End of local talk radio?

[Don62]

Here's results of an email exchange I had with a prominent local radio host in a major Top 20 market. The guy is a talk radio and radio veteran.

Is he right? The days of great talk radio are over? Replaced by bean counters who only want numbers?

I wrote:

> ----,
>
> Thanks for your response. I really appreciate you taking time to respond to listener emails.
>
> I do enjoy your show and do listen to the other satellite-fed shows on your station.
>
> But if -[ station call letters ] - goes back to all syndicated talk shows, all the time outside of a.m. drive, I won't listen.
> Anyone can program a station that way.
>
> BTW, I'm not shy in expressing my opinions to other stations that have little if any local talk programming, such as _[ competitor station ] , though they likely don't care anymore. It's only ratings and costs.
> Look at WIOD in Miami, a formerly heritage talk station that launched the careers of Larry King. It's all syndicated during the day outside of a morning news program. There's not one local daily talk show.
>
> And then the "oldies" stations, if they're around anymore, seem to sneer at any "real oldies" from the 50s or 60s.
>
> I recall hearing talk stations in the past- during the 80s and 90s - that did have syndicated shows such as Rush during the day and Larry King or Tom Snyder at night. But they had a good lineup of local hosts discussing local, state and national issues, as ---- Now, it's totally syndicated. Not much variety there.
>
> I guess I need to buy XM or Sirius.
>
> BTW, I'm 44.

HOST'S REPLY... [ emphasis mine ]
Don't waste your money. All the same syndicated shows are there, too. Radio as we knew it is over, my friend. Outside of what meduim and large local morning shows are left around the country, it's over.

 

[hammondo]

Yup. The satellite radio station all fits in a closet. It makes a profit. A profit is good.

However, the rest of the building is full of cars with fins, Julius Caesar, Eddie Cantor, Mutt & Jeff, Dinosaurs, 77 Sunset Strip, Joe Stalin, animal fur coats, Hedda Hopper, sun bathing, Schwinn Bikes, Hopalong Cassidy, Castor Oil, Franklyn MacCormack, Edsels, Al Jolson, Packards, Hudsons and Nash Ramblers, King Herod, Willys, Howdy Doody, LaSalle cars, Little Orphan Annie, running boards, push lawn mowers, surgery using a knife or a saw, As the World Turns, Gas at 29 cents a gallon, The Fugitive, 8 track players, John Wilkes Booth, Victrola phonographs and 78rpm records, Garry Moore and Durward Kirby, The Tucker car, Steve Canyon, Saddam Hussein, The DuMont Network, Rudy Kazootie, coal heat in homes, ice boxes, Dave Garroway, smoking cigarettes, Rudolph Valentino, Borsalino men's hats, Arthur Godfrey and his announcer Tony Marvin, white wigs for men, Lenin, a 1949 Calendar, Geography books prior to satellite mapping, Nancy and Sluggo, Lee Harvey Oswald, Mutual Radio, Astronomy books prior to Space exploration, John Lennon, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Gas at a dollar a gallon, The Charleston, Flash Gordon and Emporer Ming, Dreft Detergent, Wild Bill Hickock, trolley driven buses, HV Kaltenborn, Pontius Pilate, cities with 2 daily newspapers, American Bandstand, Felix the Cat, The Black Bottom, DOS, the abacus, The Price is Right, the slide rule, the Hully Gully, Hitler, Bosco, Telephone Booths, fountain pens, straw hats, Brenda Starr, Phil Donahue, saddle shoes, The Secret Storm, Chicken Delight, Charles Schultz, Sambo's, Arthur Treacher's, Montgomery Wards, Mussolini, The Watusi, The St. Louis Browns, Ruff n' Reddy, Korvette's, Marshall Fields, S&H Green Stamps, Burns and Allen and their announcer, Harry Von Zell, Schlitz Beer, The Edge of Night, The Mashed Potato, Burger Chef, The PTL Club, and their announcer, Uncle Henry, That Was the Week that Was, Bat Masterson, The Freddie, December Bride, Pinky Lee, Johnny Carson, women wearing hats, Mike Douglas and Ed Sullivan, The Minuet, Amos and An....

WAIT...... - it's an ANTIQUE MUSEUM.

Times Change. Either grow learn, adapt, and get over it - or become a museum piece, yourself.

