Demise of Renda’s 1360

[Parttimer]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

I worked at 1080 when it was WEEP (at the height of the Urban Cowboy boom in the 70's it had about a 7-share, and what's now Y-108 was "Daisy", the little sister station... Ron Antill was the FM PD).

I think 1080 has to protect Hartford if I remember correctly. It is only 50k from 9AM-3PM. From sunrise-9 and 3-sundown, known as "critical hours", it's still 25k. The big issue is that the pre- and post-sunrise authorizations are only about 10 watts. We couldn't even hear that in the studio, we had to run a land line back from the modulation monitor so that we could hear the actual on-air. The station has 4 towers out in Hampton Township, and back then the studios were downtown on 6th St. To get a real nighttime signal they would have needed 4 more towers, and the people who owned the adjoining real estate wanted absolutely stupid money for it.

This means that despite the big power, the facility's not competitive during winter drive-times. A religious format such as what they are doing now is probably the perfect fit.

 

[PGHsalesguy]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Has anyone else listened to the Steve Crowley Show on there yet? I tried to listen but had to turn it off due to hearing the same program I heard last week! I can't understand how anyone would listen to a program that is nothing more then an infomercial repeating every day or week. I'd rather hear bongo music.

 

[Boss Radio]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Tony Renda is now trying to trade out a set of bongos to prepare for the inevitable demise of WJAS.....

 

[trefdawg]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Didn't Xavier Cougot play the bongos? Oh wait no...he played the Xeilaphone by day and his wife's bongos by night ;D

 

[fromtheinsideout]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Has anyone else listened to the Steve Crowley Show on there yet? I tried to listen but had to turn it off due to hearing the same program I heard last week! I can't understand how anyone would listen to a program that is nothing more then an infomercial repeating every day or week. I'd rather hear bongo music.

I am not sure if it is the same exact program or if he just has the same two or three guests on ad infinitum. The network runs a disclaimer twice an hour saying that some of the guests either are paid to appear or have financial investments with the companies that they are plugging, so in that regard it most certainly is nothing more than a three hour infomercial.

 

[Parttimer]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

And it also appears that the some of the shows on 1360 are running at the same time on 1550 (another of this board's favorite dead horses). So obviously this stuff is really cheap, maybe totally free, at least in terms of real dollars.

 

[argentarius]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Yeah, I especially appreciate that "Skuba Radio" program they are running on Saturday afternoons, simultaneously with 1550. I'm a real business wiz after listening to that!

The Crowley show is an informercial. The Lou Dobbs program is also run on 1550, as is the Michael Dressler show that they run on the weekends.

I listened to the local 3-6 show a few days this week. Morris is pompous and full of himself, but at least he can speak. Those two who were on yesterday from Duquesne University were beyond dreadful and it took them FOUR tries to get a caller on. They kept hanging up on him, and he had to keep calling back. Isn't anyone giving these so-called hosts any on-air training at all???

This station is a disaster, and although I think Morris is sincere about trying to make it work, I seriously doubt it will be around in a year. Renda will be fondly remembering the ratings he got with Hoerth and Cullen.

 

[Parttimer]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Renda will be fondly remembering the ratings he got with Hoerth and Cullen.

I respectfully disagree. They were losing money, this will at least lose less.

 

[BlinkyDink]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Argentarius: As to your assessment of Ron Morris, I agree he's full of himself. But "he can speak...?" PUHLEEZE! The man sounds like he has a mouth full of marbles. Look, I don't mean to make fun of something about which he can't help. But its hard for me to listen to a broadcaster whose very voice is offensive.

But take my bitterness with a grain of salt. I've been roaming the AM dial looking for a modicum of sanity and, heaven forbid, an alternative voice to the right-wing trash that permeates the Pittsburgh air waves since the demise of Cullen and company. KD had such a rich heritage. It pains me to listen to that station now. Talk about squandering fifty thousand non-directional watts! What tripe! Its a constant drum-beat of unintelligent, right-wing, neocon, Republican, crap! And where did they find this Kevin Miller? OMG, what a dumb jerk! Who IS this guy? To make matters worse he seems to be on every time I turn on the radio.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Renda, for taking away the last remnant of intelligent, Progressive radio in Pittsburgh. I despair.......

 

[Biz Listener]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

I've been roaming the AM dial looking for a modicum of sanity and, heaven forbid, an alternative voice to the right-wing trash that permeates the Pittsburgh air waves since the demise of Cullen and company. KD had such a rich heritage. It pains me to listen to that station now. Talk about squandering fifty thousand non-directional watts! What tripe! Its a constant drum-beat of unintelligent, right-wing, neocon, Republican, crap! And where did they find this Kevin Miller? OMG, what a dumb jerk! Who IS this guy? To make matters worse he seems to be on every time I turn on the radio.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Renda, for taking away the last remnant of intelligent, Progressive radio in Pittsburgh. I despair.......

No wonder you're having a problem. Anyone who scans the AM dial in the year 2008 expecting to find sanity needs to have his own sanity checked. Why would anyone in their right mind turn to the AM dial in the year 2008? Does your radio not have an FM band? Can't you pick up WDUQ? Is your computer broken? If you want liberal opinions, read the Post-Gazette. Pick any page other than sports or the real estate ads, you'll find all the liberal content you could ever want.

Is your television broken or your cable service out? There are plenty of liberal voices on television.

When people whine about not being able to hear what they want to hear on AM radio in 2008, I'm reminded of the vegetarian who whines about there not being enough fresh produce at the local butcher shop. I'm reminded of the Top 40 fans who whine that there are no good music stations on AM any more.

Face the facts. AM radio is a short step away from joining analog broadcast television on the ash heap of history. The AM frequency band will soon (as in within a decade or two) be taken away from terrestrial broadcasting and assigned to some other use. So get used to it. I suggest you go to your local Isaly's, order a skyscraper cone, and read the Pittsburgh Press.

