Depressing

[johntherogger]

Why is it that some of the best ideas/stations come from Miami, then the owners persist in messing with the format until it literally dies a terrible painful death and we're left with crap to listen to?

Think about it.....the first concept of 939 MIA was amazing. How long has it been since we've enjoyed all those Dance hits? Heck I learned of songs in my own era i hadn't even heard of before! It sounded great and I listened nearly every day and never got tired of it......but Clear Channel did. They tuned it, turned it and messed it up to where it's a Y100 Copy

How about 97.3 The Coast? Talk about heritage and growth! Until 2010, it continued to get better and better and man...what an 80s program. BEST IN THE COUNTRY! With a DJ Like Gnarly, bringing years of knowledge into grasping listeners, how could that ever go wrong? Corporate kids who just left college, that's how. Talk about a downturn....kill the 80s, then bring back a half arsed retro that annoyed the listeners to the point where they just gave up. Now? Y-100...didn't know we really needed another one but hey...nothing like killing a legend for junk music. I guess all of us gen x'ers are too old to want a "Radio station" geared towards us eh? You'd think they were thinking we are all in our 70s or something....

Even She 103.5, as lame and typical corporate playlist as they come, was decent during it's kick off. But as time went by, it turned into mush and went back to rap.

So now what, are we left with just Lite, Magic and out of town stations/sat radio? Sad Miami, sad. Shame on you for leaving your people behind. Some of us did enjoy our stations, now we enjoy nothing.

At least they haven't killed Easy 93.1 yet....great idea, but again it's always being fined tuned. For what? We already know our music, quit with the 200 song playlist and just play them all! It's not that hard! MP3's and Pandora are doing it. Considering their rising success, isn't it time you dropped that attitude and did what the public really wants rather than trust these "consultants" of radio and data from Arbitron that really isn't as accurate in today's modern social media world as it should be?

Just some food for thought.....

Am I right here or am I just crazy being from Missouri and not understanding the "logistics" of Miami radio?

 

[ScottBurns]

John, I agree with your assesssment - especially when it comes to WMIA. As I have written here in the past, when WMIA first started as a Rhythmic AC, it was geared toward Miami. In a way, it reminded me a bit of the Power 96 of the late '80s and early '90s (perhaps without the mix shows). But as CC tweaked the station and then made it a juke box, there is nothing "Miami" about WMIA. The station could serve Omaha, and we would never know the difference. A lot of us desperately want a station that feels "Miami." Y, Hits, My, and the others do not cut it.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

Sadly, most of the country is behaving the same way. Whole formats are becoming national networks with the same 200 songs everywhere. Even to the point that Clear Channel stations of the same format in separate markets within the same region are literally sharing generated playlists, the only difference being local imaging and stopsets. No, they're not simulcasting, they're just plugging different elements and spots into the same playlist. I would not be surprised to learn that that's exactly what you're hearing on CC stations in Miami right now. Playlists generated elsewhere, catering to the lowest common denominator regardless of market differences, built for a cookie-cutter format with no flavor whatsoever. Hey, if it worked for Cume-U-Less, Pittman must have asked himself, why not Cheap Channel?

It's been horrendously depressing seeing it in Miami, too, but that's unfortunately the nature of the beast post-consolidation. We all saw this coming. Doesn't make it any less painful.

 

[TheBigA]

The internet is homogenizing local flavors. Radio can hang on to the past, or it can adapt to all the changes taking place around it.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

Bah... that effect is, frankly, a lie of an excuse. Sure, you're going to get some homogenization, but different life experiences in different locales are always going to produce different sounds and tastes in music. That's just the way it works. We can blame the Internet for a lot of things (or just accept that it's not the Internet that's at fault, it's the people who stubbornly refuse to adapt to it), but what it really comes down to is that radio isn't serving the local communities anymore, and they haven't been for at least a decade. Power 96 died the day they dropped all EDM from their playlist back in '99. They've tried to recover a few times but have never been able to pull it off. 99 Jamz has long been homogenized. WKIS? Country is country pretty much anywhere you go. Y-100 was suffering long before they fired Footy and destroyed any sense of locality that was left at the time. This just goes back to the point I've always made: you cannot run radio like you run a business (as the bankers have been trying to do ever since they bought everything up). Radio is not a business, radio is radio. If you operate a radio station as a radio station first and foremost, the business side will figure itself out (so long as you actually have people in place who know what they're doing on that end). If you operate radio like a business, you're doomed to fail. And guess what we're seeing play out right now?

 

[TheBigA]

If you operate radio like a business, you're doomed to fail. And guess what we're seeing play out right now?

Huh? When was radio NOT a business? You want radio that's NOT a business? Start your own Pandora station.

Look...I get it...you want little boutique stores rather than Wal Marts. That's fine. But radio is a mass medium. Always has been. In the 60s, you switched between WQAM and WFUN, you heard basically the exact same songs. And by the way, they were basically the same songs you'd hear on any Top 40 station in the country. That's what radio is.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

Huh? When was radio NOT a business? You want radio that's NOT a business? Start your own Pandora station.

