• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Let us take a moment...

F

FCR

Guest
...and laugh at what a horrible station The Zone was.

We never said our proper goodbyes to one of the shortest lived stations in radio history. So, let's share our worst memories about the last Free FM station to be created.

I'll start. Was April 2, 2007 the worst sign-on ever for a station in Pittsburgh? I think so. Johnny Mac couldn't figure out how to turn on the mics, Paulsen gets held up from CC's lawyers, and there were technical difficulties delaying Dameshek from getting on the air from Jimmy Kimmel's L.A. studio.

Rest in Pieces, Man Station.
 
I honestly think The Zone could have been a good station.

To use an analogy- it was Pittsburgh radio's version of the Seattle Pilots. Major League Baseball in Seattle wasn't a bad idea- as the Mariners last 30 years have proven. But the Pilots were horribly run and moved to Milwaukee after their first season.

Same thing here. I actually think if you moved a sports station's signal to FM in Pittsburgh it would work well.

And I believe at its heart The Zone was a sports station. Sporting News Radio on the weekend. Paulsen and Steigerwald- who might not be sports talk show hosts per se- both had it on their resume. And certainly Damechek was a sports talk show host.

But that was just it. They didn't know if they were sports or not. Like K-Rock was, you never knew what their format was (Music? Talk?).

That said- they also made a horrible selection of choosing talent.

I've said it before and I'll say it again- Paulsen and Steigerwald were asked to beat WEAE circa 2000 when WBGG adopted a sports format and had the sports contracts and a promotional budget to do so. People WANTED Paulsen and Steigy to succeed- they called up Mark Madden's show and taunted him with "Paulsen's gonna kick your @ss!"

Paulsen even addressed this sentiment early on at WBGG.

And you know what happened. WBGG has never recovered and Clear Channel wrote the station off from that point on.

So why did CBS think this would work seven years later? And why did they think McIntire, whose shortcomings have been addressed over and over on this board and others, would do anything?

And did they really think Gab was funny? Besides- if this is "The Man Station" you need a female sidekick who giggles alot and has a sexy voice- not a plain single woman who talks about going to the grocery store for her mother.

The Zone needed free agents. Instead they went to the waiver wire and paid what they found free agent money.

That said- I felt Damechek had real potential- he did bits- he came off as the fan's fan (which is a personality we don't have in Pittsburgh sports talk)- he was cutting edge.

Of course he took the first life raft off.

I also never liked Dennis Miller as a comic- thought he was too much of a smart alleck- but I found him to be witty, thought provoking and engaging on his talk show, which featured a great collection of guests.

I implore KDKA to pick him up!

I believe The Zone could have made it, but it was almost like they tried to assemble a roster like Rachel Phelps tried to build the Cleveland Indians!

Rachel Phelps was the woman who owned the Tribe in the movie Major League and wanted to stock the team with castoffs so she could move them to Miami.

Now you know why I liked Miller . . .

Seriously, though, I honestly think there is more upside for a good sports, lively talk or rock station on FM in Pittsburgh than there is a CHR.

But CBS so HORRIBLY mismanaged the two stations that replaced B-94 they both failed.

B-94 will get its 3.0 and they'll probably keep it on automation and keep costs low and make a profit with it by default.

But if it does- the primary reason will be because they'll stick to the format.

I assure you if they stick Loveline and medicore talk programming on in the middle of the day (a la K-Rock), or if they don't play contemporary hits and instead focus their playlist on struggling artists of five years ago (a la The Zone), they won't.

No station could.
 
Pratte...I too liked the Dennis Miller radio show. Other than that, it was a horrible station. Never liked McIntyre, and that show of his on The Zone confirmed why.
 
Pratte4Life said:
The primary positive thing about B-94 returning is Mac no longer has a forum.
Click to expand...

His show was the worst part of the station. Between his and Gab's horrible bits and his constant use of the phrase "Uhh, ladies and gentlemen..." I think the John McIntire show was the biggest contribution to the Zone's downfall.
 
The Zone, Free FM, whatever you want to call it, were all attempts at something new by CBS Radio. Problem with trying something new is that many listeners aren't satisfied with new.

Case in point, look at all of the posts about B94 coming back. Everybody wants the same airstaff from 2003. I still want a reunion of Quinn and Banana. Guess neither of us will get what we want. But that's what the audience wants and has expressed it ad nauseum.

If CBS Radio could go back and try this all over again, they would have never flipped B94. Star would have flipped to a rock station instead. Free FM would have never happened in New york or Philly as those stations would have continued to be rock stations. As far as mornings are concerned, DLR is better off Runnin' with Eddie Van Halen (their concerts are truly worth the price of admission). The hiring of Roth is still a mystery. I guess all of the other established talents had something else better to do. In any event, Free FM was a national disaster and CBS Radio will have to hope for some strong years ahead to recover.
 
Well, they've got Howard Stern to thank for all of this. After the FCC crackdowns and the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, which created a climate where CLEAR CHANNEL dropped Stern in a lot of markets, CBS felt it necessary to blow up stations in those markets to try and appease him, heading off his eventual departure to Sirius.

Of course we see how much Howard appreciated the gesture.

In fact, if you look at all the people whose careers were ruined because Howard somehow cost them their jobs, he is in many ways the worst thing ever to happen to radio.

It is just taking this long for the shock waves to subside and management to come to their senses again.

Plus over the last few years CBS lost Mel Karmazin and Fareed Sulaiman (sorry if that's not spelled correctly)... Fareed was quietly #2 behind Mel, and oh, by the way, he's now at Citadel/ABC and he's the guy who's going to put Imus back on the air.

So this goes all the way to the top. B94 is back, CBS-FM in NY is back, and the business will never be the same.
 
The last two posts are somewhat correct, but the larger problem here remains that the brass at CBS would never admit they made a mistake. Never. I have had two of them blame the nightmare that was The Zone not on bad programming but "an immmature market", whatever that means. They will tell you that The Zone was a solid format and a well thought out idea but that a market like Pittsburgh just can't grasp new concepts.
 
Snafu said:
The last two posts are somewhat correct, but the larger problem here remains that the brass at CBS would never admit they made a mistake. Never. I have had two of them blame the nightmare that was The Zone not on bad programming but "an immmature market", whatever that means. They will tell you that The Zone was a solid format and a well thought out idea but that a market like Pittsburgh just can't grasp new concepts.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm....

I guess that means that all the markets where Free-FM was tried and failed were "immature markets" too.

Snafu, I couldn't agree with you more.
 
Snafu- I am so glad you wrote that last post.

I am sick whenever I hear a lousy radio show that fails when people blame it on the market, be it Pittsburgh or wherever.

For the millionth time, one of the main problems with The Zone was they were employing talent that had been tried before with disasterous results. Why they thought it would work on this station is beyond me.

But, I guess that's because I'm immature . . . . ::)
 
Parttimer said:
In fact, if you look at all the people whose careers were ruined because Howard somehow cost them their jobs, he is in many ways the worst thing ever to happen to radio.
Click to expand...

There is some truth in that statement. However if Howard were to announce that he is seriously looking into going back to terrestrial radio, every communication company known to humankind (including Clear Channel) would make an offer. Everybody has seen what type of effect losing Stern had on CBS Radio and would want to capitalize on bringing Howard aboard even if it was for some type of short-term benefit.

What I would truly like to know is aside from Howard and Rush Limbaugh, what other syndicated personality has their type of drawing power?
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom