NEW 970 WFLA NEWS SOUNDER

[tampalistener]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think 970 WFLA's new TOH/BOH news sounder is ... well ... just a little low-rent?

It sounds like (and may in fact be) "Round and Round," the 1984 song from glam-metal band Ratt. I certainly appreciate the effort to add some energy to the newscasts, but it sounds a little ridiculous bumping against the traffic and weather elements that are still in use ... not to mention the older voices that anchor morning drive and middays.

 

[badjef]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think 970 WFLA's new TOH/BOH news sounder is ... well ... just a little low-rent?

It sounds like (and may in fact be) "Round and Round," the 1984 song from glam-metal band Ratt. I certainly appreciate the effort to add some energy to the newscasts, but it sounds a little ridiculous bumping against the traffic and weather elements that are still in use ... not to mention the older voices that anchor morning drive and middays.

970 has changed their ID. It downplays the HD-2 ID.

Interesting inasmuch as 97.9 is generally considered as the front runner to picking up the FM simulcast when WFLA eventually goes to FM.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

This is a paste from the HD thread from the other day.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[tampalistener]

I get that they're going to have to make a move to FM someday. I get that they're downplaying their HD-2 signal. I also get that they are trying to create a harder-edge image in preparation for the future and to reach a younger demographic.

None of that has anything to do with my point.

This new news sounder sounds cheap ... as if they ran out of production money and had to dig through the music library to create one themselves. Sorry, but using a 28-year-old song from a one-hit-wonder band isn't the way to create an image. Especially when you're keeping the other existing elements and conventions in your newscast.

If you want to shake it up from top to bottom, fine. Do that. If you want a makeover, spring for a makeover. Pay a production company for a package. Otherwise, this little Ratt-esque affectation comes across much like the 55-year-old guy at the bar who's wearing a Members Only jacket and trying to pick up chicks.

 

[badjef]

I get that they're going to have to make a move to FM someday. I get that they're downplaying their HD-2 signal. I also get that they are trying to create a harder-edge image in preparation for the future and to reach a younger demographic.

None of that has anything to do with my point.

This new news sounder sounds cheap ... as if they ran out of production money and had to dig through the music library to create one themselves. Sorry, but using a 28-year-old song from a one-hit-wonder band isn't the way to create an image. Especially when you're keeping the other existing elements and conventions in your newscast.

If you want to shake it up from top to bottom, fine. Do that. If you want a makeover, spring for a makeover. Pay a production company for a package. Otherwise, this little Ratt-esque affectation comes across much like the 55-year-old guy at the bar who's wearing a Members Only jacket and trying to pick up chicks.

I wasn't trying to make your point or contradict it. I was pointing it out on a different angle.

As far as your point, 970 is the only game in town. WFLA is the "go to" station. They know that if it weren't for the station, the signal would be useless if it was on an FM with a comparable footprint.

It doesn't matter about a TOH since the station doesn't need much imaging to reinforce the credibility, as would happen in a larger market or one with competition. Look at Orlando, WDBO had CC competition with CC's WFLF at 540(WFLA). They added FM at the expense of a rock station with a much larger signal footprint. 970 does not have a WDBO in Tampa.

I would suspect WFLF will move to the analog of 104.1from 104.1 hd2 before 970 moves from 97.9hd-2.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[tampalistener]

I wasn't trying to make your point or contradict it. I was pointing it out on a different angle.

Fair enough, but, with all due respect, you're injecting some extraneous thoughts into my original post. (They're not wrong, but they're not what I'm talking about, either.)

Regardless of competition (or the lack thereof), and regardless whether it's moving to FM someday, 'FLA used to have more pride in its sound. Dusting off a trite rock number and using it as the TOH/BOH news sounder is disappointing for a station that used to set the benchmark for other news/talk stations around the country. Forget credibility ... it just sounds cheesy. That's the only thing I'm taking issue with.

Now, if you're saying WFLA doesn't have to care anymore, you'll get no argument from me. I understand how the game is played ... and this is yet another step down the path of diminishing what had been a superb N/T product into one that is now showing its weaknesses.

 

[badjef]

I wasn't trying to make your point or contradict it. I was pointing it out on a different angle.

Fair enough, but, with all due respect, you're injecting some extraneous thoughts into my original post. (They're not wrong, but they're not what I'm talking about, either.)

Regardless of competition (or the lack thereof), and regardless whether it's moving to FM someday, 'FLA used to have more pride in its sound. Dusting off a trite rock number and using it as the TOH/BOH news sounder is disappointing for a station that used to set the benchmark for other news/talk stations around the country. Forget credibility ... it just sounds cheesy. That's the only thing I'm taking issue with.

Now, if you're saying WFLA doesn't have to care anymore, you'll get no argument from me. I understand how the game is played ... and this is yet another step down the path of diminishing what had been a superb N/T product into one that is now showing its weaknesses.

