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Jack: Already On The Clock

R

Radknowski

<font face="times new roman" size="3" color="330066">
Jack is a soul-less piece of crap. Yeah, it plays 12 hundred titles and I listen to it from time to time, but Giant 91.7 is a cooler station, especially for guys like me who enjoy the flavor of Can-Con from time to time, and it has local jocks who are live, or at least voicetrack so well they sound live.

The Jack voice-drone doing the sweepers says "we play what we want." Fine. Here's my sweeper: "I listen to what I want." Your playlist has 12 hundred titles? Woo-f'in'-hoo!" My mp3 player goes three times that and I don't have to put up with your "too hip for the room" attitude or your commercials.

You Jack guys have sealed your own fate. No jocks (outside of the soon-to-be-departed-king-of-all-media), no localism, no substance, no texture, no soul. Try promoting that after the initial buzz wears off.

Infinity makes money hand over fist, but sometimes they can't see the forest for the trees. Wait 'til the worm turns, and it will cuz it always does. Enjoy the numbers now Jeff, because unless you get live jocks in place and localize the station, you might as well be Jack in Milwaukee, Jack in Toledo, Jack in Columbus or Jack in Syracuse:<sup>1</sup> A cheap carbon copy radio station with no originality. "We play what we want" goes only so far and so long before Jack follows in the footsteps of great formats like Alice, Smooth Jazz, Dancin' Oldies and Buffalo's Rock Station.</font>

<hr>
<sup>1</sup><font size="2">For the record, some of those cities don't have a Jack yet, it's a metaphor.</font>
 
if jack were to switch, what would they go to? Some of the jack stations in Canada have live dj's.

> Jack is a soul-less piece of crap. Yeah, it plays 12 hundred
> titles and I listen to it from time to time, but Giant 91.7
> is a cooler station, especially for guys like me who enjoy
> the flavor of Can-Con from time to time, and it has local
> jocks who are live, or at least voicetrack so well they
> sound live.
>
> The Jack voice-drone doing the sweepers says "we play what
> we want." Fine. Here's my sweeper: "I listen to what I
> want." Your playlist has 12 hundred titles? Woo-f'in'-hoo!"
> My mp3 player goes three times that and I don't have to put
> up with your "too hip for the room" attitude or your
> commercials.
>
> You Jack guys have sealed your own fate. No jocks (outside
> of the soon-to-be-departed-king-of-all-media), no localism,
> no substance, no texture, no soul. Try promoting that after
> the initial buzz wears off.
>
> Infinity makes money hand over fist, but sometimes they
> can't see the forest for the trees. Wait 'til the worm
> turns, and it will cuz it always does. Enjoy the numbers now
> Jeff, because unless you get live jocks in place and
> localize the station, you might as well be Jack in
> Milwaukee, Jack in Toledo, Jack in Columbus or Jack in
> Syracuse:1 A cheap carbon copy radio station with no
> originality. "We play what we want" goes only so far and so
> long before Jack follows in the footsteps of great formats
> like Alice, Smooth Jazz, Dancin' Oldies and Buffalo's Rock
> Station.
>
>
> 1For the record, some of those cities don't have a Jack yet,
> it's a metaphor.
>
 
Re: Jack: Posting Etiquette

With no malice aforethought, I strongly urge you to read the "Posting Etiquette" post above. There's no need to copy and re-post the original post.

Your eternal friend,

Mike
 
>
> You Jack guys have sealed your own fate. No jocks (outside
> of the soon-to-be-departed-king-of-all-media), no localism,
> no substance, no texture, no soul. Try promoting that after
> the initial buzz wears off.


That has been my problem with format launches in the past few years, not only in this market, but in others. The powers that be wait way too long to debut an airstaff or key features of the format. Most of the curiousity cume splits before the format even has a chance to sink in.
 
Dancin' Alice

> if jack were to switch, what would they go to?

What's the next flavor of the month? Whatever it is, that's what WBUF will become. Once again, it will earn a Silver medal, instead of gold, because it will be underfunded, underpromoted, and it won't have jocks anybody's heard of -if it has jocks at all.

Country Hip-Hop. Punk Ballads. New Grunge. All John Mayer, All the Time. Whatever makes a splash somewhere else when done by talented, creative people will be duplicated badly and soulessly by Jack and its ilk around the country.
 
Re: Dancin' Alice

maybe WBUF will play holiday music all year long...just like what WJYE and WTSS do in Dec.


> > if jack were to switch, what would they go to?
>
> What's the next flavor of the month? Whatever it is, that's
> what WBUF will become. Once again, it will earn a Silver
> medal, instead of gold, because it will be underfunded,
> underpromoted, and it won't have jocks anybody's heard of
> -if it has jocks at all.
>
> Country Hip-Hop. Punk Ballads. New Grunge. All John Mayer,
> All the Time. Whatever makes a splash somewhere else when
> done by talented, creative people will be duplicated badly
> and soulessly by Jack and its ilk around the country.
>
 
Your playlist has 12 hundred titles? Woo-f'in'-hoo!"
> My mp3 player goes three times that and I don't have to put
> up with your "too hip for the room" attitude or your
> commercials.
>


Finally, a voice of reason.
 
