Nonsense from WBLS OM Skip Dillard

[JerseyDude]

http://www.radio-info.com/programmi...95d-Urban_First_June_13_2012&utm_medium=email


WBLS OM Skip Dillard is talking nonsense to Radio Info's Dana Hall.

WBLS sounds terrible. The station is a tight, repetitive mess. Very bland sounding. No NYC variety at all.

The station should do well as long as it is the only R&B game in town. Please Merlin,SBS or someone, save us from this garbage can of a station.

 

[Barry]

Today's Daily News radio column carries comments from veteran radio talk show host Bob Law, whose show Open Line is heard on WBLS during weekends. He apparently has opinions that are similar to the OP.
His feelings (about black stations in New York), as quoted in the article: "They’ve been programming scared. They’ve tried to play it so safe, because that’s the only way they’ve felt they can get advertisers, that they’re hardly black stations at all...“On the radio now, you only hear four or five singers,” he says. “Beyoncé, Rihanna. You wouldn’t even know there are new records by Gerald Alston or LaBelle, because no one will play them."
Perhaps others that are familiar with the format can weigh in whether these remarks are valid, or perhaps somewhat exaggerated.
Law has joined a few others in filing a protest with the F.C.C. against the sale of WBLS/WLIB to YMF Media, because he is concerned they will sell the stations to a mega broadcaster that would change their formats. Frankly that seems ridiculous, as WBLS' ratings have surged since Kiss FM shut down.

NY Daily News Article: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...io-danger-disappearing-york-article-1.1094465

 

[WNTIRadio]

WBLS being tight and repetitive makes sense right now. They want to get everyone from Kiss to sample them and hear something familiar that they hopefully like.

Look for the playlist to broaden out in a couple of months. Right now, it's like being on the first few dates where you try to put your best stuff out there. You don't even want to attempt the car door mask the fart trick on the first few dates in case it fails. Same thing for BLS. Can't afford to play a clunker while they're courting former Kiss listeners.

 

[JerseyDude]

Bob Law is so right about WBLS. The station will Beyonce and Jill Scott you to death. There is more to R&B music. Not just those two women.

How about some Neo Soul music (Angela Johnson/Walter Christopher/Tamika "Love" Jones/Darien Dean/Lamone). How about some Soulful House (Rick Galactick,Margaret Grace,Soulmagic,Eric King).

NYC isn't just Beyonce and Jill Scott.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Like I said above, give it some time for those elements to come in to the mix.

Right now, those two artists are winners with a TON of hit songs that the audience knows. That's what a sample period is all about with a "new" station. Get them hooked in with something and then you can expand the playlist.

Bob Law shouldn't protest the sale to YMF, because if that doesn't go through the station will go away because the parent company is broke. I guess if he doesn't want a paycheck or a radio station he can protest. I'd rather take that risk than work for a company that is $230 MILLION in DEBT. That's an INSANE amount of debt. That's 4,600 BMW X5's. Or 15,300 Kia's. Or an amount of money that is owed to creditors that will never be paid off, especially since stations are worth less than half of what they were 10 years ago. Dumb move, Bob.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Today's Daily News radio column carries comments from veteran radio talk show host Bob Law, whose show Open Line is heard on WBLS during weekends.

You're confusing him with Bob Slade. Bob Law never hosted anything on WBLS as far as I know.

That having been said, Law's analysis of the station's on-air sound is dead-on. But at the same time, the fact that folks like Charles Barron (a hard-core Black nationalist) and a few others are involved in this protest prove, once again, that you can't make everyone happy. They'd rather see WBLS and WLIB 100 percent owned by African-Americans instead of being part-owned by Blacks under the YMF structure. But it's better than the alternative: not having a Black-owned FM station at all.

 

[TVCOOL]

Today's Daily News radio column carries comments from veteran radio talk show host Bob Law, whose show Open Line is heard on WBLS during weekends. He apparently has opinions that are similar to the OP.
His feelings (about black stations in New York), as quoted in the article: "They’ve been programming scared. They’ve tried to play it so safe, because that’s the only way they’ve felt they can get advertisers, that they’re hardly black stations at all...“On the radio now, you only hear four or five singers,” he says. “Beyoncé, Rihanna. You wouldn’t even know there are new records by Gerald Alston or LaBelle, because no one will play them."
Perhaps others that are familiar with the format can weigh in whether these remarks are valid, or perhaps somewhat exaggerated.
Law has joined a few others in filing a protest with the F.C.C. against the sale of WBLS/WLIB to YMF Media, because he is concerned they will sell the stations to a mega broadcaster that would change their formats. Frankly that seems ridiculous, as WBLS' ratings have surged since Kiss FM shut down.

