How to make any radio station (or any other business) fail.

[cingram]

This is exactly what I'm getting at, Clarke. Thanks. You guys are doing a great job up there, by the way.

Thanks, Ken. I'm not going to kid myself or you by saying that a competitive format wouldn't be more fun than doing paid programming. But if you listen to the oldies guys on 770, or 620 when one of us live jocks is on (specifically after 5 PM on Saturdays and 6 PM on Sundays), you should hear some fun going on.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Yes I have! I still try to find time to tune in every now and again when I'm down that way.

 

[cingram]

Just so you know when to listen to 620:

Jay Thurber, of WRCT "Radio 9" fame, is now doing a regular Sunday-night show from 6 to 9:30 PM (with the usual 7 PM break for the Rosary).

I'm currently doing 5 to 7 PM Saturdays, we had a polka show cancellation, and so I am jocking my heart out until we find a replacement.

The elusive Caleb Michaels has been doing Saturday nights lately. Of course, he can go on the air whenever he wants. ;D

 

[Boss Radio]

"Paying your way on the air" has been going on for decades. How long have the weekend ethnic programs been on WPIT? Does anyone remember the days when the sponsors owned the shows, and "unpaid" programs were called "sustaining" by the networks? This really isn't all that much different.

Apples and oranges. The special interest programs (ethnic, doctors with miracle cures) are generally things that wouldn't be on the air if someone weren't buying the time.

The idea of paying to provide standard radio programming is a whole other issue. For one thing, it's not even about putting good programming on the air, it's about collecting money from whomever has enough to spend. Essentially you're saying if you have the money, you're more than welcome to come in and "play radio station." I know the idea of FCC licensing and serving the community is a quaint relic, but they didn't give the station a license to serve as a profitable fantasy DJ booth.

 

[Radio_Realist]

"they didn't give the station a license to serve as a profitable fantasy DJ booth."

Without mentioning station names, I have tuned in to some that sounded just like a "fantasy DJ booth". One gets the impression of a club of insiders slapping each other on the back while waxing nostalgic about the "good old days".

On the one hand, some of that sort of programming is an excellent recreation of radio of a bygone era, warts and all. They even have the static-filled, monaural sound with most of the bass and treble missing that turned me off of music on AM band back in the 1960's.

If the folks running such an operation manage to break even or even make a little profit, more power to them. Call me old fashioned, but I think that businesses should strive to be more than mediocre. The fact that a mediocre performing station is doing better than several failing stations is worthy of some level of respect. But taking a station to higher levels above mediocrity, or at least making the attempt to stretch the envelope, is worthy of even higher praise.

Maybe I'm just an entertainment snob, but it strikes me that simply replicating programming of yesteryear is a lot like being a "cover" band. To those of you currently in radio who don't know about live music, a cover band is a band that simply plays songs that other people made famous. A cover band might make a couple hundred bucks a night playing in bars. Pioneering or innovating new types of radio programming, expanding the horizons of radio, and doing it successfully is a challenge similar to being a band that writes and records its own songs and plays in major venues.

Taking a chance at grabbing the brass rings takes big brass ones. Settling for mediocre doesn't. There's nothing to be ashamed of in striving for comfortable mediocrity. And comfortable mediocrity sure beats failure. But it's nothing compared to real, genuine success. And to those who have made the attempt, knowing that you took a shot at the top and only made it to the miiddle, or even failed still feels better than knowing you only aimed for the middle and succeeded.

 

[cingram]

Apples and oranges. The special interest programs (ethnic, doctors with miracle cures) are generally things that wouldn't be on the air if someone weren't buying the time.

The idea of paying to provide standard radio programming is a whole other issue. For one thing, it's not even about putting good programming on the air, it's about collecting money from whomever has enough to spend. Essentially you're saying if you have the money, you're more than welcome to come in and "play radio station." I know the idea of FCC licensing and serving the community is a quaint relic, but they didn't give the station a license to serve as a profitable fantasy DJ booth.

You overlook the obvious, I think, which is that the obscure 50's/60's oldies played by the oldies collectors and fans IS special interest programming and doesn't stand much of a chance of being adopted as a regular format anywhere. It's been "special interest programming" at WZUM (in the past) and at WLSW, WJPA, WEDO, and other stations for a while now.

