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MID-DAY LISTENING IN BUFFALO

To respond to both the above comments, with Tune-in and station apps I sometimes find myself listening to local stations through my phone in my car. There've gotta be vehicles that already have the web streaming as a function of the radio, right? In a lot of ways, the RF signal seems to bring a validity to the online presence. Does that seem fair? Does it seem too controversial?

When I was at GR, it seemed half the calls we got were out-of-towners and ex-pats, maybe more. At WECK, my most frequent callers lately have been Cheektowaga (duh), Elmira and NT. I don't know what that means. I also am currently pulling up vinyl floor from my kitchen and may be losing my mind.
 
And I don't think it's a "dying demographic" -- pun not-intended but realized -- situation, I just think it's a matter of treating everyone equal. College kids and guys/gals my age are way more onliners, then there's a long transition to my Gram, who is 82 (and listens online sometimes, I believe).
 
Well, there seems to be a real disconnect with your view of your audience, and what the rest of the programming is likely to attract. Do you really think that Bill O., or the morning show are going to attract your college and post-college buddies? How about Brad? Is his audience more like yours, or more like theirs? Then there's Dennis Miller, and the evening sports programming. What audience is that likely to bring in?

Is your radio show a vanity showcase for you & your friends, or targeted at the audience that's likely to listen to your frequency? How does your show fit with the others on the station? How does what you do fit with the concept of "Hometown Radio"? Then again, has anyone ever determined what "Hometown Radio" is?
 
I think Hometown Radio should have some type of "Great Garage Sale" or "Tradio" show.

Not everyday - WECK tried that early on and it failed - but perhaps once a week on Saturday mornings.

Sorry to be off topic, but I think that's something that comes across as a feature/speciality show that WECK can do that WBEN doesn't touch.

I also think it is more "hometown" that running Bill O'Reilly's silly TALKING POINTS MEMO, a total waste of time that everyone - including WECK's PD - on the station seems to mock and ridicule.

Dump it already. It will NOT be missed.
 
EdTheEngineer said:
I think Hometown Radio should have some type of "Great Garage Sale" or "Tradio" show...
Click to expand...

Now you're talkin'! These shows are often done badly, but if done with humor, they can actually be fun listening. They also create an obvious opportunity for web/text, compiling the buy/sell items for later viewing on the website, allowing people to send text messages with items for sale (which also results in self-editing), etc.

I don't know if could work as a weekday midday feature. There's something like that on a small AM oldies station here in Salt Lake City, and it sounds really bad interrupting the music format for an hour, in part because it's done by an old sales guy who come across as a huckster, an artless shill.

I got to do a Saturday morning show like that at WACK in Newark NY in the '80s, and once I realized I could have fun with the people calling with for-sale items which sounded too good to be true, I actually started to look forward to it. Each show started with announcements of garage sales happening that weekend. We had to call in office staff to answer phones for an hour after the show ended, it and it became premium sales inventory.

Hometown Radio, indeed!

This idea probably offends the sensibilities who remember Buffalo as the Market #31 of the '80s. Those days are gone.
 
To be honest, I find the whole "Hometown" moniker to be a turnoff (or tuneout).

It connotes smalltime, amateurish programming...and while some here have indicated they think much of it is exactly that, I think the attempt to identify the station in a folksy way that sounds local, instead underlines the stations shortcomings.

Maybe grandma likes the sound of "Hometown", but if there's any intent on getting people under 70 to stick around beyond hearing that identifier, then DROP the cheezy moniker. "Hometown 1230" is exactly where I'd expect to hear tradio everyday, along with farm reports. May conjure up "charming and quaint", but also dreadfully boring.

I learned a long time ago, that with the proper presentation, you can make a small station sound big, but WECK, just by that positioner, is casting itself as forever small and unpolished.
 
SirRoxalot said:
Well, there seems to be a real disconnect with your view of your audience, and what the rest of the programming is likely to attract. Do you really think that Bill O., or the morning show are going to attract your college and post-college buddies? How about Brad? Is his audience more like yours, or more like theirs? Then there's Dennis Miller, and the evening sports programming. What audience is that likely to bring in?

Is your radio show a vanity showcase for you & your friends, or targeted at the audience that's likely to listen to your frequency? How does your show fit with the others on the station? How does what you do fit with the concept of "Hometown Radio"? Then again, has anyone ever determined what "Hometown Radio" is?
Click to expand...

I believe that intelligent people will listen to a product that aims to be done in an intelligent manner. I'm not going to defend myself against your continued "you're a kid and your buddies aren't gonna save you" mentality. Hot rumour about town is that you're a fella who glorifies the past and wonders why it isn't the same. Hotter rumour is that your best bud was let go by WECK for the exact ratings problems you decry us for having. Hottest rumour is I've never met you but know who you are. Your move, "Rox"

Hometown Radio is a focus on local programming. Largely, I discuss local news and sports. So does Brad. Bill does his thing and the morning show is local as well. If there is something confusing about "hometown" or "radio", let alone their combining to form a compound word, let me know.

