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Jack FM - No thanks.

I

interndj

Guest
While on vacation recently in the mid west, I had the opportunity to listen to Jack FM. Not impressed at all. I was under the presumption that it was suppose to cover all bases genre wise. Well, this Jack station had mainly emphasis on *Rock*. No country, and 1 Hip Hop song that I recall.

If Jack comes here to the Captial Region, I will not be tuning in, rather tuning out.

Just my thoughts and opinion.
 
> While on vacation recently in the mid west, I had the
> opportunity to listen to Jack FM. Not impressed at all. I
> was under the presumption that it was suppose to cover all
> bases genre wise. Well, this Jack station had mainly
> emphasis on *Rock*. No country, and 1 Hip Hop song that I
> recall.
>
> If Jack comes here to the Captial Region, I will not be
> tuning in, rather tuning out.
>
> Just my thoughts and opinion.
>

It depends on the station. Each Jack sounds a little different.
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From what i have been observing a lot of major city's have gotten Jack fm already. And i'm thinking Albany Radio isn't too far from Jack fm. But the question is who would actually bring that format here and will it be from the creators of Jack at sparknet? I am a oldies/cbsfm oldies 101.1 fan but have tried listening to some of Jack on cbsfm through aol's free radio player just to be curious as to see what they play. A lot of songs they were playing were familiar since cbsfm played a lot of the 70s and 80s cuts when they were oldies, other songs i reconized was songs that wktu 103.5 plays and the rest was rock songs which i didnt know or like them at all. I compared cbsfms current playlists with other jacks through stonege yes.com and some of the jack's that are on Infinity's Stations have the right mixture of music. I also took a look at clear channels louie fm and steve fm, some bobs and other by other companys on yes.com and they were mostly all rock and heavy metal stuff hardly anything good at all. It looks like Infinity has the right Jack format from sparknet that they are executing. I wouldn't mind it coming here to Albany Radio if 1. it was either owned by Infinity or a real Jack fm from Sparknet or both. 2. i would not like it at all if it wasn't sparknet's jack fm and it was like the others mostly all rock and heavy metal music, then i would hate it and not be in favor of the format coming here at all. I would say if any format should come to Albany Radio now let it be either the same format as WNEW 102.7 has in nyc now or the same format as WKTU 103.5 had now in nyc and the ktu one would be ideal since ktu's owners clear channel have a lot of stations here.
> > While on vacation recently in the mid west, I had the
> > opportunity to listen to Jack FM. Not impressed at all. I
> > was under the presumption that it was suppose to cover all
>
> > bases genre wise. Well, this Jack station had mainly
> > emphasis on *Rock*. No country, and 1 Hip Hop song that I
> > recall.
> >
> > If Jack comes here to the Captial Region, I will not be
> > tuning in, rather tuning out.
> >
> > Just my thoughts and opinion.
> >
>
> It depends on the station. Each Jack sounds a little
> different.
>
 
Getting "Jacked" Around

It is interesting to read the negative remarks about "Jack" when "Jack" is not very different from any other radio station.

Music is music and programming is programming ... once you turn control of your music selection to any broadcaster, chances are you are not going to get much creativity. In fact, Arbitron teaches stations to do the opposite (i.e., play the same garbage over and over again based on that 20-minute listening model).

Secondly, we are headed to the day when every station will be a satellite feed or a voice-tracked jukebox. Almost every personality (except maybe the morning guys) are voice-tracking huge portions of their show. A few stations are keeping live weekenders around, but that trend will also die soon (financially, it is a waste).

All "Jack" does is state the obvious. Here is a voice image. Here is the music. Here are the commercials. Occasionally, you get a funny breaker. It is refreshingly honest and simple. I'll take that anyday over the endless drone of useless chatter, self-hype and repetitive bits. Or maybe we all need one more phone call from Bob Miller to himself?
 
Why the hate

I believe most of the hate stems from the point that Jack stations are avoiding the DJs. I am not in the radio business but I can empathize with anyone who may lose their job to an automated system.

Also, it is a shame that some station managers fail to understand the value of a good DJ to bring their audience through the day.

On an adult Rock station the DJ needs to be knowledgable about the music and the artist. He/She should give the listener the feeling that they are speaking directly to them (as if sitting beside them).

Those stations that only have card readers may as well v/t all day long. Those stations will be forever vulnerable due to the lack of barrier to entry into that format.
 
Excellent Point

Ivan, you are absolutely correct. Too bad the radio industry disagees with you.

The new model for jocks is to read prepared text, limit personal observations and DEFINITELY not to have a conversation. This is the era of sound bytes ... give a quick blurb about the tune (IF TIME ALLOWS) and get to the commercials. "Jack" simply puts the jock duties in the hands of the guy who does the voice imaging.

You are correct that people hate "Jack" largely because it snuffs the jock jobs, but "Jack" is taking a different approach to the automation revolution that began over five years ago. When automation made voice-tracking economically superior to hiring a jock, the jocks were killed. By eliminating weekend, evening and overnight jocks, the average station saves over $2,000 per week in salaries, benefits and payroll taxes. There is also the savings of hiring and training new jocks, and supervision and personnel management by the PD.

A PD can boost his salary by cutting all the weekenders and voicetracking 4 extra shows. But that will also eliminate an opportunity (and need) to develop new talent. That's why "Jack" will succeed ... it's all economics.
 
Management Stupidity

> By eliminating weekend, evening and overnight jocks, the
> average station saves over $2,000 per week in salaries,
> benefits and payroll taxes. There is also the savings of
> hiring and training new jocks, and supervision and personnel
> management by the PD.

Don't consider this a personal attack, but let's discuss the stupidity of the above statement...

$2,000 per week is typically about 20 spots in a top 70 market. That's 3 spots a day over a one-week period. I'd be willing to bet that live-and-local will get you an additional 3 spots a day if you have sales people with any talent and more than 6 months experience. If you don't believe me, check the ratings and revenue of the stations that are live-and-local as compared to the stations that are remote VT or syndicated. With few exceptions, live-and-local performs significantly better.

You also give up the opportunity to train and develop upcoming talent who can replace those who leave, and do vacation/sick day relief in the meantime. It's a case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Of course, there are too many instances of that particular management malady to document in this limited space.
 
Very Well Said!

Your statement is HIGHLY appropriate. I also believe that the practice of voice tracking and "Jack" is abhorrent but it is senseless to disregard reality by wishing that the radio of the 60's and 70's will ever be back. It's over.

Please allow me to correct one misconception: when you sell an ad on radio, the commissions (30% to 50%), agency fees (10%) and production costs only result in a best case scenario of 50% net income before other expenses. To make the $2,000 a week of profit gained by eliminating jocks (and the expenses there of), you would have to sell about $5,000 a week of advertising. That's another 50 spots in a top 70 market. It's possible but not likely.

However, we are not talking about top 70 markets on this board. Nor are we talking about the ad sales teams and management teams associated with top 70 markets. It is interesting, however, that "Jack" has been incredibly successful in top 70 markets. It's all about the proofit ... easier to cut costs than to sell more.
 
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