Give it a few months. They're probably still trying to iron out some things before hiring an on-air staff, adding to the playlist, etc. More than likely the 1200 songs will be added to. Right now a few of their plans are possibly tied down because of Stern, but things will start moving once he leaves in 7 months.
 
Adjustment needed

Wow. You think they'll make adjustments 7 MONTHS FROM NOW?

Now that's hitting the ground running. I can hardly wait to hear what local personalities they'll add to the lineup so they can be more than just a jukebox. And I can hardly wait to hear who they'll replace Howard with. Most of all, I can hardly wait to hear what format they'll be changing to because Jack hasn't blown away the market by then.
 
Re: Adjustment needed

And you know for a "FACT" that is what will happen to Jack? Id like to look into your crystal ball Mr Johney Jump The Gun and see what else will happen! Its funny you guys bitch they keep switching formats and never give one of these formats a chance!! Then they get a new one and you guys are already screaming for its death!! Now thats what I call giving a format a chance...Sometimes i just cannot figure you guys out..NEXT!!!!!
 
Re: Dancin' Alice

> maybe WBUF will play holiday music all year long...just like
> what WJYE and WTSS do in Dec.

Dance. Dance. Dance. Modeling after Arizona's dance.
(that's as serious as I'm willing to get...now let's just see how The Anti Jock, Anti request, computer in a closet somewhere known as WBUF does in the ratings before any further speculation.)
<P ID="signature">______________
"If you never say NO, How much is your YES worth?"









</P>
 
Re: Adjustment needed

> Sometimes i just cannot figure
> you guys out..NEXT!!!!!
>

Lemme help, Maggie.

Perhaps, being or having been (as is the case with me) in the wonderful, exhilirating, well-paying, benevolent industry-business we know as radio broadcasting, we see things in a somewhat, oh, how shall I say, jaded, perspective.

It's kind of like the "tough love" parents might have for their ill-behaving progeny. This combined with Infinity's superb (note the sarcasm) track record with formats that have appeared over the last ten years on the 92.9 frequency, some lasting as long as 27 months and as little as six months, have a "causative effect" on our opinions.

Call it "the Missouri complex."

In case you're not familiar with the metaphor, Missouri is the "Show Me" state. Something about "seeing is believing" and mules... I forget. It's been a while.

I'm on record as saying Giant (CIXL 91.7 Welland) is a better station, largely because it has live air personalities and a PERSONALITY in its own right.

Oh, and some of us (certainly not me) just might have an axe or two to grind.

So what's so wrong with that?

As Edwin Starr proudly proclaimed:<p align="center"><font face="Times new roman" size="5">"Absolutely nothin'! Huhhhhhh! Sayit again!</font></p>
Damn, that song is priceless!

BTW, in case you haven't read his brilliant post elsewhere on the board (I'd set a link, but...) Radio-Is-Dead has dubbed me "the voice of reason." I plan to take advantage of the moniker by producing a promo and running it five times an hour... kinda like WBEN does.

Your eternal pal (aka, The Voice Of Reason)

Mike
<hr>
<font size="1">Regular posters and readers, will, I hope, by now, see that, as Triumph The Comic Insult Dog says, "I keeeeeeeeed!" Uh, but not always.</font>
 
Another Adjustment needed

> ...Its funny you guys bitch they keep switching
> formats and never give one of these
> formats a chance!! Then they get a new one and you guys are
> already screaming for its death!!

I'm not screaming for its death. I am saying that it's likely to fail as miserably as the last 9 formats for several reasons:

1) The birth of the radio station was poorly executed. Infinity Buffalo has the Silver touch when it comes to creating a new radio station. The idea is that you hit the ground running, with music and personalities in place and ready to rock. I know that approach isn't in vogue these days, and that "10,000 in a row with no interruptions" is the current flavor, but that's a weak effort at best. Jack doesn't even have that going for it. They've got plenty of interruptions.

Think about it. How much more effective would it be - and how much more buzz would it generate - if "a bunch of guys" took over a radio station and started "playing what we want". Especially if those guys were recognizable local personalities.

2) Lack of promotion. Where's the TV, newspaper, guerrilla promotion, stickers, anything?

3) Competition. The competition is pretty good, and adjustments have/will be made to make Jack less relevant. If people are reasonably happy, they won't be aware or care that Jack exists.

4) Stern. The bread and butter of Jack stations is TSL at work. Most businesses are not going to put up with Stern on their speaker systems until 10 or 11 in the morning. Once the radio is set, it stays there - for months in most cases.

5) Personality-free radio. What separates us from the iPod is input from relatable radio personalities. Notice I said relatable. People yakking to hear themselves talk need not apply. People who do their homework and have something to say about things that relate to local people are gold in the competition with satellite and iPod.

6) Infinity Buffalo. Their past performance shows that they have no patience with a format, and no idea how to make a new radio station successful. The legacy stations they inherited have survived in spite of them, not because of them.

