Herald Laments Lack Of Local Radio

[DToTheJ]

Matty and Jay Gordon are quoted in this piece. Gordon: "There's been a seismic shift in local radio."

 

[Schuyler]

What in-depth analysis! [/sarcasm off]

The "search" function isn't working for me, but wasn't there a thread about a very similar gripe in the Globe a year or two ago?

And you're wrong, Oedipus, sorry.  This "bold experiment" is just another bird-fed el cheapo format, one that was tried in local form in the 80s by stations like WRCA and the late, lamented KLAF Salt Lake City (where they really need a good laugh).

 

[CTListener]

Oedipus must think CC is actually giving Matty full control over the station and that the format will spotlight local comedians. Yeah, right. It's called "branding," Oedipus. If you've got satellite radio, give BB King's Bluesville or Ozzy's (Osbourne) Boneyard a listen and tell me if you hear anything distinctive about the music mix that says "Hey! These must be BB King's/Ozzy Osbourne's favorite records!" No, they aren't, they're just robo-controlled streams of genre-specific music with a celebrity's name stamped on them. Only difference between SXM and CC is that SXM forks over big money to celebrities for the "buzz" their names allegedly give the service, while CC just slaps the name of a guy who's been on the payroll forever onto a robo-formatted AM.

 

[raccoonradio]

Agreed about slapping a name on it.

Anyone remember when WZLX (IIRC) put on comedy Fr nights at 6? The likes of DJ Hazard would be on.
(I think they had a regular routine with a nautical guy who they named Barnacle Mike...get it? )"

 

[KingOfAllHalibuts]

Ya think ?

 

[CatCall]

Is there some data that shows that stations with a live jock perform better than those without? To that end it seems a lot of the discussion is anecdotal and I believe that the "average listener' can't tell the diff between live and voice tracking.

 

[MassMusicMan]

Did anybody notice that the Herald brought up the demise of terrestrial WFNX without citing Radio BDC? What a piece of crap that newspaper is.

 

[uncamark]

Did anybody notice that the Herald brought up the demise of terrestrial WFNX without citing Radio BDC? What a piece of crap that newspaper is.

Why should they? An Internet stream is not an over-the-air radio station, despite what you modern rock fans desperately want to believe.

 

[rockcaptain]

Why should they? An Internet stream is not an over-the-air radio station, despite what you modern rock fans desperately want to believe.

Agree. Radio BDC is irrelevant to what was discussed in the article. They have just started and already are on borrowed time.

 

[aaronread]

I find this article almost offensive in how it's considered "journalism." It's rare you see such a naked example of arriving at a conclusion first and then cherry-picking your facts (or in this case, mostly suppositions and opinions) in a desperate attempt to justify the conclusion despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

First, there is absolutely no shortage of local radio in Boston. Think there is? Try listening in any sub-50 market and get back to me. Boston has live and local morning shows on most of the major commercial outlets, and live and local afternoon shows on several stations, too.

Second, as usual, people just don't seem to want to acknowledge college radio. Now look, I've been working in and around college radio for 15 years, and I freely admit a ton of the college radio in Greater Boston is either utter crap programming or utter crap signals...or, equally likely, BOTH. But there's WERS, which is still one of the best music stations in the country (Top 20, if not Top 10) on a full-market Class B FM. Plus, if your tastes skew that way, there's also WMBR and WZBC which have pretty solid signals (roughly equivalent to 101.7 anyways) and while I don't care for their product most of the time, it's usually produced by people who care a lot about what they do, which I give a lot of credit for. And WHRB, which is an oft-overlooked gem, too. And if you're a little further south, there's WBRU which gives a lot of what WFNX did. *AND* there's WUMB, which is an excellent music station, too. Again, all six of those stations are mostly, if not entirely, live and local.

Third, I find it perplexing when everyone talks about the demise of rock radio in Boston like WAAF/WKAF just magically disappeared. Every since 97.7 was added you can't really gripe about their signal, and they've been an integral part of the Boston rock scene for decades. WAAF might not be everyone's cup of tea but you can't deny their commitment to the local scene.

Fourth, any journalist who writes about local radio in Boston that doesn't acknowledge the incredible station that Ed Perry runs in WATD should be dragged out into the street and shot. Again, WATD's programming isn't everyone's cup of tea, but you will NEVER meet a harder-working man, with a harder-working crew, who believes more passionately in what local radio can do...and has hundreds (probably thousands by now) of awards to prove it.

