As usual, it depends on the format. It takes time and effort to "stage" calls, and most stations don't have that kind of staff.
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New Triple A for Seattle
- Thread starter leethalweapon
- Start date
As usual, it depends on the format. It takes time and effort to "stage" calls, and most stations don't have that kind of staff.
Weird, I clicked on this topic expecting to see people discussing the hot new AAA station in Seattle.
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Haha, it usually takes longer than the first two posts to go off the rails. 😂
Scott, that's a good question. It is shows like what you describe that got my good friend interested in radio. Now, nights are just as boring to listen to as the rest of the day.
Re: phone audio quality. It seems stations have never cared about that as much as you imply they do. From what I've heard, unless the caller is in a spot with poor reception, cell phone calls don't sound any worse than lanlines. It's probably true that only a fraction of phone calls a station got in any given night appeared on the air, but some still did. Now, particularly at night, there's nothing. If I am wrong, give me an example of a station that still does this, and I'm not talking about Delilah or some other love songs show or a local talk show. If I were 10-15 years younger, I can't think of a CHR night show I would be excited to listen to night after night today.
Re: corporate mandates. While I can't prove that any corporation mandates anything as I don't have access to that information, it sure feels that way with certain programs and certain companies. Perhaps iHeart doesn't mandate Bobby Bones in mornings on all their country stations, but I'm 90% sure that the next iHeart country station launch will be running that show in mornings, and 80% sure that when many of the local shows eventually come to an end across their stations, that show will be plugged in.
I find it hard to believe that all the voice tracking we hear today is budget related. Perhaps a good portion of it is, but to me there's no excuse to have zero local content on any of your stations when your competition is live and local 6A-7P Monday through Friday. Even in large markets, you may have two shifts that are local on an iHeart station, as opposed to mostly local content on the competition, though that's not as true as it was a couple years ago before Audacy went the same way.
Re: synchronized music. Even if someone were programming 100 stations out of one hub, if they all had different music logs I don't think anyone would notice. I may be unique in listening to stations from all over the country, but I do so because I'm bored with my local stations. Sure stations do and pretty much always have played the same hits, but if I pulled up WBZN/Bangore and WJBQ/Portland ME, those logs are not going to match song for song except for Pop Crush nights. Why should they during the day?
Yes this thread was originally about KPNW. Hubbard in general does things right. All its staff is local, and if they do run syndication, it's on a station by station basis, and only in one or two dayparts. Of the big companies, Alpha does it about as close to any of them as I would. They do run some syndication, but as far as I know, they don't run the same syndicated programs across all stations in a particular format, and you don't see them making massive cuts every year like you see at iHeart. It seems like every year we see massive layoffs at iHeart, and until recently, they were the exception.
Re: phone audio quality. It seems stations have never cared about that as much as you imply they do. From what I've heard, unless the caller is in a spot with poor reception, cell phone calls don't sound any worse than lanlines. It's probably true that only a fraction of phone calls a station got in any given night appeared on the air, but some still did. Now, particularly at night, there's nothing. If I am wrong, give me an example of a station that still does this, and I'm not talking about Delilah or some other love songs show or a local talk show. If I were 10-15 years younger, I can't think of a CHR night show I would be excited to listen to night after night today.
Re: corporate mandates. While I can't prove that any corporation mandates anything as I don't have access to that information, it sure feels that way with certain programs and certain companies. Perhaps iHeart doesn't mandate Bobby Bones in mornings on all their country stations, but I'm 90% sure that the next iHeart country station launch will be running that show in mornings, and 80% sure that when many of the local shows eventually come to an end across their stations, that show will be plugged in.
I find it hard to believe that all the voice tracking we hear today is budget related. Perhaps a good portion of it is, but to me there's no excuse to have zero local content on any of your stations when your competition is live and local 6A-7P Monday through Friday. Even in large markets, you may have two shifts that are local on an iHeart station, as opposed to mostly local content on the competition, though that's not as true as it was a couple years ago before Audacy went the same way.
Re: synchronized music. Even if someone were programming 100 stations out of one hub, if they all had different music logs I don't think anyone would notice. I may be unique in listening to stations from all over the country, but I do so because I'm bored with my local stations. Sure stations do and pretty much always have played the same hits, but if I pulled up WBZN/Bangore and WJBQ/Portland ME, those logs are not going to match song for song except for Pop Crush nights. Why should they during the day?
