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