 

[Don62]

Yup. The satellite radio station all fits in a closet. It makes a profit. A profit is good.
WAIT...... - it's an ANTIQUE MUSEUM.
Times Change. Either grow learn, adapt, and get over it - or become a museum piece, yourself.

Wow. Equating broadcasting and radio announcing - real broadcasting - as something old-fashioned and no longer practiced.

And I thought listeners might like real announcers, not some piped-in programming.

A shooter is on the loose in the major metro area and all the leading local NT station can offer is Hannity whining about how we need to follow the Commander in Chief to our deahts in Iraq on tape-delay. Wow. What creative listener-based programming.

So I guess money is all that's important in this business- not programming to an audience and serving a community or city of license.

What's next? Outsourcing of news people? Outsourcing of sales?

How come these greedy owners can't be outsourced?

 

[KeithE4]

Wow. Equating broadcasting and radio announcing - real broadcasting - as something old-fashioned and no longer practiced.

If you want something really old-fashioned, look at radio schedules pre-1955 or so. I'm willing to bet that outside of the largest markets, 80-90% of radio programming was from the CBS, Mutual, NBC (Red), and ABC/NBC Blue networks. Full-time "local" radio being the norm is a relative anomaly (roughly 1955-80) outside of major markets. Sorry, but the era of the disk jockey is long gone and the local talk-host is going away but won't disappear completely.

And I thought listeners might like real announcers, not some piped-in programming.

They still do, but only in drive times. Outside of that, people are either at work and can't listen or are not listening to talk radio, Limbaugh & Hannity being exceptions to that rule. But even the syndicated shows have their audiences, notably NPR, Salem, & Air America.

A shooter is on the loose in the major metro area and all the leading local NT station can offer is Hannity whining about how we need to follow the Commander in Chief to our deahts in Iraq on tape-delay. Wow. What creative listener-based programming.

TV does a much better job of providing that kind of news coverage.

So I guess money is all that's important in this business- not programming to an audience and serving a community or city of license.

If the station's owner is a publicly-traded company, they're mandated by federal law to make as much money for their stockholders as possible. A privately-owned station can do what it wishes, but I'll guess that the private owner also wants to make a good buck from his station. Business exist for exactly one reason, and SEC regulations and corporate law trump the FCC's "public interest, convenience, & necessity" statements. And that doesn't mean they can't coexist.

What's next? Outsourcing of news people? Outsourcing of sales?

Some stations already do that.

How come these greedy owners can't be outsourced?

See above. If the owner's making money, that's all that matters to him. Sorry, but that's just the way any business is, whether it's broadcasting or selling burgers. That's why it's called "business," not "charity." Even non-comms have to at least break even if they want to stay on the air.

 

[Don62]

A shooter is on the loose in the major metro area and all the leading local NT station can offer is Hannity whining about how we need to follow the Commander in Chief to our deahts in Iraq on tape-delay. Wow. What creative listener-based programming.

TV does a much better job of providing that kind of news coverage.

So I guess the so-called News-Talk stations have to reliinquish that title. After all, they'd rather run tape-delayed shows of Hannity and Levin instead of giving their listeners up to date talk and coverage of such events.

Is this crazy or what?

Some NT stations do have local p.m. drive hosts.

It's really galling that metro areas like Tampa and Miami - where Clear Channel dominates - do not have even one drive time host. Tampa has zero local shows outside of morning news.

KRMG Tulsa - a 50,000 watt monster signal - is entirely syndicated outside of morning news, thanks to Cox.
What a waste of a city grade signal. Most PDs would shudder at such a thought. What kind of special talent does it take to be a so-called PD of such a wasted station?

So the idea is to choke up a schedule with as much syndicated crap as possible?

You think people only want to hear Hannity's bellyaching?
That's chicken sh-- programming.

You radio corporate robber apologists can defend them all you want.
However, listeners, hosts, call screeners, producers, news people, traffic, sales, and many other people would likely take the non-mega ownership's side on this issue.

We'd better close the broadcasting schools and curricula at colleges since future workers likely won't be needed. At least ones that can talk and engage an audience.

 

[Radio_Realist]

So I guess the so-called News-Talk stations have to reliinquish that title.

Not at all. On news/talk stations, people talk about things that are in the news. On sports/talk stations, they talk about sports. Sports/talk stations don't have to carry play-by-play accounts of games. Why should a news/talk station have to have local staff to report local news?