 

[fromtheinsideout]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Renda will be fondly remembering the ratings he got with Hoerth and Cullen.

I respectfully disagree. They were losing money, this will at least lose less.

On teh contrary, this won't lose money at all. Ron Morris is buying 17.5 hours of airtime a week, that is a nice chunk of change if you can get it. The ratings are completely secondary. It is akin to the guys running brokered programming caring all that much if the Dr. McQuack buying airtime seels a single bottle of his miracle cure all, the only thing that is relevant is if the check clears. The rest of the programming is free, so your costs are minimal at best. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of that other programming get replaced with brokered programming as soon as Tony Renda can find buyers for it as well.

 

[Parttimer]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

What a lot of people don't get is that ratings don't matter unless they're good. What I mean by that is that you can sell ratings if you're in the top 5 in a demo... for instance, all LTJ ever cared about was women 25-54. Even though WPTT had a 1 share 12+ and this will not even show, that 1-share was useless, didn't bring you a dime (in fact it hurt you because it PROVED no one was listening).

In this case you're selling to people who just want an outlet for their information. It's an alternative to renting an office somewhere or trying to drive business via the web.

 

[Biz Listener]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

It is akin to the guys running brokered programming caring all that much if the Dr. McQuack buying airtime seels a single bottle of his miracle cure all, the only thing that is relevant is if the check clears.

When your business is based upon a certain customer remaining your customer, then you should be paying some attention to whether or not that customer is going to go bankrupt. Given that there are a finite number of hours in a day that a brokered station can sell, if you have some snake oil salesman buying an hour a day from you every weekday on a Daytime AM station, that's 6% of your saleable inventory. (That's based on an annual average of 12 hours a day). As tight as profit margins can be on many brokered time stations, a smart station owner should care very much how successful his customers are because if they go down the tubes, he's going to need to find someone to replace them.

 

[BlinkyDink]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

No wonder you're having a problem. Anyone who scans the AM dial in the year 2008 expecting to find sanity needs to have his own sanity checked. Why would anyone in their right mind turn to the AM dial in the year 2008? Does your radio not have an FM band? Can't you pick up WDUQ? Is your computer broken? If you want liberal opinions, read the Post-Gazette. Pick any page other than sports or the real estate ads, you'll find all the liberal content you could ever want.

Is your television broken or your cable service out? There are plenty of liberal voices on television.

When people whine about not being able to hear what they want to hear on AM radio in 2008, I'm reminded of the vegetarian who whines about there not being enough fresh produce at the local butcher shop. I'm reminded of the Top 40 fans who whine that there are no good music stations on AM any more.

Face the facts. AM radio is a short step away from joining analog broadcast television on the ash heap of history. The AM frequency band will soon (as in within a decade or two) be taken away from terrestrial broadcasting and assigned to some other use. So get used to it. I suggest you go to your local Isaly's, order a skyscraper cone, and read the Pittsburgh Press.



[/quote]

You're right. I understand what you're saying. I do listen to DUQ strictly for NPR and news. But I can't stand Jazz (nor most music, save for 60's and 70's oldies) so that pretty much leaves me with DUQ on the weekends. As for FM....What? You want me to listen to the likes of Quinn? That station makes KD sound like a Harvard Law Shool study group. And yes, I know I can read the PG and get some balanced opinion. But I read the paper for news, not political discourse. Your point is well taken and I don't mean to dismiss it. I could have articulated my thoughts better. What I'm lamenting is the loss of the last vestige of lefty chat on the radio. I've tried listening to Air America for instance, on the computer. But it just isn't the same. For one thing, it's not about local issues. I'm old enough to remember the days of the Fairness Doctrine and the atmosphere of broadcast equailty that it engendered. And yes, I know that talk radio wasn't as contentious back then, but I miss the likes of Merle Polis and Ted Payne for instance. They were from fairly opposite points of view and yet resided on the same station. There's wasted talent right here that I wish some station would pik up. Even Cullen's fill-ins when she was off were pretty good...John MacIntyre, guys named Tony, Phil, Clare, (whose last names I can't remember) David Deangelos, a blogger, and others. I know, I know. It didn't then and wouldn't now make money. I get it. That doesn't mean I have to like it. I miss being able to hear my Progressive point of view coming out of the speaker.

 

[Parttimer]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

if they go down the tubes, he's going to need to find someone to replace them.

And it might take him 10 minutes. There are a gazillion of these shows out there.

 

[pocket-radio]

Ron Morris is buying 17.5 hours of airtime a week, that is a nice chunk of change if you can get it.

You're not talking about a station that's #1 I mean how much can it be for a dog with fleas. What $3,000.00 a month? it's nothing. Ok they found a real sucker.
$10,000.00 and it's still nothing. it still cost plenty just keeping the tranmitter on and the doors open.

 

[fromtheinsideout]

Re: Demise of Renda’s 1360

Ron Morris is buying 17.5 hours of airtime a week, that is a nice chunk of change if you can get it.

You're not talking about a station that's #1 I mean how much can it be for a dog with fleas. What $3,000.00 a month? it's nothing. Ok they found a real sucker.
$10,000.00 and it's still nothing. it still cost plenty just keeping the tranmitter on and the doors open.

I grant you there is a cost to transmitter maintainance, but you are running with two full time and a couple of part time employees. Your program director and your engineer are the same for all three stations, so you have those costs whether you have two or three stations. Trust me, they aren't spending anything on PTT. Tony gets a check (or two or three or more if they can broker time, they are now running promos to that effect that you can do your own radio show) and gives it the same amount of attention and promotion he did before when he way laying out cash for air talent, which is none.