Is todays radio not as good as it was...and perhaps how to change it

[airlistener]

How is radio broadcasting changing? ??? Music formats are being that voice tracking has taken most of the personality out of programs and a lot of people program their own music to a device and no longer listen to the radio as once before.

The true draw to radio is the personal interaction....talk use to have that...instead of pundits you had broadcasters…those who would bring subjects up for discussion , bring guest on who could retort on an issue and the host would ask questions and open the lines up for listeners to get into the discussion. I’m tired of listening to talk show host dumping a caller because they don’t agree with them. I would like to listen to a talk show host that I can relate to.

Radio theater is without a doubt long gone, people seems to be more focused on the images brought by TV instead of the opportunity to bring them a story line for their own imagination to paint the picture of what is being told or perhaps radio theater with a more contemporized style .Drama, Comedy, Variety etc.

A good friend once told me that broadcasting use to mean to scatter seeds. In a way it still does mean that except those seeds are information,education,and entertainment.
Perhaps I’m too old for the type of broadcasting that is being offered today.

I’ve heard the complaint that radio is loosing its edge that it is not the money maker it use to be. Perhaps those running stations should take a chance and try something different from what is thought of as today’s norm and get back to the real world of the people it broadcast to.

What do you think?

 

[NHRadio]

What do I think?
I think "lose" has one o, not two. Why do so few people know that?
Voice tracking hasn't taken personality out of radio...BAD voicetracking has.
Why is so much of it bad? Let's see...jock has only 20 minutes to track the shift before a client comes in to record, or a shift on another station, or maybe a desk-clogging stack of production orders for spots that HAVE to run tomorrow morning and the client has to be called for approval before 5pm. That's just a few possible scenarios out of many.
On top of all that, PD's have to deal with 4 or more stations and don't have the time or incentive to properly listen to jocks, meet with them individually and offer ways to improve. No sense grooming a subordinate to possibly be better than you these days.
In "the day", the PD was the strongest jock. Now sucking up to management gets you the stripes, and finding ways to cut your budget and reduce the body count keeps you there.
After all of this the on-air product becomes secondary. When you do the work of 3 or people you don't worry unless it's off the air.

 

[Oldbones]

What do I think?

Voice tracking hasn't taken personality out of radio...BAD voicetracking has.
Why is so much of it bad? Let's see...jock has only 20 minutes to track the shift before a client comes in to record, or a shift on another station, or maybe a desk-clogging stack of production orders for spots that HAVE to run tomorrow morning and the client has to be called for approval before 5pm. That's just a few possible scenarios out of many.

Another is that voicetracking makes it easy for a jock to be lazy. It's too easy to just crank out your shift, read the liners, throw in a couple of prep-service jokes and intro songs. It's a lot more work to mentally place yourself in the actual timeslot your shift runs in, and relate to what your listeners are likely to be doing at that time.

 

[Bakers_Bookstore]

NHRadio, you are addressing the symptoms, not the disease.

All of what you say is true, except that it doesn't go far enough.

I have been an award winning top ranked broadcaster in a top 10 radio market for over 25 years. I am damn good at what I do! I look back on how I got into this business and at the stations that I worked for as I got into the bsuiness. Not one of those smaller market stations that I worked for...NOT EVEN ONE...is still live and local.

What does that mean? That means a young person that wants to develop the talent they MAY have to become a "Voice Track Talent" (for lack of a better label) doesn't have anywhere to make his/her mistakes or get the mentoring that they need from people who are established in radio in order to be successful and become better than their mentor.

The current generation of radio station owners (mostly corporations) do not want personality driven radio. By that I mean an overall show that incorporates music, personality, news, and entertainment. Why? It costs money!
In todays music format, it is cheaper and easier to syndicate or have "jocks" do vertually nothing more than read liner cards.
Talk Radio? Outside of syndication who is doing it? Where are the smaller markets that allow you to "cut your teeth" in Talk Radio?

I have been reading with some amusement a thread in the Northern New England board in which people are discussing spending $100K in order to get WEEI programming and how that is a high price to pay! I actually agree that it is a high price to pay, not in dollars but in the future of radio broadcasters.

I did not pick my screen name lightly. I am going to either die behind the mic or retire reasonably soon. Who is good enough to take my place?

I am not a megalomaniac, I am a pragmatist and I put forward that unless you (a wannabe radio broadcaster) can be mentored by someone who is at the top of his or her game in a national or major market, then you are not going to make a career of this business. Radio stations, as more and more syndicate and voice track, are going to get much much worse.

How can it be otherwise?

 

[NHRadio]

Thanks. I didn't address the disease because unlike so many wannabes who post here, I don't know how to realistically fix it.
Stockholders won't wait for you to restructure the business...in fact they'll tie you up in court for the next 10 years if you don't put the bottom line first.
It's impossible to make money with $20 spots, and many stations don't charge what they're worth. I've worked for a station that was "sold out" frequently (18 units!!).
That tells me the rates need to go up...but they don't because no one has the balls to walk away from these clients. If you're the 50KW "go-to" station in the market, why charge the same rate as an 80-90 rimshot drop-in? Fear. Fear of not making budget and then getting canned. All this does is devalue their own product.
Anyway...more symptoms. How (in the real world) can we broadcasters help? Is it even fixable?

NHRadio, you are addressing the symptoms, not the disease.
All of what you say is true, except that it doesn't go far enough.