 

[rockcaptain]

Third, I find it perplexing when everyone talks about the demise of rock radio in Boston like WAAF/WKAF just magically disappeared. Every since 97.7 was added you can't really gripe about their signal, and they've been an integral part of the Boston rock scene for decades. WAAF might not be everyone's cup of tea but you can't deny their commitment to the local scene.

Perplexing? They have NO ratings. They are in the basement. They are the FNX ratings wise of the post FNX era.

 

[CTListener]

Third, I find it perplexing when everyone talks about the demise of rock radio in Boston like WAAF/WKAF just magically disappeared. Every since 97.7 was added you can't really gripe about their signal, and they've been an integral part of the Boston rock scene for decades. WAAF might not be everyone's cup of tea but you can't deny their commitment to the local scene.

Perplexing? They have NO ratings. They are in the basement. They are the FNX ratings wise of the post FNX era.

Such is the plight of rock today. It lost nearly a whole generation to hip-hop, dance, rhythmic pop and even, in some markets, contemporary country, and now is a fringe genre, where once, at least among non-minority male listeners, it ruled the roost.

 

[dhoule]

Whoever said the Herald did journalism anyway.

 

[aaronread]

Third, I find it perplexing when everyone talks about the demise of rock radio in Boston like WAAF/WKAF just magically disappeared. Every since 97.7 was added you can't really gripe about their signal, and they've been an integral part of the Boston rock scene for decades. WAAF might not be everyone's cup of tea but you can't deny their commitment to the local scene.

Perplexing? They have NO ratings. They are in the basement. They are the FNX ratings wise of the post FNX era.

Ummm, not true. It may just be 6+, but WAAF shows a 2.0 to 2.7 in recent months. Trending downward, I admit, but that's not "NO ratings".

Although looking that up did remind me of WXRV, which is a struggling station but nevertheless an independent and local station. Where does the Herald get off trying to cry all doom and gloom? Boston's got damn good pickin's for local radio in the country. Not everyone can have WXPN, WFMU and KCRW, ya know.

 

[reelyreal]

AAF has solid male demo numbers, behind ZLX but still not bad. I think AAF has the most local flavor out of all the Boston stations when you look at the dayparts, the promotions, and the production work.

You want local radio? WAAF.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Tell that to the weekenders and other part timers that just got canned...

 

[rockcaptain]

AAF has solid male demo numbers, behind ZLX but still not bad. I think AAF has the most local flavor out of all the Boston stations when you look at the dayparts, the promotions, and the production work.

The ratings are not as good as you make them seem. Solid ratings in the morning brings up the rest of the day. Outside of mornings they really don't get ratings. If Greg Hill ever left, AAF would really have no ratings.

 

[DToTheJ]

Did anybody notice that the Herald brought up the demise of terrestrial WFNX without citing Radio BDC? What a piece of crap that newspaper is.

Their competitor operating Radio BDC might just have a little something to do with that...

 

[aaronread]

The ratings are not as good as you make them seem. Solid ratings in the morning brings up the rest of the day. Outside of mornings they really don't get ratings.

And outside of breathing, you don't really need oxygen. No kidding solid ratings in the morning bring up the rest of the day. That's true for almost every radio station.

I get what you're trying to say: that besides their morning drive, the rest of the day has potentially alarming low listenership. And yes, depending on the specifics of listenership in certain demos (and, presumably, how that's impacting their ad revenue) that could...and likely should...be an object of concern. But any station with solid morning drive numbers is, generally speaking, doing at least "okay" because for the most part, morning drive is where it's at.

And again, if they've doing okay in morning drive, then it's not like they have "NO ratings." And again, they've got a strong local presence and commitment to rock radio that the Herald article (shamefully) totally ignored.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Did anybody notice that the Herald brought up the demise of terrestrial WFNX without citing Radio BDC? What a piece of crap that newspaper is.

Their competitor operating Radio BDC might just have a little something to do with that...

No. Radio BDC, even if it's encoding for Arbitron, isn't going to make a dent in anything for quite a while. It takes months, often years, to build an audience, and even longer to get a significant P1 crowd.