All News 106.7 The Grand Tour

[BarryATL]

I got the grand tour of the All News 106.7 studios today. The folks there were wonderful. I got to see some of the faces that go with the voices. Thanks to Brett for showing me around.

I will say it was much smaller than I thought it would be. It appears to be laid out well so the anchor can see into the newsroom and into traffic if needed.

Also, there are LOTS of folks there. For afternoon drive there were four in the newsroom, the anchor and two people doing traffic. The thought came to me but I did not ask... is All News 106.7's crew feeding news to any of the other stations in the Cumulus cluster?

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Rumor is that when Cumulus' lease at Johnson Ferry runs out, the Atlanta cluster will relocate in the Terminus building, where Corporate is located.

 

[TheBigA]

is All News 106.7's crew feeding news to any of the other stations in the Cumulus cluster?

AFAIK, no. However, the view among some watchers is that they might be putting together a replacement for the former CNN Radio service that once existed, using Cumulus employees rather than CNN employees. Right now, Cumulus has a distribution deal with ABC Radio News for national content. But they pay a lot of money for it. It might be cheaper to do it internally, and perhaps they're assessing exactly what those costs are.

 

[BarryATL]

During the pre-launch of AN106.7 there was talk that Cumulus was going to create a news hub to take care of local news for some of their O&O's. I just wondered if they are still thinking along those lines.

 

[Mike_Rafone]

Whatever happened to the big talk from Cox about creating a radio network to replace CNN Radio?

 

[BarryATL]

Whatever happened to the big talk from Cox about creating a radio network to replace CNN Radio?

Cox was supposed to create a statewide network to replace GNN. I know GNN chose not to shut down, but I don't know what happened to Cox.

 

[fussbudget]

Cox dropped the idea. There isn't demand in Georgia for two statewide radio networks.

 

[BarryATL]

Too bad. It seems all GNN does is read the AP state report and put in whatever actualities the affiliates call in. Cox would at least have been able to use the news departments of all of it's radio and TV properties.

 

[AlsoRan]

When the chimpanzees in suits that call themselves radio management make decisions, they almost always do so in a complete vacuum, with little or no expertise or experience in the area where they are making decisions. In the case of GNN, the decision was made to keep the state network AFTER the WGST news department was completely dismantled... and in the case of Cox, or anyone else for that matter, using its other radio and tv properties for actualities, what might those be? Medium and small market news departments have been vaporized by the radio consolidators. There are few left, so any state network that Cox might put together would rely almost solely upon WSB. Doubtful the start-up cost of such a network would be worth the probable return, so it's not surprising they trashed the idea. The larger question is: where is the next generation of journalists going to come from? There is no minor league anymore. Once upon a time, the Atlanta stations/networks could hope to find young talent in Columbus, Macon, Valdosta, Savannah, Birmingham, Chattanooga, etc.... not anymore.

 

[TheBigA]

The larger question is: where is the next generation of journalists going to come from? There is no minor league anymore.

Journalists don't need radio for work. Lots of places to go. Employers have no shortage of places to find young talent.

 

[jabba17]

The larger question is: where is the next generation of journalists going to come from? There is no minor league anymore.

Yes, there is. The Internet. With minor leagues all the way from developmental through AAA.

 

[AlsoRan]

Ah, yes. The internet. With no standards, no fact checkers, and no tradition. There is no minor league for radio training, and the MMJ's who have been turning up for jobs are pathetically ill prepared. Of course, if you believe that radio has no future, this should not be of particular concern to you. Which leads us to the next question... is all news radio really viable now? Whu should I waste 15 or 20 minutes listening to "local" stories I'm not the least bit interested in to get that one kernel of meaningful information, when I can go on-line and retrieve exactly what I want to know in a fraction of the time?

 

[TheBigA]

Which leads us to the next question... is all news radio really viable now?

An all-news station, WTOP in DC, is the #1 top billing radio station in the entire country. And they have no problem finding qualified reporters, as evidenced by all the news awards they win. All-news is top rated in NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philly, and lots of other major markets. NPR has focused the bulk of its time and attention to news reporting. So lots of news on the radio, and lots of radio reporters out there covering stories.

when I can go on-line and retrieve exactly what I want to know in a fraction of the time?

Are you the same guy who complained that the internet has no standards, no fact checkers, or no tradition?

 

[carolinaradio]

What exactly are the demographics for all-news in a market like Atlanta? Does it have any target, or is it just "there" for anybody that wants to turn the radio on for news? I don't really see the appeal/use, but that's just my opinion...

The launch of All News 106 was one of the most interesting posts to read on this site. What happened to the guy that was posting like every minute before the sign on?

