I "heart" Radio......constantly!!

[clangham]

Don't make the mistake of thinking what happens in that building is about any station other than DVE...because it
isn't.

Absolutely correct Clarke!

 

[Parttimer]

The product's not that good, but it's all relative.. what else is there?

Hmmmm....let's see: The internet, satellite radio, and the mp3 player.

Nice job of bailing out on your own argument.

 

[Raymond]

So CC has the best signals, the most programming resources, and almost no competition. 3WS is awful. The X should be 2 radio stations. 104.7 is a satellite talk box, but it has all the key conservative content to itself. CC has the Steelers and the Pens. CC has Krenn, Baumann, Michaels, McDowell and Madden, even Savran, arguably the 6 most popular local personalities in the market ... the Fan has a bunch of guys with New York accents.

Parttimer, your whole post was right on target. Very well said. I especially like the above part. CC does everything they can to keep their cash cow alive.

 

[Raymond]

Don't make the mistake of thinking what happens in that building is about any station other than DVE...because it
isn't.

The nail hit the head Clarke! And, you know the inner operations of that building.

 

[cingram]

[The nail hit the head Clarke! And, you know the inner operations of that building.

Or at least I did in 2001, when I was PD of 104.7, and again in 2004, when I did a brief on-air stint at 3WS.
The first time, they eliminated my position; the second time, I eliminated my position. I don't think there is
likely to be a third time.

All one needs to know about the inner operations of that building is reflected in the single set of call letters
that adorns it.

C

 

[tce]

OK. Thanks, I have a better understanding of protecting a station. (And to think I got on this thread just to make a bad joke about I Hear Tradio). Here's the next question from the non-professional: What makes a particular FM frequency good or bad?

 

[Parttimer]

Here's the next question from the non-professional: What makes a particular FM frequency good or bad?

Basically how easy it is to pick up. That's mostly a function of power, tower location, and antenna height. Some of those factors are dictated by the station's city of license.

3WS and WSHH are on channel 11's tower (the huge antenna that looks down from the northside). DVE is on Channel 2's tower at the top of 279. Those locations with high power mean you can hear the station well in lots of places.

100.7 is licensed to New Kensington. The tower is also on the northside, but with much lower power, this station is harder to pick up in some places.

The stations that can't be heard as well in places like Westmoreland and Fayette counties are at a disadvantage in the ratings because they have fewer potential listeners.

Another factor is dial position. 92.9 and 107.9, at the ends of the commercial FM band, are at a disadvantage because you are less likely to bump into them as you scan from Station A to Station B than if you were located at 96.9 or 99.7, for instance. (A weaker signal also sometimes doesn't make your scan tuner stop).

Clear Channel was very careful in pursuing the best selection of signals they could put together over the years. Remember, for instance, that the X was originally on 106.7, which they traded, along with a few million dollars to Sheridan Broadcasting for WAMO's 105.9. The deal eventually sealed WAMO's fate.

Bottom line... if more people can hear it, it's good. If fewer people can hear it, it's bad.

 

[tce]

Thanks for the thorough explanation.

 

[TheBigA]

Bottom line... if more people can hear it, it's good. If fewer people can hear it, it's bad.

Ultimately it becomes a matter of personal taste and choice, however. If I speak Spanish, and the only Spanish station is a low power AM, I will go out of my way to hear it. If a crap format is placed on a frequency with great coverage (as is the case in some markets with Harold Camping's stations or Pacifica), no one listens. People choose to listen to radio stations. No one forces them, and they don't listen because there's no choice. Everyone has a choice. It's like fast food or chain stores. People could eat at local diners and shop at mom & pop stores. But they choose to eat at McDonalds and shop at Wal Mart.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

Personal choice in the car or at home where you can play around and flip from one station to another is one thing. If it's a question of what to listen to in your cubicle farm or what you put on at your business, the high power stations are going to be your go to - just because you're doing other things while listening.

I didn't listen to DVE in my veal fattening pen because I really really needed to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd every single day, I listened to it because picking up WRCT was impossible.

 

[TheBigA]

If it's a question of what to listen to in your cubicle farm or what you put on at your business, the high power stations are going to be your go to - just because you're doing other things while listening.

Do you have a computer in the cubicle? Most people do. That's why in-office streaming of OTA radio is so high.

 

[borderblaster]

Assuming that streaming isn't firewalled out or prohibited.

 

[corporateradiosucks]

Assuming that streaming isn't firewalled out or prohibited.

Yes. That.

I'm not in the cubicle farm anymore (thank heaven) but when I was, such things were very frowned upon, if not outright banned.

 

[Parttimer]

Bottom line... if more people can hear it, it's good. If fewer people can hear it, it's bad.

Ultimately it becomes a matter of personal taste and choice, however. If I speak Spanish, and the only Spanish station is a low power AM, I will go out of my way to hear it. If a crap format is placed on a frequency with great coverage (as is the case in some markets with Harold Camping's stations or Pacifica), no one listens. People choose to listen to radio stations. No one forces them, and they don't listen because there's no choice. Everyone has a choice. It's like fast food or chain stores. People could eat at local diners and shop at mom & pop stores. But they choose to eat at McDonalds and shop at Wal Mart.

So to go back to your original point, the masses are stupid and have bad taste?

Kinda elitist, do'nt 'ya think?

 

[cingram]

(T)he masses are stupid and have bad taste?

Kinda elitist, don't 'ya think?

Oh, how I would love to answer this, but as someone who spent a career programming to the masses, I'd better
not.

The observation on personal taste and choice is correct, but don't look to Pittsburgh radio as being a measuring
stick. DVE is a good station - in some ways, a very good station - but, people in Pittsburgh listen to it because
(a) they always have, (b) Clear Channel has eliminated the competition, and/or, (c) they don't know any better.

Also, DVE is one of the few stations left that actually spends money to reinforce and enhance its position in the
market.

C.

 

[TheBigA]

So to go back to your original point, the masses are stupid and have bad taste?

Kinda elitist, do'nt 'ya think?

You're the one placing those values on the facts. One could say that by shopping at bargain stores and listening it OTA radio, they are fiscally smart and have great musical taste. All radio programmers do is evaluate what the public likes and gives it to them.

 

[TheBigA]

Also, DVE is one of the few stations left that actually spends money to reinforce and enhance its position in the
market.

And my question is what's wrong with investing in your radio station? What's wrong with spending money to buy great radio properties, and spending money on local promotion? When did that become a bad thing?

 

[cingram]

And my question is what's wrong with investing in your radio station? What's wrong with spending money to buy great radio properties, and spending money on local promotion? When did that become a bad thing?

Not a bad thing at all. My point was that DVE is one of the few stations in Pittsburgh still doing so, and that is
one of the reasons why they continue to succeed. "Spending money to buy great radio properties" isn't what I
meant.

C.

 

[Raymond]

My point was that DVE is one of the few stations in Pittsburgh still doing so, and that is
one of the reasons why they continue to succeed. "Spending money to buy great radio properties" isn't what I
meant.

And, the reason why CC sacrifices its other Pittsburgh stations....to allow DVE to invest.

 

[TheBigA]

And, the reason why CC sacrifices its other Pittsburgh stations....to allow DVE to invest.

Once again, they have 3 stations in the Top 5, so they're not exactly sacrificing much.

This is what it takes to make a rock station successful. As I've said, rock is dead in a lot of other cities because no one can make this kind of commitment.