KNIK

[easttxtv]

First of all congrats to Mike on the world's longest post.

Mike is a valued regular and provides a unique insight on radio and the biz without any perceived rambling.

a group of listeners that spends a majority of their disposable income on perscriptions, rent at the nursing home, or rides on the short bus.

Thanks so much for the prejudgment/labeling, but SOME of us (if not more) are MUCH younger than the 'prescription/nursing home' demo. Many in jazz (smooth and otherwise) are actually quite talented and work very hard at what they do.

 

[little1]

There's always going to be the exception to the rule, but generally speaking, the smooth jazz crowd is somewhat to much older than 'average'...

Sure there's going to be some younger peeps listening, but if the vast majority of your listeners are 40 to 45+, odds are the advertisers are going to look at the vast majority and not the much smaller subset.

 

[salemjedi54]

For Board Monkey and Mrwonton......

Mr Shannon is right, KOAI in its latter years, in my OPINION, was marketed and programmed WRONG. The Oasis was a rare station, one that crossed racial, gender, social-economical boundaries. Yes the listeners were older, but who in their right minds would want to hear all that bumpity bump who shot the funk crap all the time. Country music is not my cup of tea, but I don't blast KSCS or KPLX for playing it. I'm a black man and I can't stand the music the 97.9 or 104 plays either. Smooth Jazz can be a viable format, if marketed correctly. The sales staff has to be aggressive. Programming has to be true to the format. Be who you say you are. If you are smooth jazz, then program that type of music. Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross, and any other non-smooth jazz artists should not had a spot on the playlist. Waymon Tisdale, Chick Corea, David Sanborn, Keiko Matsu, Michael Franks, Hiroshima, and Spyro Gyra should have been the mainstays. I really hope someone can bring it back.

 

[board monkey]

Salem...... In my experience in the industry it seems that the station(s) are not being programmed by a listener anymore. I'm not just talking Smooth Jazz here almost all stations. With the corporate mantra that is coming down, sales execs, and cookie cutter Jack formats(for example) programmers have no real duty other than to make them and the advertiser happy. It used to be that people that wanted to work for a station actually loved the format and wanted to help at making it the best it could be. Corporate radio and all its glory have ruined it. No longer do programmers and promotions have a real say in creative ideas to market and program what the station should sound like. They would know best because they talk to the people in the streets or answer the phones in the studio. When is the last time you saw a sales exec in the studio answering phones talking to listeners or a corporate suit in the street handing out bumper stickers meeting the listener face to face?

 

[grantchester]

It's so much easier to just plug in the numbers, and bid for the agency buy. Then you get stations geared to whatever the agency is buying. BAH!
A dynamic sales staff has an important role, not just in selling the commercials, but also in building the station. It is much healthier to have a staff full of intelligent articulate representatives out talking to people all day every day, than to have drones sitting in offices, kissing up to the agencies.
Direct sales is the only way a 55+ audience can be translated into revenue, since it seems the agencies aren't buying it. The small business owner knows who his customers are, and if he or she listens to the station, he or she can tell how it works. I doubt someone with a personal stake in the buy would allow his dollars to buy the 5th spot in a 10 minute stop-set on some crappy flavor of the month music format..
Smooth Jazz, eclectic easy listening, Classical and other adult oriented formats would be viable, if the managers could just figure out how building community with the sponsors and listeners could work. But I guess 'community' is a foreign word to modern corporate America. Sounds too much like Communist.

 

[salemjedi54]

Salem...... In my experience in the industry it seems that the station(s) are not being programmed by a listener anymore. I'm not just talking Smooth Jazz here almost all stations. With the corporate mantra that is coming down, sales execs, and cookie cutter Jack formats(for example) programmers have no real duty other than to make them and the advertiser happy. It used to be that people that wanted to work for a station actually loved the format and wanted to help at making it the best it could be. Corporate radio and all its glory have ruined it. No longer do programmers and promotions have a real say in creative ideas to market and program what the station should sound like. They would know best because they talk to the people in the streets or answer the phones in the studio. When is the last time you saw a sales exec in the studio answering phones talking to listeners or a corporate suit in the street handing out bumper stickers meeting the listener face to face?

I AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT BM....

WITH LOCAL OWNERSHIP GOING OUT THE WINDOW SO DOES CREATIVITY. MOM AND POP STATIONS ARE DEAD.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

Excellent thoughts guys. Grant is right , the "AE"s" bow to the agencies too much,because its a quick commission. Its all commission to them,with little if any regard to the quality of programming. They place their dream of owning a Lexus or BMW first,before any slight thought on how the programming is effected. Grant mentions the "one on one " sales calls not being used and he is dead on there. There may be a few,emphasis on "Few". If there was a lot of "non-agency" sales, there would be "Smooth jazz" in DFW. I said before sales people have an "80's" education where the bulk of graduates were business majors with a "all for one and all for me" attitude,instead of "how can I contribute to the general good"?

 

[VERITAS DE VOCE]

First of all congrats to Mike on the world's longest post.

Someone hasn't spent any time discussed radio blather with David Eduardo, huh?