J93.3 Slow Death

[jabba17]

I wonder if part of CCM's problem is the fact that CCM comes in just about any genre imaginable--there seems to be a Christian version of each and every secular format. Yet most CCM stations go for the "popular middle" of light CHR and AC. Coupled with tighter-than-usual playlists resulting in burn rates that would get a secular radio PD fired in a heartbeat, it's no wonder that CCM radio gets fewer listeners than it could.

To put it another way, imagine a band like Petra getting on the air today. Obviously, Petra is well-known, so they get played anyway (plus, their sound has softened over the years--think back to the Greg Volz days). But what about a new Christian AOR band? Imagine Fish playing Stryper...

Has any CCM station tried to segment their airtime into different shows with different genres, similar to a college station or other non-comms? Or does that just end up slicing an already small market into pieces too small to market?

 

[djjeff]

The issue with christian music is the issue that the Hit radio formats are going through...it all sounds the same! Unique sounds are not cultivated and every single artists is overproduced to a fault. I personally have a hard time listening anymore. Labels have ruined the CCM format starting 5-10 years ago by creating "rip-off rock", "copy-cat pop", and "cheesy-pleasy wannabe secular crossover music". Let the format develop itself, not the other way around! When someone new finds something that works, every label just fires up the old Xerox machine and throws their version out. The "praise band" sound of Tomlin, Crowder, Charlie Hall, and others flooded the airwaves of CCM stations simultaneously is an example (don't get me wrong, I like some of it). I loathe the memories of Plus One and the 3 or four equally awful and forgettable "boy band" label clones. Any other format has a definable audible difference...not the CCM format! Successful artists have fled from the format and have done everything they can keep that tag off their music. Skillet is a good example...Switchfoot, Carrie Underwood, 12 Stones, and Lifehouse to name a few. Alternative music is blooming and why? The artists have gone indie, are keeping their profits, and are shunning the major labels. I know many will disagree, but working at a christian station that will not play artists not solicited by a "major" label (and its not the only one) reinforces this in my eyes. We try too hard to be like them...if we had something to offer (which we do) why isn't it being heard? Ok...I'm stepping down off my soap box...back to work!

 

[ssnake]

How about putting Jim Hutto's "Sounds of Faith" on J93.3?

 

[Poledo]

Doesn't J93's signal cover more people than any non-metro FM. No Savanah, Augusta, Macon or Columbus station covers as many people as J93, right? This should be a very valuable signal... it's just being wasted trying to duplicate Christian programming to the Atlanta market. 93.3 would do much better as Country, Classic Rock, Urban, or even with it's current Christian programming targeted to middle Georgia.

 

[turnitupnow]

There is not a market in the country where CCM format is showing growth. Additionally this is Provident Broadcasting's biggest market and unlike most of their non com stations, J93 is a commercial frequency. Without rehashing things they did wrong or could have done better or might do one day, the fact is after doing this for 25+ years they don't have a lot to show for their effort. I'm sure they know this. Their loyal but small audience would survive and live with the similar efforts of other stations and I agree,J93, even with signal issues, could find a place with more success for the market. They won't get the right offer this year. But they will one day and might even regret overestimating their true worth back when they were doing all the signal upgrades. But then again, a lot of stations sold for more than they could ever bring today.
Based on simple logic it's pretty easy to predict we could rejoin this conversation a year from now only to find nothing has changed.

 

[jaxradidio]

turnitupnow has got the truest post of the thread...we'll come back a year down the road and nothing will have changed. J93, same management in place, will still be stuck in the .4's, will still be declaring itself an Atlanta station, will probably still have the same playlist , and will still be allowed to always and consistently suck wind by its owners.

The only thing that will have changed is the quality of the on-air, spots, production and promotions will have dropped significantly, because naturally that's where all the operating cost cuts will have been made...never in what management gets paid to fail, fail, and then fail some more. Except maybe it will have gone non-commercial since no AE in their right mind would stay at a station that bills what they do and accept commission-only.

 

[R.D.P.]

To djjeff, you're spot on!

And this coming from the mouth of someone that loves the Sixsteps music label and keeps up with their talented musicians. (With Crowder and Tomlin being my all time favorites from that music label.)

We need more people like you in the Christian music business, sir! You're a Godsend.

R.D.P. <><

P.S. I detest and loathe what Christian music has become too.

 

[StoneGT]

djjeff & RDP - I agree. Most Christian radio/music is boring, sad but true.

The best Christian music on the radio right now is on 99X - POD, Flyleaf, Switchfoot, Anberlin, and the spiritually aware U2, Paramore, Collective Soul etc.


