Krth 101 personality changes - weekends purged?

[michael hagerty]

I can see that I should have included Hotel California, Don't Stop Believin' and The Logical Song on that list. There are around 15 to 20 songs that get played four times a day---every day. Perhaps KRTH's typical listeners don't find that frequency to be excessive...but I do. And KRTH plays very few songs that I'm not sick of and which I won't turn off as soon as I hear them begin. I'm glad I have XM Radio.

Guess I picked the wrong week to give up using the Lord's name in vain.

Steve....one more time....

KRTH's typical listeners (and even the atypical ones) don't hear songs four times a day.

They sleep.

They eat.

They work.

They go to the bathroom.

They watch TV.

They go to the movies.

They make love.

They go to sporting events.

They go shopping.

Not only do they not hear the songs four times a day, they don't know or care that KRTH plays them that many times. They don't look at the playlist.

And if they did? They wouldn't care. I watch The Blacklist on NBC. I don't care what NBC airs the other 167 hours of the week. Lost dog reports, 167 replays of The Blacklist....doesn't matter, as long as when I turn on NBC Monday night at 10, The Blacklist is on.

Same with the KRTH listener. As long as the songs they like are playing when they're listening, they give considerably less than a (redacted) what's playing when they're not listening.

 

[John Gallagher]

I am 55, I am well out of the demographic that advertisers care about. And, that's ok. I still earn money, I still spend money. I am self-employed which would allow me to listen to the radio, if I chose, 12 hours a day. But, I don't. So, based on the songs listed earlier:

September: 3:26 AM, 1:16 PM, 9:29, PM, 1:21 AM, 5:!8 AM, 11:23 AM
I Melt With You: 1:26 AM, 5:44 AM, 10:56 AM, 3:51 PM, 8:16 PM, 2:18 AM, 6:56 AM, 11:26 AM
Old Time Rock & Roll: 2:14 AM, 6:47 AM, 2:35 PM, 8:23 PM, 1:19 AM, 11:56 AM
Don't You Forget About Me: 3:29 AM, 11:58 AM, 12:27 PM, 4:08 AM, 9:01 AM
Sweet Home Alabama: 4:40 AM, 10:02 AM, 4:27 PM, 10:09 PM, 2:45 AM, 9:31 AM

I like every one of those songs and, yet, if I lived in Los Angeles, wouldn't be listening round the clock. So, it wouldn't bother me.

I am a full-time wedding & event DJ/entertainer. I have to play the music at the events I do (weddings etc.) that people love and songs that will engage them to dance. A forgotten #1 song from 1967 or 1977 or 1987 or 1997 won't work. It will clear the dance floor.

So, the fact that these stations, as some have termed it, play the same songs over and over. It IS working because they are playing the songs people know, songs that people like and songs that make them feel good. I'd rather hear familiar songs than forgotten ones.

 

[TheBigA]

how is it that KRTH's listeners never seem to get sick and tired of hearing their favorites over and over and over and over and over?

Do you understand the concept of having sex with the same woman over and over? Think of it that way, and it might make sense.

But once again: We do it because it's working. That's why we do it.

 

[Unregistered]

I can see that I should have included Hotel California, Don't Stop Believin' and The Logical Song on that list. There are around 15 to 20 songs that get played four times a day---every day. Perhaps KRTH's typical listeners don't find that frequency to be excessive...but I do. And KRTH plays very few songs that I'm not sick of and which I won't turn off as soon as I hear them begin. I'm glad I have XM Radio.

I have been streaming a station I found that I liked on a vacation. Had it on all day today. I could tell you precisely one song with certainty that was played today. If you offered me a million bucks, I couldn't guarantee I'd be able to name 10 others that I absolutely, positively heard today, and not yesterday, or Friday.

What's more, I say I streamed it all day. But then there were those bathroom breaks. Oh, and heating up my lunch. And grabbing a cup of coffee. Oh, and those calls I took. Hmmmm...so maybe I didn't hear everything. And if they play the same thing tomorrow, it's entirely likely I won't realize, nor be upset if they do. What I know is as I hear it, even in the background, it registers that it's the kind of mix I like...but like most people, my brain is not focussed on--or obsessed with--every song, what the rotation is, etc.

So if a station doesn't play what you like, why listen? Why wouldn't you simply move on? Why on Earth would someone bother recording the times songs played? I mean, even on a radio board, doesn't that take things a bit far?

 

[K.M. Richards]

I'm glad I have XM Radio.

And I, for one, wish you would go listen to it and leave the rest of us alone.

Steve, I have been patient beyond the boundaries of normal human tolerance with you. Now I have had enough.

I'm going to go have a conversation with Boz.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm glad I have XM Radio.

So why ask why? You're not in the demo. You have other options. Yet you CHOOSE to belabor an unnecessary discussion.

Three things about XM: Thing #1: You pay for the service. If you paid for KRTH, they would be more likely to cater to your taste than the needs of advertisers.

Thing #2: They have 100 channels. If it was possible to run 100 commercial free music channels on broadcast radio, it's more likely that one of those stations, or a combination, would cater to your taste.

Thing #3: With all of the channels available, and the fact that they are commercial free, less than 8% of the people in the US have chosen to subscribe. Based on my estimates, it's very possible that more people listen to KRTH OTA in LA than listen to all of the "Decades" channels on Sirius nationally. That should tell you something. It probably won't, but so what.

Repeat after me: We do what we do because it works.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

And I, for one, wish you would go listen to it and leave the rest of us alone.

Steve, I have been patient beyond the boundaries of normal human tolerance with you. Now I have had enough.

