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KEGL

iHeart also has WAIO in Rochester, NY of all places which is a talk format similar to what KEGL was trying to be, more similar to WTKS. It gets a 3 share and some change and does decently. However, they took the approach I feel KEGL should have, with music running nights and weekends.
 
101tm said:
iHeart also has WAIO in Rochester, NY of all places which is a talk format similar to what KEGL was trying to be, more similar to WTKS. It gets a 3 share and some change and does decently. However, they took the approach I feel KEGL should have, with music running nights and weekends.
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No. They should’ve talked sports. What made iHeart think KEGL was going to be somebody, when they have two established talkers in the market already on FM? Imagine hiring hosts with a sports background, only talking sports 10 percent of the time? They tried being podcasters on FM. When that didn‘t work, they still didn’t drop the stupid topics that weren’t sports related. Again. iheart, a company that built Fox Sports Radio, couldn‘t have made proper adjustments for this station to do well? None of the last 16 months makes any sense
 
MarkW said:
That is my mistake; I agree that format belongs on the list. Good call! I'd even go so far to say the odds of that format are better than a flip to Urban AC.

My revised list:
Country
Rock
Latin CHR
Urban AC
All Sports
Bilingual AC
News/Talk

Does anyone know if the programmer they brought in from Rochester, NY is still there?
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Bilingual AC... which works in Miami... is dependent on a huge group of immigrants from the upper and middle class groups in Latin America. That works in Miami, the home of the political and economic refugee. It does not work where nearly all of the immigrants are from the lowest educational and income levels in their country of birth.

The bilingual AC listener in Miami listened to stations that played the same music back in Colombia or Nicaragua or Venezuela or Puerto Rico. Not the case in Dallas.
 
exdjted said:
This is what happens when MAXIMUM profits are the goal because of hedge-fund ownership. As old-time broadcasters, we were used to having live local talent to make a decent profit because that's what listeners wanted. Now, we are being replaced by shareholders who only see the world in a P & L statement. Radio has become a jukebox because we ALLOWED it to become a jukebox.Thank God I won't be around for the end of Radio as I once knew it.
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Actually, the funds that have taken over the larger radio companies are not "hedge funds".

Hedge fund - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

And the reason why we don't have DJs and jingles and phone-in contests and remotes from the car dealer is that listeners themselves don't want that any more.

Decades ago we looked, as listeners, for "a friend on the radio" and love our DJs. Now, we have our friends on social media and through texting and FaceTime. No need for a DJ... we have real friends now.
 
DavidEduardo said:
And the reason why we don't have DJs and jingles and phone-in contests and remotes from the car dealer is that listeners themselves don't want that any more.
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Maybe in the larger markets, David. Not where I am. Thank God for that. I'd rather fight it out in a town where I can walk in and talk to the person who actually buys the advertising, and where I can run into the listeners at a ballgame or a restaurant and get real feedback instead of worrying about ratings or impressions or whatever.

Maybe Radio has passed by dinosaurs like myself. And maybe it's time for me to stop commenting and worrying about what happens anywhere else and worry about my little slice of Hell.

Bye.
 
Loverofradio said:
No. They should’ve talked sports. What made iHeart think KEGL was going to be somebody, when they have two established talkers in the market already on FM? Imagine hiring hosts with a sports background, only talking sports 10 percent of the time? They tried being podcasters on FM. When that didn‘t work, they still didn’t drop the stupid topics that weren’t sports related. Again. iheart, a company that built Fox Sports Radio, couldn‘t have made proper adjustments for this station to do well? None of the last 16 months makes any sense
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The Russ Martin Show was never about sports. In fact, during the show they even made fun of Russ for not knowing much about sports. Howard Stern wasn't about sports either. These guys were about edgy hot talk and culture. Russ Martin was where the guys who were not into sports to got their talk. Russ would be politically incorrect and talk about things that would offend women. Howard Stern was ... just Howard Stern. You would listen to these guys because you didn't know what they would do next. To put it simply, they were shock jocks. The Freak crew was actually going out of their way to not offend anybody. They would ask the women on the show what they thought, not find a more creative way to insult them. The Freak was really nothing more than Dad Talk. Not very edgy, kind of boring. And when they started talking sports about 10% of the time they would alienate the people who get bored with sports. They sports fanatics left to go back to the Ticket hours ago. The Freak was neither fish nor fowl.

Quite honestly, the Russ Martin Fans were turning off the radio after Russ went off at 7pm. They weren't listening to the music. That was another audience. The Russ Martin Fans weren't listening to the Dad Talk on Ben and Skin either. I have no idea who was listening to that. Housewives, maybe? Your average Russ Martin Fan got off at 5, got in his car and expected to hear Russ. They couldn't care less what was on The Eagle the rest of the time and they were done with the station by 7.

