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Clear Channel adds needless clutter to the WOR morning show

W

wadio

Starting this morning, weather drop-ins from "The Weather Channel" have been added to The John Gambling Show, leaving J.J. Kennedy with traffic reports as her only official role. I'm sure there's a business reason for this but from a programming and listener perspective it's unnecessary and destructive. Nothing against Jennifer Nittoso whose voice will be heard, but these drop-ins only adds to the clutter that's a necessary and inevitable part of a morning show.

J.J. is of course much more important to the show than just a weather or traffic reporter -- her low key sense of humor is a key reason why I tune in. I fear the next step will be showing her the door or perhaps moving her to CC's traffic reporting service where she'll show up on the Gambling show to deliver traffic reports but will no longer be an integral part of the show. Management's thinking would no doubt be, "The listeners are stupid and they won't know the difference." That would be a real shame.

What is it about management that makes them think it's necessary to have a clutter of voices on a morning show? When Doug McIntyre moved back to KABC mornings I made a point of streaming the show for awhile. It began with him and Teri Rae Elmer as newsperson and sidekick with McIntyre playing his signature jazz bumpers. Then little by little they started adding more and more disparate voices including a second co-host, John Philips, who adds nothing to the show and gives McIntyre less time to develop his ideas. There was so much clutter that they told McIntyre to ditch the jazz intros. To me the show became unlistenable and I haven't bothered to tune in for months.

Clear Channel may be trying to have WOR compete more aggressively with WCBS and WINS by adding more fast-paced elements, but did it occur to them that perhaps the people who ARE listening to WOR in the morning are doing so to AVOID that? I know that's true in my case.
 
This is not the first time a complaint like this has been made. I recall Curtis or Kuby making similar complaints about "clutter" making it difficult to due justice to other elements. As I recall, this when Disney still owned the station. Seems like PDs like to work in as many different elements as they can. True sign of a hack. Or of a foundering station.
 
Why is weather considered "needless clutter?" Or weather done by someone else? The concept of a "cast of characters" on a morning show goes back a long way. Scott Shannon had his morning zoo. So rather than one person doing traffic AND weather, there are two. It's talk radio, folks. More talk on a talk station isn't clutter. It's more of the format. And I'd suggest weather, especially when provided by a credible source, is more important than a lot of the other elements in the show.
 
We're talking style here. There are plenty of places to tune for a hodge-podge of voices. Do you want everything to sound exactly the same? That's what's killing radio!
 
1 - WOR GM = Former WABC GM. 2 - Cumulus dumps Weather Channel, replaces with Bill Evans. 4 - Weather Channel without a NY radio affiliate.
5 - WOR GM an easy hit for Weather Channel....
 
wadio said:
We're talking style here. There are plenty of places to tune for a hodge-podge of voices. Do you want everything to sound exactly the same? That's what's killing radio!
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Oh come on. Anytime somebody doesn't like something, they extrapolate it to become "That's what's killing radio." That card gets pulled here a lot. What a load of BS. Just because YOU don't like it doesn't mean everyone doesn't like it.

Clearly WOR needs some help. They are losing to a station that is 100% syndicated. SOMETHING needs to change. Let's not fear change. That's what's killing radio. There I said it.

Bottom line is weather isn't needless clutter. It's an important element to the show. Weather Channel adds credibility to the presentation. Lots of other things can be dropped.
 
You don't get it, do you. I'm not talking about "weather" ... it's about the clutter of voices. Read the post.
 
wadio said:
You don't get it, do you. I'm not talking about "weather" ... it's about the clutter of voices. Read the post.
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Read MY post. More voices don't clutter talk radio. In fact, what we see with PPM is that the more you change voices, the more movement it creates, and it simply is more interesting. The comparison is to quick cuts in video or TV. The worst thing you can do is have the same voice drone on endlessly. Kind of like what most of talk radio normally does. There's a reason why stations like WINS use so many reports and voices rather than simply have the anchor read everything. Change up the voices, and you create more movement and interest. Very basic. It's obviously working at WINS.
 