I'm going to go have a conversation with Boz.

Oh, KMR, if only they would just make you the moderator, and then you wouldn't even have to have the conversation with Boz; you could just go ahead and censor whatever speech and ban whatever posters you wanted without even having to first push the limits of your "tolerance" - just like in the good ol' days. If only...

 

[MadMan]

Oh, KMR, if only they would just make you the moderator, and then you wouldn't even have to have the conversation with Boz; you could just go ahead and censor whatever speech and ban whatever posters you wanted without even having to first push the limits of your "tolerance" - just like in the good ol' days. If only...

No we had been there & done that. KM is now a major 80s Radio Consultant, the decade nobody wanted to touch? The 80s lives on!

 

[LKellerIII]

RE: Sirius/XM. The service came free for 3 months with my new car. I spent some time listening to the 60s, 70s, and 80s stations. Is there less repetition than terrestrial radio? Yes. But there is still considerable repetition - not only of songs, but of the voice-tracked shows. Listening to Cousin Brucie blather on about some uninteresting subject once is barely tolerable. Twice is intolerable. Did that guy have diarrhea iof the mouth in the old Top 40 days? I realize WABC was nothing like a Drake station, but Mr. Morrow never seems to shut up. He also slurs his words. Maybe he had a stroke (?).

Yes - I do realize there are other DJs on Sirius/XM. When my 3 free months was up, I didn't renew.My MP3 player only has the amount of repeition I want it to have.

 

[TheBigA]

I realize WABC was nothing like a Drake station, but Mr. Morrow never seems to shut up. He also slurs his words. Maybe he had a stroke (?).

That's an interesting question. I haven't seen that he had a stroke, but he is almost 80.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Oh, KMR, if only they would just make you the moderator, and then you wouldn't even have to have the conversation with Boz; you could just go ahead and censor whatever speech and ban whatever posters you wanted without even having to first push the limits of your "tolerance" - just like in the good ol' days. If only...

And after I took the time a few months ago to send you a PM setting the record straight about those days, you still won't let go of your misconceptions about when I was a moderator.

My opinion of you just dropped a few points, Flip.

 

[frankberry]

This thread has wandered all over the broadcasting universe.
Please get back on-subject and stop the personal attacks.

 

[Thomps2525]

Okay, let's try to figure out why KRTH fired Dave Mason, Bruce Chandler, Dave Randall, Christian Wheel and Sylvia Aimerito and then hired Greg Simms and Maggie McKay. The five who were fired are not what we would call "personality DJs." Four of them were weekenders and aren't most weekenders at most stations pretty much interchangeable? Are the new weekenders working for less money? That would be my guess.

 

[TheBigA]

Four of them were weekenders and aren't most weekenders at most stations pretty much interchangeable? Are the new weekenders working for less money? That would be my guess.

My understanding is that AFTRA scale is the same for everyone. Unless someone has a special contract.

 

[michael hagerty]

My understanding is that AFTRA scale is the same for everyone. Unless someone has a special contract.

Scale is the same, but Bruce Chandler, Dave Randall, Christian Wheel and Sylvia Aimerito have been there a while. Is it reasonable to assume they may have had raises that took them beyond scale?

Dave Mason doesn't count, since he was Assistant PD. I'd refrain from saying he was fired, especially since he was immediately picked up by his old station in San Diego. It is entirely possible this was something that was in the works on his end.

 

[955wdhf]

Okay, let's try to figure out why KRTH fired Dave Mason, Bruce Chandler, Dave Randall, Christian Wheel and Sylvia Aimerito and then hired Greg Simms and Maggie McKay. The five who were fired are not what we would call "personality DJs." Four of them were weekenders and aren't most weekenders at most stations pretty much interchangeable? Are the new weekenders working for less money? That would be my guess.

It has to be the $$$. Under Dave Mason, I saw the station going slowly in an upward direction. And it's still mind boggling to me, why in heavens KEARTH would they have let a good dedicated personality like Dave Randall go. For who? Maggie Mckay? Give me a break! Check out this oldies station out of Mercyhurst University www.WMCE.FM. They are out of ERIE,PA. 24 hours commercial free with live local jocks and music from the 50's 60's 70's with some 80's thrown in the mix. Great variety.

 

[davideduardo]

It has to be the $$$. Under Dave Mason, I saw the station going slowly in an upward direction.

Unlikely that it is the $$$. At AFTRA stations in LA, most weekenders are paid strict scale unless they have a contract that specifies more. I'm not familiar with any instances of weekend talents getting such deals, but that of course is no guarantee that they don't exist. In any case, the differences would be small and a very, very minuscule part of the overall KRTH budget.

Dave Mason was not the program director... he was the assistant PD. While that title definitely means a person is part of the program management team, it generally does not mean that any ratings movement is to that person's sole credit. The driver of the changes at KRTH was Rick Thomas and obviously Dave was a key element in the CBS team that brought KRTH up in the core sales demos.

 

[John Gallagher]

WMCE-FM is in my market. I believe the shifts are voicetracked, yet the talent is local. I've heard too many unfamiliar titles which is why I don't listen much.

 

[32james]

We still don't know where Scott Shannon show will be. No announcement yet and it debuts this weekend. Or what will become of Gary Bryan rewind show.

 

[MadMan]

Scale is the same, but Bruce Chandler, Dave Randall, Christian Wheel and Sylvia Aimerito have been there a while. Is it reasonable to assume they may have had raises that took them beyond scale?

While the Hourly rate stays the same, the contract minimum call is now different. Firing 4 existing part timers adds up to one extra full time slot of savings.