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Doug Spak out at Radio One Cincinnati

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Does this mean Radio One is already regretting changing 100.3 to sports?

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/tv/2013/04/30/doug-spak-fired-by-radio-one/

From John Kisewetter


Doug Spak, market manager/general manager for the The Wiz (WIZF-FM, 101.1) , The Buzz (WDBZ-AM, 1230) and the new Fan sports talk station WCFN-FM 100.3) , was fired yesterday by Radio One.

Spak had pulled the plug on the R&B “MOJO” format for 100.3 in November, and replaced it with FM sports talk in January with CBS Sports Radio, Tom Gamble (mornings) and Richard Skinner (afternoons). “The Fan” was last in March ratings, although Gamble’s morning show beat Fox’s Andy Furman-Artrell Hawkins national morning show here on WSAI-AM (1360) in male demographics.
 
Wasn't the change a corporate decision? I cannot imagine them allowing something so critical to local management. I also cannot believe that R O would react so quickly. Look how long it's taking their Houston FM Talk station to "click". That is what having too much debt will do to you.
Look at the stupid deal with Clear Channel, down south. Dumped talk, 7 months or so later, they picked it back up again.
 
Funny thing is, Mojo had a 2 share with Mojo with Pat Berry in morning drive. It was cheap to run and they would've kept all of those listeners from switching their dial to 103.5, making them #1 for the first time since they went on the air. I just think if you are going to launch the format in a market with two sports station's you need to have a local lineup from 6AM to 6PM.

R1 should stick it out and build around the two local shows they have.
 
A local lineup from morning till night wouldn't happen, no matter who owned the station. If SuperTalk 96.5 had switched to all-sports, instead of going with 96ROCK in 2007, they might've had a shot. They had Andy Furman, Paul (The Fish) Sturgeon, the Two Angry Guys, and some play-by-play (though the Cyclones and Miami Redhawks probably weren't ratings draws). And on the 96.5 signal they might've had a shot at grabbing the Bengals rights after 2010, or the Reds or Xavier, both whom just re-upped with Clear Channel.
 
And do tons of local promotion - get out of the studio and, last time I looked, there were other sports bars besides Dickman's. Plus, it might help selling a spot of two.
 
billf82 said:
A local lineup from morning till night wouldn't happen, no matter who owned the station. If SuperTalk 96.5 had switched to all-sports, instead of going with 96ROCK in 2007, they might've had a shot. They had Andy Furman, Paul (The Fish) Sturgeon, the Two Angry Guys, and some play-by-play (though the Cyclones and Miami Redhawks probably weren't ratings draws). And on the 96.5 signal they might've had a shot at grabbing the Bengals rights after 2010, or the Reds or Xavier, both whom just re-upped with Clear Channel.
Click to expand...
I can't ever see the Reds leaving 700 WLW. EVER.
 
ToddyO said:
And do tons of local promotion - get out of the studio and, last time I looked, there were other sports bars besides Dickman's. Plus, it might help selling a spot of two.
Click to expand...

The Fan did their Reds' Opening Day remote from Arnie's in Newport. I think they're at Dickmann's all the time because Tom Gamble has some sort of connection. Same thing happened when he and Skinner were on 96.5 years ago.
 
billf82 said:
ToddyO said:
And do tons of local promotion - get out of the studio and, last time I looked, there were other sports bars besides Dickman's. Plus, it might help selling a spot of two.
Click to expand...

The Fan did their Reds' Opening Day remote from Arnie's in Newport. I think they're at Dickmann's all the time because Tom Gamble has some sort of connection. Same thing happened when he and Skinner were on 96.5 years ago.
Click to expand...

Someone at the Fan ought to find a connection to a place in the Banks because that's the place to be now. What better way to promote yourself to local sports fans than having a presence right outside Great American or Paul Brown before or after a game?
 
You hate to see anyone lose their job. It will be interesting what kind of plans Radio One has for the Fan.
Will they stick with the All Sports format? If they do will there be changes in the programming?

I wish the cluster well and I believe Lincoln Ware is one of the major radio players in the market and Radio One is lucky to have him.
Just think what kind of audience he would have if he was on WLW or WKRC.
 
Maybe the plan is to move the sports format over to 1230 and then move WDBZ to 100.3. The urban talk format would probably do better billing and ratings on FM. 1230 was BOB2 syndicated sports back in the 90's and had better ratings than WCFN does currently. Heck, WDBZ has a 1.0 share which isn't bad on that signal.
 
Play the role of Program Director for a bit. Would you make any program changes or add certain program elements?
It is true the station lacks direction.

The Fan needs more direction. There needs a lot more marketing and also they need to be everywhere out on the road this summer.

1360 WSAI is a waste the way it is run. 1530 WCKY is also missing several opportunities to shut the door on anyone competing against them.

I want the FAN to work. The discovery of former Reds Joe Price is a Home Run.
I am interested in your input.
 
I would add local sports updates at the top of the hour. I would also have News for Guys segments in which the anchor could comment on what the hot Celeb News is of the day. Make it humorous and relatable to the target audience. Have fun with the format.

Next, I would have as many live broadcasts as possible at more than one venue. Give away Reds tickets and other prizes through out the baseball season. They could do this all year. Finally, be active on social media which they are doing to some degree. I don't know if they are successful or not as community building does not happen over night.

I just don't think you can plug into a national Sports format in a market like Cincinnati and have instant ratings. Radio One is going to have to spend some money on the station, like hiring more on air talent, if they are serious about knocking down Clear Channel Cincinnati.
 
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