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Local radio that works

R

radiosaur

Hey radio chick. Well put. Here's an example:

There's a staion in the Muscle Shoals / Florence Alabama market called Q107. They use live jocks, give time checks, temp checks, still do LIVE PSA's, and seem to follow the 'old' programming philosphies. There's LOCAL! Promos run last, jocks always talk before stop sets.

Call letters are WQLT. I'll let you guys check R&R and see how they did in the last book.

Oh, yeah. They play a lot of what are called 'train wrecks' <P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
I worked at WQLT recently, (like 6 months ago) and they do dominate that market. That station was owned by the Great Sam Phillips (who discovered Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc) and he believed in being live and local. It is now run by his two sons, but primarily by his son Jerry. They are very involved in the community, and the staff has a genuine interest in what's going on.

WQLT is manned 24/7/365. They actually let the automation run christmas day for a few hours for the first time in the stations history about 2 years ago. If you call there at 4am, someone will (eventually) answer the phone. I can remember talking with someone from DG systems (needed their computer rebooted) one night and they were amazed that they called at 11pm and someone actually answered the phone.

The one thing they DON'T have going for them is this... their general manager is a real PITA, just a stuck up little prick. I'm not saying that because i'm bitter, most anyone there will tell you about him if you promise not to tell him they said it. It is a prime example of a station that is run by fear, not by team-building.

I left there of my own volition to take a better job, as most people a year or two out of college do, but I was ready to go flip burgers after some of the stunts he pulled.

Also of note is their sister station, WXFL, which until the last couple of books sat comfortably at #2. Unfortunately a program/music director with his head up his backside can't make the country format work anymore. He's just been there too long.

WQLT is a great station to listen to, but can be very stressful to work at. If you are ever there on a Friday Night, you have to check out Funkadelic Friday! What a great show! (Was better when John Wayne did it, but Chrissie Madison does a great job too!)

Question... what do you mean by "Train wrecks"




> Hey radio chick. Well put. Here's an example:
>
> There's a staion in the Muscle Shoals / Florence Alabama
> market called Q107. They use live jocks, give time checks,
> temp checks, still do LIVE PSA's, and seem to follow the
> 'old' programming philosphies. There's LOCAL! Promos run
> last, jocks always talk before stop sets.
>
> Call letters are WQLT. I'll let you guys check R&R and see
> how they did in the last book.
>
> Oh, yeah. They play a lot of what are called 'train wrecks'
>
 
> Question... what do you mean by "Train wrecks"

Two songs that don't segue together very well. In fact, two songs that segue together so badly they sound like trains crashing and burning.

Of course, back in the days when dinosaurs ruled the earth we used elements like sweepers, promos, and even the famous "transition jingles" between these kind of songs to smooth things out. Today, it's pretty much impossible to get an automation system to do that, because while those systems are very advanced, they've yet to build one that can hear and make judgement calls. Plus a large number of PDs seem bent of hiding their imaging as much as possible, rather than putting it right in the listener's face, where it belongs. These are usually the same bright lights who wail about listeners having no idea what station they're listening to.
 
> Question... what do you mean by "Train wrecks"
>
> Two songs that don't segue together very well. In fact, two
> songs that segue together so badly they sound like trains
> crashing and burning.
>

Exactly. BUT, given a live jock with a bit of experience who understands music flow, it can work. You can minimize the wreck effect by segueing at the right point or mixing well, or as Bag says using a jingle or imager in between. I don't know why stations don't use transistion jingles anymore.

I suspect too many stations leave it all up to the computer and no one ever actually hears the two songs back to back until it happens on the air.

Hey, tech...Thanks for the background on Q107.

<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
> > Question... what do you mean by "Train wrecks"
> >
>no one has mentioned the music and program directors actually previewing and editing the music log before it actually goes to merge with the traffic log or goes into the computer....this would solve alot of those problems before they go to air.

this is the great thing about this board...alot of different ideas...some good...some not...but you get a good idea of how radio works in this state.

how would ya'll feel about a weekly "programming meeting"? maybe around 8 pm in the middle of the week?....might be able to share some good ideas.....just a thought.
 
> > > Question... what do you mean by "Train wrecks"
> > >
> >no one has mentioned the music and program directors
> actually previewing and editing the music log before it
> actually goes to merge with the traffic log or goes into the
> computer....this would solve alot of those problems before
> they go to air.
>
> this is the great thing about this board...alot of
> different ideas...some good...some not...but you get a good
> idea of how radio works in this state.
>
> how would ya'll feel about a weekly "programming meeting"?
> maybe around 8 pm in the middle of the week?....might be
> able to share some good ideas.....just a thought.
>

Sounds good to me. But where? On this board?
 
> > >yeah...if we could get enough people to try to be here each week...we could start a new thread each week...maybe even find a way to have a private log in chat room
 
> > > >yeah...if we could get enough people to try to be here
> each week...we could start a new thread each week...maybe
> even find a way to have a private log in chat room
>

You know, I should have thought of that! A chat room of our own.
I think its very doable. Let's see what everyone else here thinks........
 
> > > > >yeah...if we could get enough people to try to be
> here
> > each week...we could start a new thread each week...maybe
> > even find a way to have a private log in chat room
> >
>
> You know, I should have thought of that! A chat room of our
> own.
> I think its very doable. Let's see what everyone else here
> thinks........
>

I'm up for it....
 
CHAT ROOM (Re: Local radio that works)

I'm up for a chatroom too Media. Drop me a line, [email protected]

I'll have a java based chatroom set up in a day or two.

> > > > > >yeah...if we could get enough people to try to be
> > here
> > > each week...we could start a new thread each
> week...maybe
> > > even find a way to have a private log in chat room
> > >
> >
> > You know, I should have thought of that! A chat room of
> our
> > own.
> > I think its very doable. Let's see what everyone else here
>
> > thinks........
> >
>
> I'm up for it....
>
 
Re: CHAT ROOM (Re: Local radio that works)

>this will be a great way for us to share ideas.....talk about things that do and dont work....and give advice based on actual happenings to maybe save us a headache or two....

looking forward to it
 
Re: CHAT ROOM (Re: Local radio that works)

> >this will be a great way for us to share ideas.....talk
> about things that do and dont work....and give advice based
> on actual happenings to maybe save us a headache or two....
>
> looking forward to it
>

I'm in if anybody wants to hear how we 'used' to do things...

<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
Re: CHAT ROOM (Re: Local radio that works)

> I'm in if anybody wants to hear how we 'used' to do
> things...
>

the way we "used" to do things is probably worth revisiting..
 
Re: CHAT ROOM (Re: Local radio that works)

You can count me in, too.



> > I'm in if anybody wants to hear how we 'used' to do
> > things...
> >
>
> the way we "used" to do things is probably worth
> revisiting..
>
 
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