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If There's a Way, Clear Channel Will Sell It

R

RoddyFreeman

Has anyone noticed that 94-9 The Bull has been saying they're broadcasting from The Hardy Automotive Group studio?

Of course, the CC stations and Jacor before that have been selling the (Wood & Fullerton Goodyear...or whatever) Traffic Center to advertisers for years.
 
RoddyFreeman said:
Has anyone noticed that 94-9 The Bull has been saying they're broadcasting from The Hardy Automotive Group studio?

Of course, the CC stations and Jacor before that have been selling the (Wood & Fullerton Goodyear...or whatever) Traffic Center to advertisers for years.
Click to expand...
I noticed it over the weekend, it sounds a little cheesy to me. I'm not the most traveled person in the worls but I have never hear of the Hardy Automotive Group. So is this an effective branding tool when you don't even know who it is? Do they sell fords, Chevrolet's, Dodge or an import seem a like a waste of money to me.
 
Emmis is doing the same thing in Chicago, sponsoring their "news lounge" in the mornings on WLUP.
 
Cox now has the "B98.5 Original Matress Factory Dependable Traffic Team" and the "River Brock Built Traffic Center". They are all guilty of it. I believe Star 94 and Q100 also have sponsored traffic centers on occasion.

One problem with the "Hardy Automotive Studio" is that it can fool people into thinking the station is broadcast from the car dealership (which is located in Hiram at the SR 120/SR 360 intersection. SR 120 is now called...Charles Hardy Parkway. They sell Chevy's and Ford's and who knows what else now).

BTW, the Hardy's used to put up a very extravagant Christmas light display at their place on Macland Road (SR 360) in Paulding County (about a mile east of the dealerships), but discontinued it a few years back.

What's next...the Project 9-6-1 Starship Enterprises Broadcast Tower. The Q100 Coca-Cola live remote truck. The News/Talk 750 WSB CNN Georgia Power 24 Hour News desk?
 
jal41 said:
Cox now has the "B98.5 Original Matress Factory Dependable Traffic Team" and the "River Brock Built Traffic Center". They are all guilty of it. I believe Star 94 and Q100 also have sponsored traffic centers on occasion.

What's next...the Project 9-6-1 Starship Enterprises Broadcast Tower. The Q100 Coca-Cola live remote truck. The News/Talk 750 WSB CNN Georgia Power 24 Hour News desk?
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I'm surprised at Cox. All those sposorships yet they blew out a bunch of on-air people last week. OK, I'm not surprised.

Here's what's next: Glenn "Best Buy" Beck" and Rush "Walgreens" Limbaugh!
 
Clear Channel's classic rocker, 96.1 - The Rocket, in Mobile has been doing this for at least a year.

"... broadcasting from the Psychedelic Shack studios ..."

It's fairly subtle... if you don't smoke dope, you wouldn't even notice it.

(The Psychedelic Shack is a local head shop.)
 
WHHY - coming to you from the Guaranty Sacvings and Life building in downtown Montgomery. In 1957. There's little new in the industry. Except I think they got the rent free, or reduced for the mention.
 
Our van was the Tri-States GMC Soft Hits Safari...

But I guess that's way better than the previous sponsor, the Clear Channel Building of Death... :D ;D
 
It's a sign of the times, unfortunately. Station Managers & Sales people struggling to hit increasingly unrealistic budgets as rates drop and the pool of advertisers dwindle are having to be increasingly "creative."
 
I haven't heard that audio but it makes me wonder if doing too much of this sponsorship takes away from the branding of the station?
 
Nothing new here. This has been going on for quite some time and it isn't just CC. The Braves time of first pitch is brought to you by Bulova, available at Belk and Company fine jewelers. John Sterling reminds listeners on the Yankees Radio Network that he is broadcasting live from the "Lowe's Broadcasting Booth. Lowe's, let's build something together." On Television we are inudated with constant reminders of what we are watching, what is on next and what is coming up in just "7 days."
Kyra Sedgwick walks across the screen on TNT so much, I just want to throw a brick at her. It is a good thing these pirannas weren't around when Christ was crucified.
They'd have sold time to the lumber yard supplying wood for the cross.
 
fussbudget said:
Nothing new here. This has been going on for quite some time and it isn't just CC. The Braves time of first pitch is brought to you by Bulova, available at Belk and Company fine jewelers. John Sterling reminds listeners on the Yankees Radio Network that he is broadcasting live from the "Lowe's Broadcasting Booth. Lowe's, let's build something together." On Television we are inudated with constant reminders of what we are watching, what is on next and what is coming up in just "7 days."
Kyra Sedgwick walks across the screen on TNT so much, I just want to throw a brick at her. It is a good thing these pirannas weren't around when Christ was crucified.
They'd have sold time to the lumber yard supplying wood for the cross.
Click to expand...

