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IS RZK STUNTING?

B

bored-op

Guest
The launch into the "new format" was so lackluster and p!ss poor, could this simply be a name change/format flip halfway through the book, just to stir up some sampling and bolster and audience for a total flip to classic rock? or country? TFM with all holiday should be successful and a new format buzz for rzk might pay off, could be a good fall book for hvbc, maybe as they reset after the holidays and charge toward spring? Are they that calculated? A conspiracy theory indeed.
 
Stunting? After all the crying about "being here first" and the " first to bring new rock to the Tri Cities". If i had to hear/read/see that J.T. crying on local forums about that any more, I was surely going to tear out my stereo and toss it inthe street.....lol don't make me laugh, they are obviously in a panic over there. They tossed thier name recognition in the trash after all the crying about Z-Rock coming along and "stealing" thier moniker. Please. Let's be honest here, have you listened to the station?!? They have changed/ improved nothing. You can still drive a truck through their programing, thier air talent still sounds the same.....sad. There isn't a Programming bone in Highland's body or he would have sent the airstaff home and bought a morning show for one thing. The station had it's chance to "play everything that rawks", but they instead chose to.....well, uh, they are "The Hog" now. lol. Maybe they can get one of thier air staff to wear a hog suit or something. Z-Rock for me....P.B.
 
So is the Hog stunting? Quick answer to that one...Swami says NO! It's not their style to do something like that. What you see from HVBC is what you get! That's not their style to do anything like that. Did I say that twice. Yes, I did. Just wanted to make that clear to everyone. If that is what they are doing, it would be a first. Not to say that nothing is impossible, I just don't see it, given their track record.
And let me be the first to welcome Pure Blood to the boards. You can say whatever you want about me, but don't start bashing Scott. Stick to people who post here. And those posts on the buzz? That was like three years ago, dude or dudette.

But as much as I hate to agree with you, I get the feeling that you are right on the panic thing. I understand wanting to separate yourself from the competitor, but (sorry to hit it again) WRZK was here first (it's a historical fact, get over it!) and I would go down kicking and screaming before I gave that name up!

If you really want to beat the Z, do it with tweaking the product, not the name. Even when Coke tried to change the formula, they kept the name. Fact is, people know K-Rock, even if there is a competitor with a similar name. (ie Coca-COLA vs Pepsi-COLA).
As Fall Out Boy once said, "Sugar, We're Going Down Swingin'!" Scott, go down swingin!
Peace,
TWSP
 
J.T., thought that was you, just wasn't sure. I understand your kinship with highland and I'll leave it at that. We do agree on the issue of the panic button and that fixing what's broken would be the best way to compete. But let's be frank, it's been broken for a long time. This area doesn't require too much as far as who listeners think "rawk", but the slicker a station sounds and the less twang a rock-jock can muster the better. Perhaps the powers at HV just don't give a shit about the pig...I mean hog. How much real money went into promotion of that station in your last days? Don't answer man we both know. "Build a better mouse trap....." as they say.
P.B.
 
I'm with Pure Blood on this one.

WRZK had a great start and good leadership through McKinney. Matter of fact, I worked for McKinney for a short time. He was a leader, talented imaginative and innovative.

Seems to me things began to fall apart after he left. No clear direction for TFM or RZK. Which leads us to today. Highland is a good jock. As far as being a good PD - No comment - only time will tell.

But "THE HOG" ??? OMG - my 4 year old girl could have created a better image.

Of the 2 in question here - it's Z-Rock for me.
 
I worked with McKinney for 13 years. He was a helluva boss and I agree with you that the guy knew radio and he also knew how to get what he needed out of people, which is the key to being a good PD. Know when to apply the gas and when to hit the brakes.

But I have to disagree with the idea that things started to fall apart after he left. I don't think the powers-that-be were prepared for the idea that someone else in the market that would even fathom putting an ALT-ROCK station up against it. Not really because we felt we were unbeatable, but because the market just isn't that big. I mean we were pulling 4 or 5 (tops) shares in 12-plus. Why would anyone want even half of that? Well, guess we were wrong.

I think another problem is we let Bob and Tom go. I know the numbers said that the audience turned over after 10a, but I was there and I saw the outrage that people had. And okay, if you wanna go another direction, fine. But morning drive was never a priority after that. Don't take offense to that, Winnie or Mike Riddle. I don't mean that like it sounds. Attitude was never pushed hard. What I mean by that is that we (airstaff) were never allowed to be "alt-rock jocks." I don't know what they say at BBC, but the jocks come off as ones with attitude.

Another thing that sticks out to me in the comparison is the fact that people might prefer Z-Rock is because there are NO commercials (or very few). They play 50-plus minutes of music an hour, outside morning drive. That's gonna get a lot of listeners right there.

Other than that, when you compare WRZK to WTZR, circa 2004, there was virtually no difference in the two. Same playlists, similar imaging. In fact, there were a lot of times that Z-Rock would do so many things that we had done you had to wonder if they weren't trying to confuse the listener!

But I don't think that a majority of these problems can be laid on Scott Highland's lap. He inherited a great deal of these issues and a PD at Holston Valley Broadcasting only has so much power. Trust me, I know whereof I speak, PB!

