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Furman Resigns from 1160

Upper90 said:
Furball showed up on Zak and Jack this morning covering for them. I have not listened to him in years. There was a time years ago where I enjoyed his game on WLW. This morning reminded me of why I had grown really weary of the shock sports jock nonsense. He was calling people stupid, morons, idiots, etc. over lame topics like is it cool for grown men to wear a team jersey. It is kind of bizarre to run into someone at a mall wearing an O'dell Thurmon jersey but hey, they probably think my adidas sandals are not so butch. The other folks on Z&J's show were clearly not impressed with Andy. Jeff was pretty good when he used to do a shift on the old Homer, solid. Not much of a risk taker but solid sports radio.
Furman has been working weekends at FSR for nearly a year now i believe. ive heard him on FSR filling in during the week several times will he was at 1160
 
borderblaster said:
Problem is it's a whole new generation of listeners who want what they want, when they want, and a wise cracking DJ who's going to talk about what he had for breakfast may well not be of interest to much of anybody. Even when I was growing up in the 70s, some people loved the DJs and some people wanted to listen to automated music or very low key AOR formats. If there is going to be a new generation of on-air personalities, they'll have to be doing what no one has thought of. Thinking that doing radio in the 1970s is going to attract an audience in 2010 who have hundreds of choices is unlikely.

I'm going to have to disagree with you to a certain extent. Yes, people will ALWAYS complain. But if you strive for quality, customers will always find you. Using the General Motors example again, you can see how the beancounter model failed. They cheapened product to the point where nobody wanted them anymore. Of course, with their cost structure we also know they were to a certain extent forced to cheapen product to stay afloat. Likewise, corporate radio has an overleveraged cost structure that forces them to make bankers rich instead of putting the money into product.

But I think the analogy is valid. If you build a car that appeals to the buffs, the non buffs will also find it an appealing product. I think the same holds true with radio. If you put out something good, people will find you.

Remember the old days? if you got a 13.0 share you were doing gangbusters. That means 87% of the people still hate you. Who wouldn't kill for a 13.0 share these days? You're not going to get it with plug -n- play radio.
 
My idea is only one approach but I would consider using TRN All News blocks while still keeping the local programming on 1160. Since a foundation has been laid with Deters and the 5 to 7 pm local sports show I would pick up the all news blocks from TRN. As I mentioned before I am not a fan of Deters and feel he is really wrong in morning drive.

The audience doesn't have time to get involved in his topics in morning drive. Morning news/talk programs in morning drive needs to be done in three to four minute segments instead of longer form talk elements.

Once Deters is done go to the long form news from TRN. The station needs to hire a News Director. If the program clock allows for it I woud do a longer newcast at Noon and 5 pm.Late night and week ends can be covered with network talk shows, sports and brokered shows.

With this format there are a number of local elements you could add that will generate not only audience interest but also additional revenue.

1160 is moving in the right director but will never realize their successful niche when they ae third talk station in town.
 
pioneer71 said:
My idea is only one approach but I would consider using TRN All News blocks while still keeping the local programming on 1160. Since a foundation has been laid with Deters and the 5 to 7 pm local sports show I would pick up the all news blocks from TRN. As I mentioned before I am not a fan of Deters and feel he is really wrong in morning drive.

The audience doesn't have time to get involved in his topics in morning drive. Morning news/talk programs in morning drive needs to be done in three to four minute segments instead of longer form talk elements.

Once Deters is done go to the long form news from TRN. The station needs to hire a News Director. If the program clock allows for it I woud do a longer newcast at Noon and 5 pm.Late night and week ends can be covered with network talk shows, sports and brokered shows.

With this format there are a number of local elements you could add that will generate not only audience interest but also additional revenue.

1160 is moving in the right director but will never realize their successful niche when they ae third talk station in town.

Call me crazy, but what about some showmanship and humor? Everything is soooooo serious and corporate these days. It makes things boring.
 
I understand that a ot of radio on the AM dial is serious. You knew the AM dial in Cincinati was going in the wrong direction when a great talent like Jerry Thomas was asked to not be funny and be a serious talk show host.