And I'm not going to go back through all of your posts to point out every lie and falsehood you assert. Thanks for listening, though, and for taking such an active in a local business' failure.

You wanna grab lunch sometime, talk like humans? Lemme know. 'Til then I'm going to deal with constructive people who tell the truth without bearing a grudge.

Cheers,
Nick
 
Nick, you continue to think it's personal. It's not. And I'm not the one who dissed "Hometown Radio". My point was - and is - that the branding is unclear.

Who I am is really unimportant. Who I know is really unimportant. It seems that I'm not the only one criticizing WECK, but I seem to have become the focus of your attention. OK, I know Tom Schuh. I like and respect Tom Schuh. Did WECK thrive under his tutelage? Nope. Was a change needed? Seems obvious, huh?

It ain't so much about "glorifying the past" as it is "understanding what works". I'll be the first to congratulate you & Brad - and Dick Greene - if WECK takes off. In the meantime, I'll be happy to sit back and watch. You obviously know more about radio than the old guys around here anyway.
 
SirRoxalot said:
It ain't so much about "glorifying the past" as it is "understanding what works". I'll be the first to congratulate you & Brad - and Dick Greene - if WECK takes off. In the meantime, I'll be happy to sit back and watch. You obviously know more about radio than the old guys around here anyway.
Click to expand...

You still don't get what I'm saying. It isn't about age, but I'm also not going to say I don't know s*** compared to you guys. I've been in radio for six years, all in talk, and I'm learning some things. I've learned some from this board. I have tons of "old" mentors who I constantly bounce things off... and people younger than me, too.
 
I also think it is more "hometown" that running Bill O'Reilly's silly TALKING POINTS MEMO, a total waste of time that everyone - including WECK's PD - on the station seems to mock and ridicule.

Dump it already. It will NOT be missed.

Is Brad Riter listening? People do NOT want to hear Bill O'Reilly's commentaries anymore. Ditch em!
 
SirRoxalot said:
Nick, you continue to think it's personal. It's not. And I'm not the one who dissed "Hometown Radio". My point was - and is - that the branding is unclear.

Who I am is really unimportant. Who I know is really unimportant. It seems that I'm not the only one criticizing WECK, but I seem to have become the focus of your attention. OK, I know Tom Schuh. I like and respect Tom Schuh. Did WECK thrive under his tutelage? Nope. Was a change needed? Seems obvious, huh?

It ain't so much about "glorifying the past" as it is "understanding what works". I'll be the first to congratulate you & Brad - and Dick Greene - if WECK takes off. In the meantime, I'll be happy to sit back and watch. You obviously know more about radio than the old guys around here anyway.
Click to expand...

I knew you had some ax you were grinding, and I thought that was the ax, too.........I guess I have to admire your loyalty to your friend (and I liked and respected Tom on the air, too). But, your attacks did seem too personal to be anything but an ax grinding mission. Why else would anybody hate a small station so bad.
 
It's not surprising people attack Nick using words like "kid."

It probably sickens many of you that a person under 30 has achieved a position in radio that you haven't achieved. Whether that be because you "willfully got out, cause of the direction of the industry" or were "shown the door (cause of the direction of the industry.)" Either way, couldn't cut it... The ability to be full-time on-air talent (especially in Buffalo) is a unique one, it's only natural for jealous, green-eyed monsters to come out and throw around "kid" suggesting they "know what works" - well guess what... If you did, you'd still be doing it... That simple. There are a lot of "UNDER 30" club in the Buffalo market, in pretty influential roles, both on air and off... I'm sure Nick knows a few, not only at WECK but at Townsquare, Entercom, or Citadel (Cumulus?) and guess what, we're going to be hearing from them in the future, so how about instead of writing them off as "kids" we see what THEY can bring to the table and how they can evolve radio with the help of the internet and social media...


...or you can just sit on your porch and yell that the neighborhood is going to hell, your call
 
I've mentored and taught a fair share of college students who progressed to the ranks of programming, production, engineering and on-air talent in Buffalo (Todd Broady, Matt Young, Greg Harvey, Jim Jacka, Joe Russo, Josh Potter and a few others) and much larger markets (Jason Ginty, Rod Ryan and a few others.) Today, many of these same guys are mentoring students from Buffalo State, Fredonia, N-Trip or ECC. Their success doesn't sicken me. To the contrary, I take a large measure of pride in seeing their success and hearing their work.

As to the word "kid," it was common vernacular used in the business for a long time. It's still used by guys you may listen to every day. "There's this kid from Fredonia who puts together some great stuff..." We were all kids and many of us were grateful to be recognized by the guys we knew were master craftsmen.

