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How Radio Can Get Its Groove Back

R

radionut925

Turn the clock back 10, 20, maybe 30 years. Back in the day, radio used to be a lot of fun, and had a lot of personality. That was especially the case in Georgia, where there were a lot of good stations, regardless of the format.

In Albany and Southwest Georgia, you had WJAD "aka" 97.3 THE HOT FM, Y-100 WSGY, WJIZ-96.3, WALG, and even WGPC had some good music and programming back in the 1980's. Today, though, thanks to consolidation, and the emergence of technology such as automation and voicetracking, the passion, personality, and drive that made radio what it was in the past has all but disappeared. Worse, it's all but impossible to even find a part-time job, much less a full-time position as an on-air personality. Additionally, the rise of satellite radio, internet radio, I Pods, etc. have further cut into terrestrial radio's potential audience.

So, the question is this. How can terrestrial radio get its groove back, and re-gain the passion that has been lost over the last decade? Anyone care to respond?
 
radionut925 said:
Turn the clock back 10, 20, maybe 30 years. Back in the day, radio used to be a lot of fun, and had a lot of personality. That was especially the case in Georgia, where there were a lot of good stations, regardless of the format.
Click to expand...

That's the way you remember it. I remember stations being owned by doctors and lawyers who ran them on a shoestring. I remember spending half our time trading out equipment they were too cheap to buy. Other times we had to trade out things for the owner's personal use. I remember the string of alcoholic sales managers. I remember the GM who lifted up the dresses of the women on the staff to amuse himself. I remember a time before we knew it was against the law to sexually harrass employees. I remember when our paychecks used to bounce. I remember being pressured to hire the owner's son to do afternoon drive. I remember being told not to play a certain song because the GM's daughter was tired of it. Yes, I remember when deejay jobs were easy to come by. One day you were pushing Slurpees at 7-11, the next day you were an air personality. Ahhh, the good ol' days of pre-consolidation Mom and Pop radio!

I even remember the old guy at the station 20 or 30 years ago, who used to complain that radio wasn't as good as it used to be back when HE was young. Let's not live in the past radionut, we might miss the present... and future. A lot of young people are working in radio. Trust me, in 20 or 30 years, most of them will be sitting around playing their own game of "Remember When?"
 
MickJ said:
That's the way you remember it. I remember stations being owned by doctors and lawyers who ran them on a shoestring. I remember spending half our time trading out equipment they were too cheap to buy. Other times we had to trade out things for the owner's personal use. I remember the string of alcoholic sales managers. I remember the GM who lifted up the dresses of the women on the staff to amuse himself. I remember a time before we knew it was against the law to sexually harrass employees. I remember when our paychecks used to bounce. I remember being pressured to hire the owner's son to do afternoon drive. I remember being told not to play a certain song because the GM's daughter was tired of it. Yes, I remember when deejay jobs were easy to come by. One day you were pushing Slurpees at 7-11, the next day you were an air personality. Ahhh, the good ol' days of pre-consolidation Mom and Pop radio!

I even remember the old guy at the station 20 or 30 years ago, who used to complain that radio wasn't as good as it used to be back when HE was young. Let's not live in the past radionut, we might miss the present... and future. A lot of young people are working in radio. Trust me, in 20 or 30 years, most of them will be sitting around playing their own game of "Remember When?"
Click to expand...

If there are a lot of young people currently working in radio, then most of them are lucky enough to even get jobs running the board, much less getting an on-air job. As for the present, there are a lot of stations running either on a computer, satellite dish, or both. The future? Who knows? Instead of just simply accepting the "status quo" as is, there has to be some kind of solution to this current mess radio is in.
 
All radio needs to be exciting is a killer playlist, some jocks that have personality that is a bit "outside of the box" and PDs that allow them the freedom to do their "show". It's not brain surgery.
 
Hey radionut, I understand what your saying about some of the old days. I was a member of the staff at WJAD in the 80s. I started there when we had Tony Clark, Skip Elliot, Don Fox and JJ McKay. I even remember hanging out with Norm before he left for PC. Those days were a lot of fun and that group of guys were very talented. Even into the early 90s with John and Tammy and Joey Deee, we still had a lot of fun and got very creative, but then we had to. We had no money. We did plugs on the air for groceries. We had cookouts on Friday nights because we could not afford to go out. We gave away free cassettes and CDs as Christmas presents to our families. Most of us had to survive on less than $10k/year. Luckily we lived in Bainbridge, GA where things were a little cheaper. BUt yes, we had a lot of fun because we loved what we were doing and we never wanted to do anything else. Some of those guys went on to make a lot of money in the business, some did not. But the memories are great.

