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CCM discussion

radiosaur said:
I'd still like to see a rock slanted CCM here. XM 32 does a great job musically, I think.

I can't really get K-love well up here in the north boonies, but do they play stuff like DecembeRadio?

My CCM station here would rock a bit, especially afternoons and nights.

The jocks would also sound a bit more up. Some CCM jocks try too hard to sound 'warm'.

I'd love to see it happen.

That's one problem with Christian Radio. It runs the gamut from Darlene Zschech to Mississippip Mass Choir to Anberlin to Thousand Foot Krutch, back to Ginny Owens and David Crowder. Like Mike said, it's based on lyrics, not on style. But because of that, there's a lot of ground to cover. So having a rock slant would be a tough sell.

If I had my druthers, 6a-7p would be Hot AC/CCM with P&W sprinkled in, a two-man team in mornings (Rob & Mike?), an up female middays (maybe even someone relatively new...Nikki grew into her role on the Buzz, I could see the same happening), a seasoned person doing afternoons. Basically, where the format would be geared toward 35-54 women, it would also be inclusive enough where 18-54 would not feel alienated.

7pm-12mid, I'd got hot CCM/Rock, sliding down the spectrum the later it gets (Starting at Air One-ish, sliding toward Radio U-ish...www.radiou.com). It'd be obviously teen and 20s oriented, and it would actually have a focus (unlike recent forays into Christian nighttimes). Sales would be tougher, but it also could be partially underwritten by record labels (back when Power 94.9 existed, I had a record label willing to back half the budget of a Saturday show similar to this...I couldn't get the local advertisers to cover the other half, which sealed my fate as a salesperson in my mind. The point is that the label money is there.).
 
MemBirdman said:
radiosaur said:
I'd still like to see a rock slanted CCM here. XM 32 does a great job musically, I think.

I can't really get K-love well up here in the north boonies, but do they play stuff like DecembeRadio?

My CCM station here would rock a bit, especially afternoons and nights.

The jocks would also sound a bit more up. Some CCM jocks try too hard to sound 'warm'.

I'd love to see it happen.

That's one problem with Christian Radio. It runs the gamut from Darlene Zschech to Mississippip Mass Choir to Anberlin to Thousand Foot Krutch, back to Ginny Owens and David Crowder. Like Mike said, it's based on lyrics, not on style. But because of that, there's a lot of ground to cover. So having a rock slant would be a tough sell.

If I had my druthers, 6a-7p would be Hot AC/CCM with P&W sprinkled in, a two-man team in mornings (Rob & Mike?),

Much obliged. Definitely an honor to work with Rob, even hypothetically. ;D

an up female middays (maybe even someone relatively new...Nikki grew into her role on the Buzz, I could see the same happening),

Here's a moment's worth of professional pride. Had the honor to give "Nikki" her first gig, literally right off the street. I've lost track of her somewhat, but she'd be great for middays; loves the music, talks the talk, and walks the walk.

a seasoned person doing afternoons. Basically, where the format would be geared toward 35-54 women, it would also be inclusive enough where 18-54 would not feel alienated.

Makes sense, and remembers that a 40-year-old woman in Memphis probably still wants to, at least, feel like she's "rockin' out" from time to time when she listens.

7pm-12mid, I'd got hot CCM/Rock, sliding down the spectrum the later it gets (Starting at Air One-ish, sliding toward Radio U-ish...www.radiou.com). It'd be obviously teen and 20s oriented, and it would actually have a focus (unlike recent forays into Christian nighttimes). Sales would be tougher, but it also could be partially underwritten by record labels (back when Power 94.9 existed, I had a record label willing to back half the budget of a Saturday show similar to this...I couldn't get the local advertisers to cover the other half, which sealed my fate as a salesperson in my mind. The point is that the label money is there.).

Way back at Victory 95.3, that's what we did. It was successful with the nighttime audience, and there were actually sponsors. Most wanted to be there--and some just enjoyed getting bonused at night.