Radio is a business in the sense that, yes, it exists to make money. Not a whole heck of a lot, but make money nonetheless. But if you operate radio as a business, with only profits and the bottom line in mind (as has been the case with bad owners since the dawn of the medium), you're going to fail, and that's happening on a mass scale right in front of our eyes. A handful of mom-and-pop operations across the country still run radio stations the way they should be run, but for the most part, we've got consolidators trying to squeeze water out of stone, and everything being complained about in this thread is the direct result. You don't run radio like a business, you run it like radio, otherwise you will fail.

Look...I get it...you want little boutique stores rather than Wal Marts. That's fine. But radio is a mass medium. Always has been. In the 60s, you switched between WQAM and WFUN, you heard basically the exact same songs. And by the way, they were basically the same songs you'd hear on any Top 40 station in the country. That's what radio is.

Mass medium does not mean homogenized. Yes, WQAM and WFUN played the same music. Then Miami became a Latin American melting pot and developed its own sound -- one which affected popular music across the country for years to come, by the way -- deserving of and creating radio stations that not only played to local tastes but were involved in the community and the very shaping of the culture surrounding that music. You're entirely wrong: Miami radio has a very distinct, very real history of being unique and standing out in the best possible ways. That's gone today, and it's a damn shame.

 

[TheBigA]

You're entirely wrong: Miami radio has a very distinct, very real history of being unique and standing out in the best possible ways. That's gone today, and it's a damn shame.

What's gone is the Miami where Anglos were the majority. Now Hispanics make up half of the population. Anglos are the minority. That is a massive population shift. It's not a melting pot. It's a very distinct population with very strong tastes. And it's changing the culture, which includes the radio.

What you're bemoaning isn't a radio problem. Radio is just a reflection of everything else.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

Don't you think that if this were happening because of a shift in population base from Anglo to Hispanic, the stations would be LESS homogenized and MORE focused on serving the changing community? I mean, if this truly wasn't a radio problem and radio were just a reflection of everything else, logically speaking, that would be the case, right?

You're only further proving my point. It is a radio problem. It is solely a radio problem. It's happening across the country.

 

[TheBigA]

Don't you think that if this were happening because of a shift in population base from Anglo to Hispanic, the stations would be LESS homogenized and MORE focused on serving the changing community?

Have you listened to the Hispanic stations?

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

Yes, I have. So, basically, the argument you're making is that, because there are Spanish-language stations, the English-language stations don't need to be local because, hey, let's face it: white people only listen to homogenized playlists, and Hispanic people only listen to Spanish-language programming.

You've been in this market for how long, exactly?

 

[TheBigA]

Yes, I have. So, basically, the argument you're making is that, because there are Spanish-language stations, the English-language stations don't need to be local

Did I say that? No.

You say stations aren't taking into account local flavor. I know a lot of people who program the radio stations in Miami. They would differ with your opinion. They spend a lot of time talking to their listeners and experimenting with different kinds of music to get an edge on the competition.

Here's one example of a study that took place a few years ago that specifically dealt with WKIS:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/27/AR2007012700448_pf.html

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

You didn't have to come right out and say it, you implied it.

It's amusing that that article comes from 2007, because country was, around that time, moving away from that old twangy sound and becoming, essentially, pop-rock with a southern lean. That was true across the board, so it's no wonder that was working with Hispanics in South Florida for WKIS. They weren't any more ahead of the curve on that than anyone else. Marketing-wise, sure, they've had to work for the listeners, but the music was already turning in that direction. Had been since the late 90's.

Look, the programmers at each individual cluster and station may be doing the most that they can with the leeway they're given, but that leeway doesn't amount to jack squat. If someone were to build a modern-day version of the 1975 Y-100, it would blow everyone else in the market out of the water. If someone were to build a modern-day version of the mid-90's Power 96, that would work just as well. That cannot and does not happen under corporate mandates from San Antonio telling you "these are the bounds for this format, and if you stray from them, you're out of here." And don't tell me that's not going on, because I know for a fact that it is.

Localism, by and large, does not happen in radio anymore, and that includes in Miami. You, yourself, made that point when you argued that mass media is equal to homogenization of playlists. I simply pointed out the cause of it and what could be done to fix it if any of the owners cared to do so. But they don't. Thus the situation in front of us right now.

 

[TheBigA]

I simply pointed out the cause of it and what could be done to fix it if any of the owners cared to do so. But they don't. Thus the situation in front of us right now.

The system is built around reaching the most people possible. Whatever does that is what they'll do. That's always been the motivation, whether it was 1975 or 1995. Get the biggest group of people who will listen to a particular style of music. No company will interfere with a station that says it can reach more people by doing something outside the company system. And there are lots of other radio companies in Miami besides Clear Channel.

