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Big Troubles coming down the track at WPRO

Let's all remain calm...

At most radio stations -- including, I suspect, WPRO -- there's a bulletin board above the coffee machine.
Stuff is posted there, for employees to read.
There'll be something bearing the RI state seal, spelling-out Minimum Wage and other Labor Law stuff.
There are corporate statements about Sexual Harassment and Payola/Plugola and other policies.
At the stations I'm visiting this week, there's a BMI poster about permitted/forbidden use-of-music in promos and commercials.
And there's probably a poster provided by Arbitron about "Ratings Distortion."
Much-of-the-above is merely a REMINDER, affirming conditions-of-employment spelled-out when staffers were hired.
HR101.

And beyond what-management-can-spell-out, there's individual conscience, the common-sense sense of what's-right-and-wrong.

For now, the suspense is uncomfortable.
"Say it ain't so!"
But it'll all be sorted-out soon-enough.
Between now and Monday, all the speculation and fuss won't change what-Arbitron-has-already-determined.

And, often, a situation like this can have a positive effect, longer-term.
 
hannitized said:
What I don't understand is, why everyone is thinking PRO-FM is being negatively affected by WPRO-AM being on FM now? Could someone explain a scenario where they would be hurt? Anything I think of is either even as it was before 99.7 or PRO-FM gets the credit...

If someone is listening to 99.7 and puts down WPRO-FM or PROFM, than 92.3 gets the credit.

If someone is listening to 99.7 or 92.3 and puts down WPRO, 630 gets the credit. But 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago, if you put down WPRO and you were listening to 92.3, The news-talker would've gotten the credit anyway, so this is nothing new...

I can't imagine many people are putting WEAN down in their diaries, but if they did, no effect whatsoever for 92 PRO-FM.

Am I missing something here?
Click to expand...
No you aren't missing anything hannitized; but in fact I am privy to some diary entries in the late 80's to early 90's on trips to Arbitron HQ where it was found credit should have been given to Pro-FM; but instead, for some unfathomable reason, the entries were given credit to a station in either VT or NH (can't remember the calls but was on 92.3-maybe it was wxgl, gxl, xlg...something like that), which doesn't make it into the region.
I also remember the same thing happening for Lite, WLKW and WPRO-AM (and I think Holland can back me up on this) and even though it may have been 1 or 2 diaries each book, it was because at the time there was a human entering the info into the computer....errors can occur.

I ended up getting an Arbitron diary 4 years after I left the Trail and I was still looking over my shoulder when I was taking it out of the mailbox to see if I was going to get swarmed on by people for even touching the thing....if what is rumored is true and Arbitron has it's homework done (and they usually do), the person(s) are set for a lonnnnnnnnnng sitdown in the corner office as well as having meetings w/ corporate suits b/c of E&O issues as well as probable depositions w/ Arbitron lawyers....
 
Now if the household is media-affiliated but no one in the household actually works at Citadel you could have a scenario where the diary keepers acted independenty without anyone at Citadel even knowing about it. Family, in-laws, friends, etc? Arbitron supposedly is not pointing any fingers at anyone at WPRO. Internally on the Trail is this going to turn into a s**tstorm or a whitewash? There was also something mentioned about the diary keepers not being in the typical talk radio demographic which would eliminate people at the station.

And I could add that how stupid can people be to complete diaries to show they listen only to one program on one station and nothing else on the radio? At least fake it a little.

Is Yorke salivating?
 
From the ProJo:

Neither Barbara Haynes, general manager of Citadel Broadcasting, which owns WPRO, nor DePetro returned calls seeking comment.
Click to expand...

Really now? For the first time in his life, John is speechless! :D

Why no comment? Could it be because there is no comment he could truthfully make that wouldn't make him look bad? Or guilty as hell? ???
 
For all you PD wannabe's; Who (if any) will be the first WPRO talk host to mention this? Will they have the guts to discuss it? They love calling other people out for not playing by the rules. But will they have the courage to address the matter? Or will they continue to have lockjaw?

Hey, how 'bout that Hummel guy? What if he was still working? Would he the balls to cover the story? It may involve his friend DiPetro. They are on a last name basis with each other. "Hey, Hummel. . ."

VOTE NOW: YES NO
 
I would imagine they have been told by all the big bosses not to breathe a word on this topic. I'm sure the screeners are working overtime not letting anyone talk about it on the air, especially when it hits the Pro Jo and the TV stations in the next couple of days. The story is growing every hour.