'FLA is a shell of what it was. It used to be live 24/7/365. Now, the only daily live show exclusive to 970, is AMTB.

Why should the ID be any different than the rest of the imaging? Nobody is going to stop listening to the station because they don't like the ID. But, it does bury the hd2 ID, which I think is more interesting than the 30 year old song.

I never thought I'd be hearing Queen, John Denver, and Gary Glitter 35 years later as I was sitting at a sports venue. Go figure.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[tampalistener]

Agree on all of the points in your last post. I'm not really talking about the ID or the imaging ... just the music itself. There just used to be something majestic or attention-getting about the TOH/BOH news sounder -- the grand BOMP-BOMP-BOMPBOMP of ABC News, for example -- that used to say, "Hey, this is important and we're professionals." Even a package from a company such as JAM Creative, with or without the embedded network affiliation, had that kind of gravitas.

You just don't get that from the opening guitar riff of "Round and Round" by Ratt.

 

[flwfg]

Welcome to generic radio...been coming for a LONG time....

 

[badjef]

Agree on all of the points in your last post. I'm not really talking about the ID or the imaging ... just the music itself. There just used to be something majestic or attention-getting about the TOH/BOH news sounder -- the grand BOMP-BOMP-BOMPBOMP of ABC News, for example -- that used to say, "Hey, this is important and we're professionals." Even a package from a company such as JAM Creative, with or without the embedded network affiliation, had that kind of gravitas.

You just don't get that from the opening guitar riff of "Round and Round" by Ratt.

When you are the only game in town, you can act that way.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[Studio20]

Agree on all of the points in your last post. I'm not really talking about the ID or the imaging ... just the music itself. There just used to be something majestic or attention-getting about the TOH/BOH news sounder -- the grand BOMP-BOMP-BOMPBOMP of ABC News, for example -- that used to say, "Hey, this is important and we're professionals." Even a package from a company such as JAM Creative, with or without the embedded network affiliation, had that kind of gravitas.

You just don't get that from the opening guitar riff of "Round and Round" by Ratt.

Bless your Old-School-This-is-the-American-Information-Network- (wait for it )- A-Service-Of-ABC-News-heart. It's really great to hear such passion for, sadly, something thats going to be passe by the end of the decade.

Unless your Radio News division ..snicker..I can't type that with a straight face. Unless your staff is also heavily Twittered and Facebooked, it's almost not going to be worth the effort to put something on "top of the hour", when it was all over cyberspace, to turn a phrase "so 47 seconds ago."

Yes, the dirt is in the details, but eventually--oh, sorry..a twitter... unless you can get a mic to the scene of a murder...while its happening, that would appear to be--hang on--responding--- the only way to get people to stand still and listen to voices for five minutes.

 

[tampalistener]

Bless your Old-School-This-is-the-American-Information-Network- (wait for it )- A-Service-Of-ABC-News-heart. It's really great to hear such passion for, sadly, something thats going to be passe by the end of the decade.

Unless your Radio News division ..snicker..I can't type that with a straight face. Unless your staff is also heavily Twittered and Facebooked, it's almost not going to be worth the effort to put something on "top of the hour", when it was all over cyberspace, to turn a phrase "so 47 seconds ago."

Yes, the dirt is in the details, but eventually--oh, sorry..a twitter... unless you can get a mic to the scene of a murder...while its happening, that would appear to be--hang on--responding--- the only way to get people to stand still and listen to voices for five minutes.

I'm in the media consulting business myself -- broadcast, print, online, the whole shmear -- and you're correct on all of that. I'm not particularly nostalgic for the network newscasts ... but I do admit to getting a half-stiffy over a good news sounder. Always have.

Overall, it's just kind of disappointing to hear a legendary news/talk station half-assing something that used to be distinct to its medium. I'm still a believer in the idea that if you're going to do something, do it right ... and, when possible, do it big. But I also realize that, in today's media landscape, a radio newscast is nothing more than a commodity with its own P&L sheets and few organizations can afford to do it right, let alone do it big.

 

[badjef]

Bottom line on Ratt:

It has the driving beat they were looking for while being able to retain their core audience.

Since a lot of the 20's and 30's somethings in the prime demographic are into the older R&R bands and you see them walking around in their AC/DC T-shirts, it is a bridge.

All of this is subjective, too, subject to change when the management feels like it.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta

 

[tampalistener]

Bottom line on Ratt:

It has the driving beat they were looking for while being able to retain their core audience.

Since a lot of the 20's and 30's somethings in the prime demographic are into the older R&R bands and you see them walking around in their AC/DC T-shirts, it is a bridge.

All of this is subjective, too, subject to change when the management feels like it.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta

Oh, I understand the thinking behind it ... but I'm thinking they probably should have changed the other elements, too, if that was the motivation.

I still think it looks like an old guy wearing Grecian Formula. By the way, you've never shared how you feel about it ... only the possible reasons for it.