So let's try your wording again:

If you have the money, you are more than welcome to purchase air time and do what you want with it, as long as it's legal and within FCC guidelines. On our stations, that also includes things like polka shows, church services, and a couple of hours of the Sounds of the Tamburitza every Sunday afternoon.

As an FCC licensee, the stations retain ultimate control over programming, and we've pulled a few shows off the air for various reasons. But in the end, none of these people are employees or even independent contractors. They buy the time and we sell it to them. If they want to make a show out of it, that's fine. The ethnic and the doctor shows are doing so. The informercials sometimes sound like talk shows. And the FCC really doesn't get involved in programming matters unless it is obscene, indecent, fraudulent, or illegal.

"Paying to provide standard radio programming" is not what it's about. If these shows weren't on the air, other programs would be instead. We program automated 60's and 70's oldies in most of our "unpaid" hours, and there are still four live personalities on 620 over the course of the week's regularly-scheduled music programming. If the people buying time want to "play radio station" in their "fantasy DJ booth," that's their decision. (Actually, since they're on an actual radio station that broadcasts to the public, it's neither "play" nor "fantasy". They have shows, and they have listeners.)

As for "replicating the programming of yesteryear"...man, that's a whole 'nother subject. I'll save those thoughts for another post.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Again, well put, Clarke. As I've said before, if someone wants to be on the air bad enough, they'll pay to do it. "Standard radio programming" as Boss Radio puts it is NOT what time-brokered stations are about. They are still licensed to serve the public interest and do so in their own unique way. WEDO airs a "Noon News Magazine" that is NOT a paid element of its programming, like the rest of the dayparts. It's an amalgam of news (provided by CNN and the Standard-Observer), sports, health, and other such vignettes, and it works pretty well. The last I checked, (Clarke, correct me if I'm wrong) Barry Banker still does local news on both 620 and 770, and he's one of the most highly-respected broadcasters in Western Pennsylvania, having been identified with 620 for close to what, 40 years now? "Standard radio programming" is just that, serving the public interest as a public trustee in this exact manner...local news, local weather, and...be the first station on the air to provide emergency information for when disaster strikes. Those elements have always been free and always should be. Obscure R&B music, extreme left-wing talk programming, and the like are NOT "Standard radio programming".

 

[cingram]

WEDO airs a "Noon News Magazine" that is NOT a paid element of its programming, like the rest of the dayparts. It's an amalgam of news (provided by CNN and the Standard-Observer), sports, health, and other such vignettes, and it works pretty well. The last I checked, (Clarke, correct me if I'm wrong) Barry Banker still does local news on both 620 and 770, and he's one of the most highly-respected broadcasters in Western Pennsylvania, having been identified with 620 for close to what, 40 years now? "Standard radio programming" is just that, serving the public interest as a public trustee in this exact manner...local news, local weather, and...be the first station on the air to provide emergency information for when disaster strikes.

I have heard the WEDO news magazine and enjoyed it, much as I enjoy the long-form newscasts on WMBS.

Barry no longer does the news on 620 or 770, but continues to produce "A Closer Look" (our local public-affairs show on both stations) and host the morning show on 620. This is his 40th year at the station.

Even among the paid programs, KHB and KFB continue to air the weather (although sometimes it's recorded), PSAs and a community calendar. I realize that paid programming does not compete for an audience in the same way as a music format would, but, hey, we still give it the old college try where we can.

 

[Johnny Morgan]

I know the idea of FCC licensing and serving the community is a quaint relic, but they didn't give the station a license to serve as a profitable fantasy DJ booth.

Hey, I'm as for serving the community as the next guy--as my posts on this board a few months back can attest--but if we're really going to be serious about this serving the community thing, let's stop allowing stations 25 to 30 miles out "move in". Let's stop simul-blasts across 4-5 separate frequencies of the exact same programming only because we're too cheap to buy a full-market station. Let's stop commercial breaks of more than 120 seconds. Let's stop not having news broadcasts after 7pm; or worse, no news at all at any time of day.

Or better yet, let's give each station a friggin' chance on its own, without being bought up for well above its market value so it can be yet another format du jour that broadcasts to the narrow segment of the population known as females 25-54, median age 38.

