I think Pittsburgh radio sucks

[xm41]

I've heard the same malfunctions on 104.7 during Rush. They don't seem to care any more about their bread and butter stations during prime time either. I actually had to send an email to the engineers to let them know about the problem.

I've completely given up trying to listen to Coast to Coast at night on 104.7. From dead air to blown cues to actually playing 3 programs on top of each other.
This is the kind of crap that deregulation brought us.

 

[Rallen1st]

(snip) - This is the kind of crap that deregulation brought us.

You hit the nail right smack dab on the head XM 41... its as if the spectrum hogs who own our nation's airwaves are purposely trying to make radio pretty much obsolete and are doing very little to slow down the progress of its imminent demise.

Personally, I haven't listened to an over-the-air radio station in more than two years and so far have absolutely no desire or need to tune back... I'm fine with my mp3 player, cds... and my internet connected computer at home and work. And this is from a guy who for years ate, drank and slept radio 24/7.

 

[TheBigA]

This is the kind of crap that deregulation brought us.

Funny...so radio was technically perfect until 1996? Really?

 

[FreddyE1977]

They should leave a key under the door mat. Then, as the only listener to WBGG on a Saturday night, you could go in and make the necessary corrections.

I believe the Birach stations operate on that system.

 

[Alton]

Quote from: Pratte4Life on June 17, 2012, 10:58:06 PM
Would you really say WPGB and WTAM are contemporaries? I would argue that KDKA is the Pittsburgh counterpart of WTAM, and that WTAM, with Trivisonno and the sports contracts, is ahead of KDKA.

After all, WTAM has a talk show host who very may well be "The Voice of Cleveland" in Trivisonno and the broadcasts of the Indians, Browns and Cavs, while KDKA-AM has Tradio.

I realize you were trying to compare CC properties, but is a station that is all automated with national shows and on FM really comparable to a station that has strong local content?


Yes, I think it's fair to compare CC's Cleveland talk station to CC's Pittsburgh talk station, even if one is on AM
and the other is on FM.

To answer your question with a question: why does CC have strong local content on WTAM and except for Jim
Quinn, not much local content on WPGB? To address that question is to get to the heart of the matter.

BTW, I think Jay Bohannon does a good job with 104.7, considering what he has been given.

C.

I agree with you Clarke. As I recall, didn't Bohannon come from or worked at WTAM for a time?

 

[xm41]

This is the kind of crap that deregulation brought us.

Funny...so radio was technically perfect until 1996? Really?

No, but at least the smaller owners cared about the product that was going out. The tech issues from CC and others just show that they don't care. We're not talking about occasional small glitches. We're talking repeated complete on air meltdowns. Of course when your competition doesn't care either there is not much need to improve. That is the situation that deregulation brought us.

 

[TheBigA]

No, but at least the smaller owners cared about the product that was going out.

Have you listened to stations owned by small owners lately? They aren't doing award-winning radio.

It's been my experience that when mistakes happen, they're not caused by some far-away owner. They're caused by someone local. That situation would happen regardless of where he gets his check. Someone was asleep at the wheel in Pittsburgh, not San Antonio. That wasn't caused by deregulation. And I see the exact same problem in a lot of other industries.

 

[xm41]

No, but at least the smaller owners cared about the product that was going out.

Have you listened to stations owned by small owners lately? They aren't doing award-winning radio.

It's been my experience that when mistakes happen, they're not caused by some far-away owner. They're caused by someone local. That situation would happen regardless of where he gets his check. Someone was asleep at the wheel in Pittsburgh, not San Antonio. That wasn't caused by deregulation. And I see the exact same problem in a lot of other industries.

And in those other industries deregulation is often also the cause. As for the smaller owners, they've been practically ran out of the business by the large monopolies that deregulation helped create. It all boils down to lower quality everything.

You see it in all areas of business. Monopolies put smaller competitors out of business while cutting costs to the bone thus lowering the overall quality of available product. Consumers not being able to obtain real quality end up settling for crap. Eventually they forget what real quality is. That is where we find ourselves today.

In a environment where everything sucks mediocre is the new excellent.

 

[TheBigA]

In a environment where everything sucks mediocre is the new excellent.

You're ignoring the fact that this was caused by someone in Pittsburgh, not the big corporate owner. Someone local was directly responsible. Radio began with big corporate owners. As you know, Westinghouse wasn't some mom & pop company.

 

[xm41]

In a environment where everything sucks mediocre is the new excellent.

You're ignoring the fact that this was caused by someone in Pittsburgh, not the big corporate owner. Someone local was directly responsible. Radio began with big corporate owners. As you know, Westinghouse wasn't some mom & pop company.

Yes, someone locally. Someone who is getting paid next to nothing to do a job that should be properly done by two or more people. The owners don't expect anything better because they don't want to pay to have the job done right. Since the competition puts out the same low quality product they do they don't have to care. Anybody that might care about putting out a proper product has been driven out of business long ago due to the monopolies that deregulation helped create.

 

[TheBigA]

Someone who is getting paid next to nothing to do a job that should be properly done by two or more people.

And you think he'd be getting paid more working for a mom & pop? I got paid the lowest (with no benefits) when I worked for a mom & pop. It also wasn't unusual for the check to bounce. And that was before deregulation. Actually, owners DO expect better work, regardless of how much they pay. But I've also come to know there's no connection between the size of salary and quality of work.

