Biz Radio 1302 ... anything wrong?

[smedge2006]

This is no sign of failure on anybody's part to make their point with "The Man." Nobody can talk louder than a pile of Benjamins, except the feds. Business radio, everywhere it has been tried, either moves toward infomercials and paid programming all day, or the format goes away. Simple as that. That has been the experience since the format first appeared 16+ years ago. The only exception is Bloomberg WBBR. That service is a loss leader to 'brand' other Bloomberg products. Everywhere else, business radio is stock software touters, real estate guys, mortgage guys, financial planners, etc. buying their time. Even the Business Talk Radio network brokers out their slots. This is the only business model that works. Don't bash 1320 for not being what it can never be.

 

[adguy]

I wholeheartedly agree with you Smedge and I'm not really bashing BizRadio per se'. I just would love business talk in a form where the station talks about local and regional businesses and business topics that are interesting and meaningful to business owners and managers in a macro setting, not these infomercials how to get rich in real estate or stock trading. I am aware that Frishberg needs to do whatever is in his power to get revenue in the absence of real advertising and the ability to generate real advertising. I guess I'll have to wait or hope someone comes up with this format in a surviveable setting. Maybe the Internet? I really believe Internet radio will succeed in some form or fashion someday soon. The other setting could be a station like 650 that would act as loss leader for its parent company like it did with BizRadio prior to dropping that format for Howard Stern a few years ago.

 

[VO man]

"Don't bash 1320 for not being what it can never be. "

Sorry to disagree but it's that kind of thinking that will keep the dreck on the radio - AM radio was being written off before Rush came along - Dan Patrick took a flyer and made a teapot out of Tomball a contender.

Money and Commerce is one of the most mass appeal topics there is. With the right packaging and production values, business radio could be a contender. Jim Cramer, Tom Martino, Bruce Williams, Suze Orman, Kim Kommando, The Advertising Show, Ray Lucia.
They could take the existing syndicated programming augment it with real local business news of value (not pay for play) - - - -

Focus on innovative programming for 48 minutes of the hour and let the ad dollars take care of themselves.

Money Man took the easy way out - he's not a programming genius - he's a money guy - he's getting what he wants short term, but he's not building a legacy. And we're all poorer for his short sightedness

 

[smedge2006]

Disagreement is good and I wish you were right.

But if business radio were ever to be anything other than pay for play and satellite, it would have happened by now.

There have been three national 24-7 business radio networks. BRN and FBN went belly-up, and BTR survives by brokering.

The all-business format has been around almost as long as Rush Limbaugh (1989). There have been all-business stations in Los Angeles (changed formats), Boston (went to pay to play after the station broker ran into financial trouble), San Diego, San Francisco (changed formats), Denver (changed formats), West Palm Beach (mostly brokered), Tampa (five since 1990; four changed formats, another is mostly brokered), Orlando (changed formats and sold), Baltimore (largely brokered), Cleveland (changed formats), Buffalo (changed formats) and many other markets over the last 15 years.

Even if a business radio station is a success (quality programming without brokering), it will draw only a miniscule audience. The best rated business station ever was WWKB in Buffalo, which drew mid-one's in the early nineties. That was with a 50,000-watt signal, a mostly quality product with little brokering, and a heritage in the market. Mid-one's are not going to draw enough spot sales to sustain a format. And 1320 has nowhere near that kind of upside in Houston in 2006. Let's face it, with all the business stations and formats that have come and gone since 1989, if it could be successful without brokering, somebody would have done it by now.

In the age of CNBC, stock updates via wireless, and trades by software, not to mention satellite radio beaming Bloomberg and CNBC to an affluent audience that can well afford Sirius and XM, trying to build a business radio station is a lot like trying to build an all-new all-news radio station in this day and age --
"perfecting irrelevance" -- not unlike those super-duper Smith Corona electric typewriters that were coming off the assembly line in the mid-90's.

When Rush and KSEV came along there was still a lot more TSL and cume on the AM band than there is now. Full-service stations were still playing music. Adult standards' audience hadn't yet aged into the nursing home.
And, there were 35 year olds who had grown up with AM radio -- something that isn't true today.

Tom Martino just got out of syndication. Premiere dumped Suze Orman years ago and no one else has picked her up. Bruce Williams is struggling on a sub-network of BTR. Kim Komando is already on straight news-talkers in most markets.

Money Man took the easy only way out.