Oh yeah--and let's stop letting religious broadcaster du jour buy non-comm frequencies to "relay" a format found everywhere.

OK, bitch mode off.

 

[cingram]

Or better yet, let's give each station a friggin' chance on its own, without being bought up for well above its market value so it can be yet another format du jour that broadcasts to the narrow segment of the population known as females 25-54, median age 38.

To put this another way, if it were the old days and each company were only allowed to own one AM and one FM, more effort would be put into making the two stations viable. The FM would not be voice-tracked and the AM would not be a throwaway. (I'm not thinking of any two stations in particular, but you can probably think of some markets and stations where the shoe fits.)

Of course, it's no longer the "old days," but like Elvis, I can dream.

Next!

 

[cingram]

Doggone it, made another duplicate post. I don't know how I did that. Text has been deleted.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Well said once again. When the ownership rules were first changed in 1992, it was a good idea. "No more than four" in a market allowed underperforming stations to become profitable, yet also allowed everyone to compete fairly. But that wasn't enough. More and more broadcasters had to become greedy. I see nothing wrong with the free enterprise system, but Eric Rhoads of Radio Ink Magazine, made his New Years' Resolutions for 1993 to the FCC in his usual editorial of the December 1992 issue. Among a myriad of requests, he says "Do not limit the amount of stations we can own. Hertz isn't told how many airport locations they can operate!" You can put a Hertz location ANYWHERE...you cannot do the same with a radio station. This is why I applaud low-power broadcasters. Though I find the rules for obtaining a license a little restrictive, it at least allows some form of accountability. It's relatively cheaper to build an LPFM, but you still have to be an established nonprofit religious or educational organization for at least two years.

In fact, here's how far in the wrong direction today's duopoly has taken us. The borough of Huntingdon, county seat of Huntingdon county, is trying to acquire an LPFM license. According to borough officials, when the town was flooded years ago, the local stations licensed to that borough did NOTHING to break their programming and get emergency information to listeners. They may have ran an EAS bulletin, but there was nothing about where evacuees could go for shelter, medical treatment or the like. When a municipality tries to apply for a license because they can't trust the local stations in town to cooperate, something is very seriously wrong here. There are times when doing the 'minimum legal' isn't enough...and this is certainly an example of that.

Johnny Morgan...I also like your comments on non-comm frequencies by religious broadcasters. An example right there is one in Murrysville...where there is no local studio presence or community service. It's my understanding that non-commercial broadcasters are allowed to apply for frequencies after 91.9 now to allow them to compete 'fairly'. I say if they're allowed to invade our band, we should not be limited likewise.

I initially supported duopoly when it first passed, even though I knew that it was going to ultimately put me out of a job (which it did). I love the business, I still do, but I also love the spirit of competition. It helped you get better and kept you sharp at your game. The results of duopoly as we know it today was not what the FCC intended.

As for move-ins, the commision had the mv/m contours to abide by until 1996. This is what prevented stations like 100.7 from moving to Pittsburgh any closer than Millvale. The Pittsburgh 'burb stations have never actively served their communities exclusively...at least not since the 70's, when I remembered listening. They served Pittsburgh, and then put local major stories in their news, or saved localism for their public affairs requirements. There should be limits on how far a channel can be moved...despite what an engineer says.

I support the commission bringing back the non-duplication rule that was thrown out in the 80's...all local stations must originate their own programming for at least 50 percent of the broadcast day. It won't happen, but like Clarke and The King, I can dream...

 

[Radio_Realist]

"The Pittsburgh 'burb stations have never actively served their communities exclusively...at least not since the 70's, when I remembered listening."

There's also the fact that the lines that define those 'burbs are now nothing more than an historical curiosity. If Pittsburgh and Allegheny county were part of the 21st century, there would only be one single metropolitan government covering the entire county, and arugments over whether Millvale or Carnegie should be "served" would be a moot as whether there needed to be separate radio stations to serve the needs of Pittsburgh neighborhoods like Shadyside or Brookline.

 

[Radio_Realist]

"According to borough officials, when the town was flooded years ago, the local stations licensed to that borough did NOTHING to break their programming and get emergency information to listeners."