It should come as no surprise that I do not agree with a blanket assessment about people who are out of the business due to cutbacks and down-sizing. Many were doing two or three functions professionally and proficiently. They're out not because they were mediocre, "couldn't cut it" or making fat city. Their "positions were eliminated" because of the crushing debt that enveloped their companies and the downturn in the economy. It is correct however, to say that many would like to be back in the game. Those who have returned are working at salaries that have been significantly reduced, but they love their craft and do it well. The business is made better, on and off the air, by their presence regardless of their age, just as it is made better by the infusion of new blood.
 
SSSKub said:
It probably sickens many of you that a person under 30 has achieved a position in radio that you haven't achieved. Whether that be because you "willfully got out, cause of the direction of the industry" or were "shown the door (cause of the direction of the industry.)" Either way, couldn't cut it...
Click to expand...

Do you have any idea of the number of people on this board who have - and/or had - careers that lasted 20, 30, 40, or more years in radio? Couldn't cut it? Talk to me when you've been in the biz for a couple of decades. They you can tell me about "cutting it".

Criticism, whether you see it as constructive or not, comes with the job. Some of the people offering that criticism on this board ARE still doing it. Some are not. That doesn't make their experience less valid.

I, for one, welcome new blood to the business. There are precious few under-30s making a go of it in radio these days. The biggest problem is that there aren't many small-market opportunities left where you can go to make mistakes and learn your craft. So, you end up at the bottom of the food chain in much larger markets. There isn't one person who made a name in Buffalo who wasn't as full of piss and vinegar as you. The lucky ones had great programmers to channel that energy. Most programmers these days are busy running Selector for multiple stations, maybe in multiple markets. You're left on your own.

We're going to see what you can bring to the table and how you can evolve radio with the help of the internet and social media. Remember, though, that there ain't really much new under the sun. The technology changes. Relating to people? Not so much.
 
JimPastrick said:
...about people who are out of the business due to cutbacks and down-sizing. Many were doing two or three functions professionally and proficiently. They're out not because they were mediocre, "couldn't cut it" or making fat city...
Click to expand...

Sadly, some people who were good in several areas were cut because "Utility Infielder" didn't appear as a budget line at corporate. I've talked to several colleagues who were doing combination jobs such as production and weekends/fill-in on-air, or engineering and something else, who were cut because it didn't fit some corporate box. In most cases, these were considered essential people by local management, but not by corporate bean-counters a thousand miles away.

The irony is that after a big corporation hires an experienced air talent, the first thing you're asked to do it branch out into managing the website or some other non-air job!

In other cases, it's not the talent who "couldn't cut it," but the industry. I watched the open positions for a while when I first got to Salt Lake City, but not lately. I find it hard to take a substantial pay cut from my five-day podcasting business to work weekends and holidays. Even for those so inclined, any radio job has to be evaluated as a temp job these days, no matter how good a job you do.

Typing that feels like I've lost the passion for something I love, but most of the parts of the job I loved are no longer part of that job. Being in real-time, two-way communication with thousands of people was inspiring and fun. Voicetracking a six-hour midday "show" in 20 minutes so you can go do a desk job, eh...
 
From LARadio.com Here's Phil Hendrie's take on Radio circa 2011:

“You name it. Things are changing,” declared Phil. “More and more of us are involved in our own businesses. More and more of us are involved in running more of our financial affairs. The difference between now and ten years ago, I own two businesses. I run this radio show essentially as a business in concert with other people. That isn’t Phil Hendrie’s decision.”

Phil said business ownership is a response to the times we’re living in now. “Everyone – one way or another – is doing the same thing. People used to work for companies, now they are their own companies. Whether they want to or not, we’re forced into that kind of entrepreneurial approach to making a living, earning money, planning for the future and taking care of their families.”

Hendrie said that the broadcast business is no different than any other business. “It’s happening all over the country. I’ll talk about my financial realities. Talking about the weather is radio from ten years ago. This broadcast business was taken by surprise. They’ve been caught with their pants down around their ankles. Unbelievable that of all the industries that weren’t prepared for what happened in 2008, this is the one.”

Being in business for himself is the way Phil survives today. He says that there are downsides to self-ownership of his radio show.

You never sleep

You never get anything done

You never have a day off

You’re never going to take a vacation for as long as you live

You just keep right on going with it

Phil made a final observation: “There are more people breaking their asses today than ever before and making less money. It’s just the reality now.”

Nick Seneca
 
Nick,

Great repost. Thanks. So true. I've been told managers are getting bonuses for every dollar they eliminate from their budget. Hard to fight that. And I've seen great people -- young and old -- let go... same time of year, every year. When I was at WGR, November seemed to be the time to be nervous.

Nick
 
Clownboy Kramer...what ia the number one show on cable? What show on cable has more viewers than a few of the 630 nightly news shows? And you say dump his talking points...thank God you're not programming...you must be a poor salesman as well as you spend more time here than at your job. I hope your boss doesn't figure out who you are...you might be able to do this full time if he catches you!
 
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