One other thing that's a must for a CCM station around here--local music. Was doing that back in the mid-90s, and the local stuff garnered a lot of interest. Plus, it was good!
 
Mike Bratton said:
7pm-12mid, I'd got hot CCM/Rock, sliding down the spectrum the later it gets (Starting at Air One-ish, sliding toward Radio U-ish...www.radiou.com). It'd be obviously teen and 20s oriented, and it would actually have a focus (unlike recent forays into Christian nighttimes). Sales would be tougher, but it also could be partially underwritten by record labels (back when Power 94.9 existed, I had a record label willing to back half the budget of a Saturday show similar to this...I couldn't get the local advertisers to cover the other half, which sealed my fate as a salesperson in my mind. The point is that the label money is there.).

Way back at Victory 95.3, that's what we did. It was successful with the nighttime audience, and there were actually sponsors. Most wanted to be there--and some just enjoyed getting bonused at night.

One other thing that's a must for a CCM station around here--local music. Was doing that back in the mid-90s, and the local stuff garnered a lot of interest. Plus, it was good!

Yeah, I agree with the local music. If anything, Dennis & Ric doing "The Great Unsigned" has shown the wealth of local music that we have at our disposal...the Christian counterpart should be no different! Even good recorded tracks from The Stirring at Hope or from Kevin at Lindenwood could be air-worthy.
 
MemBirdman said:
Mike Bratton said:
7pm-12mid, I'd got hot CCM/Rock, sliding down the spectrum the later it gets (Starting at Air One-ish, sliding toward Radio U-ish...www.radiou.com). It'd be obviously teen and 20s oriented, and it would actually have a focus (unlike recent forays into Christian nighttimes). Sales would be tougher, but it also could be partially underwritten by record labels (back when Power 94.9 existed, I had a record label willing to back half the budget of a Saturday show similar to this...I couldn't get the local advertisers to cover the other half, which sealed my fate as a salesperson in my mind. The point is that the label money is there.).

Way back at Victory 95.3, that's what we did. It was successful with the nighttime audience, and there were actually sponsors. Most wanted to be there--and some just enjoyed getting bonused at night.

One other thing that's a must for a CCM station around here--local music. Was doing that back in the mid-90s, and the local stuff garnered a lot of interest. Plus, it was good!

Yeah, I agree with the local music. If anything, Dennis & Ric doing "The Great Unsigned" has shown the wealth of local music that we have at our disposal...the Christian counterpart should be no different! Even good recorded tracks from The Stirring at Hope or from Kevin at Lindenwood could be air-worthy.

Birdman, I'm horrible with most folks' nom de plume around here. Do I know you, or don't I?
 
Mike Bratton said:
MemBirdman said:
Mike Bratton said:
7pm-12mid, I'd got hot CCM/Rock, sliding down the spectrum the later it gets (Starting at Air One-ish, sliding toward Radio U-ish...www.radiou.com). It'd be obviously teen and 20s oriented, and it would actually have a focus (unlike recent forays into Christian nighttimes). Sales would be tougher, but it also could be partially underwritten by record labels (back when Power 94.9 existed, I had a record label willing to back half the budget of a Saturday show similar to this...I couldn't get the local advertisers to cover the other half, which sealed my fate as a salesperson in my mind. The point is that the label money is there.).

Way back at Victory 95.3, that's what we did. It was successful with the nighttime audience, and there were actually sponsors. Most wanted to be there--and some just enjoyed getting bonused at night.

One other thing that's a must for a CCM station around here--local music. Was doing that back in the mid-90s, and the local stuff garnered a lot of interest. Plus, it was good!

Yeah, I agree with the local music. If anything, Dennis & Ric doing "The Great Unsigned" has shown the wealth of local music that we have at our disposal...the Christian counterpart should be no different! Even good recorded tracks from The Stirring at Hope or from Kevin at Lindenwood could be air-worthy.

Birdman, I'm horrible with most folks' nom de plume around here. Do I know you, or don't I?

