In the latest issue of RADIO WORLD a Pandora exec explains the growth of their custom music service. He quotes a CC exec. who complains that OTA radio is better because it is local. Excuse me, but how can a station be local when a guy in Grundy Center, Iowa is voice tracking 39 stations around the country?
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clear channel complaint
- Thread starter hypwr
- Start date
Or a newscaster in Cleveland is butchering "TAHR-rentum" and "Lower BurRELLL" for Pittsburgh listeners.
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
Shouldn't "Clear Channel Complaints" be an entire category unto itself on this board? ???
Damn straight about the foobars coming from Cleveland.
Even Terry, the fake AAMCO radio guy is pretending to know something about
the Bridge to Nowhere and the Pittsburgh Hornets these days.
Damn straight about the foobars coming from Cleveland.
Even Terry, the fake AAMCO radio guy is pretending to know something about
the Bridge to Nowhere and the Pittsburgh Hornets these days.
F
FreddyE1977
Guest
here's another one from our friends in Cleveland...
News break on 104.7 a little while ago reported an accident near
the Bridgeville exit of "I-77" !
News break on 104.7 a little while ago reported an accident near
the Bridgeville exit of "I-77" !
hypwr said:
It's still more local than a guy in a studio in DC voicetracking shows heard around the entire country. That's the Sirius-XM model.
The Pandora model has no people at all. What's better? One guy voicetracking 39 stations, or no people at all?
As for local, the stations ARE all local, regardless of where the host sits. For years, Wolfman Jack did his show from his home in North Carolina. In the golden age of AM radio, people in smaller towns DX'd stations from big cities. What's the difference? Where the DJ sits isn't as important as the connection he makes with listeners on the air.
Parttimer said:
Just because they give local information from another place doesn't mean they're "pretending to be local." For over 40 years, Accu-Weather has been providing local weather information to radio stations across the country from State College PA. This is a very common practice in radio. Nothing improper about it at all.
A lot of media work the same way. Your local newspaper says "Pittsburgh" along the top, but I bet the majority of the reporting comes from non-local sources. The local TV station does local news, incorporating non local reportage and programming. It happens all the time.
And last time I checked, Clear Channel has a local office in Pittsburgh and there are lots of local employees there involved in local operations. If a non-local person makes a mistake or does something illegal, the local station is held responsible. Not so with Pandora or most major internet operations.
All fascinating points. Allow me a breakdown, if I may ...
Clear Channel doesn't pretend to be local, at least not in the Pittsburgh market, even if you don't like some of the things CC does in this market, such as the newscasts produced in Cleveland. On the other hand, while CC has top-rated music stations and a continued stranglehold on a lot of the local sports franchises, I would be hard-pressed to call on a CC station if I learn something significant was happening affecting Pittsburgh in particular. I would probably tune first to KDKA-AM or KDKA-FM or KQV or possibly WESA.
As it is relatively easy to keep tabs on weather conditions across the nation because of a system developed by the federal government more than a century ago, I have no problem with AccuWeather, nor with The Weather Channel out of Atlanta now syndicated across the CC stations, nor with the Skywatch service that I believe is based in the Pittsburgh area and is used at KQV. You're right, nothing improper about that at all.
About newspapers, your point is slightly misleading. The Post-Gazette and the various papers under the Trib Total Media umbrella each have a central editorial desk in Pittsburgh, with a full staff of reporters based in Pittsburgh and stringers and correspondents who range from East Allegheny to Egypt, depending on the situation.
I assure you, the day either the PG or Trib cannot offer at least a front page and a metro front page with plenty of staff-generated material is a day that staff will rue.
Yes, the PG and the Trib papers each employ a slew of wire services, which is no different from KDKA-AM using CBS, AP and CNN and KQV using ABC, Radio PA and AP. Or the Fox News Radio items plugged into WPGB newscasts. Or, for that matter, the TV stations using their home networks and CNN Newsource.
There are some stations across the country that get their news from other cities. But channels 2/19, 4 and 11/53/PCNC each have central newsrooms in Pittsburgh, respectively, at KDKA, WTAE and WPXI.
I find all three stations do a very adequate job of providing a largely-local product, even on weekends.
On that point, I am in total agreement.
Parttimer said:
Clear Channel doesn't pretend to be local, at least not in the Pittsburgh market, even if you don't like some of the things CC does in this market, such as the newscasts produced in Cleveland. On the other hand, while CC has top-rated music stations and a continued stranglehold on a lot of the local sports franchises, I would be hard-pressed to call on a CC station if I learn something significant was happening affecting Pittsburgh in particular. I would probably tune first to KDKA-AM or KDKA-FM or KQV or possibly WESA.