(And, yes, I realize this is about 11 posts too many for such a who-cares topic, but I kind of enjoy the discussion. It's sort of a microcosm of many issues in the radio business.)

 

[badjef]

Bottom line on Ratt:

It has the driving beat they were looking for while being able to retain their core audience.

Since a lot of the 20's and 30's somethings in the prime demographic are into the older R&R bands and you see them walking around in their AC/DC T-shirts, it is a bridge.

All of this is subjective, too, subject to change when the management feels like it.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta

Oh, I understand the thinking behind it ... but I'm thinking they probably should have changed the other elements, too, if that was the motivation.

I still think it looks like an old guy wearing Grecian Formula. By the way, you've never shared how you feel about it ... only the possible reasons for it.

(And, yes, I realize this is about 11 posts too many for such a who-cares topic, but I kind of enjoy the discussion. It's sort of a microcosm of many issues in the radio business.)

I also enjoy these conversations.

When it comes to 970, it is my goto station. Other people read these boards and I don't want to state whether what they do, or not do, is to my liking. They don't pay me for that, or any other, opinion I might have.

When it comes to the technology, that is quite a different matter. We have gone from about 30-50 OTA TV stations, on a portable in Sa-ra-so-ta!, to ZERO. That is not subjective, that is fact. I don't want to see that happen to radio.

I saw the politics in AM Stereo, from start to finish. It was a sham that has led to AM talk/news stations to migrate to FM as a result.

Programming is subjective and can be reversed by somebody leaving, reassigned, fired, or died. Technology is much harder, and in most instances, not reversible.

I have had my favorite TOH's, though.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[gamefreak]

I always hear that 97.9/ 98 Rock will become this "WFLA" simulcast. I got a good question, When! Has Clear Channel even put any heritage AM News-Talk station on FM yet. We all know Cox has, but Clear Channel isn't Cox. Just because Cox blows up WHTQ in Orlando for WDBO simulcast isn't any indicator of what Clear Channel Tampa will do in terms of WFLA.

Name me any examples of Clear Channel simulcasting an News Talk station on FM. Translators do not count, only full power stations.

I believe Cox did an FM simulcast of a hertitage AM News-Talk as early as 2006. In a city I'd like to cay Dayton, Ohio. Way before the WSBB 95.5 simulcast was lauched in Atlanta in 2010. Or what happened in Orlando last year. Clear Channel my friend is much different.

 

[gamefreak]

I'll second that with the fact that 98 Rock is Tampa's only Active Rock outlet. Meaning of Clear Channel dumps the Rock for FLA Cox or CBS could easily counteract the move. I much not care to listen to 98 Rock, however the ratings have been steady. Just some food for thought for all this speculation circling around this board.

 

[coolaid213]

970 WFLA is a joke. Anyone saying otherwise probably works in the building... The only decent program on the whole station anymore is Coast to Coast, and I can get that on WBT. It won't matter if they move to XTB or another FM. The problem isn't sound fidelity, it's programming. If CC starts an FM talker here I certainly hope they would give us something other than Harris/Beck/Rush/Schnitt/Hannity... Schnitt especially gets enough airtime with all the repeats on 970 & 1250.

IMHO if CC wants to do an FM talker here and keep up with Bubba & Cow, they're going to have to be live and local in drivetime. Can anyone actually imagine CC doing this here?

 

[badjef]

I always hear that 97.9/ 98 Rock will become this "WFLA" simulcast. I got a good question, When! Has Clear Channel even put any heritage AM News-Talk station on FM yet. We all know Cox has, but Clear Channel isn't Cox. Just because Cox blows up WHTQ in Orlando for WDBO simulcast isn't any indicator of what Clear Channel Tampa will do in terms of WFLA.

Name me any examples of Clear Channel simulcasting an News Talk station on FM. Translators do not count, only full power stations.

I believe Cox did an FM simulcast of a hertitage AM News-Talk as early as 2006. In a city I'd like to cay Dayton, Ohio. Way before the WSBB 95.5 simulcast was lauched in Atlanta in 2010. Or what happened in Orlando last year. Clear Channel my friend is much different.

100.7 WFLA-FM in Tallahassee. There is a difference, though. The signal on FM was much better than they could have achieved with the AM.

970 has a market coverage signal, but with the trend to more interference and diminishing marketable demographics, then, the move will be made. When? Sorry, crystal ball broke.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[billalm]

Although you could argue that 98Rock is Tampa Bay's only "active rock" station, surely the combo of 97X and 102-5 The Bone would simply pick up any former 98Rock listeners if the station went away. Time's a ticking for one of the Clear Channel FMs. Seriously... I know some of us have been saying this for a long time but I still believe that WFLA's move to an FM-HD1 will happen eventually.

 

[GymHigh]

I listened because of this heads-up. I made better sounders in my parents basement when I was 12 years old, and I never made any that were very good! Sad