The simple truth is that there are almost no reporters covering local news on any radio stations in any market. Any reporter who is any good is simply too expensive.

We'd better close the broadcasting schools and curricula at colleges since future workers likely won't be needed. At least ones that can talk and engage an audience.

Why? As long as the colleges and broadcasting schools can continue to trick kids into taking out student loans to pay the tuition, what does it matter if there are jobs for the graduates or not? Colleges still have curricula for people studying to become poets. Have you looked on Monster.com lately? There are no openings for poets.

 

[Don62]

Though the following is only someone's opinion, it comes from someone who used to work for Cheap Channel.
Look at how big corps. such as they have ruined radio.

Radio ownership limits need to be tightened.

[size=10pt]I used to work at Newsradio 970 WFLA in Tampa, and used to know (on a professional level) Todd Schnitt, though I knew him as the immature punk MJ from mornings on 93-3 WFLZ. When Cheap Channel (oh, excuse me...I mean Clear Channel) put him on the air in Jaunary, I thought It was just a joke, but boy was I wrong. After all, why would a respected heritage news/talker like 970 WFLA put a Top 40 dips**t on during afternoon drive? Answer: they probably got him cheap.

Without knowing any specifics of Schnitt's situation, but knowing intimately the workings of Cheap Channel (oh crap, there I go again), I figure they're probably giving him an additional $5-6K a year for the additional workload. That way, they don't have to bring a new, talented employee into the organization, with the additional benefits package, 401K payments, etc. With Cheap Channel, it's all about he money. To hell with good radio, it's profit. Not that I have a problem with profit, but when C.C. bought 970 WFLA's previous owner, the late, great Jacor Communications, "good" radio went out the door, and corporate radio became the order of the day.

You folks who listen to 540 WFLA in Orlando...you may or may not realize it, but your newscasts are written and recorded in Tampa, at 970 WFLA. 540 has a couple of reporters, but for the most part your news is done by folks in Tampa. That's how Cheap Channel does it...with it's Prophet automation system and it's Wide Area Network, the company can demand more work from fewer people and get the same coverage. Have you noticed how the same DJ or newsman is on C.C. stations in several diffreent markets? It's called voicetracking, and it's extensively used in the company. The news on Cheap Channel stations in Lexington, KY, is recorded and written by Cheap Channel newspeople at WHAS in Louisville. The afternoon drive DJ on the C.C. oldies station in Pocatello, ID, is in Boise, where he voicetracks for about eight stations across the West (or at least that's how it was when I was working out there). The same goes for C.C. stations across the land...it's one thing to have a talk host in syndication, but haven't you ever wondered why the DJ at the C.C. station you listen to at work isn't saying anything about the gully washer of a thunderstorm that's raging outside? Maybe it's because the show you're listening to was recorded two days ago by a DJ in another state.

Yes, I am a disgruntled former employee. Jacor was a great company...it was a radio company. Radio is all Jacor did. But they were gobbled up by Cheap Channel in mid-1999 (which I believe at it's roots is a cable and broadcast TV company, and which has no understanding of what makes for good radio), and it's been downhill since. That really pi**es me off, not only because I watched job prospects in my chosen career field become fewer and fewer, but also because I just plain love radio.
...
Anyway, sorry about going into such length, but if Schnitt is going bye-bye, it can only be a good thing. Of course, Cheap Channel will just find the lowest bidder, and the quailty of programming at 970 WFLA will continue to decline.[/size]

 

[Faraway]

If the person you "quote" really did work for WFLA they would have some familiarity with MJ Kelli/Todd Schnitt and know that there's is NO WAY he'd ever "work cheap." My guess is between WFLA (and WIOD) he's making DEEP into six figures. That ain't cheap, Donny. But well worth it if you saw his ratings. And last I checked, the radio hierarchy at Clear Channel all came from Jacor. Guess that kind of blows his theory, huh?

Didn't WWBA have a mostly local line-up..how'd it do against WFLA? And how'd WWBA do after they lost syndcated Hannity and put on a LOCAL show. What did they replace that LOCAL show with? In Miami, how did that mostly local with BIG news shop <yuk, yuk, yuk> WFTL do against WIOD (which actually has a real news department). Last I heard they are all sndicated with no real news department. Guess that all local thing didn't pan out as planned.

