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Inside Track short item: WBZ, Paul Harvey

raccoonradio

raccoonradio

A 4 sentence bit from Herald Inside Track says that Paul Harvey's shows were
getting expensive, plus Paul Jr. was filling in for his dad so many times...

http://thetrack.bostonherald.com/moreTrack/view.bg?articleid=120783&format=&page=2

Wikipedia entry on Paul, with career highlights and famous quotes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Harvey<P ID="signature">______________
raccoonradio5ap.gif
</P>
 
"the old coot"

What a nice way for a wannabe hack feature reporter for the newspaper to speak about the preeminent commentator in radio.
 
From the website: "On May 10, 1976, ABC Radio Networks spun off The Rest of the Story as a separate series which provided endless surprises as Harvey dug into the stories behind the stories of famous events people. Harvey's son, a concert pianist, helped write the show.

In 2001, Harvey was off the air after damaging his vocal cords, returning in late August 2001."

We had noticed when his son started doing the fill-in, and then kept on doing the fill in, until weeks later when we got the fax from ABC Radio that Paul was ill and recovering from a serious throat infection.

Here's the hook: The contract we had said that "Paul Harvey" was supposed to deliver the segments, not "Paul Harvey Jr." I believe that it was 4 months before Paul Sr. began doing it again, and I had already left the station. Also, you might notice that he does not sound exactly the same, he now uses a special booseter microphone, since his vocal cords never completely recovered.

And yes, he does take an awful lot of time off, and in the sneakiest way possible. Nothing wrong with Paul Harvey Jr. but it's Sr. people turn to listen to, and Sr. is trying to sneak his son in there as his replacement. We lost a ton of advertising revenue, and in the end, he ended up back at the cross town rival.

Anyway, that's my 2 Cents.

> A 4 sentence bit from Herald Inside Track says that Paul
> Harvey's shows were
> getting expensive, plus Paul Jr. was filling in for his dad
> so many times...
>
http://thetrack.boston> herald.com/moreTrack/view.bg?articleid=120783&format=&page=2
>
>
> Wikipedia entry on Paul, with career highlights and famous
> quotes:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Harvey
>
 
> "the old coot"
>
> What a nice way for a wannabe hack feature reporter for the
> newspaper to speak about the preeminent commentator in
> radio.
>

Maybe not the most diplomatic way of saying it, but probably the opinion of a lot of people. I'd guess the lion's share of his audience/fan base is 65+. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but also not demographically appealing to very many stations.
 
> > "the old coot"
> >
> > What a nice way for a wannabe hack feature reporter for
> the
> > newspaper to speak about the preeminent commentator in
> > radio.
> >
>
> Maybe not the most diplomatic way of saying it, but probably
> the opinion of a lot of people. I'd guess the lion's share
> of his audience/fan base is 65+. Not that there's anything
> wrong with that, but also not demographically appealing to
> very many stations.
>
And Bobby...you've just given the BEST DEFINITION why radio no longer has the desire to appeal to many 'age segments' of the listening audience. As broadcast groups continue to base their 'programming content' on demographics...instead of trying to reach age groups that ACTUALLY LISTEN..most of us 'dinosaurs' should be dead within the next 30 years!

So where does this 'corporate philosophy' leave most of the radio stations that are just 'existing' right now? Like the dinosaur....the radio stations will probably DIE too? Maybe I'm being a little cruel here? So just to be fair...there's always going to be a need for another bank or perhaps a carwash to take up the space after a radio station has disappeared!

argytunes
 
My problem with Harvey was the way the commentary and commercials were mixed together. Often times it was hard to tell where the commentary ended and the commercial began. The whole thing seemed kind of sleazy to me.

- Al

http://www.carnali.com

> > > "the old coot"
> > >
> > > What a nice way for a wannabe hack feature reporter for
> > the
> > > newspaper to speak about the preeminent commentator in
> > > radio.
> > >
> >
> > Maybe not the most diplomatic way of saying it, but
> probably
> > the opinion of a lot of people. I'd guess the lion's
> share
> > of his audience/fan base is 65+. Not that there's
> anything
> > wrong with that, but also not demographically appealing to
>
> > very many stations.
> >
> And Bobby...you've just given the BEST DEFINITION why radio
> no longer has the desire to appeal to many 'age segments' of
> the listening audience. As broadcast groups continue to base
> their 'programming content' on demographics...instead of
> trying to reach age groups that ACTUALLY LISTEN..most of us
> 'dinosaurs' should be dead within the next 30 years!
>
> So where does this 'corporate philosophy' leave most of the
> radio stations that are just 'existing' right now? Like the
> dinosaur....the radio stations will probably DIE too? Maybe
> I'm being a little cruel here? So just to be
> fair...there's always going to be a need for another bank or
> perhaps a carwash to take up the space after a radio station
> has disappeared!
>
> argytunes
>
 
It isn't so much sleazy as so much as it's a remnant of old-time radio. Announcers years ago would mix commercials into their patter.