Yes this thread was originally about KPNW. Hubbard in general does things right. All its staff is local, and if they do run syndication, it's on a station by station basis, and only in one or two dayparts. Of the big companies, Alpha does it about as close to any of them as I would. They do run some syndication, but as far as I know, they don't run the same syndicated programs across all stations in a particular format, and you don't see them making massive cuts every year like you see at iHeart. It seems like every year we see massive layoffs at iHeart, and until recently, they were the exception.
The fact that the original thread that started this discussion is still going makes this one more likely to go off the rails faster.
Oh, just wait for the first political grenade to be tossed-in.
Very much agree with this take on the situation. Also, since teens have disposable income to spend, I would think that stations would find that age group to be a very desirable demographic.
It's not up to stations. It's up to advertisers. There are laws about advertising to people under 18.
Did this change from the Top 40 era of the 1960's-90's when rocker stations programmed to a 13-34 year old demographic?
There is no "13-34 demographic." The correct figure is 18-34.
This is not to say that under 18s didn't listen. Some did. Just that they weren't targeted.
Daryl Lynn, yes this has changed. Radio has always been at the mercy of the advertising agencies that dictate many ad dollars. At one point that included youth through young families for some. Radio, as a business, simply tries to offer venues that attract the right listeners and advertising dollars. And they'll always take the easiest path from point A to point B. In other words, they're not opting for a format that performs poorly or is a struggle to keep afloat. The are too many easier paths that lessen your chances of being fired if you are the decisionmaker.
In our rural market, we've had a live and local morning show on our AC station since 1998, and we kept it even when our long-time talent retired; it's pretty damn good. It boggles my mind that major market radio can't do the same, especially since their revenues put ours to shame. And yes, listeners do respond and call in.
Finally had a chance to give 98.8 KPNW a full test drive. Wow, this station is fantastic! It’s hard to say if it will succeed or not, but I commend Hubbard for programming this station so well and putting this much effort into it. I was initially a little concerned that some of the music may be too far out of left field, but they’ve found a way to curate a playlist that is “just right.” It seems like they’ve also dialled in all of the technical parameters, as the processing sounds the best out of all of my presets. Perfect for a radio station that is “all about the music.”
I consider myself a passive listener of 107.7 The End. Admittedly, I’ve lost a lot of interest in that station in recent years. KPNW seems to do what 107.7 hasn’t been able to do in years: curate a playlist of music that lets you discover and rediscover music you may have forgotten. I could see this being a big success if people give it a chance.
I consider myself a passive listener of 107.7 The End. Admittedly, I’ve lost a lot of interest in that station in recent years. KPNW seems to do what 107.7 hasn’t been able to do in years: curate a playlist of music that lets you discover and rediscover music you may have forgotten. I could see this being a big success if people give it a chance.
Agencies don't buy radio for teens, and haven't for many decades.
Top 40 /CHR stopped programming for teens when the ad budgets disappeared. That was around 40 years ago.
Remembe, in the first decade and a half of Top 40, ratings did not do age breaks. Most early Pulse and Hooper reports were just by broad dayparts and nothing else.
12-24 was a combination of 12-17 and 18-24. It was never combined back in the early Arbitron days.
I hear you. But just so I can learn more about this- what happens when a broadcasting entity is programmed especially for teens or pre-teens, such as Radio Disney or TV Cartoon Network? They probably have to advertise some kind of products that appeal to teens.
Or, what happens to TV rock n roll variety shows from the 60’s and 70’s like: Am. Bandstand, Hollywood A Go Go , Shindig! , Soul Train, etc. etc. It would seem as if 90% of their audience would be under 18.
Thanks to anyone who can explain. — Daryl
As a business? Fail. As a promotional tool for theme parks, music sales and swag? Ineffective.
TV and streaming is a completely different animal to radio. There is a huge advertising appetite for reaching youth. Because kids haven't actively listened to radio for years, advertisers aren't interested in reaching an audience that isn't there.
If you haven't noticed, teens aren't looking-at-constantly, or actively carrying around radios. Those things in their hands are smartphones.
Wait what? You believe teens of today would be intentionally watching classic music TV shows from the 60's? Seriously? See: TikTok.
If you notice, they don't exist anymore. And the reason is there's no money. Expanding the view, MTV no longer plays music videos. Why? No money. The audience you speak of lives in the on-demand world, where they get what they want when they want it. They don't wait for "must see TV."
Getting back on topic, the challenge for KPNW isn't an artistic one. It isn't even to achieve big ratings. The real challenge for Hubbard will be to find advertisers who will support this station and want to reach this audience. An audience that hates commercials. Because there isn't any money in music distribution. Even the music industry doesn't want to be in the music distribution business.
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