It takes money to find the talent to be funny and not so serious. Sloan and Jones try to do it for WLW but they couldn't even carry the hat for Jerry Thomas (in his fun years at WKRC), Dave Lee and Rich King.

1160 has the second tier of network talk shows but they are sooo boring. There is an overkill of their format with WLW and WKRC in the market and thecable TV shows.

I am not in management at 1160 and they are fighting a great battle and applaud them for their efforts. However, the problem you have with a lot of AM stations you have only a few people involved in making the programming decisions and often times you tend to have to go the safe and cheap way because if you don't produce a profit you are gone.

There are AM stations throughout the Tri State that are doing everything they can to survive but they all seem to be a carbon copy of each other. That's what is a real shame.
 
I'd like to have CBS Radio news on the hour back in the market. The old NewsTalk 1530 WCKY had CBS Radio News for years. I believe this would sound better than the generic sounding AP Radio news that you currently have. You could also have a local TV station provide local news updates.
 
pioneer71 said:
I understand that a ot of radio on the AM dial is serious.

Same thing with all of corporate radio really, AM and FM. It seems that you can no more show humor on a corporate radio station than you can in the cubicles of a big corporate office.

Funny you mentioned Jerry Thomas, but I used to think he was funny enough to DX him as a kid. Twisting the radio just right, you could get 55 KRC at my parents' home in East Columbus. Some punch lines you missed today include ...

Somewhere, someone lost sight of entertainment value.
 
borderblaster said:
What great humorist are you going to get for what jry is able to pay on a 5000 watt signal?

Maybe you're right, but who said you need a humorist and is there even such a thing anymore? I watch the Comedy Channel and very little there makes me laugh. But I think it should be easy to find someone with enough with personality, shouldn't it? I know enough people in real life who are naturally funny. Just let them be themselves?
 
Hundreds of comedians and
'naturally funny" people have been hired in radio. Most have failed. Being "naturally funny" on a consistent basis day in and day out, 4 hours a day takes serious skill.
 
borderblaster said:
Hundreds of comedians and
'naturally funny" people have been hired in radio. Most have failed. Being "naturally funny" on a consistent basis day in and day out, 4 hours a day takes serious skill.

I understand. They were sure able to find people like this before, though.
 
pioneer71 said:
I understand that a ot of radio on the AM dial is serious. You knew the AM dial in Cincinati was going in the wrong direction when a great talent like Jerry Thomas was asked to not be funny and be a serious talk show host.

It takes money to find the talent to be funny and not so serious. Sloan and Jones try to do it for WLW but they couldn't even carry the hat for Jerry Thomas (in his fun years at WKRC), Dave Lee and Rich King.

1160 has the second tier of network talk shows but they are sooo boring. There is an overkill of their format with WLW and WKRC in the market and thecable TV shows.

I am not in management at 1160 and they are fighting a great battle and applaud them for their efforts. However, the problem you have with a lot of AM stations you have only a few people involved in making the programming decisions and often times you tend to have to go the safe and cheap way because if you don't produce a profit you are gone.

There are AM stations throughout the Tri State that are doing everything they can to survive but they all seem to be a carbon copy of each other. That's what is a real shame.

If you think 1160 is boring, you haven't heard WMOH.

Dennis Prager, followed by Michael Medved... ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz...
 
stereolane said:
If you think 1160 is boring, you haven't heard WMOH.

Dennis Prager, followed by Michael Medved... ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz...

I have a real problem with b-word women, and that's the big reason I can't stand Laura Ingraham. Add to to that the fact that the Queen B has nothing entertaining to say, and I can't see why anybody would listen to her three hours a day. I'm pretty sure I could do a better job (with practice, of course).
 
borderblaster said:
What great humorist are you going to get for what jry is able to pay on a 5000 watt signal?

It really has nothing to do with a 5000 watt signal.
Again, WLW has done a good job of making people believe that you cannot do anything on AM unless you're 50KW.
You really have no idea as to what we can pay.....
Other than that, i really like the discussions going on here and the ideas being fleshed out.