 

[Bakers_Bookstore]

NH Radio,
Yes it is fixable but at this point only on the local level.

The problem is there isn't much left on the local level.

I could buy a radio station today in any small or medium market and earn a living without syndication, as a matter of fact my living would depend upon NO syndication!

I look at all local media today. I am not getting the information I demand! The first one that breaks the current corporate mold and can capitalize on it, wins!

As an aside, I heard Larry Glick the other night as a guest on WBZ, did you know that he started at WLNH? Today their afternoon drive show is VT!

Where is the next Larry Glick getting his/her training now?

 

[NHRadio]

Does no syndication mean live and local 24/7? If so, how can you or anyone make money in a small market doing that and $20 spots? When I worked for WLNH in its glory days they were live 24/7, but were billing more than a million per year. I bet those days are long gone...I doubt its half that now. As to their PM drive, it's been VT for at least 5 years or so. Dan Justin used to do it...does he still?

I could buy a radio station today in any small or medium market and earn a living without syndication, as a matter of fact my living would depend upon NO syndication!

 

[Bakers_Bookstore]

WLNH is actually an interesting example twer it locally owned.

Last I heard this summer Dan was still VT afternoon drive.

Live and local means 24/7 live and local. Think about it and lets use WLNH as a template. Certainly there are lots of other freqs on the air but outstide of mornings none are live or local. So along comes WLNH with wanna be Dan Justin's or Larry Glicks or whomever... So they suck at first, you bechta! But locals start to listen and advertise because even though they suck they are giving locals stuff they want to hear....I'm not talking about just music, any monkey can play music....as the old VERY OLD WHDH radio used to say...it's what happens between the records that matters!

Yes, a local 24/7 station can survive but a corporate local station can not.

I would double dog dare you that WLNH, alone, could bill upwards of 4 or 5 million a year today if locally owned and properly operated without syndication!

 

[NHRadio]

Now you've got me wondering...
WLNH even in its "800 pound gorilla of the Lakes Region" pre 80-90 days never came near the same room as 4 million a year even adjusted for inflation. I'm not even sure there's more than 5ish million TOTAL radio revenue in that market.
I triple dog dare you to tell us how you'd bill that much money on one (admittedly good signal) FM that's not only burned through enough heritage for 3 stations but then beaten into the ground by Nassau.
Maybe you should buy it. No one wants you to be right more than I do....but I admit my doubts. You haven't mentioned HOW you would fix local radio.

WLNH is actually an interesting example twer it locally owned.

Last I heard this summer Dan was still VT afternoon drive.

Live and local means 24/7 live and local. Think about it and lets use WLNH as a template. Certainly there are lots of other freqs on the air but outstide of mornings none are live or local. So along comes WLNH with wanna be Dan Justin's or Larry Glicks or whomever... So they suck at first, you bechta! But do locals start to listen because even though they such they are giving locals stuff they want to hear....I'm not talking about just music, any monkey can play music....as the old VERY OLD WHDH radio used to say...it's what happens between the records that matters!

Yes, a local 24/7 station can survive but a corporate local station can not.

I would double dog dare you that WLNH, alone, could bill upwards of 4 or 5 million a year if locally owned and properly operated without syndication!

 

[Bakers_Bookstore]

I've never worked at WLNH (so now you know I'm not Larry Glick!) but I have listened to WLNH since I was a kid so Yes, I have an interest in the station.

WLNH is the 800 pound gorilla in Laconia, it's kind of lost some weight in the Lakes Region. However, I look at the Lakes Region as an incredible gold mine!!!! When I was there as a kid etc etc etc...Today?

If you can't pull 4 to 5 million from that market you need to get out of the business!

I would love to buy it, run it and hire newbees but now I have to wait for Nassau to go turle so it's affordable again.

Look at the demographics of the Lakes Region these days then tell me 4 to 5 million is unreasonable!

 

[NHRadio]

After working in this market for close to 15 years, I'll say again I don't think there's more than 5ish million TOTAL radio revenue in the Concord/Lakes Region market.
What makes you think you can pull 4 to 5 mill out of WLNH? I've now asked more than once how you propose to do it?
Really, I hope you can...Hell, I'd love to do it with you! But, 4-5 million from just WLNH? How?

Look at the demographics of the Lakes Region these days then tell me 4 to 5 million is unreasonable!

 

[TheBigA]

It all comes down to one simple thing: The number of stations allowed to broadcast.

Quantity does not begat quality.

Ask pro sports. Was the quality better before or after expansion?

Is radio better with 14,000 stations or 6,000 stations?

BUT with 14,000 stations, you get more voices and more localism.

So how's that localism working out for you?

More voices or the same voices on different stations?

Wouldn't you rather have a few stations doing a better job than lots of stations treading water?

The way to make it better is tighten up the number of frequencies. Fewer, not more, stations. But that's not going to happen. So until then, this is what supply & demand gets you. Increase the supply of stations, that cuts down on demand,and lowers the price.

 

[radiorama1]

Is radio better with 14,000 stations or 6,000 stations?

BUT with 14,000 stations, you get more recycled voices and more localism syndication.

Fixed.

 

[TheBigA]

Is radio better with 14,000 stations or 6,000 stations?

BUT with 14,000 stations, you get more recycled voices and more localism syndication.

Fixed.

Your debate is with Congress, not with me. Their latest thing is to license hundreds of LPFM stations. Adding even more clutter to the dial. More is not better. It's just more.