And great news about Skillet's debut at #2 on the Bilboard charts - I'll never underestimate the power of Panheads again!!

 

[CONSultant]

I also like my Christian music more to the Skillet/Anberlin side but I'm also not a 25 to 54 female with 2 kids sitting in a school carpool lane. When you look at the numbers for that target, stations like the Fish, KLTY in Dallas, KSBJ in Houston, WPOZ in Orlando are spot on and compete head to head with AC's in those markets. Back to the original subject, J93.3 - I must respectfully disagree with posters ridiculing management. J93's inability to compete in Atlanta was a signal issue plain and simple. I really hope they keep their format and focus more on shooting back to their original signal footprint if that is still a possibility. I enjoyed Monk and Kelly and I'm sad to see anyone there lose their jobs. However, I saw on another board that Sheila Richards will on the new morning show and she is terrific. Loved her from the Jerry and Sheila morning show days a few years ago.

 

[djjeff]

Yes CONSultant, back to the issue at hand. I cannot testify to every issue plaguing J93.3 and it was the comments on management that brought me into the conversation. I did ask radioman63 what his angle was and, since he has declined to post back, I stand by my statement (and believe I'm 100% correct) that he is a prior disgruntled employee that was only seeking to throw gasoline on the fire that is a his own industries misfortune and trash talk a former boss. J93.3 does suffer from poor signal strength in the population densities of Atlanta.

It also was not my intention to imply from my prior post that those artists were in the "target audience" of J93.3, The Fish, or any other CCM station, but I will say that most "soccer moms" I know listen to Top 40 and Hit radio...yes, even christian ones. Simply approaching tastes and preferences of these "targets" from a statistical perspective misses the mark too.

 

[taylorengineer]

It is great to hear Shelia back on the air at J93. I, too, liked Jerry and Shelia together - hope Shelia and Mike will work out.

 

[onetake]

When you look at the numbers for that target, stations like the Fish, KLTY in Dallas, KSBJ in Houston, WPOZ in Orlando are spot on and compete head to head with AC's in those markets. J93's inability to compete in Atlanta was a signal issue plain and simple.


I know CONSultant is postive and wants to be optimistic but saying all these stations compete "head to head" with acs in those markets is a slight overstatement. While it might be possible to find a time period of a rating period to prove his point the bottom line is the format isn't growing.
I'm not sure if he is implying that if J93 was on say a B985 signal that they would be top 5 ranked but to be fair I'm looking at county by county breakouts and in the counties where the J signal is strong, the product is received weak. Simply reading trends and leaving the emotion out it's easy to make an argument that good signal or weak signal they were cut in half WHEN fish came along (meaning if the programming were so brilliant their audience would have stayed) and they will continue to use that excuse over and over. Remember WFSH launched with many dead spots in the market, being an Athens license. Upgrades came years into their success.
Being a music format of limited record sales, lack of many core artists, poor funding for clear research, the format is subject to many swings from personal PD music tastes. I can recall various PDs and a few consultants playing new product that later bombed. Fish beat them with more than signal, but with clearer thinking in choosing product to play the audience liked vs what record promo guys pushed. It's had some eras of poor track record and much of the problem they brought on themselves. But all we'll hear is "blame the signal". Kind of old guys. Read the playlists

 

[taylorengineer]

Which counties are you looking at Onetake? In Coweta and Fayette counties J93 used to be a solid number 2 right behind WKHX 25-54. The Fish, due to lack of signal, was waaay down the list. I have not seen numbers for a few years from down there - have things changed that much?
There is a lot of J93 listening in Douglas county - very little Fish listening. J93 has a much better signal there - it's as simple as that.
When it comes to radio listening.....your signal is your bread and butter. Signal quality has everything to do with ratings. You can argue which station has the best programming but to compare the signals is absurd. 104.7 was very successful as an Urban AC(Kiss 104.7 was always top 5)and never had signal issues to the extent WVFJ has.

 

[jabba17]

Which counties are you looking at Onetake? In Coweta and Fayette counties J93 used to be a solid number 2 right behind WKHX 25-54. The Fish, due to lack of signal, was waaay down the list. I have not seen numbers for a few years from down there - have things changed that much?
There is a lot of J93 listening in Douglas county - very little Fish listening. J93 has a much better signal there - it's as simple as that.

Here are the numbers for Macon. Fish got a 0.5 share last fall. J93 doesn't even show.
http://www.radio-info.com/site/markets/grid/macon

 

[RoddyFreeman]

The new post of Atlanta Airwave Action provides my take on WVFJ. You can read it at www.atlairwaves.blogspot.com. I lean more toward the Taylorengineer side of things.

