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Clyde Clifford’s Beaker Street CANCELLED on The Point 94.1

looking at his playlist from his most recent show. i really regret that i never listened to him in the four years i lived in little rock. there are artists there that will likely never get aired on commercial radio again anywhere.
 
Lemme see if I can flesh this out a bit. It will be purely speculative, although based on long experience that's sometimes been painful to the point (oops) of hilarity.

Odds are, Signal Media has hired a new manager from out of town and the first thing he (almost invariably a he) does is put his Personal Stamp on the station(s). Gotta find something that needs "fixing" right away, y'see, as it will both justify his cushy new salary and impress his new bosses. Often, it will be a decision that can be undertaken before he actually packs up and leaves his current city of residence.

"I know!" thinks he, "I'll cut Beaker Street! Even on a Classic Rock station, it's Inconsistent Programming--and EVERYBODY knows that Inconsistent Programming is a weak spot. I'll just whip in there like Attila The Hun and carve that cancer OUT!"

Never mind that Beaker Street airs in what can be charitably described as a ratings wasteland, that is, 7:00 PM 'til Midnight on Sundays. Adding or deleting a program in this time slot is nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on (insert ship name here, but try to keep it under twelve minutes).

So, by the numbers, cutting Beaker Street will be either a neutral factor in the ratings or it will result in a slight decline in an all-but-unimportant time period. Whatever little stipend that Signal may be paying Clyde to host will be neatly offset by the time and effort it will take to deal with a tsunami of Bad PR. But New Boss won't need to concern himself with any of this; he'll have Underlings to serve as feces deflectors. (Oh, to be a fly on Mike Kennedy's office wall right about now!)

Petitions may well be gotten up, boycotts may be mounted, emails will undoubtedly pour in, and there's just the slightest chance that tomatoes will be tossed. But unless I miss my well-educated guess, this will avail loyal Beaker Street fans exactly nothing. Conversely/perversely, each bit of negative feedback will only serve to further convince New Boss that he's done the right thing by killing off that Hippie Music once and for all. That's right, kids, you're dealing with Male Ego here. And there ain't no cure for it. Beaker Street is toast again.

Except that Beaker Street has been toast about five times now. Somehow it just keeps popping up. And it's delicious every time! So let's all cue up Joni's "Circle Game" and sit tight.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know Jacques about what's actually going on among the PointHeads at this moment. This is all either informed or deformed speculation on my part, assisted by decades of Meet The New Boss...

Cheerfully Yours,
Rigby
(Wearing a face that I keep in jar by the door)
 
Dumb move, whatever the reason…OK, here’s thinking outside the box: KUAR. The show could be underwritten, probably fairly easily.
 
just one more "interesting" move by the folks over there, guess we can safely say that classic radio really is not even on life support...maybe the Citadel folks could run the show overnight on the current KAAY, when it's on
 
Beaker Street was the only thing halfway worth tuning into KKPT 94.1 for. I'm not a huge fan of the music of Beaker Street (call it a generational thing), but at least Clyde was willing to play things that wasn't just run into the ground.

I would second that if The Point 86's Beaker Street, KUAR 89.1 would be a good home for it provided the PD over there would be a bit more open minded. They have a good signal, better audio quaility (on analog) than KKPT and such a specialitiy show would not be too much of a reach for Public Radio. Heck, Minnesota Public Radio has a specialty station called The Current http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/ that is a progressive/alt station (they stream too).

However, I don't think with KABF's current unstable situation that that would be a good home for the show since they tend to favor Spanish and minority programming sometimes at the expense of other viable programming.

I'd love to hear KAAY redux Beaker Street but that is a pipe dream at best.
 
As much as I respect and admire Clyde - there is a reality here - THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN' - most of his audience is gone - I listened to Beaker Street when I was in college in the 70's - I will turn 60 next year - enjoy the rest of your life, Clyde - it's time to pass the torch - take your knowledge and inspire the next generation of radio GEEKS that will bring the industry back after the collapse that will eventually come - there is a future for radio...you can lead the way. BEST.
 
Clyde handled the announcement professionally and stuck to "just the facts." But reading between the lines, it was obvious this came as a surprise, a shock, and certainly NOT something that he was in agreement with.

As others have mentioned, Sunday nights are basically a "throwaway" timeslot anyway at most stations. You've got a guy who has a following and attracts ears which would not otherwise listen to the station. Why not just let him do his thing and be happy in knowing you have a local broadcast legend of 40+ years on your station? Why does the corporate mentality ALWAYS have to change things, simply for the sake of change or because the suits in the home office say so?


Perhaps Tom Petty was thinking of Clyde Clifford when he wrote this in 2002:

"Well you can't turn him into a company man
You can't turn him into a whore
And the boys upstairs just don't understand anymore
Well the top brass don't like him talking so much,
And he won't play what they say to play
And he don't want to change what don't need to change
There goes the last DJ who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say..."
 
LNO Rigby said:
Lemme see if I can flesh this out a bit. It will be purely speculative, although based on long experience that's sometimes been painful to the point (oops) of hilarity.

Odds are, Signal Media has hired a new manager from out of town and the first thing he (almost invariably a he) does is put his Personal Stamp on the station(s). Gotta find something that needs "fixing" right away, y'see, as it will both justify his cushy new salary and impress his new bosses. Often, it will be a decision that can be undertaken before he actually packs up and leaves his current city of residence.

