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Is this the end for WJIB?
- Thread starter DavidZ
- Start date
Just realized the link was not working, let's try again......
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=179066
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=179066
A
AvenueA
Guest
Lots of syndicated talk he could run live and save money.
Can you say Air America? Or maybe one of the Talk Radio network shows that isn't heard here, like
Tammy Bruce or Rusty Humphries.
Tammy Bruce or Rusty Humphries.
I just left BMI because they raked in 2 billion in 3 years and they refuse to pay artists the way that ASCAP does.
ASCAP will at least throw us money for college radio airplay while BMI brags they do but try finding an artist on BMI who gets a check for college pay.
It was very difficult to get out of the BMI contract as they want to keep all the members (300,000) and not pay the "little songwriter" (their term for non-hit songwriters), though they use the term "little songwriter" to push legislation through.
Bob Bittner might have a good argument asking where the monies are spent. BMI has little accountability, yet they rake the money in like there's no tomorrow. 2 Billion bucks and 2 major artists ONLY got their money when yours truly shook the tree for them. Their song was on the #6 concert tour of the year 2 years ago and BMI didn't pay them until they got e mails from me demanding they look into it. So not only "little songwriters" but the big boys are being cheated as well.
ASCAP will at least throw us money for college radio airplay while BMI brags they do but try finding an artist on BMI who gets a check for college pay.
It was very difficult to get out of the BMI contract as they want to keep all the members (300,000) and not pay the "little songwriter" (their term for non-hit songwriters), though they use the term "little songwriter" to push legislation through.
Bob Bittner might have a good argument asking where the monies are spent. BMI has little accountability, yet they rake the money in like there's no tomorrow. 2 Billion bucks and 2 major artists ONLY got their money when yours truly shook the tree for them. Their song was on the #6 concert tour of the year 2 years ago and BMI didn't pay them until they got e mails from me demanding they look into it. So not only "little songwriters" but the big boys are being cheated as well.
Ironically enough, while Air America may have indirectly caused Bob's problem, it could now be the answer to it.
When WXKS and WKOX changed to AAR in Oct of '04, the standards listeners of WXKS suddenly had to
find their music elsewhere on the dial. They soon found The Little Station That Could on AM 740 and the ratings rose. Nice problem to have, eh? But not now, when the new BMI/ASCAP system ties fees in to ratings.
Bob does have his own "standards" (and I don't mean music), as the article says; he resists running ads
(for the various snake oil sales people out there). Once I even heard him say right on the air, "Cut up
your credit cards. Most of the companies are evil." You won't hear THAT on a commercial radio station!
But if the music fees are prohibitive, as much as he'd hate to give up playing his music, it could well
prove the be the new home for those Jones and AAR shows. Even maybe part time...run Steph Miller
and Hartmann or Franken, then go back to the music. The libtalk shows would generate enough income
(Bob must have low overhead) to pay the music fees, even though actual ads would have to air...
Or as the article inferred, Bob may eventually sell off the station perhaps to someone who'd run
prog. talk. Though of course it would be sad to see the music go, in any case. (Unless some college/
public stations were to do a show or two...small AM signals...etc.)
When WXKS and WKOX changed to AAR in Oct of '04, the standards listeners of WXKS suddenly had to
find their music elsewhere on the dial. They soon found The Little Station That Could on AM 740 and the ratings rose. Nice problem to have, eh? But not now, when the new BMI/ASCAP system ties fees in to ratings.
Bob does have his own "standards" (and I don't mean music), as the article says; he resists running ads
(for the various snake oil sales people out there). Once I even heard him say right on the air, "Cut up
your credit cards. Most of the companies are evil." You won't hear THAT on a commercial radio station!
But if the music fees are prohibitive, as much as he'd hate to give up playing his music, it could well
prove the be the new home for those Jones and AAR shows. Even maybe part time...run Steph Miller
and Hartmann or Franken, then go back to the music. The libtalk shows would generate enough income
(Bob must have low overhead) to pay the music fees, even though actual ads would have to air...
Or as the article inferred, Bob may eventually sell off the station perhaps to someone who'd run
prog. talk. Though of course it would be sad to see the music go, in any case. (Unless some college/
public stations were to do a show or two...small AM signals...etc.)
As for music licensing, a college station like WMWM may or may not have to pay them (we probably do,
but a very small amount...I don't know). I know we used to get bills from SESAC, a country music
licenser (we did do a weekly country show for awhile, including during the period when Boston had
no country station, though I think they still billed us even after the shows went off)...And in the past there were a couple times a year when DJs had to fill out
sheets with Artist, song title, and songwriter that would be submitted to BMI.
