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max fm

so um why does everybody think max fm is tanking???? I mean it's only been around for a couple of months or so.....and they just got a morning show host, and Teri King on afternoons, not only is cute for radio, she is a veteran radio personality, and rumor has it they are looking to hire an afternoon drive host, and maybe a night time jock, the promotions/events/contests are starting to pick up, but, what I am hearing most from people, is about the music...I think the variety of music is great, some AC, some rock, some top 40ish, but the whole 70's thing should go, they should just play 80's-90's-today. the imaging is pretty cool, although the "voice over" guy is getting kinda "OLD". overall not a bad station, given they made the dumbest move ever by getting rid of country and z957 in my opinion. only time will tell, what happens next, their are only so many formats to flip too.
 
"so um why does everybody think max fm is tanking????"

Because it is.
BTW, the trends came out today and that clinches it.
 
> Isn't it really too soon to conclude that Max is "tanking?" Given Bonneville's history with formats on 95.7 (Z, the Drive, and the Bear), they'll give Max at least a year to succeed or fail. I would think they'd rather tinker with the format than abandon it. They'd probably worry that if they dropped it, a competitor (Infinity?) would come in with Jack and become a ratings leader, and maybe even put a dent in KOIT's ratings. I personally would like to see them concentrate on the 80s and beyond. I never cared for most rock and Top 40 from about 1975 to the early 80s, but that's my own personal taste.

so um why does everybody think max fm is tanking???? I mean
> it's only been around for a couple of months or so.....and
> they just got a morning show host, and Teri King on
> afternoons, not only is cute for radio, she is a veteran
> radio personality, and rumor has it they are looking to hire
> an afternoon drive host, and maybe a night time jock, the
> promotions/events/contests are starting to pick up, but,
> what I am hearing most from people, is about the music...I
> think the variety of music is great, some AC, some rock,
> some top 40ish, but the whole 70's thing should go, they
> should just play 80's-90's-today. the imaging is pretty
> cool, although the "voice over" guy is getting kinda "OLD".
> overall not a bad station, given they made the dumbest move
> ever by getting rid of country and z957 in my opinion. only
> time will tell, what happens next, their are only so many
> formats to flip too.
>
 
1.0 share says it all!

Utter stupidity... blowing up country for something that now has fewer listeners than the Drive had when they blew it up for country. Just sell the station for $75 million and let someone else try.
 
> so um why does everybody think max fm is tanking???? I mean
> it's only been around for a couple of months or so.....and
> they just got a morning show host, and Teri King on
> afternoons, not only is cute for radio, she is a veteran
> radio personality, and rumor has it they are looking to hire
> an afternoon drive host, and maybe a night time jock, the
> promotions/events/contests are starting to pick up, but,
> what I am hearing most from people, is about the music...I
> think the variety of music is great, some AC, some rock,
> some top 40ish, but the whole 70's thing should go, they
> should just play 80's-90's-today. the imaging is pretty
> cool, although the "voice over" guy is getting kinda "OLD".
> overall not a bad station, given they made the dumbest move
> ever by getting rid of country and z957 in my opinion. only
> time will tell, what happens next, their are only so many
> formats to flip too.
>


Bonneville launched a Variety Hits station in St Louis called the Arch. The results could not be more different than Max. The Arch is skyrocketing and the former dog of a station is now #3 as of today's trend.

This is an even more extreme example than how The Drive does well in Chicago but failed in SF. For some reason, Bonneville has far greater success launching new formats in the Midwest than they do in the Bay area.
 
Maybe It's Not Their Fault...

Jay F wrote:

> This is an even more extreme example than how The Drive does
> well in Chicago but failed in SF. For some reason,
> Bonneville has far greater success launching new formats in
> the Midwest than they do in the Bay area.


Maybe it's not Bonneville's fault (or Infinity's, or Clear Channel's) that certain types of programming don't catch on here. Maybe it's our fault.

Maybe the Bay Area is just different. Maybe the listeners around here are so diverse, so particular, so fussy about what we want that what works in St. Louis (or Chicago, Denver, Topeka, Duluth...) doesn't always work here.

Maybe we want uniqueness -- something uniquely San Francisco (or Oakland, San Jose, Marin, Hayward...) that keeps us from accepting or tolerating anything that isn't "ours" and ours alone.

Maybe these companies should concentrate on finding personalities first, then build a format around them -- talented human beings that listeners actually want to listen to, rather than the right shuffle of music or the precise niche of an already micro-formatted format.