Don, your position that because it's syndicated it can't be as good as local is your opinion, but no more. That you have this obsession with WFLA and WIOD is interesting - and IN MY OPINION - lowers the credibility of your position. I think you should be able to find better "targets", especially since both of these stations have, by almost any standard, have good sized and well regarded news departments who seem to care a great deal about serving their communities.

 

[Don62]

Don, your position that because it's syndicated it can't be as good as local is your opinion, but no more. That you have this obsession with WFLA and WIOD is interesting - and IN MY OPINION - lowers the credibility of your position. I think you should be able to find better "targets", especially since both of these stations have, by almost any standard, have good sized and well regarded news departments who seem to care a great deal about serving their communities.

They're supposedly talk stations with absolutely zero local talk.

And I'm the one you have a problem with?

Then they should get rid of their talk monikor.

In Tampa, WWBA, BTW, doesn't even have 5kw of signal. Cheapo Channel - because it has the biggest pockebook - owns the most powerful AM stations in the market. They shouldn't have the power over a market's talk radio

Tell us where you work. WIOD? CC?

It's still BS programming. Programming anyone can do. Just bring in a big national host.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing local. It's other markets as well. Radio is run on the cheap, for the cheap.
And look how mediocre it sounds.


What a joke.

 

[Radio_Realist]

They're supposedly talk stations with absolutely zero local talk.

So? How many local music stations actually have local musicians performing live in the studio? How many local music stations actually play recordings by "local" musicians, other than stations in New York, LA, Detroit, or Nashville?

What's the big deal about "local"? How many interesting topics are there in any city to fill two or three hours of news/talk?

Presumably you are from Tampa. Pray tell, what are the hot local topics in the local news in Tampa today that a local talk host should be talking about for three hours? What important and/or interesting things are going on in the news in Tampa that aren't being talked about on the air that should be talked about today, June 1, 2007?

 

[Don62]

They're supposedly talk stations with absolutely zero local talk.

So? How many local music stations actually have local musicians performing live in the studio? How many local music stations actually play recordings by "local" musicians, other than stations in New York, LA, Detroit, or Nashville?

What's the big deal about "local"? How many interesting topics are there in any city to fill two or three hours of news/talk?

Presumably you are from Tampa. Pray tell, what are the hot local topics in the local news in Tampa today that a local talk host should be talking about for three hours? What important and/or interesting things are going on in the news in Tampa that aren't being talked about on the air that should be talked about today, June 1, 2007?

So a Top 20 market - ruled by Cheap Channel - can't even afford to pay a local host?
Should we shed tears for the media giant?

There are many topics ready to discuss. All topics don't have to be purely local topics.
Local hosts discuss national issues and local issues.

You must not listen to local talk radio much. I travel a lot and hear many stations such as WOR, KOA, KMBZ, KMOX, etc.

It's radio, pal. It takes work to develop talent and hold an audience.

Creative programmers and hosts can do their magic.

Tell me otherwise.


Crap Channel can't. They have their noses deep in the anuses and care only about what costs the less.

I've read reports online of how Crap Channel butchered WFLA. Bullying and firing Bob Lassiter so they could bring in syndicated shows. Now the station has zero local hosts.

WIOD- that's a startup talker like WWBA? Right?
WIOD hasn't really done talk radio has it? No one ever heard of Larry King, Sally Jesse Bland or Randi Rhodes?

It's a heritage station that's gone to the toilet in its talk programming.

I like what I read elsewhere online.

.[size=10pt][size=10pt][size=10pt][size=10pt] I can't wait to get my new truck with an XM radio, so I don't have to listen to lame corporate broadcast radio anymore. Cheap Channel, Citadel, Infinity, Cox...you all suck. You've destroyed radio.
[/size][/size][/size][/size]

You think radio shouldn't be live and local?
What kind of Crap Channel kool aid are you drinking?

Then why not go to XM? What makes radio special anymore?

I guess you're part of the problem why radio sucks these days.

 

[Radio_Realist]

There are many topics ready to discuss. All topics don't have to be purely local topics. Local hosts discuss national issues and local issues.

Ok, then what are those "many" local topics are in the news in Tampa today that would fill one half of a three hour show? If local is so great, but yet the local host can also talk about some national issues, he should still have some local content. What local issues are not being discussed on Tampa talk radio that should be discussed?