Today in radio, the personality is missing, I agree with you on that. But there are not too many people with personality anymore. There are some, but most just think they have one. The days of every one just doing their own thing are long gone as they should be. Everyone should work toward making the station better, and if you have a personality, then sure...use it. The problem is that when you do let someone with personality have a little lead way, they try to be Howard Stern or Mancow. Gone are the days when someone starts at the bottom and works their way to the top. Everyone wants to jump straight to market #50 and above and they don't understand that the people that are there now had to work for years to make it there. And even when you get there, you still have to follow the rules.
 
One of the best posts I've seen on this forum in quite a while. A vivid reality check that seems sorely needed often these days.

MickJ said:
That's the way you remember it. I remember stations being owned by doctors and lawyers who ran them on a shoestring. I remember spending half our time trading out equipment they were too cheap to buy. Other times we had to trade out things for the owner's personal use. I remember the string of alcoholic sales managers. I remember the GM who lifted up the dresses of the women on the staff to amuse himself. I remember a time before we knew it was against the law to sexually harrass employees. I remember when our paychecks used to bounce. I remember being pressured to hire the owner's son to do afternoon drive. I remember being told not to play a certain song because the GM's daughter was tired of it. Yes, I remember when deejay jobs were easy to come by. One day you were pushing Slurpees at 7-11, the next day you were an air personality. Ahhh, the good ol' days of pre-consolidation Mom and Pop radio!

I even remember the old guy at the station 20 or 30 years ago, who used to complain that radio wasn't as good as it used to be back when HE was young. Let's not live in the past radionut, we might miss the present... and future. A lot of young people are working in radio. Trust me, in 20 or 30 years, most of them will be sitting around playing their own game of "Remember When?"
Click to expand...
 
I even remember the old guy at the station 20 or 30 years ago, who used to complain that radio wasn't as good as it used to be back when HE was young. Let's not live in the past radionut, we might miss the present... and future. A lot of young people are working in radio. Trust me, in 20 or 30 years, most of them will be sitting around playing their own game of "Remember When?"

[/quote]

Two questions here:

1. How can programmers get those young people (read: teenagers/young adults) to even listen to terrestrial radio, much less work in the industry these days?

2. What can AM/FM radio offer that satellite radio, internet radio, I Pod's, and even mp3's can't?
 
radionut925 said:
I even remember the old guy at the station 20 or 30 years ago, who used to complain that radio wasn't as good as it used to be back when HE was young. Let's not live in the past radionut, we might miss the present... and future. A lot of young people are working in radio. Trust me, in 20 or 30 years, most of them will be sitting around playing their own game of "Remember When?"
Click to expand...

Two questions here:



What can AM/FM radio offer that satellite radio, internet radio, I Pod's, and even mp3's can't?




[/quote]


It's free and local.
 
Two questions here:



What can AM/FM radio offer that satellite radio, internet radio, I Pod's, and even mp3's can't?



It's free and local.

[/quote]

Then we need more local programming, not more mindless, soulless automation.
 
What can AM/FM offer that satellite, Ipods, etc can't. Very simply... only one thing. But it's enough if they do it right.

COMPELING LIVE AND LOCAL PROGRAMING!

The only thing AM/FM stations can offer to a listener is to be the contact they have with their community. Voice tracking from distant market won't do it. Same ole music that they can get anywhere won't do it. Even great on-air personalities won't do it. BUT... if you are the only one telling them local traffic, local news, local weather, local events, local politics, local sports, local gossip, (get the point...LOCAL!) then they will listen to you at least some of the time. The ONLY chance AM/FM stations have of surviving is to be so important to the listener that they have you as one of their buttons, one of their pre-sets, one of their choices.
Too bad most of today's radio owners think local listeners will listen to anything as long as there are not many commercials. Watta bunch of dopes. If the content is great, local, and really interesting to the listener, they will stay thru the commercials unless you are an idiot and running six minute breaks with 10 30's and 4 15's or some such silliness. BTW... why not make the commercials really creative and fun too?