"I know!" thinks he, "I'll cut Beaker Street! Even on a Classic Rock station, it's Inconsistent Programming--and EVERYBODY knows that Inconsistent Programming is a weak spot. I'll just whip in there like Attila The Hun and carve that cancer OUT!"

Never mind that Beaker Street airs in what can be charitably described as a ratings wasteland, that is, 7:00 PM 'til Midnight on Sundays. Adding or deleting a program in this time slot is nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on (insert ship name here, but try to keep it under twelve minutes).

So, by the numbers, cutting Beaker Street will be either a neutral factor in the ratings or it will result in a slight decline in an all-but-unimportant time period. Whatever little stipend that Signal may be paying Clyde to host will be neatly offset by the time and effort it will take to deal with a tsunami of Bad PR. But New Boss won't need to concern himself with any of this; he'll have Underlings to serve as feces deflectors. (Oh, to be a fly on Mike Kennedy's office wall right about now!)

Petitions may well be gotten up, boycotts may be mounted, emails will undoubtedly pour in, and there's just the slightest chance that tomatoes will be tossed. But unless I miss my well-educated guess, this will avail loyal Beaker Street fans exactly nothing. Conversely/perversely, each bit of negative feedback will only serve to further convince New Boss that he's done the right thing by killing off that Hippie Music once and for all. That's right, kids, you're dealing with Male Ego here. And there ain't no cure for it. Beaker Street is toast again.

Except that Beaker Street has been toast about five times now. Somehow it just keeps popping up. And it's delicious every time! So let's all cue up Joni's "Circle Game" and sit tight.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know Jacques about what's actually going on among the PointHeads at this moment. This is all either informed or deformed speculation on my part, assisted by decades of Meet The New Boss...

Cheerfully Yours,
Rigby
(Wearing a face that I keep in jar by the door)
Click to expand...


^^^^^This for the most part is accurate. My guess is that a format change is also on the horizon. (Pure speculation on my part.)
 
Pure speculation, but now would seem to be a GREAT opportunity for someone in Little Rock to go FM Talk. Obviously, Citadel is in no hurry to restore KARN-FM's signal. They've been operating on flea power for over 3 MONTHS now!
 
I doubt the Point will go talk - but who knows. I know they have trimmed their playlist and are focusing on on only playing songs people readily recognize.
 
What about these possibilities for the Point:

1. CHR/Top 40
2. Country
3. Alternative/Modern Rock
4. Adult/Classic Hits(like Tom-FM)

As far as possibilities for Beaker Street:

1. Big Rock 93.3
2. KAAY
3. KFLI, 104.7(Cool 104)

OR

4. Tom-FM(crazy, I know, but it would truly be a "play everything" station.


What do ya'll think?
 
Re: Clyde Clifford’s Beaker Street CANCELLED on The Point 94.1

sportsannouncer said:
What about these possibilities for the Point:

1. CHR/Top 40
2. Country
3. Alternative/Modern Rock
4. Adult/Classic Hits(like Tom-FM)

As far as possibilities for Beaker Street:

1. Big Rock 93.3
2. KAAY
3. KFLI, 104.7(Cool 104)

OR

4. Tom-FM(crazy, I know, but it would truly be a "play everything" station.


What do ya'll think?
Click to expand...


For the Point, I think Top 40/CHR or an Adult/Classic Hits format may be the direction they go.  I don't see either option as a good thing.  I think it will kill their ratings. 

All the stations you listed - except KAAY - are probably possibilities.  Does KAAY ever program anything that is non-religious?  TOM-FM makes a lot of sense, but I wonder if CC would entertain paying for a live show on Sunday nights. 

We can only hope Beaker Street has not used up its 9 lives. 
 
rockclassics said:
We can only hope Beaker Street has not used up its 9 lives.
Click to expand...

How many lives *has* Beaker Street had? I count 4 so far:

1) KAAY
2) KZ-95
3) Magic 105.1
4) The Point 94.1

Or are there more? Was it a continuous run on KAAY, or was it dropped and then resurrected?
 
For the record, Cool 104 is in Searcy and recently changed owners and built a new studio. Technically, they're classic hits/oldies, but I bet it would be a home run for them to pick up Beaker Street. A lot of their music is from the 70s and 80s, so I think it would fit in. Maybe Beaker Street can find a new home.
 
I might be willing to go half-sies with the Searcy station and pick it up on my 99.3 in Russellville. I've had several inquiries from listeners asking if we could pick up the show. Maybe there's a possibility for a "network" of sorts for the show. My station is called "Oldies," but it's really a Classic Hits/Classic Rock hybrid.
 
Rich, what an intriguing idea!! I wonder if Clyde would consider having his show on a network of stations that would cover the state? Imagine the possibilities?!
 
Rich Moellers said:
My station is called "Oldies," but it's really a Classic Hits/Classic Rock hybrid.
Click to expand...

And to that Rich, I must say that you've got 99.3 sounding nice musically IMO. There's enough familiar music to keep listeners happy but plenty of 'wow' type songs thrown in to keep from sounding stale. The industry needs more operators like you and less research driven, reduced playlist formats. I do agree that Beaker Street would fit and since you put a decent signal into Conway you would have another way to draw listeners from there and hopefully keep enough of them around outside of Beaker Street to get some regular clients there.
 
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