I have asked this before, but I'll ask it again: who is the next great radio star in the Bay Area -- the person that everybody wants to listen to? I don't think that person is here right now. Once, the Bay Area was a destination for people in radio. People wanted to work here and live here and stay here their entire career.

Now, San Francisco is just another stop along the way as you try to be the next Carson Daly (Live 105 and KOME, Class of 1994-95) in search of a network TV gig in New York or L.A. San Francisco, in that regard, has been reduced to a minor-league radio town for players on their way to the radio big leagues.

Maybe the Jack format (or Oldies, or Country, or CHR) can work here and can draw a 16 share -- maybe, if the Big Station Owners figure out that it isn't just about the format.

DJ
 
Re: Maybe It Is Their Fault

Let me tell you what the real issue is. The formats are not the problem. The problem is the way the formats are implemented. KZLA would do great in the bay area. New York's Z 100 would do great in the bay area. The problem is that listeners in the bay are too smart to listen to boring radio. Cookie cutter liner card $10 an hour DJs, voicetracked 80% of the time....no creativity. The fact that Max can go for 6 months with almost no DJs. People don't listen to the radio for "music" as much anymore. You can get music on your ipod or your MP3. You need information, entertainment, phone calls...you need to connect with your listeners. No matter what "music" you play on 95.7, if you do a crappy job at it, you'll never pull more than a 2.0.

My personal opinion is that the only station in the bay that does their format well is Live 105. I believe their ratings will continue to climb. i don't like the music, or the format, but they do it the way it should be done. I'm just amazed at the lack of talent these days.

Seriously...Throw some of the K-Earth 101 jocks on KFRC, and watch the ratings climb. And for god sake get rid of voicetracked shifts. Christ there are talented jocks that will work for free, just to have freedom to do their thing (think Lee Baby Simms). Why prevent them from doing live shifts? Bonneville actually won't let a jock work a live shift in lieu of a voicetracked shift, even if they don't want any more pay. It's just sad. And it's sad as a jock to have to cut pieces of the morning shows phone calls to play on your voicetracked shift. And Gene and Julie in the afternoon, voicetracked from Atlanta on Star 101.3? Oh man that was the WORST radio I've ever heard in my life. So please people - wake up. Stop debating the "Format" and just do the freaking format correctly, and get people listening to the radio again.



> Jay F wrote:
>
> > This is an even more extreme example than how The Drive
> does
> > well in Chicago but failed in SF. For some reason,
> > Bonneville has far greater success launching new formats
> in
> > the Midwest than they do in the Bay area.
>
>
> Maybe it's not Bonneville's fault (or Infinity's, or Clear
> Channel's) that certain types of programming don't catch on
> here. Maybe it's our fault.
>
> Maybe the Bay Area is just different. Maybe the listeners
> around here are so diverse, so particular, so fussy about
> what we want that what works in St. Louis (or Chicago,
> Denver, Topeka, Duluth...) doesn't always work here.
>
> Maybe we want uniqueness -- something uniquely San Francisco
> (or Oakland, San Jose, Marin, Hayward...) that keeps us from
> accepting or tolerating anything that isn't "ours" and ours
> alone.
>
> Maybe these companies should concentrate on finding
> personalities first, then build a format around them --
> talented human beings that listeners actually want to listen
> to, rather than the right shuffle of music or the precise
> niche of an already micro-formatted format.
>
> I have asked this before, but I'll ask it again: who is the
> next great radio star in the Bay Area -- the person that
> everybody wants to listen to? I don't think that person is
> here right now. Once, the Bay Area was a destination for
> people in radio. People wanted to work here and live here
> and stay here their entire career.
>
> Now, San Francisco is just another stop along the way as you
> try to be the next Carson Daly (Live 105 and KOME, Class of
> 1994-95) in search of a network TV gig in New York or L.A.
> San Francisco, in that regard, has been reduced to a
> minor-league radio town for players on their way to the
> radio big leagues.
>
> Maybe the Jack format (or Oldies, or Country, or CHR) can
> work here and can draw a 16 share -- maybe, if the Big
> Station Owners figure out that it isn't just about the
> format.
>
> DJ
>
 
Re: Maybe It Is Their Fault

> I disagree with parts of this screed - KFRC would do better with K-Earth jocks? Maybe that would be true if Morgan and Steele were still alive, but they've been gone a decade or more. I haven't heard KRTH in a couple of years - maybe they've changed - but their putrid format didn't give their talented veteran jocks any time or room to SHOW any talent - they might as well have been voice tracked. When I was in LA in 2002 or so, I listened to the great Johnny Hayes on K-Earth for an hour or two - he never ONCE referred to the specific songs played (just "oldies" in general) and read promotional liner cards. What a pitiful waste of talent. At least KFRC lets their jocks talk for more than a few seconds.