The problem today is people are too focused on money. That is a bigger problem that deregulation. Everyone is too hung up on "where's mine?" No one works in radio to get rich. I learned that when I was a teenager. It has nothing to do with deregulation. If quality product drove the marketplace, the parking lot would be empty at the Wal Mart. People want cheap. That's why OTA radio is still so much more popular than satellite. And if you want to hear technical snafus, spend a few days with Sirius.

 

[DavidZ]

And still no jazz station nearly a year later.

WGBH-FM 89.7 in Boston just dropped their evening jazz programming in favor of more News and Talk. Luckily, I live in Central New England and have non-commercial WICN-FM 90.5 out of Worcester to listen to with 20 hours of jazz daily. In fact, the jazz programming is still "live and local" in many of the timeslots.

Here is the link for WICN - http://www.wicn.org/

 

[xm41]

Someone who is getting paid next to nothing to do a job that should be properly done by two or more people.

And you think he'd be getting paid more working for a mom & pop? I got paid the lowest (with no benefits) when I worked for a mom & pop. It also wasn't unusual for the check to bounce. And that was before deregulation. Actually, owners DO expect better work, regardless of how much they pay. But I've also come to know there's no connection between the size of salary and quality of work.

The problem today is people are too focused on money. That is a bigger problem that deregulation. Everyone is too hung up on "where's mine?" No one works in radio to get rich. I learned that when I was a teenager. It has nothing to do with deregulation. If quality product drove the marketplace, the parking lot would be empty at the Wal Mart. People want cheap. That's why OTA radio is still so much more popular than satellite. And if you want to hear technical snafus, spend a few days with Sirius.

No, you wouldn't get paid more working for a small mom & pop but you would have been paid more working for a medium market station that wasn't part of some giant monopoly who cut the operating cost to the bone because they didn't have to care about competition anymore.

The real problem today isn't that everyone is focused on money. It's that too few people have money. Deregulation had allowed giant companies to form monopolies, eliminate competition, & cut wages. All of this has helping form a two class society. The people who have so much money that they don't have to care and those who are a single problem away from being on the street.

As for Sirius, I've had XM since early 2003. In those days XM was fantastic. The playlists were great and the sound quality was fantastic. It slowly went downhill till the merger with Sirius and that is when the quality of both services fell thru the floor.

Competition and capitalism make it better for everybody but there have to be checks and balances in the system. Deregulation has removed those checks and balances hurting everyone.

You're right, people want cheap. But when cheap gets too cheap there are prices to be paid. There's some famous quote that I can't quite remember warning about the problems giving people exactly what they want.

 

[xm41]

No one works in radio to get rich. I learned that when I was a teenager.

I agree with that 100% But nobody owns a radio station to get rich either. At least that's the way it was. I've always felt radio was something people got into because it was something they loved. The business part developed because people needed to make a living and that's OK. Some regulation was needed because radio was in the unique position of having to be a public service as well as a business.

 

[TheBigA]

Some regulation was needed because radio was in the unique position of having to be a public service as well as a business.

And there's still a lot of regulation now. More regulation in owning broadcasting than in other media. The only real thing that's changed is that there are no national ownership limits. But the business part was there from day one. Marconi didn't come up with this thing as a hobby. Westinghouse, GE, and RCA wanted to sell radios. I'd suggest radio was far more business oriented in the 30s. We have this romance about public service, but radio is no different from any other utility, like water, electric, gas, or cable. And they're all privately owned, all pay poorly, and have lots of service problems.

 

[garnet]

Lets all hope that if "the big one" comes, the 17 year old highschool kid watching 3 stations at 2:30 in the morning is'nt on his phone. I can't imagine thats what was imagined to come out of deregulation. Actually, is'nt the big argument that deregulation opens up competition and increases jobs? Really?

 

[TheBigA]

Actually, is'nt the big argument that deregulation opens up competition and increases jobs? Really?

I never remember anyone saying deregulation would lead to more jobs. It's usually about money. What it HAS done is kept a lot of stations on the air. Because there's no doubt in my mind that without it, we'd have a lot fewer radio stations on the air now. Don't forget that Docket 80-90 preceded deregulation. That increased competition and jobs, but drove down value. By the 90s, the majority of radio stations were in the red, and heritage owners like GE and Nationwide sold out. Radio owners needed financial relief to stay in business. That's what led to deregulation.

 

[garnet]

Whoring out the station for $5.00 a spot(because you can afford it) just to screw the competition is what allowed more stations to stay on the air? Maybe, but obviously not beneficial in the end. Its why nice restaurants don't do coupons. It cheapens the product.

 

[Boss Radio]

Lets all hope that if "the big one" comes, the 17 year old highschool kid watching 3 stations at 2:30 in the morning is'nt on his phone.

I hope he is, so he can call all five listeners.

 

[TheBigA]

Whoring out the station for $5.00 a spot(because you can afford it) just to screw the competition is what allowed more stations to stay on the air? Maybe, but obviously not beneficial in the end. Its why nice restaurants don't do coupons. It cheapens the product.

Who said radio is like a nice restaurant? Most of the radio stations I worked at had rats and roaches. And once again, that was BEFORE deregulation.

Yes, competition leads to cutting spot price. That leads to layoffs. That's why competition isn't a good thing. Radio was better and safer when there were fewer stations and they all had their niche.