Speaking of Bulova, many people may not know that they actually owned a radio station in Atlanta.

WTFI went on the air in 1927 as the fifth radio station in Georgia, owned by Toccoa Falls Institute in Toccoa, GA. The station operated til the early 1930s when it was sold and moved to Athens. It stayed there til the late 1930s when Bulova watch company bought the station and moved it to Atlanta, still on 1450. When all the AM frequencies were shifted in 1941, it became 1480. 1480 later moved to 590 and by then the station was known as WAGA, later WPLO, now WDWD. The WDWD calls originally were in Dawson GA on now defunct 990 WDWD which had the slogan, Double your profits with Double D Radio.

When 1480 full time left Atlanta, WRDW in Augusta took the channel to have 5KW day and night. Later on WYZE went on the air at 1480 in Atlanta, daytime only. 550 started off in Atlanta too. The Atlanta Constitution had WCON Radio and TV. When Cox bought the Constitution, WCON 550 went dark, WSB TV took Channel 2 of WCON-TV and Channel 8 which WSB TV had used when to Georgia Public TV. Charlie Smithgall, Sr. once morning man on WSB moved his 1240 WGGA to 550. WDUN which started out on 1400 (cleared by the move of WATL from 1400 to 1380..also made 1400 available in Newnan) moved to 1240 only later to buy 550, move WDUN there and WGGA back to 1240.
 
inthecity said:
I haven't heard that audio but it makes me wonder if doing too much of this sponsorship takes away from the branding of the station?
Click to expand...

Randy & Spiff should change their names for an entire month during the fall book. It's the "Tom Shane Morning Show on WGST, featuring George Stein the DUI Lawyer & Team Ford."
 
Cheeez!!!!

Commercial radio has always been commercial radio. It was created to sell products. WLS, Chicago stood for "World's Largest Store" for Sears and WGN meant "World's Greatest Newspaper" for the Tribune when they went on the air in 1924!

Would you rather have more of your tax money wasted? Millions go to keep NPR on the air every year. It's only crappy commercials if you aren't interested. I actually enjoy the good spots now and then..... Can anyone say "Real Men of Genius?"
 
Yeah, exactly. We're bombarded by ads all of the time, and commercial branding the studios is nothing new. It even migrated into television in the early days (didn't the evening news have something, like "The Marlboro News Desk" and the anchor smoked a cigarette while reading a cue-card liner about Marlboros?)

Speaking of the Braves' Bulova game time: How about the "Allstate Good Hands Play", the "Delta Sky Miles Home Run Distance", or even "ADT Steal of the Game"? And, let's not forget everyone's favorite: "The Aflac Trivia Question". Sports, no matter what it is, has drop-ads all throughout the games. There's "official" beers, TVs, radios, airlines, home improvement stores, retail stores, etc. So, why should radio (who's even more hard-up for cash) be any different?
 
> Art Sutton write: The Atlanta Constitution had WCON Radio and TV. When Cox bought the Constitution, WCON 550 went dark, WSB TV took Channel 2 of WCON-TV and Channel 8 which WSB TV had used when to Georgia Public TV.

You missed a step, Art!

When WSB moved down the dial to channel 2 in 1951, it opened up channel 8 for Atlanta's third TV station.

A group of local investors launched WLTV on channel 8 in 1951 and operated it for nearly two years. Low budget...not much local stuff (although they had a Saturday night "negro" variety program that attracted many prominent local advertisers).

1953: WROM AM Rome signs on their own TV station, WROM TV channel 9, which immediately begins causing interference with channel 8 for those who live halfway between Atlanta and Rome.

Around that time, WLTV was sold to Crosley (WLW/Cincinnati), channel 8 changed calls to WLW-A and moved up the dial to the vacant channel 11, eliminating interference with channel 9 (which later moves to Chattanooga, allowing Columbus's co-owned channel 28 to move to channel 9 there.)

Channel 8 gets reassigned as a non-commercial frequency and remains dark until the University of Georgia launches WGTV in 1960.

I'm working on a documentary for GPB about the first decade of Georgia television...so if anyone has ideas of people I should interview, email me. [email protected]
 
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