NBC (Radio) News

[umfan]

What I'm not getting here is this customized format they apparently seek to replace the NBC Branding with. As many have said, this product is largely run on stations that are heavily automated. Replacing a product with built in branding with one that requires some degree of ongoing input and customization from the local station would seem to run counter to what would work, more of a 'plug and play' news product that has a name familiar to the listeners.

 

[Ravens]

What I'm not getting here is this customized format they apparently seek to replace the NBC Branding with. As many have said, this product is largely run on stations that are heavily automated. Replacing a product with built in branding with one that requires some degree of ongoing input and customization from the local station would seem to run counter to what would work, more of a 'plug and play' news product that has a name familiar to the listeners.

It'll be interesting to see how much local branding the format will require/allow. Depending on how they do it, it shouldn't require a whole lot of effort on the station side.

 

[umfan]

Maybe WW1 thinks they'll be able to upsell some customization and that's what's driving it. Were it me, I'd prefer a defined brand, but as you say, we'll see how it plays out.

 

[FredLeonard]

Using yet another thread to make unrelated predictions of the death of radio is just piling on, and you'd think people who are supposed to be in and love this business would know better.

The problem is the Bain Capitals and Oaktree Capital Managements of the world are not in love with radio. They are not broadcasters. All they care about are balance sheets and quarterly numbers. I am not discounting those but that's not all there is to any business.

And this isn't about people who work in radio. It's about the people who don't listen any more, or listen a lot less than they did. It's also about all the advertisers who don't buy radio any more, or who give it a much smaller piece of their ad budgets than they did.

And all the bean counters can think of is ways to cut costs, until they have milked radio dry and bail out.

And those stations you describe with local owners, local people and local coverage: Damn few. And getting fewer all the time. Good money is not as good as it was. You exalt local and in the same breath exalt computer in a closet, turnkey sports networks which eliminate local. And are basically throw-away formats for AM stations trying to stay afloat. And right now the market is over-saturated with these canned sports talk networks - ESPN, CBS, Fox and way down there someplace, now NBC. NBC is pretty much locked out of CBS stations and Clear Channel stations (Fox). So, they pick up a few weak sticks that do nothing but add interference to the AM band. Heck, even the NBC Sports cable network (where available) is out of the running. NBC Sports Radio is pure hubris; Comcast thinks it's invincible.

 

[TheBigA]

What I'm not getting here is this customized format they apparently seek to replace the NBC Branding with. As many have said, this product is largely run on stations that are heavily automated.

This is a company that specializes in providing 24/7 music formats for automated stations. These formats aren't identified on the air by a company name. The formats allow for a lot of local customization, using host read liners and jingles for the station, so they sound local. I gather the idea is to provide news using the same kind of packaging.

 

[Ravens]

The problem is the Bain Capitals and Oaktree Capital Managements of the world are not in love with radio. They are not broadcasters. All they care about are balance sheets and quarterly numbers. I am not discounting those but that's not all there is to any business.

And this isn't about people who work in radio. It's about the people who don't listen any more, or listen a lot less than they did. It's also about all the advertisers who don't buy radio any more, or who give it a much smaller piece of their ad budgets than they did.

And all the bean counters can think of is ways to cut costs, until they have milked radio dry and bail out.

And those stations you describe with local owners, local people and local coverage: Damn few. And getting fewer all the time. Good money is not as good as it was. You exalt local and in the same breath exalt computer in a closet, turnkey sports networks which eliminate local. And are basically throw-away formats for AM stations trying to stay afloat. And right now the market is over-saturated with these canned sports talk networks - ESPN, CBS, Fox and way down there someplace, now NBC. NBC is pretty much locked out of CBS stations and Clear Channel stations (Fox). So, they pick up a few weak sticks that do nothing but add interference to the AM band. Heck, even the NBC Sports cable network (where available) is out of the running. NBC Sports Radio is pure hubris; Comcast thinks it's invincible.

Now most of THIS, I agree with. Instead of just using Bain Capital as some evil boogeyman, you explained why non media companies buying media companies rarely works out.

There's one big problem. It costs money to do 24/7 local. If you can have a local morning show and the rest of the day on the bird, that's doing ok in today's climate. It's a sad state of affairs, but that's the world we live in. Nothing is ever going to bring back the days where a station had dozens of employees. The days of 3 different people to announce, spin the record and run the board are long gone.