Entercom Changes in Seattle

[Kelly A]

Is Hooterville where the Hooter's Bar & Restaurant chain originated?

Hooterville down the road from Pixley. Refer to Green Acres...

 

[Kent]

True. Up until two years ago, I was part owner of four smaller market stations that had 85% of the daily music programming via satellite. In every instance, the ratings and revenue from my stations beat my competition, which were running at least 60% locally produced programming. (swap-and-shop, local morning show, let's talk about weather) The reason is simple: The satellite provider played researched music and had professional jocks tracking the shows. The competition naturally sounded small market, with non-professional talent and shoot-from-the-hip music choices. Advertisers also appreciated the 'big market' sound and presentation verses a home-spun, "Hooterville" presentation.

I worked for a cluster that included a 24/7 SMN Pure Gold station, and it was number one in its market by a considerable margin. I don’t know that we ever did research on it, but I always figured most of the reason it did well was because it was in an area that had a considerably older than average audience. It was a lake resort area with a high number of retirees, and it was the only station in the area that played that kind of music.

While I always liked the jocks on ABC/SMN because I grew up in Texas and Oklahoma and remember a lot of them when they were local Dallas jocks, I never thought the programming on those formats was that good. Given the programming talent it had, ABC/SMN always sounded disappointing to me, though it may well have been better than what we could’ve done ourselves. Plus, for the price and the general difficulty of selling ads in the after hours and offseason, it was hard to beat.

We had a Hot AC station that was local in the daytime and went on the bird at either 6:00 or 7:00 PM depending on the day. I always liked being able to introduce Chaz Mixon, who I had listened to about 10 years earlier on 92.5 KZPS, and Hank Murphy, who I remembered from KRAV in Tulsa and KRRW in Dallas, as we handed the station off. Hearing Maria Danza, Theresa Brown, Kevan Browning, and Randy Fuller made me feel like I was truly working with the greats I idolized when I was a teenager and in my early 20’s.

I don’t think the oldies station paid anything for the satellite programming after the initial setup costs. The Hot AC paid about $200/month. Even a single part-time voice tracked jock would’ve cost more than that!

 

[Kelly A]

I don’t think the oldies station paid anything for the satellite programming after the initial setup costs. The Hot AC paid about $200/month. Even a single part-time voice tracked jock would’ve cost more than that!

As far as I know, that's still the case. Oldies and Classic Rock are generally free, you just give up three or four units an hour to network. Pop and AC are a monthly or annual fee, depending on market, plus two or three units of inventory. Especially these days, it's not like stations are sold out that they can't give up some inventory for a much higher level of quality.