On and off. I'm Jeff Rademaker, aka Vogad on Rock 103. We've met at LWF a couple of times when I've interviewed and I'm good friends with Mike Salopek. Oh, and way back when, when you were at Victory and I was a mere student, you helped me with a documentary by allowing me to interview you.
 
MemBirdman said:
Mike Bratton said:
MemBirdman said:
Mike Bratton said:
7pm-12mid, I'd got hot CCM/Rock, sliding down the spectrum the later it gets (Starting at Air One-ish, sliding toward Radio U-ish...www.radiou.com). It'd be obviously teen and 20s oriented, and it would actually have a focus (unlike recent forays into Christian nighttimes). Sales would be tougher, but it also could be partially underwritten by record labels (back when Power 94.9 existed, I had a record label willing to back half the budget of a Saturday show similar to this...I couldn't get the local advertisers to cover the other half, which sealed my fate as a salesperson in my mind. The point is that the label money is there.).

Way back at Victory 95.3, that's what we did. It was successful with the nighttime audience, and there were actually sponsors. Most wanted to be there--and some just enjoyed getting bonused at night.

One other thing that's a must for a CCM station around here--local music. Was doing that back in the mid-90s, and the local stuff garnered a lot of interest. Plus, it was good!

Yeah, I agree with the local music. If anything, Dennis & Ric doing "The Great Unsigned" has shown the wealth of local music that we have at our disposal...the Christian counterpart should be no different! Even good recorded tracks from The Stirring at Hope or from Kevin at Lindenwood could be air-worthy.

Birdman, I'm horrible with most folks' nom de plume around here. Do I know you, or don't I?

On and off. I'm Jeff Rademaker, aka Vogad on Rock 103. We've met at LWF a couple of times when I've interviewed and I'm good friends with Mike Salopek. Oh, and way back when, when you were at Victory and I was a mere student, you helped me with a documentary by allowing me to interview you.

Well, that make my brain feel much better, since I was wearing it out trying to determine who you were!

And I hear you doing some Total Traffic, too, if my memory serves.

All right, then... who do we lobby to get a live, local CCM station going around here?
 
Mike Bratton said:
Well, that make my brain feel much better, since I was wearing it out trying to determine who you were!

And I hear you doing some Total Traffic, too, if my memory serves.

All right, then... who do we lobby to get a live, local CCM station going around here?

Heh...I'd say 94.1 would be the place with the most potential, but everybody else knows where The Buzz is going, soooo....
;)

EDIT: It just hit me how ironic that statement is (ironic? Maybe not the right word. Interesting, maybe...)

Too bad Mike Ginsburg got fired from Entercom. He may have seriously listened to the proposal.
 
All right, then... who do we lobby to get a live, local CCM station going around here?


That's a really good question. 94.1 or 92.9 are possible choices. 98.9 is probably wishful thinking. And as I've said before, I wonder when the taxpayers of Memphis / Shelby county are going to wonder why they are supporting two non-com stations owned by the city / county?

As I posted above, I'd much rather NOT have a publicly owned for profit company running a Christian station.

But an LMA might make sense...

Another idea is forming a coalition to buy or lease one of the signals...but then, we're all in or formerly in the radio business...meaning we're broke and no one would lend us any money anyhow.
 
radiosaur said:
All right, then... who do we lobby to get a live, local CCM station going around here?


That's a really good question. 94.1 or 92.9 are possible choices. 98.9 is probably wishful thinking. And as I've said before, I wonder when the taxpayers of Memphis / Shelby county are going to wonder why they are supporting two non-com stations owned by the city / county?

I've wondered the same thing more than once...

As I posted above, I'd much rather NOT have a publicly owned for profit company running a Christian station.

But an LMA might make sense...

Another idea is forming a coalition to buy or lease one of the signals...but then, we're all in or formerly in the radio business...meaning we're broke and no one would lend us any money anyhow.

Well, um, let's not be so hasty there... About the "lend us any money" part...
 
Mike Bratton said:
As I posted above, I'd much rather NOT have a publicly owned for profit company running a Christian station.

But an LMA might make sense...