Sally
 
That Projo article addressed the exact question I asked the other day. How many diaries are distributed? Those six diaries were out of 2,160 diaries used for the total metro area of 1.37 million people. Each of those diaries counted as 640 listeners, said Arbitron spokeswoman Jessica Benbow. That is nice piece of information. We also know that HJJ was the one who asked for the investigation. That makes sense. It is also clear that Depetro ends up looking like the suspicious one.

Lots of good info in that one News story, not to mention the ramifications this is going to have with advertisers. Trust issues are now going to come into play when sponsors read about this. Forget about what Arbitron says. The negative effects are going to go deeper now.
 
3 men and 3 women ages 27 to 34 living in one household? What is it, a commune or The Brady Bunch kids' kids? So will anyone lose his job over this?
 
za-rex said:
3 men and 3 women ages 27 to 34 living in one household? What is it, a commune or The Brady Bunch kids' kids? So will anyone lose his job over this?
Click to expand...

Well six diaries represents close to 4,000 people. In a market the size of Providence that can move the meter. But more importantly as I mentioned earlier it's going to be about principle and trust. Will advertisers now trust WPRO when the station quotes ratings to sell ad time? Will Arbitron now trust WPRO? Depending on the end result will ANYONE trust Depetro? These are going to be the issues that will have lasting effects far into the future. Arbiton as well as competing stations are now going to be watching WPRO like a hawk!
 
A little backstory to add some spice, Bill George and John Depetro went to RIC together and were at WXIN at the same time were very good friends (using past tense now)...might be a fun reunion (I think their 20th is this year, maybe next).
 
Can you say "Snowballing out of control". Not good publicity for WPRO at all. Here is where I get confused. Corwin said the diaries came from three women and three men, ages 27 to 34, who said they listened to WPRO from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. for over 109 hours during a single week. It seems highly unlikely that that ANYONE would glue themselves to the radio and stay there for the entire 4 hour shift for 5 days in a row. No wonder HJJ got suspicious. What makes it worse is that it shows John multiplyed his ratings by four in just one book. That is another highly unlikely event. To go from a 2.0 share to an 8.0. LOL..... not likely at all. it's very clear that somebody played with some books.
 
The three names mentioned in the Boston article are probably the ones whose jobs are at risk:DePetro,Giammarco,Haynes.Irregardless of who knew this was happening you would look at who had the responsibility of knowing.A letter to advertisers from CC?Frankly in this day and age where people of any ilk with any kind of unsavory backgrounds get hired in radio and it's near impossible to do anything to hurt your career in the long term,money is the one thing that talks.
 
JointChinese said:
For all you PD wannabe's; Who (if any) will be the first WPRO talk host to mention this? Will they have the guts to discuss it? They love calling other people out for not playing by the rules. But will they have the courage to address the matter? Or will they continue to have lockjaw?
Click to expand...

Once Depetro is fired you can bet Dan Yorke will have something to say about it. Love him or hate him Yorke is old school about his profession and has long considered Depetro and his ilk lacking integrity and being an element that's dragging the profession down.
 
I predict the first person at WPRO to address this will be Vincent "Buddy" Cianci. He is NOT afraid. He is a champion of the people. Mr. York, although not for my taste, is not stupid. He will wisely remain quiet.
 
P.T. Barnum would approve...

Skynet74 said:
Not good publicity for WPRO at all.
Click to expand...

Wasn't it P.T. Barnum who said "there's no 'bad publicity?'"
Or "Say what-you-will-about-me, just spell my name right?"

This sure isn't the kind of attention a station seeks...but it's attention, buzz.
RIGHT NOW, WPRO's call letters are more top-of-mind than any other station's.
 
Holland Cooke said:
Skynet74 said:
Not good publicity for WPRO at all.
Click to expand...

Wasn't it P.T. Barnum who said "there's no 'bad publicity?'"
Or "Say what-you-will-about-me, just spell my name right?"

This sure isn't the kind of attention a station seeks...but it's attention, buzz.
RIGHT NOW, WPRO's call letters are more top-of-mind than any other station's.
Click to expand...

Willl this attention be worth the possible lost of trust? I don't see how it could be worth it at all. There is Virtually no way to make WPRO look good right now. They are clearly stuck in a scandal. This will be more of a hassle than anything.
 
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