I promise you that if, for example, Shaquille O'Neal took a fraction of his wealth and bought a Miami radio station, it would sound pretty much like every other Urban station in the country. Because we've already seen what happened when Magic Johnson bought radio stations. This isn't about local ownership. This is about what's popular.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

The system is built around reaching the most people possible. Whatever does that is what they'll do.

I hate to burst your bubble, but you're sorely mistaken. The system, as it is today, is built upon doing what's going to provide the most income for the least expense, and that does not equate to catering to the local listener.

No company will interfere with a station that says it can reach more people by doing something outside the company system.

HAHA! You don't want to put money down on that statement, because you'll lose that bet in a heartbeat! Cumulus does it. Clear Channel does it. CBS does it. Need I go on? You've gotta be putting me on. Either you're just trolling or you really are that clueless.

And there are lots of other radio companies in Miami besides Clear Channel.

Yes, and the other major operators are guilty of the exact things brought up at the beginning of this thread. Is Lite what it used to be? How about Coast? ...Oh, sorry; Hits. Majic still a standout oldies -- oh, I'm sorry, now classic hits -- station? How's 'KCP doing compared to the listeners and revenue WMCU used to pull in? Power still sputtering along, trying to find it's place under Jamz' shadow? How's 'QAM holding up all the way down there at the bottom of the Nielsens?

Yes, there are plenty of other radio companies in Miami besides Clear Channel, and they're all failing just as miserably.

I promise you that if, for example, Shaquille O'Neal took a fraction of his wealth and bought a Miami radio station, it would sound pretty much like every other Urban station in the country. Because we've already seen what happened when Magic Johnson bought radio stations. This isn't about local ownership. This is about what's popular.

Neither Shaquille O'Neal nor Magic Johnson have any experience in radio, let alone radio in Miami, so of course they wouldn't know how to program for Miamian audiences.

This is not about what's popular. It's about doing radio on the cheap with no regard to the audience in question. That's what the standard is today. You cannot escape that simple fact.

 

[TheBigA]

This is not about what's popular. It's about doing radio on the cheap with no regard to the audience in question. That's what the standard is today. You cannot escape that simple fact.

Oh well. I guess you know more than someone who actually works in the field. Believe what you want to believe. But my experience doesn't reflect what you're writing.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

You're assuming I haven't worked in the field, which is incorrect. I worked in radio for many years, including in Miami (where I got my start, in fact). I'm not going to put resumé up against resumé, because I don't participate in pissing matches, but suffice it to say that I know this industry inside and out, and I know Miami better than any other market I've worked in. Radio in Miami today suffers from the same problems of ownership and management that affect the entire rest of the country, and that comes down to focusing on the bottom line rather than the listener. If you can't accept that, you're stuck in a fantasy land.

 

[TheBigA]

If you can't accept that, you're stuck in a fantasy land.

Believe what you want to believe.

 

[JoshTheRadioDude]

I only believe fact.

 

[Alan Michaels]

Why is it that some of the best ideas/stations come from Miami, then the owners persist in messing with the format until it literally dies a terrible painful death and we're left with crap to listen to?

Think about it.....the first concept of 939 MIA was amazing. How long has it been since we've enjoyed all those Dance hits? Heck I learned of songs in my own era i hadn't even heard of before! It sounded great and I listened nearly every day and never got tired of it......but Clear Channel did. They tuned it, turned it and messed it up to where it's a Y100 Copy

How about 97.3 The Coast? Talk about heritage and growth! Until 2010, it continued to get better and better and man...what an 80s program. BEST IN THE COUNTRY! With a DJ Like Gnarly, bringing years of knowledge into grasping listeners, how could that ever go wrong? Corporate kids who just left college, that's how. Talk about a downturn....kill the 80s, then bring back a half arsed retro that annoyed the listeners to the point where they just gave up. Now? Y-100...didn't know we really needed another one but hey...nothing like killing a legend for junk music. I guess all of us gen x'ers are too old to want a "Radio station" geared towards us eh? You'd think they were thinking we are all in our 70s or something....

Even She 103.5, as lame and typical corporate playlist as they come, was decent during it's kick off. But as time went by, it turned into mush and went back to rap.

So now what, are we left with just Lite, Magic and out of town stations/sat radio? Sad Miami, sad. Shame on you for leaving your people behind. Some of us did enjoy our stations, now we enjoy nothing.

At least they haven't killed Easy 93.1 yet....great idea, but again it's always being fined tuned. For what? We already know our music, quit with the 200 song playlist and just play them all! It's not that hard! MP3's and Pandora are doing it. Considering their rising success, isn't it time you dropped that attitude and did what the public really wants rather than trust these "consultants" of radio and data from Arbitron that really isn't as accurate in today's modern social media world as it should be?

Just some food for thought.....

Am I right here or am I just crazy being from Missouri and not understanding the "logistics" of Miami radio?

Great comment. Gnarly Charlie's online these days with the totally awesome retro party on www.CoastRadio.us and more retro stations at www.SouthFloridaRadio.com