My blood pressure is going up... gotta stop for now! :D
Joe
 
jpedicino said:
What can AM/FM offer that satellite, Ipods, etc can't. Very simply... only one thing. But it's enough if they do it right.

COMPELING LIVE AND LOCAL PROGRAMING!

The only thing AM/FM stations can offer to a listener is to be the contact they have with their community. Voice tracking from distant market won't do it. Same ole music that they can get anywhere won't do it. Even great on-air personalities won't do it. BUT... if you are the only one telling them local traffic, local news, local weather, local events, local politics, local sports, local gossip, (get the point...LOCAL!) then they will listen to you at least some of the time. The ONLY chance AM/FM stations have of surviving is to be so important to the listener that they have you as one of their buttons, one of their pre-sets, one of their choices.
Too bad most of today's radio owners think local listeners will listen to anything as long as there are not many commercials. Watta bunch of dopes. If the content is great, local, and really interesting to the listener, they will stay thru the commercials unless you are an idiot and running six minute breaks with 10 30's and 4 15's or some such silliness. BTW... why not make the commercials really creative and fun too?

My blood pressure is going up... gotta stop for now! :D
Joe
Click to expand...

Good points. Very well said.
 
Put local announcers on from sign on to sign off. Put local information on from sign on to sign off. Cover everything that goes on in your local community from school events to government meetings to local sports with an emphasis on live broadcasts. Air things like the obituaries one or more times a day. WLBB in Carrollton was all local all the time and commanded a 68 share in 1972. WTIF in Tifton was all local from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and had phenomenal ratings during the entire time Al Cohen ran the station. The only thing that sets your station apart from a jillion other stations using canned music or syndicated talk is your ability to make it local. Being local is more important than sounding professional.
 
Got to do a little more than the "nightly phoner" you read off the lame ass show prep service the station has at the present. "hey..it's the cave...your old lady giving you a hard time about leaving your dirty clothes on the floor....well give me a call".... It keeps me glued to hear what's next...this guy is whacky..whacky... lol..
 
Choctaw said:
Got to do a little more than the "nightly phoner" you read off the lame ass show prep service the station has at the present. "hey..it's the cave...your old lady giving you a hard time about leaving your dirty clothes on the floor....well give me a call".... It keeps me glued to hear what's next...this guy is whacky..whacky... lol..
Click to expand...

First of all, I don't use a "show prep" service, just the news...secondly, it's not whacky, it's "Yankee". Thirdly, it's not about me, it's about the callers. Lastly, I don't use glue. I use a nail gun to make sure people "stick" around to listen. Take a look at the returns...seems the "nightly phoner" just might be working. BTW, grow a set and use your real name.
 
It amazes me how sensitive radio "celebrities" almost always are. I never reacted to anything anyone ever said negative or positive. Just because I think it's lame does not mean that your listeners think it's lame. But, it does tell me something about your listeners. lol...As for growing a set, the name is Phil. Since for some reason I can't seem to use my old screen name of Just Phil, thought I'd just use the name of my favorite Indian casino tribe. Wasn't trying to single you out bro. Subsitute most any other name you can think of, that is on the air here, and the statement rings just as true. Radio in general has become very boring, bland and WAY too safe. Some stations still have balls, but there are not many left. Some so called rock stations have become so safe and boring, they shouldn't be called rock stations. "Yeah, we rock hard dude, so your old lady gives you a hard time too huh....wow...who would have thunk it...I'll get Freebird on for your right now thanks for the request....what station rocks......(insert almost any station name here) YEAH...we do! lol... Riveting!
 
Thank the FCC (and Janet Jackson) for stations playing it "safe". A $325,000 fine will ruin just about any station's quarter...not to mention what will happen to the jock on duty.
 
Very true, that is a little whacked. But, it seems some of these radio stations became that way long before the "incident". And of course, it's not really about the listeners, it's about the advertisers. I believe some companies really overeacted. Television certainly hasn't changed too much has it?
 
Exactly...the TV was a b-day present...so I have a sweet TV, but nothing to watch except snow.
 
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