 

[adguy]

I'm going to get into the mediation end between all this. Whereas VO Man makes excellent points and is absolutely correct idealisticallly, the reality lies in Smedge's assessment in my opinion. Where VO man is correct is in his assessment of Dan Patrick's bringing KSEV to life with Rush Limbaugh. If Frishberg had the media intelligence of Patrick he might have been able to make a go of BizRadio 1320. Patrick, first off, came from a media background. He was a sportscaster, but he WAS in the media business. Secondly, Patrick surrounded himself with well talented and PASSIONATE technical folks. Third, he hired a highly experienced sales manager who knew (and still knows) how to integrate sales and promotions to a 35+ target audience and brought in an experienced/innovative/loyal ,MEDIA sales team. He was able to mix all this together to build a small, but highly targeted and loyal listernship that in effect turned itself into a club of sorts. His audience base patronized each others' businesses and snowballed that effect into a highly effective ad machine for this "club". Frishberg had (and maybe still has) the opportunity to do the same thing with an audience of advertisers. The big difference, and this is where Smedge's argument wins in my opinion, is Frishberg only hired one experienced radio person. And Brent Clanton is apparantly not strong enough to steer Frishberg in the right direction. Another big difference is that Frishberg knows NOTHING about radio or the media business whereas Patrick had a keen media presence when he put the whole original KSEV thing together. Frishberg is a financial analyst. Even though Patrick knew the media he had the smarts to let the good people he hired do their jobs and listened to and acted on his experts' advice. Frishberg THINKS he is smarter than all the radio experts out there about radio and forces his station's actions based on that thinking. Frishberg hired a sales manager that only knows sales, but nothing about media or media sales. This guy apparantly hired other sales people that knew very little about the radio advertising business. Had Frishberg gone in the same direction as Patrick in his thinking, VO man may have been correct. Either way, both Smedge and VO man make excellent points and make for a great discussion.

 

[klifhanger]

I see all these comments about Bizradio,and I ask, If they are so bad,etc. why are they still on the air and have just started a NYC affiliate? Hmmm, It appears to be doing well and successful. Doing something different than the norm doesn't mean setting one self up for failure. Their methods may not jive with yours but it apparently resonates with their intendent target.

 

[z1069]

Re: Biz Radio 1320 ... anything wrong?

Gee Whiz :-[

This has certainly gone in a direction that was not intended.

I do apologize to Brent and everyone else for messing up ( 1302) instead of (1320).

Some of the comments are a little heated. It has, however a very interesting discussion. I do not mind some of the programming as much as some. I am not a pro. I am just a listener. I like Brent on my drive in and I do listen to the real estate guy. I use to listen to Mike but he just seems to pick a fight with everyone.
I hope 1320 will survive. I like having options on the dial.

8)

 

[adguy]

What station have they affiliated with in NYC? Is it another MRBI station that Frishberg is looking to buy?

 

[klifhanger]

Just keep listening as you have and all will be clear. I'm telling ya Adguy,you should meet with Brent,and present your ideas,and criticisms. You may be pleasantly surprised that to have a receptive ear.

 

[Chatterati]

Just keep listening as you have and all will be clear. I'm telling ya Adguy,you should meet with Brent,and present your ideas,and criticisms. You may be pleasantly surprised that to have a receptive ear.

Klifhanger, how do you know so much about Bizradio?

 

[adguy]

Actually Kliffhanger, my thoughts and ideas are all right here. Where as I respect Brent Clanton and his radio talents, from what I know about BizRadio, it's Frishberg that pulls ALL the strings. Perhaps Brent should direct Frishberg to this thread for a dose of reality on where BizRadio is heading. According to Frishberg himself, he is of superior intelligence and wealth beyond your wildest imagination. With that kind of brains and money, he should be able to take advice from some very intelligent posters on this thread alone and turn BizRadio back on track where it once was at the beginning.

 

[klifhanger]

Uh HUh,and how many owners, Pd's, Om's come flocking to this site and others in various markets to do the very thing as you suggested? Dan is not much different than CC,Cumeless,or Cox,etc. in regards to ownerships. You are actually better off going directly to Brent to discuss your pros and cons, than constantly complain about Bizradio here, at least you would have a receptive audience at the source. You never know unless you try and the apparent unwillingness on your part underscores that you rather keep listening and complaining. Bizradio overall has some very nice people working for it from on air to off air. Yes there are a FEW crumbs,but please point out one station that doesn't have one, or in your world - ad agency.