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Live morning shows Vs syndicated shows

G

Groove1670

Guest
Any stats or comments on which does better. Is the end near for local morning shows. Is it easier to plug in Seacrest, Bob & Sheri, John Boy & Billy etc. I would like to hear your thoughts, observations, stats etc.
 
Lots of variables: Market size, format, heritage of existing talent, and profitability of live programming.

If you have a top-rated local morning show that's making tons of money, you have nothing to worry about. If you're ranked #13 in a 14 station market, then an option is syndication. Keep in mind that the money you save in salaries and benefits is lost in local avails. Then again, if you're #13 in a 14 station market, that's not a problem, because you have lots of unsold avails.

What killed local hosts after 7 PM was the huge audience drop-off. It's been a problem for 25 years, and now there are some very good choices. For some stations, it's a problem in other dayparts. It gets back to the fact that there are too many radio stations in some markets to support local hosts.

Here's another reality: If you're a low rated local show, you are probably finding it hard to book quality guests. The syndicated shows have larger audiences, so they can deliver top stars. Doing local radio needs to be more than simply having a local body in a chair.
 
Hard question to answer as there are so few live morning shows anymore, especially outside of the top 100 markets. Market size and format are a big deal. As Big A says - small stations have tons of inventory so the barter with a syndicate is not an issue.

The real question is: is a bad morning show better than syndication? A live body can be put in the chair, but with little or no money to pay them it is unlikely to be top talent. Would that be better than programming off the bird that can be found by other sources (other stations, internet, etc.)? And more importantly - which would revenue better? Can the morning drive show talent sell enough to pay their salary?

The in between on this is local voice tracking - it doesn't sound like a satellite but it isn't live either.

The sad thing is terrestrial radio is becoming satellite radio with a middleman.
 
I think another thing to consider would be the saturation of live and syndicated shows in your market. If everyone else has live, a big syndicated name might be a good answer, especially if the other hosts are well established. If everyone else is running off the bird, a live host is a no brainer.

It's all about differentiation. Give them a good reason to pick you over the other station, and they will.
 
So many variables. But... especially in mornings, if your community (and/or "core audience") depends on your station for information & interactivity--weather, traffic, news, "what's happening,"... an average local jock--a "ringleader"--is preferable to slapping Bob & Sheri or Seacrest on... or John Boy & Billy... Free Beer & Hotwings... John Tesh...

I have a friend who has turned his Class B powerhouse into a plug-n-play operation with syndicated hosts morning-to-night... and can't figure out why his sales are a fraction of what they were when it was "live." He thinks it's a "sales problem." I think he has made his station irrelevant--and, thus, hard to sell.

As with most programming issues, every case is different. But in most cases, I'd vote for humans...
 
ok walters said:
Hard question to answer as there are so few live morning shows anymore, especially outside of the top 100 markets.
Click to expand...

That's not exactly true. Once again it depends on the format. I see live & local morning shows in country as far down as market #208.

amfmxm said:
He thinks it's a "sales problem." I think he has made his station irrelevant--and, thus, hard to sell.
Click to expand...

Hard to sell, but not impossible. He has to replace those local DJs with some other form of local presence. He has to put his station in front of listeners and advertisers in some way. That might be promotions, it might be co-sponsorship of local events, or it might be more localized versions of syndication. What you lose with syndication is the ability to market your station to your audience, and you NEED to replace that in some way.
 
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