I can't help but wonder how many people would have bothered tuning in to a station they normally never listen to for such information. How many people ever tune in to 1610 AM on the highway, even when the yellow lights are blinking?

Maybe local goverments should consider old fashioned public address system trucks.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Realist, you'd be surprised at how many people turn on the local radio station for local information when they need it. They may listen to a metro station on a regular basis, but when there's an emergency situation, like a school cancellation, weather emergency or whatnot, those people are the first to call our station whenever disaster (or whatever) strikes, asking us for information. Especially in towns served by small market television, which also operates with strained resources. TV will not interrupt their programming unless it's happening right in the town in which they're licensed, the paper won't have the information until the day after, and radio can have it on the air IMMEDIATELY. This is why local radio stations succeed.

 

[Ed_Salamon]

>When I asked them to buy the time from me and then turn around and resell the airtime to recoupe their costs, they
>balked. If they're not willing to take the risk, why should I?
Perhaps because they don't consider themselves salespersons. Air talent and sales ability so not necessarily go hand in hand.
I respect both talents, but I haven't often found them in the same person.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Perhaps because they don't consider themselves salespersons. Air talent and sales ability so not necessarily go hand in hand.
I respect both talents, but I haven't often found them in the same person.

Good point, sir. Neither have I. All the more reason why talent should be accountable for what they do on the air. If they're doing a show that advertisers certainly won't buy to offset the cost, then what incentive is there for an owner/operator to hire this individual as an employee? Clarke had pointed this out previously...those who do want a show like this usually understand the concept of paid time and are willing to pay for their shows. A good owner/operator can usually spot in a minute whether a program can sell or not, and if it's a considerable risk, then pay-to-play.

 

[Radio_Realist]

"Realist, you'd be surprised at how many people turn on the local radio station for local information when they need it."

I don't know that I'd be surprised. My off-the-cuff guess would be that in a small town of 25,000 people, maybe 2,500 would turn to the radio. 2,500 sounds like a lot of people, but it still means that 90% of the people don't.

And I admit that's a totally unscientific, gut-reaction guess. Do you have any hard data about how many people in this day and age turn to the radio first?

 

[Boss Radio]

Perhaps because they don't consider themselves salespersons. Air talent and sales ability so not necessarily go hand in hand.
I respect both talents, but I haven't often found them in the same person.

Good point, sir. Neither have I. All the more reason why talent should be accountable for what they do on the air. If they're doing a show that advertisers certainly won't buy to offset the cost, then what incentive is there for an owner/operator to hire this individual as an employee? Clarke had pointed this out previously...those who do want a show like this usually understand the concept of paid time and are willing to pay for their shows. A good owner/operator can usually spot in a minute whether a program can sell or not, and if it's a considerable risk, then pay-to-play.

Your response makes no sense. It's not an issue of whether advertisers will buy the show, it's a matter of whether the person CREATING the show also has the skills to go out and sell. I don't expect talent to sell any more than I expect one of the salespeople to come into the studio and do three hours of first-rate talk radio.

"A good owner/operator can usually spot in a minute whether a program can sell or not"

At most stations, the talent isn't proposing a show, they're following a format that's been established by a station. In a pay-for-play scenario, do you honestly think the owner/operator cares if the show sells? He wants his check from the guy who's desperate to get on the air. It's crap radio at its absolute crappiest.

 

[cingram]

There was a famous (some would say infamous) incident several years ago in Minot, North Dakota where there was (I believe) a chemical spill in the middle of the night and all of their local stations were automated, with no one there - and the authorities evidently had to call the management at home to get the information on the air.

I'm sure I'm missing some details, and I've been told that Clear Channel was unfairly castigated for this situation, that there was more to it, but it still worries me. Have you ever visited a cluster of eight stations at night where the only person left in the building is an AM sports board-op? I have.

And I can see both sides of the Huntingdon situation. Several of the Huntingdon stations are now simulcasting Altoona stations in order to better cover the market, which I can understand. But I'd think that WHUN would have been on top of something like that. WQRO, the other Huntingdon AM station, went dark years ago.

It seems to me that there is a fine line of balance between city of license, serving your community (including the surrounding area), and indulging the hope of making money in a nearby larger market. It's like that act on the Ed Sullivan show, trying to keep all of his plates in the air at the same time.