Yes artists do need to be paid but hopefully smaller stations won't get socked for licensing fees.
but a very small amount...I don't know). I know we used to get bills from SESAC, a country music
licenser (we did do a weekly country show for awhile, including during the period when Boston had
no country station, though I think they still billed us even after the shows went off)...And in the past there were a couple times a year when DJs had to fill out
sheets with Artist, song title, and songwriter that would be submitted to BMI.
Yes artists do need to be paid but hopefully smaller stations won't get socked for licensing fees.
I certainly understand why Bob doesn't want to run national junk ads such as "get rich" schemes and diet pills. But how about some (relatively) tasteful local ads for legitimate business in the area that serve the community, especially older adults? Would there be enough who would want to advertise on WJIB? Undercutting the rates of the major stations, would he be able to charge enough to significantly offset these onerous music licensing fees, without too much clutter on his airwaves?
It would also most likely require that he hire a local salesperson, and perhaps a production person. Would that be a worthwhile venture? It is an excellent day signal in a number of heavily populated (and some affluent) cities and suburbs immediately north and northwest of Boston, and a pretty good day signal over Boston itself. The night signal still reaches the old WCAS call letter anagram communities well (Watertown, Cambridge, Arlington, Somerville, plus Belmont). The format is showing some numbers, relatively small (by major market commercial standards), but a loyal local following.
Non-commercial/college stations do have to pay licensing fees, though I think it may be at reduced rates from commercial station fees.
It would also most likely require that he hire a local salesperson, and perhaps a production person. Would that be a worthwhile venture? It is an excellent day signal in a number of heavily populated (and some affluent) cities and suburbs immediately north and northwest of Boston, and a pretty good day signal over Boston itself. The night signal still reaches the old WCAS call letter anagram communities well (Watertown, Cambridge, Arlington, Somerville, plus Belmont). The format is showing some numbers, relatively small (by major market commercial standards), but a loyal local following.
Non-commercial/college stations do have to pay licensing fees, though I think it may be at reduced rates from commercial station fees.
I don't know if Bob's operation is your proverbial one man radio station ("W...V-C-A, Gloucester Massachusetts...") or if he has an employee or two but it's probably low overhead. If he were to
take in some "tasteful" local ads, he may serve as his own sales manager or hire someone part or
full time.
Agreed on WJIB's coverage.
If the station did have to get sold, the chances are pretty high that you WOULD hear ads on a regular
basis!
And yes, it prob. is the case that college/non-comms have to pay, but a reduced rate.
take in some "tasteful" local ads, he may serve as his own sales manager or hire someone part or
full time.
Agreed on WJIB's coverage.
If the station did have to get sold, the chances are pretty high that you WOULD hear ads on a regular
basis!
And yes, it prob. is the case that college/non-comms have to pay, but a reduced rate.
raccoonradio said:
I know that WMBR pays, but I don't know how much.
W
webcastboy
Guest
Something tells me most of the syndicated talk that WJIB could run would be as offensive to Bob as commercials. ;D
Commercial stations can indeed run fundraisers...WCRB 102.5 used to do them not-infrequently...although Bob's smart to work with an attorney, since the tax laws are rather different when you're a for-profit entity accepting donations. Both for you and for the donors. Still, when you've got a nice niche audience like Bob does, it's a lot easier to get them to pony up a few bucks. And there are ways to run essentially a one-man fundraiser (using companies like AnswerQuick to cover your phone donations, and Cafepress to send them "thank you" gifts)
BTW, Eli...if those advertisers existed, I think stations like Air America and WBZ would be running them. But they largely don't. Not in enough numbers to justify the hassle and effort it takes to get them to advertise on your station. Bob probably doesn't have the time to put in to do that much work; the advertisers knocking on his door are no doubt the sleazy ones he doesn't like. And I'd wager he can't afford to hire someone to do it because anyone who's good enough at radio sales to make a living at it...is going to go work for bigger stations where they can earn a lot more commission; public radio has a huge problem retaining good sales/underwriting "account executives" because of that.
The Google Radio Adwords system (aka the result of them buying out dMarc) could start to change all this...in theory it can make radio ad time more available to smaller stations and smaller advertisers. But it's a few years away (at least) from being in place for small stations like WJIB.