And, what unemployed local hosts are currently out of work in Tampa? Remember, you're advocating local hosts. Hiring some guy from Cleveland or Spokane to come work in Tampa isn't putting a local host on the air. Bringing someone in from out of town to work out of a studio in town isn't local broadcasting. If a station brings someone in from out of town, it doesn't much matter if they sit in a local studio or sit in a distant studio. Someone who isn't local, isn't local.

So, tell us, what talented local talk host talent is unemployed in Tampa, Florida right now?

And what of the other issue I raised? Why is it that talk stations are expected to have local talent on the air, when no one expects music format stations to use local talent? Why should a talk station have to have several hours a day of local content but it's OK for a music format station to have no local content at all, aside from 2 or 3 minutes an hour of a DJ reading liner cards?

 

[Don62]

Music stations are completely different from talk radio. Most people understand this.

I find it amazing the largest owner of radio stations can't afford to pry one penny loose from its razor thin pocketbook to hire local hosts.

It's like a newspaper only running wire copy. Makes for weak content.

Just fill the station with satellite programming. Take the easy way. Don't work at it. That's smart PD'ing. Right.

I'd like to hear from other radio pro's here. Other News-Talk (real news talk) pros here who know how to run an operation. I doubt many of them would take the money and run route.


I never said I lived in a certain city. I travel to many cities and hear many different radio stations.
I use Tampa as an example because Crap Ch. practically owns the AM talk market.

About radio talent, I'm sure there are more on-air hosts out there than you arrogantly suggest.
You don't have a monopoly on radio talent.

For full disclosure, I'd like you to tell us if you work for Crap Channel. You sound like a spokesperson there.

 

[hammondo]

The question was asked..."How come these greedy owners can't be outsourced?"

Here's why; It's all LEGAL and quite EASY to make money in radio, unless you're stupid.

Real my boy,

I have a BA in Communications, an MA in Marketing and a MA in Theology.

My most favorite radio in the WORLD is WGN (nobody beats them- i've been a listener for 45 years), followed by KMOX. i love St. Louis, and lived there 10 years. Both of them KNOW HOW to make MONEY.

Somebody says;
"A shooter is on the loose in the major metro area and all the leading local NT station can offer is Hannity whining about how we need to follow the Commander in Chief to our deahts in Iraq on tape-delay."

Now THAT is an owner who is an idiot. I would have a qualified person there for news, and production - and the station has police sources. Problem solved - even in the rimshot and small markets I owned (the police chief was a college friend and the mayor was a friend of my dad).

Anothe guy says; "And I thought listeners might like real announcers, not some piped-in programming."

Um...It IS 2007, right? Just wait til Mr. Zell the new owner, gets done with WGN. Better aircheck them now.

Next time you're in Chicago, try 560, WIND (Salem). It sounds like wgn will in about 5 years. On WIND, ONLY the morning show is local. It really sounds quite good (I'll grant you it's NO present WGN!) but the spot load is "a lot." WGN now pays 10 people for what WIND does with 3 or 4.

Look, YOU and I are geeks. To someone out of radio, they could CARE LESS if the announcer is down the street or ON THE MOON! In 1984 My weather was done 900 miles from my radio stations - and people wold stop by to want to say HI to Joe Rao in my "radar rom"

Careful choice of words dept.: Poor Don (who isn't interested in money) says;
"So I guess money is all that's important in this business- not programming to an audience and serving a community or city of license."

The answer Don, is YES, money IS all that's important! If it was LESS important - EVERY station would be local and live and have LOCAL NEWS.

Didn't they teach you in school that "Money runs things?" After 57 years of living, I'd rather have it than be without it.

I didn't make the rules.

By the way, I have an active conscience, and am quite PROUD of my accomplishments. To be a productive citizen and to fix my taxes, about 33% of what I make goes to 4 of my favorite Charities. I tithe in my Parish, and give LOTS of time, too.

Just this past week I got rid of my Chicago Tribune Stock, that I purchased for $3.60 a share in 1962 and SOLD this past week for a bit over $37.00 a share. In 1985 I sold 4 radio stations for 1.3 million, after a total investment of about 265k.

I'm in to "serving the community" with sponsored local news and weather (or it's GONE). My stations had a professional meteorolgist do the weather 4 times an hour. We made roughly 300% profit when 60% of the 'casts were sponsored. My "info" station had a 29% share, it's sister fm a/c had about 13%, in a distant Chicago suburb.