Dave Gardiner

WVCH 740/WNWR 1540

Philadelphia
 
Thank You for the inspiration

> And Bobby...you've just given the BEST DEFINITION why radio
> no longer has the desire to appeal to many 'age segments' of
> the listening audience. As broadcast groups continue to base
> their 'programming content' on demographics...instead of
> trying to reach age groups that ACTUALLY LISTEN..most of us
> 'dinosaurs' should be dead within the next 30 years!

It's not just broadcast that has abandoned we seniors. Respect
is dead. But, take heart, I have a solution!

We just cash out our inheritable assets and sit on the cash until
the end is near. Instead of passing along the wealth to anyone,
we write up an "advance directive" that our cash be converted to
one-dollar bills, shredded, and used as the base for our funeral
pyres. Then let all the little snot-nosed ingrates in the family
come watch their presumed inheritance just....go....away........<P ID="signature">______________
"environmentalism is collectivism in drag."
--George Will (or won't)</P>
 
> It isn't so much sleazy as so much as it's a remnant of
> old-time radio. Announcers years ago would mix commercials
> into their patter.
>
>
>
>
> Dave Gardiner
>
> WVCH 740/WNWR 1540
>
> Philadelphia
>


Doesn't Paul Harvey still separate his LIVE & RECORDED SPOTS by giving the Page number?

Personally...I think live spots (or a possible endorsement) is OKAY! It's whether the advertiser, manufacturer or product itself can measure up to the hype! [Look and listen to some of the current network spots that promote the lineup for the night time TV shows. There's definitely a difference between "the promotional spark" and the actual quality of the product itself].

argytunes
 
> > "the old coot"
> >
> > What a nice way for a wannabe hack feature reporter for
> the
> > newspaper to speak about the preeminent commentator in
> > radio.
> >
>
> Maybe not the most diplomatic way of saying it, but probably
> the opinion of a lot of people. I'd guess the lion's share
> of his audience/fan base is 65+. Not that there's anything
> wrong with that, but also not demographically appealing to
> very many stations.



>
I've listened to Paul for years, and I'm well below retirement age. As for mixing the commercials in with the copy, you always knew there was a commercial coming when Paul would announce the page number. I listened for years, and I was never confused.
 
> > > "the old coot"
> > >
> > > What a nice way for a wannabe hack feature reporter for
> > the
> > > newspaper to speak about the preeminent commentator in
> > > radio.
> > >
> >
> > Maybe not the most diplomatic way of saying it, but
> probably
> > the opinion of a lot of people. I'd guess the lion's
> share
> > of his audience/fan base is 65+. Not that there's
> anything
> > wrong with that, but also not demographically appealing to
>
> > very many stations.
>
>
>
> >
> I've listened to Paul for years, and I'm well below
> retirement age. As for mixing the commercials in with the
> copy, you always knew there was a commercial coming when
> Paul would announce the page number. I listened for years,
> and I was never confused.

I have as well, I he's fun to listen to.
 
> "the old coot"
>
> What a nice way for a wannabe hack feature reporter for the
> newspaper to speak about the preeminent commentator in
> radio.
>

Wannabe? Apparently you don't know Jack about The Track (heehee)

They've been around for awhile, they know what they're doing and they break NUMEROUS stories before anyone else, one thing they are not, are wannabes
 
> So where does this 'corporate philosophy' leave most of the
> radio stations that are just 'existing' right now? Like the
> dinosaur....the radio stations will probably DIE too? Maybe
> I'm being a little cruel here? So just to be
> fair...there's always going to be a need for another bank or
> perhaps a carwash to take up the space after a radio station
> has disappeared!
>
> argytunes
>

Or maybe they will get turned over to non-profit community radio stations that respond to listeners who make donations and not ratings books.
 
Harvey's Demos, New Boston Home

> Maybe not the most diplomatic way of saying it, but probably
> the opinion of a lot of people. I'd guess the lion's share
> of his audience/fan base is 65+. Not that there's anything
> wrong with that, but also not demographically appealing to
> very many stations.

You must not see the research...I've heard that Harvey's demographic base is somewhat younger than you'd expect for a commentator in his 80's. The stations I've talked to about him say he tests well with the core news/talk demo base (25-54 and/or 35-64).

BTW, my good friend Mr. Fybush notes in this week's NERW that it looks like Salem's WTTT/1150 will pick up Harvey. It'd be the second major market Salem talker to do so...KTKZ/1380 Sacramento grabbed Harvey when Clear Channel's KFBK/1530 dropped him last year.

-OA

<P ID="signature">______________
Ohio Media Watch - <a target="_blank" href=http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com>http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com</a></P>
 
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