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Did music radio shoot itself in the foot by cutting back radio news?

  • Thread starter FloridaBear1776
  • Start date

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FloridaBear1776

Guest
Radio and Records quotes Arbitron VP/PPM Services Bob Michaels as saying that People Meter data shows more morning TV watching, due to more local morning TV news shows, and he called TV morning shows a major competitor to morning radio.

I recall reading, as the boom in morning local TV got underway in the early 90's, that one of the reasons news directors cited for adding morning news was "the decline in news on FM radio." Did FM news cutbacks over the last 15 years open the door for TV, especially in sub-top 50 markets?

I remember that in the 80's, the leading CHR FM in Tampa, Q-105, had TEN minutes of local news every hour, done in a fairly traditional, two-anchor style closer to that of a news-talker than a CHR, with street sound and mic flags at almost every major news event. In fact, Q-105 so owned the news image that the leading news-talker, WFLA, had to fight them for years with negative promos and billboards touting their 24-hour newsroom before they finally wrested that image away.
 
Quite possibly.

I own a suburban light rock. When we signed on in the early 80's we ran NBC news at the top of each hour & weather. Over the years we 've changed from local live to satellite, still light rock, but we've kept the top-of-the-hour network news and local weather.

Recently we had a music test in our market, followed by a focus group. Target audience of 30~49 women.

I had always wondered if we have been holding onto the past too long with our hourly news. But one of the features of our programing mentioned favorably was that we had a lot of news.

(Another interesting comment--half the group complained about high school sports, while the other half the group complained that our competitor was NOT broadcasting any of their local high school teams. The group was quite aware that we would cover some of those games. My station covers half a dozen rural counties outside the metro. While some of the AM's cover h.s. sports in the metro, we carry a "game of the week" selected from these smaller high schools...The game the Friday before the music test was a girls BB game between the HS in our COL and the HS in the COL of that competing light rock. We carried the game because the winner went onto the next state tournament level.)<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by tpt on 03/07/06 01:46 AM.</FONT></P>
 
I thought that quite a few music-formatted stations have completely eliminated "hard news", even in morning drive times.

You might hear a little celebrity/showbiz stuff and a couple of "lifestyle" items, but you probably won't hear any newscasts at all on many music-formatted stations.
 
> I thought that quite a few music-formatted stations have
> completely eliminated "hard news", even in morning drive
> times.

"Quite a few" stations are Jacks or fully sattelite driven so they effectively can't do news (although I think ABC sends its affiliates ABC News in a local optional)

Most of the smaller stations here in western Indiana seem to at least read wire copy. Most stations in the terre haute and evansville markets also seem to. But in Indianpolis, I know Hank, Jack, and Track don't do anything...I don't think Q95 or WFMS do news either, but they do traffic.

I can't think of a good excuse not to do radio news -- WSM airs 1 minute of CBS News per hour. Come on. Can't give up 1 minute per hour? Heh. That's like 5 fewer liners (for jockless stations) or one less opportunity for DJ banter per hour.

From radio news, I leared about 9-11, Peter Jennings' death, the tornadoes on 11-8-06 in Evansville, Indiana... shall I continue? People have the radio on when they don't have a TV or computer handy, and if the newscast is short enough, listeners who are there for the music won't mind. I realize affiliations with news networks usually cost money, but it isn't a lot compared to the local newsroom "of old"
 
>
> I can't think of a good excuse not to do radio news -- WSM
> airs 1 minute of CBS News per hour. Come on.

WSM-AM in Nashville? I seem to remember when I was there in August, they had Fox News at the top of the hour or is my memory slipping more than I thought?

As a guy who makes his living in news, I'm sorry to see news dissappear from many stations. But I also think for it to be effective, you've got to have the LOCAL to go with the national.

I'll hear stations that have CNN or CBS at the top of the hour in the afternoon and nothing local after it. I'm not sure what that's supposed to say to the listener. That if there's a prision break across the country, they'll hear about it but not if something happens in their town. Maybe the management of the station thinks well, they had some news that morning but how does that help me if I'm listening at 4 pm. That's just an announcement that I CAN'T depend on them to tell me when something is going on that really affects me. I can see a network only cast at the top of the hour at 3 in the morning but in afternoon drive?
 
> I thought that quite a few music-formatted stations have
> completely eliminated "hard news", even in morning drive
> times.

That's why I wondered, before listening to this focus group, if we were out of step by keeping the hourly news.

> You might hear a little celebrity/showbiz stuff and a couple
> of "lifestyle" items, but you probably won't hear any
> newscasts at all on many music-formatted stations.
>
The focus group also indicated interest in these lifestyle items.
 
Some of the ABC music (long-form) services send a newscast down in the "dead breaks." Our AC service offers this, as well as a "news hole" at the top of the hour. If you are carrying one of the services, this is part of the package.

Usually other news feeds are barter (carry their spots) so there is no extra cost.
 