Your argument is like saying that all music should adhere to the same Q. No room for anything other than 120 beats per minute, obligatory acoustic opening, drum crash, followed by a wailing female vocal. Oh wait -- that is all we hear on music radio. I'm glad I don't live in your constrained world.
 
wadio said:
Your argument is like saying that all music should adhere to the same Q. No room for anything other than 120 beats per minute, obligatory acoustic opening, drum crash, followed by a wailing female vocal.
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No, I'm the one speaking for variety. You're the one who wants one voice. Get it straight. Gambling needs some help. Or he needs to go. There's nothing he has to say that doesn't benefit from having a young women break in with the weather.
 
Again, you don't get it. Lots of voices are good for some formats, not others. I like WINS and WCBS but not every station and every show needs to sound just like them. There's room for diversity. It's a good thing society in general isn't so myopic.
 
wadio said:
Again, you don't get it. Lots of voices are good for some formats, not others.
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No YOU don't get it. WOR is a dead station walking. You want them to stay the course and ride that wreck to the bottom of the ocean. Their management recognizes that Gambling needs some help. If they have any hope of reversing the current trends, they need to shake things up. Adding one more voice doesn't turn them into WINS. But it shakes things up and provides some variety. Changing tempo is a good thing. Right now, they're a station of endless ballads.
 
Calm down. The future of The John Gambling Show isn't going to hinge on this issue. You don't know exactly how the show is doing, nor do I. I'm offering an opinion and I don't need to told to "Get this straight," by someone offering a different opinion. Let's leave it there.
 
This is all going to be moot when CC blows out the local morning show on WOR at the end of the year for a syndicated one - one in which a canned Weather Channel report could be a little more seamless. (Let's hope this is not the case, anyway.)
 
DToTheJ said:
This is all going to be moot when CC blows out the local morning show on WOR at the end of the year for a syndicated one - one in which a canned Weather Channel report could be a little more seamless. (Let's hope this is not the case, anyway.)
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When you look at their AM talk stations across the country, most are live in mornings. Even in smaller markets, but certainly in all the majors like LA and Cincinnati. Premiere doesn't really have a lot of options for morning drive. Keep in mind that stations make more money with local hosts than with syndicated. They can do more, and create more sponsorship opportunities. So if they're serious about keeping the format, they will stay local.
 
The woman filling in for John Gambling this week is intolerable. She's loud, she's obnoxious and she's appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Before tuning over to WOR this morning I heard Noam Laden on WABC read the "strapless gown" story (as a minor news item, which it is) and he noted the irony of the record PTA meeting turnout last night over an issue that has nothing to do with education. Laden is a smart guy and a good listen.

Well, sure enough, this airhead makes it her top story, followed by something about Matt Lauer ... then Kardashian ... bla bla bla. I'm sure CC is salivating over the idea of having a morning show like this -- filled with brainless babble. Adding a 'perky' weather drop-in was only the beginning.

If that happens, my prediction is that not only won't the younger demo tune in (because they don't listen to radio, especially AM radio) but core listeners will tune out. A morning show like this plus the current afternoon drive mess would cause WOR to go the way of Merlin's FM News.

I hope Gambling is able to prevail and doesn't decide to pack it in and retire.
 
TheBigA said:
When you look at their AM talk stations across the country, most are live in mornings. Even in smaller markets, but certainly in all the majors like LA and Cincinnati. Premiere doesn't really have a lot of options for morning drive. Keep in mind that stations make more money with local hosts than with syndicated. They can do more, and create more sponsorship opportunities. So if they're serious about keeping the format, they will stay local.
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Except for syndicated Imus in the Morning, which runs on WABC and stations in other markets (including some major markets). Premiere has Rose and Quinn in morning drive. Salem has Bill Bennett.
 
FredLeonard said:
Except for syndicated Imus in the Morning, which runs on WABC and stations in other markets (including some major markets). Premiere has Rose and Quinn in morning drive. Salem has Bill Bennett.
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But my post was specifically talking about CC.
 
TheBigA said:
FredLeonard said:
Except for syndicated Imus in the Morning, which runs on WABC and stations in other markets (including some major markets). Premiere has Rose and Quinn in morning drive. Salem has Bill Bennett.
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But my post was specifically talking about CC.
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OK - Rose and Quinn. If CC gets it cleared in New York (opposite Cumulus' Imus) and it does even moderately well, the show becomes a lot more marketable and a lot more salable. They could even more the show to New York.

At some point, they will Rush off WABC, too.
 
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