Andy, yeah. We knew he was heading somewhere. Some in the media got kind of ticked when Andy didn't fess up.
I heard one say he was acting "squirrelly".
 
jry said:
borderblaster said:
What great humorist are you going to get for what jry is able to pay on a 5000 watt signal?

It really has nothing to do with a 5000 watt signal.
Again, WLW has done a good job of making people believe that you cannot do anything on AM unless you're 50KW.
You really have no idea as to what we can pay.....
Other than that, i really like the discussions going on here and the ideas being fleshed out.

I agree with the first sentiment. If you have 1,000 watts, you're hosed, but 5,000 watts is plenty of signal. Nighttime seems to be a challenge, thoiugh.

I've got an idea: "American Idol" or maybe "The Gong Show" for Bulldog wannabes. Take a time period where nobody listens. Say, 6 pm Saturday or Sunday night, and open it up to people.

Or maybe Bulldog can be their co-host in order to help things move along.

Of course, you'll have to give them a cheat sheet/to-do list for the purpose of preparing. You could open this up nationwide.

I know this sounds like a potential trainwreck in the making, but it also has a potential to be entertaining.
 
XtraXtra said:
jry said:
borderblaster said:
What great humorist are you going to get for what jry is able to pay on a 5000 watt signal?

It really has nothing to do with a 5000 watt signal.
Again, WLW has done a good job of making people believe that you cannot do anything on AM unless you're 50KW.
You really have no idea as to what we can pay.....
Other than that, i really like the discussions going on here and the ideas being fleshed out.

Has this ever been done? Come up with some kind of prize for the winner? Have other hosts judge their work?
Have the listeners judge their work.
BTW, dial position also makes a difference. I bid on a 1000 watt station at 540. I owned a 1000 watt station at 600. You can cover a lot with a kilo watt.... Rhymes too.

I agree with the first sentiment. If you have 1,000 watts, you're hosed, but 5,000 watts is plenty of signal. Nighttime seems to be a challenge, thoiugh.

I've got an idea: "American Idol" or maybe "The Gong Show" for Bulldog wannabes. Take a time period where nobody listens. Say, 6 pm Saturday or Sunday night, and open it up to people.

Or maybe Bulldog can be their co-host in order to help things move along.

Of course, you'll have to give them a cheat sheet/to-do list for the purpose of preparing. You could open this up nationwide.

I know this sounds like a potential trainwreck in the making, but it also has a potential to be entertaining.
 
jry said:
Has this ever been done? Come up with some kind of prize for the winner? Have other hosts judge their work?

Have the listeners judge their work.

Not that I know of. Believe it or not, I was thinking about how I'd do this today (I was sitting in a boring class daydreaming).

I think you would have to give them some homework to do, to increase the chance of putting together a listenable show. Maybe a short video from Bulldog on how to do show prep. Give them some pointers on how to move the show along, let them pick their bumper music, samples of segues into news and weather, let them line up guests, etc.

Then give them 15 minutes. If they stink, Gong them or maybe the producer can blow them up. It they aren't boring people to death, you can let them continue. Even if they get gonged, let them come back at another time to try again (practice makes perfect), unless they completely stink. This might have the potential to be amusing.

On the Columbus board, I brought up the subject of the old Militia/Conspiracy Theory shows that used to run from the Sun Network. That may be too off the wall for 1160, but I bet you could line up some real characters if you wanted. With the station being owned by a company called "Christian Broadcasting" I'm guessing you wouldn't want things too off-color, but you can still do entertaining stuff without being crude.


jry said:
BTW, dial position also makes a difference. I bid on a 1000 watt station at 540. I owned a 1000 watt station at 600. You can cover a lot with a kilo watt.... Rhymes too.

True. AM 660 in Waverly goes out a pretty long distance.
 
Guess you could hire Bill Boshears.

WLW had a contest where they selected potenntial talk show hosts to fill a 2 hour slot on Sunday night. They had maybe 6 (this was in the mid 90s) who did a Sunday night.
 
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