 

[AlsoRan]

Yes, because I know which sites are generally reliable. I understand everything you said about all news radio in a few other markets... the thing that stands out is that they have a tradition, especially in New York and Washington where information is valuable. Those stations have a heritage and have earned their ratings niche. They bill high because spoken word formats can tolerate a higher commercial load than music. Not sure that the same can be said with the recent start-ups, which may explain part of the weakness that doomed Merlin and the lame showings so far in Atlanta and Houston. One fact remains: Cumulus and Clear Channel have destroyed hundreds of radio news operations all over the country with the mistaken notion that news can be voice tracked the same as music formats. And as far as finding new talent, ask the guys who are hiring. A kid with a blog who doesn't know the grammatical difference between "than" and "then" is a poor substitute for a trained professional who actually knows which end of the microphone you're supposed to speak into.

 

[TheBigA]

One fact remains: Cumulus and Clear Channel have destroyed hundreds of radio news operations all over the country with the mistaken notion that news can be voice tracked the same as music formats.

And yet if you go to the first post in this thread, it describes how Cumulus has built a news room in Atlanta, and hired lots of staff. Cumulus did the exact same thing in San Francisco. All local hires. The old saying is you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Just because people aren't listening to 106.7 isn't the fault of Cumulus or the knowledgable staff they hired. It's the fault of the public. They quality they get is what they deserve.

A kid with a blog who doesn't know the grammatical difference between "than" and "then" is a poor substitute for a trained professional who actually knows which end of the microphone you're supposed to speak into.

They have these things called Colleges. Ever hear of them? They all have very established journalism schools where they hire a lot of former radio and wire service reporters to teach the next generation. The quality of education there is far better than what one would get working at a 1Kw AM station in Macon. And if the people doing the hiring have any skill or pride, they'll want to spend the time training new people themselves. Otherwise, they'd spend the money and hire someone with more experience. It's easy to complain about how things today aren't as good as they used to be. But the truth is they weren't all that great back then either.

 

[AlsoRan]

Thanks for the chuckle... those colleges you revere are largely staffed by former wire service and newspaper writers who are completely out of touch with reality. Any news director in the industry (the few who are left) will tell you that, contrary to your belief, the first task for a j-school graduate is to unlearn all the crap he/she was fed in class and figure out how the pro's do it. In fact, six months in the newsroom of that Macon station would teach more than four years at the Grady school. In fact, had it not been for the timely demise of CNN Radio, 106.7 would be struggling to find qualified staff... in fact it already is and has been for months.
Anyway, I'll check back in five years and we'll see who's right. I suspect the Carolina guy has a better handle on the situation. I'm confident 106.7 won't be here, and if it is broadcasting spoken word, it won't be "all news." The station, in less than six months, already bailed on the concept in favor of Ga Tech sports and ten hours of fish oil sales, real estate and stock seminar infomercials on weekend mornings. The talk shows in non-drive day parts will start to show up within a few more months. The station will not survive regurgitating Fox 5 tabloid stories and audio, and while Cumulus made an investment in staff and equipment, it was nowhere near adequate to do the job right. It's not likely they'll increase that investment now that the ratings are starting to bleed, so you can probably look forward to a slow painful death.

 

[TheBigA]

Thanks for the chuckle... those colleges you revere are largely staffed by former wire service and newspaper writers who are completely out of touch with reality.

Depends on the school. The ones I know use people who are still working in the biz, looking for extra cash. Students learn in class, and then do a practical internship at an actual station.

It's not likely they'll increase that investment now that the ratings are starting to bleed, so you can probably look forward to a slow painful death.

So then why should any station, whether in Macon or Atlanta, care about hiring and training staff, when the end result is a 1 share? The whole thing, and this whole thread, is one big waste of money. Right?

 

[AlsoRan]

Hmmm. I wonder how comprehensive an experience a news intern would get at Q-100 or Rock 100.5? Celebrity dirt and phone pranks more likely. Where exactly are all those budding journalists going? Other than 106.7, which has just started an internship program, and maybe WSB or WABE, who's doing news at all in this market, and how many intern positions do you think are available? Two or three for how many students? They'd stand a better chance of practical experience at Connecticut School of Broadcasting or whatever c-word they're using to avoid getting sued. Most of them would probably rather intern at TMZ if you asked them.

Brings us back to my original question and carolina guy's point. Is all news a viable format moving forward from 2013? Can WTOP and WINS expect to lose audience to an aging demographic? Is there anything that can be done to lure a younger crowd away from social media? And, yes, if the end result of all news is in fact a one share, it is a big waste of money. Radio has to define where it fits into the media mix for the next 25 years, or whether it fits at all... how's the horseshoe industry doing these days?

 

[jabba17]

The station, in less than six months, already bailed on the concept in favor of Ga Tech sports

106.7 was carrying Tech sports back in the AGH days and maybe even in the TOC days. Tech sports on 106.7 predates All News.