Someone mentioned Outsourcing of news people? We did that too. A local newspaper 35 miles away did a (city) report with 6 sponsors twice daily.

The sale of my 4 stations allow me (27 years later) a fat bank account to support a ministry job that's a "hobby", to put my 2 gorgeous daughters through great colleges, and LIVE off the interest. I've been married to the same patient woman since 1977.

WHY NOT? I worked hard (got up at 3:30 am frtom 1973-85) I EARNED IT. I'm not greedy (ask my wife!)- only Blessed!

PS When we sold the radio business to a doctor (a doctor; YOU talk about profit!) we took a year vacation, then bought 2 funeral homes.

In the funeral business (unless you work with poor people - about 20% of my business/they are on payments) 300% profit IS THE NORM. You talk about money! A casket that you sell for a thousand dollars cost me about $280. The guy I bought the businesses from did not even discount when his BROTHERS died!

You can do it too. I'm not stopping you. I wish you the best!

 

[Slant]

I'm for GOOD Radio which isn't always local talent. I will happilly take Hannity over a local hack any day. Same with music radio. I would prefer hearing a solid voice tracker over a terrible sounding local talent making 6.50 an hour. I know that opinion isn't popular but its the truth.

 

[bierkenstock]

Somebody says;
"A shooter is on the loose in the major metro area and all the leading local NT station can offer is Hannity whining about how we need to follow the Commander in Chief to our deahts in Iraq on tape-delay."

Now THAT is an owner who is an idiot. I would have a qualified person there for news, and production - and the station has police sources. Problem solved - even in the rimshot and small markets I owned (the police chief was a college friend and the mayor was a friend of my dad).

Another station owner who thinks he knows about news. Give me a break!

Police sources? What's that? The public information, who is the only one allowed to talk to the media.

Some can't be bothered. They will fax a press release after they've caught the guy (and won't do phone interviews).

Or some PIOs call when HE wants something on the radio, on his schedule.

You said qualified news person (singular). And production (is this person supposed to do both). I've seen the ads. You want a "news hound" to do newscasts for multiple stations and cover meetings. In reality you keep him tied down so he can't leave the building (except to take notes well into the night at those show-meetings). He gets sound for press releases, but that's it. You are confusing your "news person" with a real police reporter. He's on the street all the time. He hangs out at police stations and cop bars. He's got scanners in his car. The cops know him, so they will talk to him (without a PIO). In return, he slips them cash or a bottle of booze. People like that don't exist in radio (not even at WGN, although for the time-being they may have a pipeline to the guy at Tribune).

So your buddies with the police chief. So when the cops want something on the radio, he calls you. You tell your "qualified news person" to do the story the way your friend wants it. Same with the mayor. And you call that news coverage? What happens when "the shooter" turns out to be a cop? Your buddy won't tell you about it and if you somehow find out, you better kill it or he won't be your friend any more.

Most station owners don't know news and they can't tell the difference between news and promotion. So what? Nobody pays attention to news on the radio any more any way.

Out sourcing is better.

 

[hammondo]

Don, you earlier said; "And I thought listeners might like real announcers, not some piped-in programming"

Don, have you ever heard of a RADIO NETWORK? Amos and Andy were piped to a couple hundred stations (network radio) every night for over 30 years. This is no different.

Bierk,
Just 2 things;

Yup - I know about news. We did fine for over 22 years. It was always sponsored, and was better than the newspaper. THAT'S what I cared about.

You said;
So your buddies with the police chief. So when the cops want something on the radio, he calls you. You tell your "qualified news person" to do the story the way your friend wants it. Same with the mayor. And you call that news coverage?
_____
O YES I Do. The newspaper did the same thing for 40 years PRIOR to us doing it!
_____
What happens when "the shooter" turns out to be a cop? Your buddy won't tell you about it and if you somehow find out, you better kill it or he won't be your friend any more.

Note; my experience is that nearly EVERY city has a police corruption problem. I'm 250 miles away from there, now.
_____
When the "FARM BUREAU CO-OP (a large sponsor) PRESIDENT got arrested for drunk driving and his name was on the air. When he called me prior to broadcast, (I swallowed hard and said) "If you don't want to be IN the news -don't MAKE the news" and hung up (I was doing a program).

(PS the newspaper also ran the story) The guy was mad at me for about a month and after I did not raise his rate for his annual contract SPONSORING the NOON NEWS, he never brought it up, again.