Even if they could find another Russ Martin, the shock jock thing has kind of run it's course. Howard Stern is more of a celebrity chaser than a shock jock now. Guys like Opie and Anthony and Tom Leykis are no longer on the air. Maybe it's different in Florida, but real Hot Talk seems to be out of fashion now. Canning the Dad Talk and going back to music may be The Eagle's only choice.
 
Old Grey Coyote said:
The Russ Martin Show was never about sports. In fact, during the show they even made fun of Russ for not knowing much about sports. Howard Stern wasn't about sports either. These guys were about edgy hot talk and culture. Russ Martin was where the guys who were not into sports to got their talk. Russ would be politically incorrect and talk about things that would offend women. Howard Stern was ... just Howard Stern. You would listen to these guys because you didn't know what they would do next. To put it simply, they were shock jocks. The Freak crew was actually going out of their way to not offend anybody. They would ask the women on the show what they thought, not find a more creative way to insult them. The Freak was really nothing more than Dad Talk. Not very edgy, kind of boring. And when they started talking sports about 10% of the time they would alienate the people who get bored with sports. They sports fanatics left to go back to the Ticket hours ago. The Freak was neither fish nor fowl.

Quite honestly, the Russ Martin Fans were turning off the radio after Russ went off at 7pm. They weren't listening to the music. That was another audience. The Russ Martin Fans weren't listening to the Dad Talk on Ben and Skin either. I have no idea who was listening to that. Housewives, maybe? Your average Russ Martin Fan got off at 5, got in his car and expected to hear Russ. They couldn't care less what was on The Eagle the rest of the time and they were done with the station by 7.

Even if they could find another Russ Martin, the shock jock thing has kind of run it's course. Howard Stern is more of a celebrity chaser than a shock jock now. Guys like Opie and Anthony and Tom Leykis are no longer on the air. Maybe it's different in Florida, but real Hot Talk seems to be out of fashion now. Canning the Dad Talk and going back to music may be The Eagle's only choice.
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Yes but that was Russ Martin and Howard Stern. The Freak was a sports station, that wasn’t a sports station, that ran sports programming over nights and weekends that had the rights to air Mavs games. What WAS the freak supposed to be when you have all hosts who either work for local teams and in the sports scene. The listeners wanted an additional sports option that wasn’t on the ticket or the fan. The freak had plenty of time to adjust. but they had a PD who only knew rock and hot talk radio. the first mistake perhaps was not having Mike Rhyner as PD who KNEW what the eff he talking about when it came to sports. He wasn’t past his prime. there was someone on Sirius radio who was literally in his 90s talking NFL football. Nothing. not a single thing about the freak made sense
 
Loverofradio said:
Yes but that was Russ Martin and Howard Stern. The Freak was a sports station, that wasn’t a sports station, that ran sports programming over nights and weekends that had the rights to air Mavs games. What WAS the freak supposed to be when you have all hosts who either work for local teams and in the sports scene. The listeners wanted an additional sports option that wasn’t on the ticket or the fan. The freak had plenty of time to adjust. but they had a PD who only knew rock and hot talk radio. the first mistake perhaps was not having Mike Rhyner as PD who KNEW what the eff he talking about when it came to sports. He wasn’t past his prime. there was someone on Sirius radio who was literally in his 90s talking NFL football. Nothing. not a single thing about the freak made sense
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Mike Rhyner was the wrong guy to run a hot talk station, but he was the right guy to run a sports talk station. I don't think that anybody at that station really qualified to do hot talk. They were trying to sell this as a sports station that wasn't a sports station because the market already had too many sports stations. It turned into some mild mannered Dad Talk with just a little bit of sports mixed in. A combination nobody really wanted. No surprise that this didn't work.

But they really didn't want to do what Rhyner wanted to do, which was what he always did. I guess that frustrated him. He's a sports guy.
 
exdjted said:
Maybe in the larger markets, David. Not where I am. Thank God for that. I'd rather fight it out in a town where I can walk in and talk to the person who actually buys the advertising, and where I can run into the listeners at a ballgame or a restaurant and get real feedback instead of worrying about ratings or impressions or whatever.
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I've managed stations in markets bigger than New York City and as small as Lake City, FL.

There is a definite need for good client relationships, whether in a mostly agency market or an all-direct market. But making programming decisions based on n=1 encounters with listeners is enormously dangerous.
exdjted said:
Maybe Radio has passed by dinosaurs like myself. And maybe it's time for me to stop commenting and worrying about what happens anywhere else and worry about my little slice of Hell.
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It is a different world, and the biggest change is the huge reduction in real dollars going to radio.
 
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