musicfan101 said:
ChannelFlipper said:
Musicfan, give it up. The format did not work, does not work, and will not work because no one will be bringing it back for the reasons others have already laid out. Not every format is meant for local FM radio. Try podcasts, the internet, or Sat radio. Almost all of the FM talk types are on one of these formats. No amount of posting on this board is going to convince CBS to drop the Wave and put on Danny Bonaduce.
Dude, I'm so tired of your constant bullshit about how the format didn't work! This is the exact kind of s*** I was talking about! So, it's okay to criticize how bad one of my favorite stations were, and say it won't work, but it is a
[EDIT]
sin to give any criticism to 100.3 the sound!?!
Do you realize in most instances 97.1 outdid 100.3 in the ratings??? Or, do you just live in your own bubble and don't see that?
[EDIT]
I apologize to everyone else, but ChannelFlipper has really sent me over the edge with this post!
[EDIT-inflammatory/profanity]
Musicfan:
97.1 KLSX did beat 100.3 The Sound. But The Sound has only been on the air since April 10, 2008. If its numbers don't improve, it will probably change format. However, any owner that invests millions of dollars in a format and doesn't give it at least two years (with changes and adjustments along the way) to show profitability or the likelihood of profitablility is just flushing money down the toilet. When the format is relatively low-cost, the odds of profitability improve.
KLSX's talk format had been on the air for 15 years. It was very successful for 12 of those years, both in ratings and advertising revenue. And then Howard Stern left. No, he wasn't God. But a huge portion of KLSX's morning listeners made choices other than Adam Carolla. The decline in listeners greatly reduced the amount of money KLSX could charge for its advertising...a critical blow, since, as I noted in an earlier post, more than half the revenue for a typical station comes from mornings.
The excess cash KLSX generated with Stern's ratings allowed them to run a very expensive format with high-priced talent (FHF, Leykis) and still make money. When morning ratings and revenue dropped, that changed.
CBS gave Adam Carolla three years to turn it around. It didn't happen.
I know you're a listener and not a broadcaster, but there are some realities of radio that you need to realize or else you're just going to drive yourself crazy.
First and foremost: It's a business. Job one is to make money. Publicly-traded companies like CBS are under enormous pressure from stockholders to deliver huge ROI (return on investment). If they don't, the Board of Directors can fire the guys in charge (see General Motors this week), and even push to sell...putting the company in play for a hostile takeover. CBS execs risked that kind of stockholder wrath through 3 very bad years.
Private companies, like Bonneville, can make their own decisions as to how much profit they need to see. Maybe it's just to be in the black instead of in the red. It's their call, and they have a lot more breathing room.
Ratings tend to be what drive revenue...but depending on the costs to do the format, a ratings winner can be a money loser, and a lower-rated station can be profitable.
As long as live talk radio continues to be expensive to do (and any host with talent enough to do talk successfully in Los Angeles
should be expensive), it will need a
huge revenue-generating morning show to pay more than its share of the cost. And so far, no one has been able to find one other than Stern.
And finally...one other reality of radio, shared with the Mafia: It's not personal, it's just business.
