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Cat Country in Columbia-tell me about Miller Communications

Owned by Harold Miller, his wife, and David Baker. Miller and Baker are long time broadcasters from Columbia and Florence. After leaving Florence after a change of ownership of the cluster they worked for (and Harold had a interest in), they bought up small non-rated market stations in the Midlands/Pee Dee of South Carolina and improved the programming through the use of automation. They are the dominant player outside of the rated markets.
 
They have a lot of good stations in the midlands of S.C. but they have low ratings?? Their formats just doesn't grab people's following and support. This radio- info site is full of suggestions for higher ratings but they don't take accept suggestions freely. They don't even maintain their web site information! You won't have any luck on the phone either but here is the web site....Good Luck :-X

http://www.miller.fm/
 
SCMidlands said:
They have a lot of good stations in the midlands of S.C. but they have low ratings??

Their formats just doesn't grab people's following and support.

This radio- info site is full of suggestions for higher ratings but they don't take accept suggestions freely.

They don't even maintain their web site information! You won't have any luck on the phone either but here is the web site....Good Luck :-X
Click to expand...

I gather you are not fond of the Miller Stations. I don't know anything about them, but after reading your post, I feel like I now even LESS.

Do stations in "the midlands" rise and fall based on ratings? By midlands I am assuming you are talking about small markets. Does the success of a smal market station depend as much on ratings as in larger cities?

Tell what a format needs in order to "grab people" in your view. Do listeners NEVER support a station that doesn't have "grab"?

I am not sure that the industry looks to Radio-Info as a seminar for higher ratings. There are a lot more of us who are radio has-beens and non radio groupies posting here than there are active, successful radio people who know about rural-area (Midlands?) type stations and what makes them work. I would be afraid to take a job with some one who would share with me during the interview process that his/her success was totally depending on Radio-Info being their programming seminar. I like R-I. Heaven knows I spend a lot of time here. What R-I does for me is to make it possible to identify the 5 to 10% of the people here who demonstrate through their posts that I would want to pick up the phone and call them if I were acquiring a station in today's market.

And don't get me started on radio station web sites. What should be included in the content of a good station web site? I would appreciate it if you would list for us 5 to 10 example web sites that you think would be instructive to someone wanting to design a useful, effective web site.
 
SCMidlands, the Miller stations that do show in rated markets are all essentially rimshots to those markets. In a market like Sumter, outside of the Big DM and maybe 1 or 2 other Columbia stations, Miller has the market all locked up.
 
"Cat Country in Columbia"

I just looked at the signal contour. Whether there is indeed a Cat County in Columbia could be fodder for debate. Rimshot is exactly right!
 
Advice: The wise don't need it and the foolish won't heed it.
You asked the question and you got your answer. Now do your own homework instead of giving other people assignments.
 
Millers Kat Country 93.9 is a likeable station and is listened to by enough people to make it worth while money wise if it is handled right. People can always find something to fault with in anything; Miller and I share parts of some markets he is in and believe me we don't agree on everything (example: I don't like the audio on Kat country) but it is not my station. You got your answer do your homework and go after it if you want to. PS: Miller does not have every market locked up.
 
Well to some of you thank you for the information, to the others I have done my homework and wanted a little feedback from locals ( see thats doing additional homework on my part ) ... I think a few of you need to cut back on the coffee and or steroids :)

thanks again, peace
 
Miller can't be a player in Cola, even though CC nor Citadel do a good job either. Columbia besides DM may be the worst radio market in the south.
 
I really hate to stand up in front of a crowd and admit just how un-informed I am.....

but....

will someone enlighten this guy who lives across the state line in the hills of North Georgia...

what the heck market DM is? ???
 
Having great numbers does not always equate with great radio. DM was once a very good local radio station. Now, they syndicate mornings and afternoons and run an incredible amount of commercials. I actually counted one hour on a Saturday and they ran eighteen commercials that hour. Great radio? Steve Harvey is very funny, but I can hear him online.

As for Miller, I have been around him a few times. Seems like a regular guy that really enjoys doing radio. I respect that. Now those who know more South Carolina radio history than me can correct me, but didn't Harold own some stations that he sold and made money off of that allowed him the financial freedom to experiment with these smaller signals?

One more thing on Big DM. I bet they have the most to lose in a PPM world. That double-digit diary world will give to a more realistic picture should Columbia ever adopt the meter.
 
One Saturday DM ran 9-10 mins of commercials, played two songs and was back into a break again. Ok, maybe it was three songs. Lunacy.
 
Re the Big DM--I think what DudeFan describes is pretty much business as usual there, both on Saturdays and during the day during the week. If you tune in at, say 11:30 weeknights, you'll still hear repeated long commerical sweeps, though maybe not 10 minutes. I'd think a station that is dominant in the ratings (as is DM) with such a commmercial load is ripe for new competition. I can't hear WLXC where I live---are they as bad as DM? I can't hear them where I am. In any case, they must be pretty poor, since they seem to be fading in the ratings while DM stays on top.
 
Everybody but the Big DM bounces around: WHXT, WXBT, WLXC. I think that is in part due to heritage and also in part due to the Big DM's blanketing practically the entire survey area with a city-grade signal.
 
Dudefan, your reference to the Big DMs strong signal gets back to one of the major problems with the Cola radio market. There are really only 3 stations that truly blanket Richland and Lexington Counties---WCOS, WWDM, and WNOK. Even WTCB, though 100K, has a short tower and has trouble in far NE Richland, which is growing rapidly. As the metro area continues to expand, this problem will become more and more pronounced, allowing the big three to become even more mediocre. BTW, are there other counties in the Cola DMA? I'd guess maybe Kershaw, which is purely a 3 station race, since none of the other Cola stations get in there to speak of. Is there any chance in the world any of the other stations could increase their facilities to better serve the entire area (I doubt it)?
 
I would not include WNOK in that listing. They are directional to protect 104.7 in Charlotte.

You've got Richland/Lexington in the DMA. In the MSA (I think is the larger area), add Kershaw, Fairfield and Calhoun.

You can do well in the book with a Class A or less. But expect fluctuations of audience in the survey results depending on where the diaries are placed.
 
beachbumstar, Welcome to the South Carolina info board! You can't share a thought without being called out (Someone called DudeFan never seems happy about anything) I moved here six years ago after my wife's job transfer (30+ years in Cleveland, Indy, Tampa, St. Louis) Columbia radio is like all markets going through tough times. I spoke with Harold Miller few years back and is really nice guy, local broadcaster trying to make a living.
 
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