> "Quite a few" stations are Jacks or fully sattelite driven
> so they effectively can't do news (although I think ABC
> sends its affiliates ABC News in a local optional)

Automation is not an excuse for having no news on a radio station. Back in the "old days" (seventies and early eighties), automated radio stations did run news because they were required to. In most cases, it was a network feed but some stations did manage to run local newscasts that were generally produced by the staff of a co-owned AM radio station in the same market. If it could be done with the crude automation equipment of that era, it should be a piece of cake with today's computer systems.

As an example, an automated station that I listed to in high school (KNWR 104.3 Bellingham, an automated Top 40 station) carried local news/weather at 0:20 and 0:50, plus a community bulletin board (public service announcements) at 0:40 during most hours of the day.

Personally, I think that the "Jack" stations would be much improved if they followed the example of that old Top 40 station. While I like much of the music that they play, I feel "out of touch" when listening to Jack -- one gets the feeling listening to them that a bomb could go off in downtown Dallas, a tornado could be about to hit in Plano, there could be accidents shutting down every major freeway in the entire metro area...and Jack would just keep on obliviously playing music. Adding some news, weather forecasts, and traffic reports would really allow them to be much more of a full service station for listeners. considering the lagging ratings, it couldn't hurt...
 
> WSM-AM in Nashville? I seem to remember when I was there
> in August, they had Fox News at the top of the hour or is my
> memory slipping more than I thought?

I think they switched over Jan. 1.


I agree that local news is better than national news. Its not worth having a 24 hour newsroom at most stations, though. And I think many places just have a news director, and they only want to work him 8 hours a day.
 
> > I thought that quite a few music-formatted stations have
> > completely eliminated "hard news", even in morning drive
> > times.
>
> "Quite a few" stations are Jacks or fully sattelite driven
> so they effectively can't do news (although I think ABC
> sends its affiliates ABC News in a local optional)
>
> Most of the smaller stations here in western Indiana seem to
> at least read wire copy. Most stations in the terre haute
> and evansville markets also seem to. But in Indianpolis, I
> know Hank, Jack, and Track don't do anything...I don't think
> Q95 or WFMS do news either, but they do traffic.
>
> I can't think of a good excuse not to do radio news -- WSM
> airs 1 minute of CBS News per hour. Come on. Can't give up
> 1 minute per hour? Heh. That's like 5 fewer liners (for
> jockless stations) or one less opportunity for DJ banter per
> hour.

I think market size and other choices must be taken into consideration. In a large market where there is a N/T or all News station, why do it. Would a N/T take a 5 minute break to play a CHR hit?

In a smaller merket where there may not be a suitable news option on the radio, then I can see it being done.
>
> From radio news, I leared about 9-11, Peter Jennings' death,
> the tornadoes on 11-8-06 in Evansville, Indiana... shall I
> continue? People have the radio on when they don't have a
> TV or computer handy, and if the newscast is short enough,
> listeners who are there for the music won't mind. I realize
> affiliations with news networks usually cost money, but it
> isn't a lot compared to the local newsroom "of old"
>
 
> I think market size and other choices must be taken into
> consideration. In a large market where there is a N/T or all
> News station, why do it. Would a N/T take a 5 minute break
> to play a CHR hit?

Just because I will not listen to Rush Limbaugh blather for three hours on the news talk station doesn't mean I don't care to be informed. Whereas if I'm listening to a news/talk station, I'm there to get news, and a CHR hit would be out of place. Also, 5 minutes for anything "out of format" is a bit much -- commercials, news, what have you.

Focus groups and consultants may disagree. That is just my opinion.
 
> I agree that local news is better than national news. Its
> not worth having a 24 hour newsroom at most stations,
> though. And I think many places just have a news director,
> and they only want to work him 8 hours a day.
>

Or maybe any kind of newsroom for that matter.
 
> > I agree that local news is better than national news. Its
>
> > not worth having a 24 hour newsroom at most stations,
> > though. And I think many places just have a news
> director,
> > and they only want to work him 8 hours a day.
> >
>
> Or maybe any kind of newsroom for that matter.
>

I most recently served as the News Director for a small cluster on Eastern Long Island. They had been running CNN newsbreaks during morning & afternoon drive, (2 minutes in the AM, 1 minute in the PM), when they brought me on board to add 1 minute of local news headlines to the AM and 30 seconds the PM, leading into the national feed. Local weather and sports reports were given by the air staff during their shifts. The local news was very well received, not only by listeners, but local advertisers and the local law enforcement community. It's an excellent way to provide a public service and presence to your listening community. For example, during the Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, we not only did stories on local relief efforts and fundraising, but how our listening area could be affected by such a natural disaster, being we are a coastal community (surrounded by water on three sides!). It helped make thosee national stories more personal to our audience. I think that stations that don't provide local news are doing a great disservice to their listeners.
 
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