A show clearly put together by someone on the spectrum.... why so many stations carry it? Garbage time on AM.
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Bad Radio: Sterling on Sunday
- Thread starter AlligatorClipz
- Start date
I’ve listened to it and it was ok, but not my cup of tea. His real name is Walter Sabo and this column by Richard Wagoner gives some background on him:
www.dailybreeze.com
Walter Sabo and his ‘neat idea’ for radio
I’ve never been a fan of radio consultant Walter Sabo. Sabo is the chairman of New York City-based Sabo Media, but he got on the map as a consultant for the RKO Radio chain. It is his work w…
www.dailybreeze.com
The article I read said nothing of what that neat idea was other than localism and live overnights. While I do like live and local, not every station in every town needs to be. There are 50 signals I can tune in. I would not want all to be live and local. And then there's the issue with less income to work with. It is true we need new ideas and likely the best will ones will likely come from outside the radio station employees. By that I mean, in radio we like to think inside the box a bit too much.
I'd like to see one of the broadcast groups develop a live overnight show that wasn't conspiracy or red meat right wing politics. Other than Coast to Coast and Red Eye Radio, there's not much out there. Understandable why it doesn't fit local budgets but perhaps one of the group owners could develop something with value.
The two shows you mentioned are from the two biggest groups: iHeart and Cumulus. Audacy takes one or the other.
Rich Valdes took over the former Jim Bohannon show. He's live and takes phone calls. I don't see him in any major markets.
The problem with overnights is the only way it works is if stations run the spots during the day. Given the current advertising situation, that doesn't work for a lot of stations.
Fox Sports Radio and CBS Sports Radio are both live overnights.
Sterling isn't overtly political. I could see that being a draw for some. It is just how the show is produced that really rubs me wrong. So disjointed and spazmatic with the random audio clips thrown in. I cannot listen to the show and follow along for the life of me. Some dude phoning in about a bakery in new jersey then immediately cuts to "Lesbians in Space like WTF am I listening to?!?!?
The show sounds like the host or producer has ADHD
Rich Valdes is on KLIF 570am Dallas/Fort Worth Monday-Friday. 10pm-12am
His real name is Walter Sabo and this column by Richard Wagoner gives some background on him:
Walter Sabo and his ‘neat idea’ for radio
I’ve never been a fan of radio consultant Walter Sabo. Sabo is the chairman of New York City-based Sabo Media, but he got on the map as a consultant for the RKO Radio chain. It is his work w…
A few things about Wagoner's column. First, in his own words in the third sentence:
"...I will admit I am somewhat irrational about it."
Killed KHJ? The station had fallen below a 1.0 long before Walter was hired. It had been in freefall since 1977.
And then, KFRC:
"In San Francisco, he took one of the best Top 40 stations ever, one that just a short time prior to his arrival was the top-rated station in the Bay Area, and replaced music with game shows from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Within six months the station was rated dead last."
KFRC's last number one book was seven years before Walter introduced "The Game Zone". It was 20th when they decided to try that.
Sterling (as Sabo) was also responsible for KFRC's very successful run as a standards station (Magic 61). And the format change to that provided a great bit for a somewhat bitter Bobby Ocean on his last afternoon drive show before the switch, talking with his little-kid sidekick, Little Beazer:
OCEAN: "You know, Beaz...I remember when you were learning to count. And you went to Walter Sabo and you said "Uncle Walt, what comes after 3?" And he said "Not Bobby Ocean!"
OCEAN: "You know, Beaz...I remember when you were learning to count. And you went to Walter Sabo and you said "Uncle Walt, what comes after 3?" And he said "Not Bobby Ocean!"
The year was 1992 or 1993. The station was an old-line clear channel AM in a top 10 market rounding the corner from full-service to mostly news.
Sabo was brought in to come up with something to do on the weekends.
There was an all-staff meeting at which he unveiled his research and announced...
"Smooth jazz!"
At which point some of us looked directly across the parking lot at the studio of the full-time, full-market smooth jazz FM right next door.
We did not go smooth jazz on the weekends, though a sister station out west ended up with some smooth jazz interludes amidst its all-news format for a while until it failed completely.
Anyway, that's my Sabo story.
Sabo was brought in to come up with something to do on the weekends.
There was an all-staff meeting at which he unveiled his research and announced...
"Smooth jazz!"
At which point some of us looked directly across the parking lot at the studio of the full-time, full-market smooth jazz FM right next door.
We did not go smooth jazz on the weekends, though a sister station out west ended up with some smooth jazz interludes amidst its all-news format for a while until it failed completely.
Anyway, that's my Sabo story.
I didn't say he was smart---just that Wagoner was wrong.