_________________________________________________
College radio stations do have to pay ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc for their radio airplay. However, the costs are usually borne by the parent college directly as part of a package deal the college pays for other musical events on campus. This is why a lot of college radio stations think they don't pay these fees; they DO pay them, it's just that they don't usually see the bill. WMBR and WHRB would be notable exceptions since they are not owned by their parent colleges; a technically-separate organization holds the license. Anyways, this misperception has changed a lot in recent years as many small college radio stations are webcasting and have had to deal with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange directly for webcasting fees. Quite onerous they are, too.
_________________________________________________
I believe Bob does monitor these boards so I'll shoot an idea out to him here...there's some cellphone base stations on those three bigass apartment complexes a few blocks away from your tower (the ones across from the Summer Shack & Alewife on Rindge Ave). Cell companies don't like to move an existing installation...but they do like saving money. If you can find out what they're paying for rent on those buildings (ask the Cambridge ZBA) and offer space on your tower for noticeably less, they might jump. And odds are good you can offer less and still end up making a pretty penny off it.
The question mark, of course, is how difficult it would be to mount a wireless phone array to an active AM tower. I can see that being difficult. But if you want to pursue it, I can put you in touch with the right people.
Commercial stations can indeed run fundraisers...WCRB 102.5 used to do them not-infrequently...although Bob's smart to work with an attorney, since the tax laws are rather different when you're a for-profit entity accepting donations. Both for you and for the donors. Still, when you've got a nice niche audience like Bob does, it's a lot easier to get them to pony up a few bucks. And there are ways to run essentially a one-man fundraiser (using companies like AnswerQuick to cover your phone donations, and Cafepress to send them "thank you" gifts)
BTW, Eli...if those advertisers existed, I think stations like Air America and WBZ would be running them. But they largely don't. Not in enough numbers to justify the hassle and effort it takes to get them to advertise on your station. Bob probably doesn't have the time to put in to do that much work; the advertisers knocking on his door are no doubt the sleazy ones he doesn't like. And I'd wager he can't afford to hire someone to do it because anyone who's good enough at radio sales to make a living at it...is going to go work for bigger stations where they can earn a lot more commission; public radio has a huge problem retaining good sales/underwriting "account executives" because of that.
The Google Radio Adwords system (aka the result of them buying out dMarc) could start to change all this...in theory it can make radio ad time more available to smaller stations and smaller advertisers. But it's a few years away (at least) from being in place for small stations like WJIB.
_________________________________________________
College radio stations do have to pay ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc for their radio airplay. However, the costs are usually borne by the parent college directly as part of a package deal the college pays for other musical events on campus. This is why a lot of college radio stations think they don't pay these fees; they DO pay them, it's just that they don't usually see the bill. WMBR and WHRB would be notable exceptions since they are not owned by their parent colleges; a technically-separate organization holds the license. Anyways, this misperception has changed a lot in recent years as many small college radio stations are webcasting and have had to deal with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange directly for webcasting fees. Quite onerous they are, too.
_________________________________________________
I believe Bob does monitor these boards so I'll shoot an idea out to him here...there's some cellphone base stations on those three bigass apartment complexes a few blocks away from your tower (the ones across from the Summer Shack & Alewife on Rindge Ave). Cell companies don't like to move an existing installation...but they do like saving money. If you can find out what they're paying for rent on those buildings (ask the Cambridge ZBA) and offer space on your tower for noticeably less, they might jump. And odds are good you can offer less and still end up making a pretty penny off it.
The question mark, of course, is how difficult it would be to mount a wireless phone array to an active AM tower. I can see that being difficult. But if you want to pursue it, I can put you in touch with the right people.
The College radio thing with BMI/ASCAP appears to have emerged in the late 80s early 90s.
SESAC has Bob Dylan, I believe, and had Aerosmith for awhile, but that was just for show. They are, as Raccoon said, basically country music (they collected for C.W. McCall's CONVOY if memory serves).
The fundamental problem with BMI, and to some degree ASCAP, is the unfairness of these "non profits" beating up on club owners and smaller stations with no mercy, yet a VP of Writer Relations at BMI will meet me in his
office in NY and give me every excuse not to pay. Also, BMI informed me that they pay jazz artists the way that ASCAP awards regional artists (funny that BMI won't pay pop and rock artists in that fashion). Well, I know more than a few respected jazz artists and they never KNEW that BMI pays for live shows to jazz acts.
BMI, by the way, charges nightclubs but only pays the Top 200 concerts of the year. Two friends of mine co-wrote a major Bette Midler hit that BMI never paid them on. Bette Midler, 6th biggest grossing tour of 2003-2004 with 56.something million. BMI with revenues around 680 million. After numerous letters "Oh, you are right, it was on the playlist!" DUH. Now if BMI can't manage the Top 200 concerts of the year and their playlists (the rest of the club "monies" go to "jukebox royalties", which is another scam), you know they could care less, and even less than caring less for the "little artists".