And NOW "when "the shooter" turns out to be a cop?" - I don't care anymore 'cause its a problem for the guy I sold to (along with 5 broadcast competitors I didn't have.)"

I'm not "confused" about anything. Kvetch all you want. I got my money. I really don't care. I don't hardly listen/read/watch the news where I live (Michigan). It hardly ever changes.

Advice you didn't ask for; Remember, TIMING is everything in life. Mine was real good.

Peace!

 

[Don62]

Here's some interesting commentary. Not everyone apparently thinks Crap Channel's race to the bottom approach is best.

Crap Channel has done this over and over in other cities, like Miami.

Excerpted from
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/03/Columns/Local_radio_for_local.shtml
Emphasis mine.

[size=10pt]More and more, Clear Channel is choosing to assert its dominance in the Tampa Bay market by giving us less of what we need and more syndicated shows. I can't figure it out because the station should be striving to give people what they can't find on satellite radio.

Local radio ought to be just that, local. There was a time when Clear Channel's news talk station, WFLA-AM 970, led the way in topical discussions that centered on our lives.

Now, with the exception of its AM Tampa Bay morning show, WFLA is just a steady stream of radio personalities telling us to hate liberals, support the president and fear for our very existence. Even if you agree with those sentiments, you have to admit it gets a little old hearing the same message every day.

Even Todd "MJ" Schnitt, whose relatively moderate afternoon show originates in Tampa, has to take a national approach because he's heard outside this market.

It's a complaint Clear Channel surely has heard before, but instead of giving us a nighttime host who could talk about Tampa's failed bid for the Republican National Convention, the cop killer manhunt in Lakeland or the property tax revolt across the region, it added the syndicated show of Fox News' Sean Hannity to its evening radio lineup.

Yippee.
....
WWBA-AM 1040, which lost Hannity to WFLA, decided to replace him with former Daytime co-host Brian Fasulo from 3 to 6 p.m. Fasulo debuted Monday , promising a show that is for us and about us.

"The research that 1040 has shared with me shows that live and local is the way to go," Fasulo said. "We're a major city and we don't have our own talk show? That's unbelievable."

...
Clear Channel has abandoned our roots to save a few bucks.

If it only would give local personalities a chance to build a following, the long-term benefits would serve the station and its audience.

Clear Channel would do well to realize that its bottom-line approach makes us listeners feel like bottom feeders. We deserve better[/size].

 

[Faraway]

Don, I do not work for CC or any other "mega-corporate" owner or one of its suppliers. Sorry you assume just because someone disagrees with you they must work for CC or similar. I just happen to believe that your basic premise is wrong, and based on the subsequent postings, many share my view. Look, I grew up on WGN, so I totally love a station that is uniquely programmed to its market. We agree on that. We part ways with your belief that a local show is automatically better than a syndicated show. It can be, but the reasons are usually other than because its local.

Responding to a few other points you made -

A "smart" PD is going to program what gets ratings, and not be consumed on whether or show is syndicated.

As has been pointed out many times before - and you choose to simply ignore - syndicated programming is not necessarily the cheapest route. Some of the big shows require an additional cash outlay, even extra units in drive times. Many managers would love to have a local show, with all the inventory for local sale. In the larger markets, this means hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost revenue.

I also suspect the "radio pro's" you want to hear from have already spoken - it's a business. We're in it to make money. And I think most of us old timers can tell you that's nothing new.

Have a great weekend!

 

[275Gravekeeper]

Radio_Realist, you have good points and bad points about where our beloved industry is going. But someone needs to put you in your place on many of the things you say and I'm here to give you a reality check on one of them.

This sentence:
Any reporter who is any good is simply too expensive.

...is simply out of line. There are still good reporters who are far above and beyond "capable" of putting a great-sounding story on the air and use tape well. I urge you to listen to some of the great heritage news outlets around this country and not only to what they're saying, but how they say it. The verbiage has been dumbed down insultingly for the sake of "writing how people talk", but the talent is still very much there, and in spite of the massive cutbacks Wall Street seems to demand, the talent still thrives when it is given the freedom it needs.

Television has detracted quite a bit of the information gathering and delivery to our audience. But that's the natural evolution of things.

I challenge you to more thoroughly research and carefully consider your comments before saying something so haphazard to a group of talented, experienced professionals.