Filling Sacramento's Alternative void

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

eX1065.com is staffed with LOCAL jocks 10a-8p. If a no budget webcast can do it...

eX1065.com

Now if you could just get a broadcast license.

 

[Neanderpaul]

They shouldn't need a broadcast license. That's the truly rough part of how radio has gone.

Radio uses linear business practices to market an emotional product. It's tough to pull off. You cannot sanitize, or standardize a subjective product. It never works.

Each person makes their own connection with what they hear every day.

I'll try to make my usually-long-worded diatribe short. What PPM has required radio to do, is to be Muzak. Just be on where people are. Unobtrusive, bland and non-reactive.

Here's "Radio 2010:"

It is no longer "Listen to us, we're your station" it has become "Please don't turn us off."

With that mentality, there is NO reason to listen to radio at all. That's the incontrovertible truth.

If the personality doesn't matter, why does Jay Leno get his job back?

Just have Brian Williams read the jokes (which might be funnier).

Why does LeBron James get marketed around? Isn't the NBA the product?

Shouldn't the NBA be played by anyone? It is the game that's the attraction right?

The songs are always going to be static. It's who serves them/how they're served that makes the difference.

It always has.

Right now, the stations that are doing it right, are winning. At some point, perhaps that will once again become the norm.

People matter.

 

[Dick Skinner]

It is no longer "Listen to us, we're your station" it has become "Please don't turn us off."

This is a generalization, Paul. If the talent is there, PPM will reward it. In Sacramento, Rob, Arnie and Dawn enjoy huge success with PPM as well as with Diary because, through strong character development, great story-telling and a meticulous adherence to fundamentals, they have created an undeniable connection with their audience. Dog and Joe score well for essentially the same reasons.

By the way, Jay Leno's a hack; Brian Williams would certainly be funnier.

 

[Neanderpaul]

It is no longer "Listen to us, we're your station" it has become "Please don't turn us off."

This is a generalization, Paul. If the talent is there, PPM will reward it. In Sacramento, Rob, Arnie and Dawn enjoy huge success with PPM as well as with Diary because, through strong character development, great story-telling and a meticulous adherence to fundamentals, they have created an undeniable connection with their audience. Dog and Joe score well for essentially the same reasons.

By the way, Jay Leno's a hack; Brian Williams would certainly be funnier.

Thank you. I was talking about general terms. And PPM traditionally levels the playing field. In fact, I would bet that RAD & the afternoon guys do not enjoy the ratings spike in PPM vs. the rest of the day that they did during diary. I'd be willing to bet that Pat Martin has every bit the ratings the drivetimes do.

The ratios have leveled. Whether they are real or not. They are real.

That's the point. Radio had put all it's financial and entertainment eggs in the "mornings lead the day" concept. Now, PPM shows that mornings are not the 800lb gorilla they were thought to be. So, the industry thinks it's about playing more music and not about the connection the audience has made with the station.

And whether they are right, or wrong, they have data they can say is more accurate. Because exposed listening counts. Doesn't matter if you listened. Just that it was on in your environment while you wore the meter. And of course, being short-sighted, the industry thinks it can save a few bucks during times of economic woe, and Wall St. mismanagement, by reporting that they cut overhead by X-million dollars nationwide by eliminating the very people responsible for creating the connection.

NOBODY listens to a radio station because of the sales dept. That's not a slam against sales. They do a very difficult job. But, let's not kid ourselves.

However, sales produces revenue. And revenue is the endgame.

I will now use the NFL as an example: The game is not the product. The players are.

Watch what happens when they strike, or are locked out. The TV revenue is guaranteed. So, the league doesn't lose anything there. But TV does. And the league knows this and doesn't want to bonus spots for advertisers.

Or...keeping it musical. How well did Black Sabbath do with only Tony Iommi in the band? Or, what were Led Zeppelin/Aerosmith's prospects for touring without their original lead singers? Would you buy Metallica music without James Hetfield?

There are tribute CDs to hundreds of bands released every year. You know why they don't sell?

Using the PPM mentality, they should. The songs are the same.

People matter. The stations who know they need them, will continue to win. And the fly-by-night product will be disposed of and replaced by something else when it fails.

Consider it radio...paying the monthly minimum on their credit card statements.

 

[RadioStarOne]

I was at my dentist today and they switched from KSSJ smooth Jazz to 93.1 Classic hits when the station flipped.