 

[RoddyFreeman]

Which counties are you looking at Onetake? In Coweta and Fayette counties J93 used to be a solid number 2 right behind WKHX 25-54. The Fish, due to lack of signal, was waaay down the list. I have not seen numbers for a few years from down there - have things changed that much?
There is a lot of J93 listening in Douglas county - very little Fish listening. J93 has a much better signal there - it's as simple as that.

Here are the numbers for Macon. Fish got a 0.5 share last fall. J93 doesn't even show.
http://www.radio-info.com/site/markets/grid/macon

Jabba, I'm not sure what that proves because WVFJ hardly has a signal in Macon. They used to before moving into the Atlanta market.

 

[jabba17]

Which counties are you looking at Onetake? In Coweta and Fayette counties J93 used to be a solid number 2 right behind WKHX 25-54. The Fish, due to lack of signal, was waaay down the list. I have not seen numbers for a few years from down there - have things changed that much?
There is a lot of J93 listening in Douglas county - very little Fish listening. J93 has a much better signal there - it's as simple as that.

Here are the numbers for Macon. Fish got a 0.5 share last fall. J93 doesn't even show.
http://www.radio-info.com/site/markets/grid/macon

Jabba, I'm not sure what that proves because WVFJ hardly has a signal in Macon. They used to before moving into the Atlanta market.

Neither does the Fish but they still managed to get a half point share. I realize I'm getting in over my head but if you look at the contours they both have about the same quality of Macon coverage.

Fish gets into Fayette and Douglas decently (not city-grade but listenable). Coweta, not so much (about as well as Macon).

 

[RoddyFreeman]

In Macon, that could have been a matter of a couple of diaries. A family could have taken a ride to Atlanta and reported listening to The Fish.

 

[X-14]

Yes, agreed it's WONDERFUL hearing Sheila (NOT Shelia, Tom! back on the air. She was, IMO, THE best asset J EVER had. Able to connect more with their P1 than anyone.

I know it's the first week for her and Mike and they have some prepping to do and comfort-level to come to, so I'll excuse some of the breaks that ran on for quite a long time and sounded very spontaneous, which can be a good thing OR a bad thing. But this morning's show did sound somewhat tossed together. Let's give 'em a few weeks.

One thing we can do without now, and it should have been ditched years ago is the constant "ATLANTA'S J93".

It's NOT. Okay? Get it. You're NOT Atlanta, J. Give it up.

Go with your "Faith, Family and Friends" liner. Much better. Or even harken back to: "Live the Life". Nice and short, not that terminally long "The station that helps you live the life" from the Jerry Williams days. Better yet: The Joy FM. Always loved that.

ANYTHING but "Atlanta's....." which:

a) is a lie, and
b) says NOTHING about the station, format or mission

Another example, IMO, of the lack of direction there.

 

[Tom Golden]

Scott. You have been posting for years now as X-14. More often than not saying negative things about J93.3.
I have never written a post on this website, and more than likely never will again. Even when my good friends Bill Duncan, Mike Kavanaugh, John Talbert and Betty Ferguson passed away, I did not. I did not have too. They have gone to heaven and can "hear" my post everyday. In the words of Natalie Grant "theres no such thing as perfect people", which will certainly fit anyone in radio including anyone at J93.3 past or present and myself. However, shouldn't "I" be the disgruntled employee. After 10 years of "part time" work, I can tell you I am not. We were all paid for the time we were employed, no matter what station we were working at. It does not make any sense to me why you still care so much about how "J" as you put it, images itself unless maybe you do not .There are less than 10 AM and FM stations, as you know, that are actually licensed to "Atlanta". Manchester and Gainesville are both rim shots. But both serve some part of Atlanta. When you began hosting a recent program on J93, while working part time at the fish, J93 could have objected to the host being a former (sometimes!) disgruntled employee, but they did not. Or a current fish employee if you still are. They did not. Sure, it had something to do with the money, maybe alot. ( if we remember from the movie "Rainman" 99 times out of 100 if you do not know the answer to something it's "money") But I also think it shows how it is best to forgive and forget and just be professional. I did not hear you complain about the imaging WVFJ ran after your program. The program is (or was) running about a very good facility in LaGrange. Why? To draw an "Atlanta" audience...piece or not.(By the way, it is a good show) I hope it can be delivered in time for stations to air so it is not cancelled. I am in no way trying to pick on you. We all have in the attic of our hearts a special place for the stations we worked at. A little consrtuctive critcism is good for anyone or anything. But, lets be fair about our motivations. Back seat drivers and back seat PDs are just that. In the back seat. Good luck and God speed.