TheBigA said:
As it is relatively easy to keep tabs on weather conditions across the nation because of a system developed by the federal government more than a century ago, I have no problem with AccuWeather, nor with The Weather Channel out of Atlanta now syndicated across the CC stations, nor with the Skywatch service that I believe is based in the Pittsburgh area and is used at KQV. You're right, nothing improper about that at all.
TheBigA said:
About newspapers, your point is slightly misleading. The Post-Gazette and the various papers under the Trib Total Media umbrella each have a central editorial desk in Pittsburgh, with a full staff of reporters based in Pittsburgh and stringers and correspondents who range from East Allegheny to Egypt, depending on the situation.
I assure you, the day either the PG or Trib cannot offer at least a front page and a metro front page with plenty of staff-generated material is a day that staff will rue.
Yes, the PG and the Trib papers each employ a slew of wire services, which is no different from KDKA-AM using CBS, AP and CNN and KQV using ABC, Radio PA and AP. Or the Fox News Radio items plugged into WPGB newscasts. Or, for that matter, the TV stations using their home networks and CNN Newsource.
There are some stations across the country that get their news from other cities. But channels 2/19, 4 and 11/53/PCNC each have central newsrooms in Pittsburgh, respectively, at KDKA, WTAE and WPXI.
I find all three stations do a very adequate job of providing a largely-local product, even on weekends.
TheBigA said:
On that point, I am in total agreement.
KeyTimes950 said:
And Clear Channel has programming and operations people in Pittsburgh who decide if they will hire local on-air people, or utilize remote talent, depending on the circumstances. The decision of what to put on the air in Pittsburgh is made locally, even if the specific people who do the on air work aren't all local.
TheBigA said:
I could have sworn I was in agreement with you on that, when you talked of "lots of local employees involved in local operations." But your expanded point is a very helpful reminder. Thank you.
TheBigA said:
You originally equated music shows at Sirius/XM with CC's multi-station VT guys. I maintain that the difference is that you can flip between 95.7 in Wheeling and 98.9 in Youngstown (and at the higher elevations out on 376 West you can actually do this) and hear the same jock, playing the same music in the same order, saying the same things, and being presented as local in both markets. Not illegal or unethical, but disingenuous and probably not fooling people any more than the satellite feeds from Dial Global or Jones Radio Network fool people in smaller markets. That's all I'm saying...
Parttimer said:
And as I said in my OP, that was the case in the old network radio days, when stations might even rebroadcast another station within range. The concept of a full staff of live jocks at all 14000 radio stations is obsolete and impractical, given that they're all basically playing recorded music in the first place. The basic approach to radio for the past 35 years is that people listen to stations, not shows. So I don't think the intent is to fool anyone.
By the same token, Pittsburgh has the Keymarket Froggy quadcast, where four stations are programmed with the same content.
A
Alton
Guest
I agree Parttimer. I think they only localize anything when the pc talent is give "customized" liners for the markets they track. Thus, the pretending to be local.
I thought I'd never say this, but you are right Big A.
Alton said:
What do you expect them to say? Liners for another station? They're simply promoting the brand. "Pretending" would be to lie about attending a local event, or commuting to work on a local interstate, or just eating a sandwich at Primante Brothers. If they do that, you have a point.
A
Alton
Guest
That was pretty snotty (the liners for another station comment). But, yes, that's what customized liners are and in that context they (those stations) are pretending that that jock is indeed in that market. And, yes, some of those pc jocks have indeed lied about attending concerts in those markets, or frequented local landmarks and restaurants. It's all a part of the customization. It IS being done.
Alton said:
That's not the point. The point is he works for that station. That's what he's conveying. And he DOES work for that station. No pretending involved. He works for that station, and gets paid for that work. Thus he's very qualified to read those liners regardless of where he is. The local/non-local thing is irrelevant, and most listeners don't care.
A
Alton
Guest
No, that IS the point! He's pretending he's a part of that staff. That is what the majority of the listeners in that market are led to believe.
Sure, technically he works for that station if you're going to get nitpicky. He works for the company that owns the station, so yes, he works for that station. The local/non-local thing is relevant in the sense that they (the station management/CC) is trying to hose the listeners into thinking their airstaff is working IN that respective city. Thus they are "pretending" they are local. If that's not the case, then why doesn't the jock have their hometown listed in their bios? Or, "resides in" under their hometown? That's right, they don't do that because they're trying to pass off the jock as a hometown guy or girl.
You are REAAALLY stretching your thinking/reasoning BigA.
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