My point: Bob Bittner has a good argument. You have to pay them or there's trouble that will brew, BUT, you can fight them with this information and probably win the argument. That's one avenue if Bob decides to stay with music and not sell the station to WFNX.
SESAC has Bob Dylan, I believe, and had Aerosmith for awhile, but that was just for show. They are, as Raccoon said, basically country music (they collected for C.W. McCall's CONVOY if memory serves).
The fundamental problem with BMI, and to some degree ASCAP, is the unfairness of these "non profits" beating up on club owners and smaller stations with no mercy, yet a VP of Writer Relations at BMI will meet me in his
office in NY and give me every excuse not to pay. Also, BMI informed me that they pay jazz artists the way that ASCAP awards regional artists (funny that BMI won't pay pop and rock artists in that fashion). Well, I know more than a few respected jazz artists and they never KNEW that BMI pays for live shows to jazz acts.
BMI, by the way, charges nightclubs but only pays the Top 200 concerts of the year. Two friends of mine co-wrote a major Bette Midler hit that BMI never paid them on. Bette Midler, 6th biggest grossing tour of 2003-2004 with 56.something million. BMI with revenues around 680 million. After numerous letters "Oh, you are right, it was on the playlist!" DUH. Now if BMI can't manage the Top 200 concerts of the year and their playlists (the rest of the club "monies" go to "jukebox royalties", which is another scam), you know they could care less, and even less than caring less for the "little artists".
My point: Bob Bittner has a good argument. You have to pay them or there's trouble that will brew, BUT, you can fight them with this information and probably win the argument. That's one avenue if Bob decides to stay with music and not sell the station to WFNX.
webcastboy said:
You're probably right. However, I don't think WXKS/WKOX was pursuing local ads with any aggression for Prog. Talk, and WBZ would charge much more money for ad time. I was thinking of some of the remaining independent local mom and pop business (and locally-run franchises) in the area, who would not be willing or able to pay WBZ rates, may find it worth it to place discounted spots on their "neighborhood" station.
As for a salesperson, he'd have to find a dedicated "samaritan" type, perhaps a fan of the station who would be willing to do it for short money, perhaps someone who would do it as an additional part-time second job, or side job.
Varulven said:
Why would WFNX want a 250 watt day/5 watt night AM that doesn't cover anywhere that their main signal doesn't already cover?
...they could run prog. talk on it...?
Depends where it is. Cambridge/Boston area ain't exactly the boonies and there is a high potential audience.
O
oldrover
Guest
That's a multi-million dollar station, with that coverage.
Hello Folks: I'll leave a more detailed response when I return from WJTO in Maine where I am now. But quickly, I don't want any cell-phone stuff on the tower. The self-supported tower was not designed for such, and while cell-phone stuff looks tiny, it is all quite heavy. Also cell-hone companies have offered me a measly $1700.00 a month for such. On another question..... about salespeople... in my 16 years I've owned 740, not once has a person come to me wanting to sell! (to be a DJ, yes, many times.... sell..no). Another poster was correct in saying that the smaller stations get lots of inquiries from get-rich-quick schemers and snake-oil/miracle cure outfits, but not much from real local businesses....especially if the aim of the station is for age 50+ people. And yet on another comment, I would not take donations 'over the phone' because credit cards would have to be used. I will not contribute to the biggest evil entities seen in America in the past 15 years....finance companies. - By the way, the amount that BMI wants is much larger than what the Herald article stated. It's really about $1927.00 monthly, not $1600.00.
Another blow to WJIB in this same month was that Radio France Int'l notified WJIB that it was ending its contract for the two hours every weekday morning. While they stated that "WJIB has been a good partner, we are having a global financial cutback." - WJIB is now music 24 hours a day Mon thru Sat; and also most of Sunday.
5,000 listeners? Don't think so... more like 18 times that much weekly.
More details later!
BB
Another blow to WJIB in this same month was that Radio France Int'l notified WJIB that it was ending its contract for the two hours every weekday morning. While they stated that "WJIB has been a good partner, we are having a global financial cutback." - WJIB is now music 24 hours a day Mon thru Sat; and also most of Sunday.
5,000 listeners? Don't think so... more like 18 times that much weekly.
More details later!
BB
M
Mickey37
Guest
Rock on, Bob. Keep up the good fight. I admire your spirit.
- Status