Jack will have its effect, just like The Lake had its effect. Stations will broaden their playlists as a result, driving consultants crazy and making listeners happy. The "Wow, I haven't heard that in forever" factor will be spread across more stations. Programmers at other stations - who have one ear glued to Jack to see what songs will impact them - will start adding some of those "Wow" tunes to the playlist. In essence, a lot of stations will get better, and work in the way the consultants keep telling us they should - rotating different gold hits in and out, running special shows to feature less familiar music, and defining their position in the market. Good jocks will sharpen their presentation - out of fear if not pride.

Send me that Prozac, majic. I'm sure you can spare one.
 
The Next Format

I think WBUF should do a format that is unique and very Buffalo...so I suggest ALL POLKA!

Think about it, no one else would ever touch it, get all the Buffalo Polka kings to do DJ duty. Hey it's nice happy music right?

Seriously on my trips back to Buffalo it was very comforting to hear a station playing Polka music in this nation of dull, safe copy cat formats.

The truth is if your station has surrendered to the ARB Gods I'm probably not listening to it.

Radio has become too slick I want to hear People who can relate and tell me something about the music and what's going on. They don't have to be perfect they just have to be real.

Okay, let the flames begin...
 
Re: Another Adjustment needed

So if they get DJs and start a huge ad campaign that will really go along with the whole "unradio" thing?

I see the Howard point, but where would you put him? And I was under the assumption Jack stations were kinda male skewing anyway...


> Send me that Prozac, majic. I'm sure you can spare one.

If you can exchange a bottle of your Lithium!
 
Re: Adjustment needed

Another brilliant take, Maggie. That cheerleader gig you've got suits you well. Now have a cookie and sit down.
 
Unradio?

> So if they get DJs and start a huge ad campaign that will
> really go along with the whole "unradio" thing?

Unradio thing? Since when has Jack ever claimed to be "unradio"? The Lake, yes. Jack, no.

> I see the Howard point, but where would you put him?

Out of his misery. Let him go, and move on. Why give him another 7 months to promote Sirius?

> And I was under the assumption Jack stations were kinda male
> skewing anyway...

Yeah. My buddies & I get together just so we can hear KC & The Sunshine Band, Gloria Gaynor, and The Weather Girls. You have just demonstrated the classic problem with "assumption".

> > Send me that Prozac, majic. I'm sure you can spare one.
>
> If you can exchange a bottle of your Lithium!
>

You seem to know an awful lot about drugs. I'm beginning to understand why you call yourself majic rockstar...
 
Re: Another Adjustment needed

Yes, there were stations that "were too hip for the room," back then. And yes, there were a great many DJ's who could get annoying. But there were also many legendary stations that staffed with Geniune TALENT and entertainers who were just as good to listen to as the music they played 'round the clock. Even if you didn't like one particular song, you knew you'd like the next one, or the jock would say something worth listening to. Nowadays the Casey Casem's, Cousin' Brucies etc are all being "eased out" to make room for a generation of young listeners/talent that has no manners, blames everything on everybody else, has no work ethic and wants it all right now. If they can't download their latest "dribbling wee-wees" CD onto their stupid ipods in 2 seconds, it's a "catastrophy." AWWW POOR BABIES!!!!!

We used to laugh at hearing "Kroger Radio" in their stores. NOW, it sounds better than half of the radio stations out there. What passes for "personality"
on both TV and radio is some loser trying to cram the word "ass" into every sentence. (Yeah, that takes a lot of real "TALENT") And FORGET about reliable news or weather coverage. If a tornado is bearing down on your city, you'll hear some voice-tracked "tool" with a nasaly wimpy voice telling you "heeeyyyy.....it's a great day for the beach." Most of the dweebs on the air couldn't get through a newscast........even the older jocks could do THAT when called for in an emergency.

Yes, we've made great progress. You can't convince me that one of these major companies didn't BRIBE...I'll say it again....BRIBE the right people in Washington into allowing one owner to control 5-6-7 radio stations in ONE market. Oh, they'll deny it to their dying day, but how is THIS "better serving
us?!" With a medium that has been systematically killed? No wonder people are going to internet.........what's left these days? Lifeless IPOD POO POO on a once-great 100KW station!!! Between the no-talent/no dues-paying hacks who can't perform live (ASHLEE SIMPSON) who pass for "great talent" and the idiots who love them in positions of radio management...........no wonder radio is in trouble.

MY, what progress we've made!!!! As much as we love to talk about equal rights for females.....our media now bombards us with the message that to become "great," all you've gotta do is show your (BLEEP) on TV or "leak out" a video of you having sex!! As much as we love to talk a great game about "serving the public," we have stations on
autopilot with a crappy-computer voice telling us about tornadoes...IF IT EVEN COMES ON AT ALL!!!! Instead of people who cared about our radio markets and busted their butts to sound great EVERY DAY, we have little brats running IPODS
who think that everybody over 45 automatically starts shopping around for
an "old folks home." This is NOT the same "generation gap" we faced years ago.
Respect is DEAD when it comes to our schools and discipline in the home...............so we may as well finish killing off media as we knew it too!!!! If you don't believe me, take a good look around.....It's in the news everyday.....once they get past the latest "Paris Hilton" story.
 
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