I DO agree about Max FM, and about voicetracked Gene & Julie on Star. Without a doubt, the most pathetic excuse for a radio show EVER - period. Was the PD not listening, or afraid to challenge his CC bosses? There's no reason that even a voice-tracked show should be so bad. I agree too that the problem is how the formats are implemented. Even though I'm not a big country fan, I would tune in the Bear from time to time for a little variety, and to hear JD and a couple of the other jocks. I also thought their formatting was clever.

When radio PDs decide to imitate iPods, they're making a mistake. When I make the plunge into downloading music, I guarantee it will be just the music I WANT to hear. By defintion, radio stations can't compete because they have to consider mass appeal, not what I like.


Let me tell you what the real issue is. The formats are not
> the problem. The problem is the way the formats are
> implemented. KZLA would do great in the bay area. New
> York's Z 100 would do great in the bay area. The problem is
> that listeners in the bay are too smart to listen to boring
> radio. Cookie cutter liner card $10 an hour DJs,
> voicetracked 80% of the time....no creativity. The fact
> that Max can go for 6 months with almost no DJs. People
> don't listen to the radio for "music" as much anymore. You
> can get music on your ipod or your MP3. You need
> information, entertainment, phone calls...you need to
> connect with your listeners. No matter what "music" you
> play on 95.7, if you do a crappy job at it, you'll never
> pull more than a 2.0.
>
> My personal opinion is that the only station in the bay that
> does their format well is Live 105. I believe their ratings
> will continue to climb. i don't like the music, or the
> format, but they do it the way it should be done. I'm just
> amazed at the lack of talent these days.
>
> Seriously...Throw some of the K-Earth 101 jocks on KFRC, and
> watch the ratings climb. And for god sake get rid of
> voicetracked shifts. Christ there are talented jocks that
> will work for free, just to have freedom to do their thing
> (think Lee Baby Simms). Why prevent them from doing live
> shifts? Bonneville actually won't let a jock work a live
> shift in lieu of a voicetracked shift, even if they don't
> want any more pay. It's just sad. And it's sad as a jock
> to have to cut pieces of the morning shows phone calls to
> play on your voicetracked shift. And Gene and Julie in the
> afternoon, voicetracked from Atlanta on Star 101.3? Oh man
> that was the WORST radio I've ever heard in my life. So
> please people - wake up. Stop debating the "Format" and
> just do the freaking format correctly, and get people
> listening to the radio again.
>
>
>
> > Jay F wrote:
> >
> > > This is an even more extreme example than how The Drive
> > does
> > > well in Chicago but failed in SF. For some reason,
> > > Bonneville has far greater success launching new formats
>
> > in
> > > the Midwest than they do in the Bay area.
> >
> >
> > Maybe it's not Bonneville's fault (or Infinity's, or Clear
>
> > Channel's) that certain types of programming don't catch
> on
> > here. Maybe it's our fault.
> >
> > Maybe the Bay Area is just different. Maybe the listeners
> > around here are so diverse, so particular, so fussy about
> > what we want that what works in St. Louis (or Chicago,
> > Denver, Topeka, Duluth...) doesn't always work here.
> >
> > Maybe we want uniqueness -- something uniquely San
> Francisco
> > (or Oakland, San Jose, Marin, Hayward...) that keeps us
> from
> > accepting or tolerating anything that isn't "ours" and
> ours
> > alone.
> >
> > Maybe these companies should concentrate on finding
> > personalities first, then build a format around them --
> > talented human beings that listeners actually want to
> listen
> > to, rather than the right shuffle of music or the precise
> > niche of an already micro-formatted format.
> >
> > I have asked this before, but I'll ask it again: who is
> the
> > next great radio star in the Bay Area -- the person that
> > everybody wants to listen to? I don't think that person is
>
> > here right now. Once, the Bay Area was a destination for
> > people in radio. People wanted to work here and live here
> > and stay here their entire career.
> >
> > Now, San Francisco is just another stop along the way as
> you
> > try to be the next Carson Daly (Live 105 and KOME, Class
> of
> > 1994-95) in search of a network TV gig in New York or L.A.
>
> > San Francisco, in that regard, has been reduced to a
> > minor-league radio town for players on their way to the
> > radio big leagues.
> >
> > Maybe the Jack format (or Oldies, or Country, or CHR) can
> > work here and can draw a 16 share -- maybe, if the Big
> > Station Owners figure out that it isn't just about the
> > format.
> >
> > DJ
> >
>
 
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