Peace,
TWSP
 
I don't know S. Highland, but I was listening Thursday, and still heard a promo that mentioned K-rock. Thier website is not ready, and there is still a K-rock board up near my residence. On top of that, the "new" old tunes they are playing are not toned up too tight. To me, thats one of two things. Half ass programming or the powers that be just don't care. Or both. I can only make comments on what I hear and see.......and what I hear and see is sloppy. Any flip I've ever been involved with was ready to go, a plan in place and everything done. Yeah, some minor things usually get through, but only once before they are corrected. Not three weeks in. To give some sort of benefit of the doubt, I know how hard it is to keep a lid on a format flip. You only have a certian amount of time before its gonna leak. Maybe it started leaking and they just put it on the air. If thats the case, I'm not sure it was the right move, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
 
J-Street said:
With all that good stuff being said, they flipped over horribly, in my humble opinion... on a tuesday, in the middle of a book, no live jocks and only one sweeper they played over and over all day. They even had "K-Rock" promos still playing. I mean how long would it take to go into the production room and update everything before you change over? Good news, let's hope their new tv commercials don't have that annoying screaming little midget!
Click to expand...

Hey bored-op! Someone already said all that. Just kidding, glad we agree. As far as the format flip leaking, I don't think that's any excuse for a half-ass flip. Even if everyone in the world knows you're going to flip, you should still wait until all your ducks are in a row and do it RIGHT, not half-ass like all the examples you and I have both given. Just my opinion. All the reasons I pointed out were, 'bout 3 weeks ago? And according to bored-op, still K-Rock promos and still no website. I don't even know what to say about that except, pathetic, just pathetic.
 
As stated previously, when McKinney left, things started the downward spiral. It's been going that way since. There is no leadership in the HVB building---at any station---period.....including TV.

When McKinney flipped from 105.9 to 95.9, everything was ready before the "button was pushed".

I guess it rather clear why most listeners have switched to Z-Rock.
 
I don't really know why stuff like that is happening. That's not like Scott to let big stuff get through the cracks. And while I don't know this to be gospel, I sincerely doubt that this "flip" was his decision. He didn't like the Rock Without Rules move (nor did I. Decision made by David and Sneed) so I can't imagine he was happy with this one, either! Nothing against Scott, but since McKinney left, more and more power has been taken from the programming side of the building and put into management and sales. You can see that with their reluctance to hire a PD on WTFM. Not only does it save money, but it allows David to make all the decisions on programming. And for someone with absolutely no experience outside of sales, that's a scary proposition! It was a problem before I got the boot and I can only imagine it is getting worse. To what am I referring? Sales department on WTFM, WRZK and WKPT-AM destroying the product with crappy promotions, way too much added value, etc. I know Scott doesn't like it, but he has someone he has to answer to. And again, nothing against my old friend, but David has assumed way too much power since McKinney left and has limited what Scott can do. I know as AM Program Director, I had that title in name only. The sales manager and his lackeys were calling the shots as to what was going on the air. It's one of the reasons I got 86'ed. I had finally reached my breaking point on this crap, and I lost my cool with the AM sales manager and a sales rep when they told me they had sold a golf show and let me know about it less than a week before it aired. In the five and a half years I held that title, this sort of thing went on all the time. I didn't scream or yell, I just walked out of the meeting and said I can't do this right now. Perhaps Scott is feeling the frustration. On top of that, David had him doing a lot of the programming grunt work on WTFM when I was still there, but wouldn't even give him the title of interim program director, much less permanent PD. I don't know if he still is, but that was the deal as of July. Like I said, I have been out of the loop for almost five months now, so I don't know what's going on for sure, but if things haven't improved and I doubt they have, Scott has to be feeling a lot of stress and anxiety. He has the responsibility but not an equal amount of the privilege that goes along with the PD title.
 
Well, thier website finally went up (over the weekend I suppose). Guess who has a banner on the site........Yep: Hog Wild!!! My bet: BBQ places coming soon........also some Harley dealerships. If I owned any other brand of motorcycle shop, I'd have to really think hard about advertising. Interesting name, indeed.
 
Mr. Tightwad,

I'm LMAO !!! :D :D :D :D

We are on the same frequency.

In the spring, they can give away canoes or have a BBQ and canoe race.

Or maybe a "slopping " contest to see who can cover Burke with scraps leftover from HogWild's restuarant. They may have to hold Winnie back from eating the scraps. But they probably can't find anyone big enough to hold her back. Looks like she been at the slop bucket a lot lately.

I know. A greased Piglett Contest. Catch NICOLE and she'll autograph your pigskin football.

Or Nicole can sign autographs(ha,ha) and have her picture made with Burke once he's covered in slop. Then she can post herself ALL OVER THE WEB PAGE.

Burke has already won the "Hog Look Alike Contest".

We should have seen it coming when Burke was hired. The HOG - OINK!! OINK!!

I'll bet the first remote will be from Tractor Supply !!!!
 
Ooh, that was harsh, dude!  Winnie's not all that bad. 

BUT here's some other ideas for station marketing and promotion for continuing to inflate the egos of the newbies....

* Shawn Burke's Hot N' Spicy Pork Rinds

* Nicole's BBQ Pork Flavoured Edible Panties

* A two-for-one autobiography of Nicole and Shawn called "Shameless Plugs: How to Look Like Bigshots by Posting Your Mug All Over the World Wide Web" by Nicole and Shawn Burke, as seen at wrzk.com, their personal myspace.com pages, WRZK's myspace.com page, barbecuemonthly.com, monster.com,
we-hate-jt.com, hvbc.com and z-rock-993-sucks.com.  Also heard on terrestrial radio at WRZK-FM 95.9 mHZ in the Tri-Cities, TN/VA.   
 
I've got the perfect Christmas promotion for them.

95.9 THE HOG - We're giving away a pack of Valleydale Bacon every hour to "squeeler" number 9 today through Christmas Eve.

Then 1 lucky winner will win a freezer full hams. Plus a pack of Bacon every week for a year.

OINK!!! OINK!!!! OINK!!!!
 
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