Another idea is forming a coalition to buy or lease one of the signals...but then, we're all in or formerly in the radio business...meaning we're broke and no one would lend us any money anyhow.

Well, um, let's not be so hasty there... About the "lend us any money" part...

:eek: ??? :eek:

A veiled weighty statement.....oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh
 
MemBirdman said:
Mike Bratton said:
As I posted above, I'd much rather NOT have a publicly owned for profit company running a Christian station.

But an LMA might make sense...

Another idea is forming a coalition to buy or lease one of the signals...but then, we're all in or formerly in the radio business...meaning we're broke and no one would lend us any money anyhow.

Well, um, let's not be so hasty there... About the "lend us any money" part...

:eek: ??? :eek:

A veiled weighty statement.....oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

Who you callin' "weighty"?

;D

Seriously, though... there's venture captial out there... And my brain has been percolating on such a notion, for whatever reason, for quite awhile.
 
Your posts had me thinking. Seriously, why don't we have some type of reality contest. Maybe hosted by Amy Grant, Barlow Girl, or Avalon. Take college students who excelled in studies and in church. Those who had a background in communications. People who had it tough growing up. The winner gets a one year contract to be PD at a Memphis CCM/Christain AC type station to run however he or she likes within the format and salary constraints. Nothing to lose. If it succeeds, the owner will have no choice to keep it the format. If it fails, the owner would just change formats. Would not have to worry about funding. I am being serious. Think of the publicity.
 
I was kidding about the lending part, but I bet it would be a tough sell. I'm not sure about the "PD for a year" thing, but it's an interesting idea.

That said, Mike, if anything come of your idea, e-mail me off-board. The hard part would be getting a suitable signal. I wouldn't be up for trying it with a rimshot.
 
Mike Bratton said:
Who you callin' "weighty"?

;D

Seriously, though... there's venture captial out there... And my brain has been percolating on such a notion, for whatever reason, for quite awhile.

Don't worry, the weighty goes both ways. More of us to love. And not in the Brokeback kinda way.

I'd love to see a serious CCM station with serious radio people with serious ministry minds in Memphis. I look at KSBJ, Radio U and KSOJ and see it done right. Why not here?
 
radiosaur said:
I was kidding about the lending part, but I bet it would be a tough sell. I'm not sure about the "PD for a year" thing, but it's an interesting idea.

That said, Mike, if anything come of your idea, e-mail me off-board. The hard part would be getting a suitable signal. I wouldn't be up for trying it with a rimshot.

Familiar with the rimshot thing, and wouldn't want to do it again.

I should be talking with my venture-capital contact next week. The biggest necessity, though, is a detailed business plan.
 
MemBirdman said:
I'd love to see a serious CCM station with serious radio people with serious ministry minds in Memphis. I look at KSBJ, Radio U and KSOJ and see it done right. Why not here?

My wife (no radio slouch, she) and I were talking about this on the way back home from vacation today. It's as if there's a really, really powerful CCM station already in Memphis--but on "hot standby," know what I mean?

Full-time jocks, part-time jocks, sales, programming, production, promotions, engineering, management, you name it... All the people are here in the area. We just need for the word to be given.

Kind of a CCM radio station sleeper cell... :eek:
 
I'll be honest, though...my worst experience in radio has been in Christian radio. It's disillusioned me a lot to the idea of Christian radio. Maybe it could be done right. I just know that I trust the people I work with now in the "Evil Empire" MUCH more than I could ever trust the leaders of my previous stations.

Anyway, that's the cynic in me. The optimist in me is really hopeful.
 
BigSteveG said:
Came across this station. For those who favor a CCM type station, this might work. They even have an underwriting consultant. The station also features Total Axxess. TA is a radio program that devotes time in getting to know Christain artists.

http://www.891thespirit.com/

http://totalaxxess.com/pagetwo.php

Along with that, check out what they're planning to do with their AM station:
http://www.theprodigalradio.com/

Could something like this work in Memphis? The return of WGSF AM 1210 when they had a CCM format, only all music and hopefully a better frequency? ;D
 
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