Here we go again... 99.1 and 100.1 coming soon.
http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/84694/clear-channel-acquires-tampa-area-translators
http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/84694/clear-channel-acquires-tampa-area-translators
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More Translator Nonsense
- Thread starter billalm
- Start date
Ok so they're going to put WFLA back on another translator, and add another one for Thunder. Ok, who actually thinks this is going to result in increased listenership of any kind? I can't wait for CC to run out of money and credit. Maybe someday these translators will become available to someone who really needs them.
Cause once they can make a case to get one..they have it, and can..if they choose use the ANALOG translator to rebroadcast one of the non-listened-to digital HD streams..and market it like a regular station. They can effectively skirt the ownership caps with a slew of translators, and "rebroadcast" a whole new format that is on one of their HD Streams.
Diabolical and smart at the same time..and nobody's going to do a thing about it.
Diabolical and smart at the same time..and nobody's going to do a thing about it.
"Super" translators are a unique and creative way of creating a new FM service that otherwise would not be possible under current FCC rules. Cox Radio's Power 106.1 Jacksonville is an excellent example of this strategy that is working very well. As for WFLA, the translator, although limited in coverage, is an excellent way to bring news-talk to FM without sacrificing a full market 100kw stick.
I think it sucks that CC has these translators, when the frequencies could be used for LPFMs. I honestly believe if you could break the stranglehold of corporate radio, people would start turning their radios on again. I believe you'd see a huge market for NEW radios, and a huge boom in radio advertising. Nobody likes corporate radio, they just put up with it because there isn't anything else. I really do hope that when CC goes bankrupt, these frequencies can be used by radio geeks in the community.
Cedric said:
Kids would put down their iPods and stop getting music via social media? I doubt it.
Cedric said:
When given the choice between familiar "corporate" radio and more creative programming, familiar always wins. It's why this got to the point it did. You can put a lot of little LPFMs on and they will delight tens of listeners.
Parttimer said:
Yeah, I really do believe a lot of kids would put down their iPods. I'm only 28, and the only reason I ever drifted away from listening to FM/AM radio is because the stuff on there is boring. I want to hear new underground music, I want to hear local music, I want to hear deep cuts from familiar artists. None of this is available on terrestrial radio. FM radio used to be where young people could go to hear new experimental music. This isn't the case anymore, FM radio is where you go to hear to classic rock hits from the 70's. You can say I'm wrong and that iPods will dominate regardless of programming, but you can't prove me wrong until broadcasters actually try something new and different. iPods are convenient, but so is the transistor radio.
I hate to say this, but saying "familiar always wins" sounds like something a consultant would say. Of the younger 20-somethings that I know who still listen to terrestrial radio, they seem to seek out unfamiliar things on the dial. I've gotten calls from friends excited to hear a pirate station, they'll call me up all excited and tell me to turn my radio on. They like to listen to the underground hip-hop on WMNF at night. They don't like listening to 933 FLZ or the Bone. In fact, I don't know anyone my age who listens to the Bone. Mark my words, radio CAN see a resurgence in popularity, but it won't come from doing the same ol' thing. Face it, the hipster trend is in full bloom right now, 20 year olds are all of a sudden buying cassette tapes, vinyl, and riding fixed gear bicycles. You can say that iPod killed terrestrial radio, but as a younger person, I see iPods as nothing more than an alternative to the crappy programming available over the air. In other words, the crap on terrestrial radio paved the way for the iPods popularity.
I still have a hard time understanding how people can argue with me about this, turn your radio on... try to find a song you don't already know. Turn your radio on the AM dial, try to find a host talking who isn't a bought and paid for shill giving talking points from one of the two political parties. I guarantee you if there were at least a couple stations playing music that was popular among hip 20 year olds, and at least one AM station that eschewed the Rush Limbaugh style talking points... you'd see growth in listenership. Look at the national surveys, almost 90% of Americans are disillusioned with Congress and politicians, yet all the talk shows spend time pandering to that status-quo. Why? Because they're owned by mega-corporations that are trying to cozy up to the same political powers that Americans are growing tired of. Anyway, I'll give it a rest, you either get what I'm saying or you don't. The bottom line is, radio isn't for US anymore. When radio starts being about what the listener REALLY wants (again), it will be popular again. There is nothing wrong with the technology.
S
SarasotaJim
Guest
Cedric said:
Cedric, don't confuse your tastes with the masses. That's how a lot of program directors went down hard.
Yes, FM used to be where all of the alternative types of programming were tested but please don't fail to remember that no one listened to FM back in those days. I still hear people say how great and popular WABX was in Detroit in the early 70s. Their perceived popularity by some had no relationship to the numbers on the Arbitron pages.
If you want to be really experimental now, do what the experimental people did back then. Buy up, for cheap, the radio stations that nobody listens to on a broadcast band that nobody listens to. Opportunities abound for those who think out of the box. Go find the money and pick up some cheap AMs and give it a try. If you want to make it work you'll have to be as gutsy as the guys in 1970 were.
Or Cedric, you could do like AMI radio..get a part 15 AM, go on line and use only music by unsigned, unknown artists that no one has ever heard of and will also probably never hear of outside of this one venue... I mean they CLAIM to have over 6,000 listeners.. and a real flamethrower signal.. I listened couple of times on line... Now I wouldn't waste my time on them.. just not what I want to listen to...EVER
Some past broadcasters bought inexpensive air-time on FM (now AM) and provided their own programming then sold advertising for the paid (mostly music) programming. Those that were successful made enough money to buy more air-time in order to sell more advertising and eventually they had accumulated enough revenue to acquire their own station. That concept can be repeated today using inexpensive AM. It may be worthwhile to look into for yourself if your goal is to own your own station one day.
This ^^^
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