NY Daily News Article: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...io-danger-disappearing-york-article-1.1094465

Instead of complaining get listeners to the station ,it's not the 1990s anymore.

 

[Barry]

Today's Daily News radio column carries comments from veteran radio talk show host Bob Law, whose show Open Line is heard on WBLS during weekends.

You're confusing him with Bob Slade. Bob Law never hosted anything on WBLS as far as I know.

My understanding is that Mr. Law's weekly show on WRKS was picked up by WBLS, about a week after Kiss went off the air.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Today's Daily News radio column carries comments from veteran radio talk show host Bob Law, whose show Open Line is heard on WBLS during weekends.

You're confusing him with Bob Slade. Bob Law never hosted anything on WBLS as far as I know.

My understanding is that Mr. Law's weekly show on WRKS was picked up by WBLS, about a week after Kiss went off the air.

It's BOB SLADE, not Bob Law. You obviously didn't do your research. And if you're quoting the Daily News' website then you should verify because they are full of errors, both grammatical and factual.

 

[TVCOOL]

Like I said above, give it some time for those elements to come in to the mix.

Right now, those two artists are winners with a TON of hit songs that the audience knows. That's what a sample period is all about with a "new" station. Get them hooked in with something and then you can expand the playlist.

Bob Law shouldn't protest the sale to YMF, because if that doesn't go through the station will go away because the parent company is broke. I guess if he doesn't want a paycheck or a radio station he can protest. I'd rather take that risk than work for a company that is $230 MILLION in DEBT. That's an INSANE amount of debt. That's 4,600 BMW X5's. Or 15,300 Kia's. Or an amount of money that is owed to creditors that will never be paid off, especially since stations are worth less than half of what they were 10 years ago. Dumb move, Bob.

Bob wants to work for free. Because if the sale falls through and the station can't pay him that is what will happen.

 

[reelyreal]

Bob Law is so right about WBLS. The station will Beyonce and Jill Scott you to death. There is more to R&B music. Not just those two women.

How about some Neo Soul music (Angela Johnson/Walter Christopher/Tamika "Love" Jones/Darien Dean/Lamone). How about some Soulful House (Rick Galactick,Margaret Grace,Soulmagic,Eric King).

NYC isn't just Beyonce and Jill Scott.

Of the top 100 most played songs on WBLS, two are by Beyonce and one is by Jill Scott. Two songs in the top 100 by one of the biggest stars IN THE WORLD is not overblown.

This isn't a WBLS issue, this is what radio is about, regardless of format. The "broad" in broadcasting is about reaching a broad audience, a large audience. Tight playlists aren't new, they aren't the result of deregulation, they aren't the result of consolidation, they're not the result of "playing it too safe." It's what works. Period. I might add that radio is much more diverse today than it was in the 60's.

If a playlist of 1500 songs was more effective than a 300 or 400 song playlist... don't you think someone, somewhere, anywhere, any format, would have done it? It isn't done, because it doesn't work.

This is what works. If you want more variety, that's why people buy private music collections.

 

[BJordan]

Bob Law is so right about WBLS. The station will Beyonce and Jill Scott you to death. There is more to R&B music. Not just those two women.

How about some Neo Soul music (Angela Johnson/Walter Christopher/Tamika "Love" Jones/Darien Dean/Lamone). How about some Soulful House (Rick Galactick,Margaret Grace,Soulmagic,Eric King).

NYC isn't just Beyonce and Jill Scott.

Alot of Urban AC's are hitting us with Jill Scott & Beyoncé over and over again. KJLH Los Angeles ranked Beyoncé's "Love on Top" No. 1 on their playlist. They really play the crap out of Jill Scott's current single "Blessed".

 

[uncamark]

Of the top 100 most played songs on WBLS, two are by Beyonce and one is by Jill Scott. Two songs in the top 100 by one of the biggest stars IN THE WORLD is not overblown.

Just for curiosity's sake, are any of those three songs powers?

People seem to forget that Bill Drake cut the Top 40 to the Boss 30 and Rick Sklar had a 15-song current playlist back in the days when it was still 7/7/7. And people bitched about tight playlists back then. And that "free form" radio ended on commercial radio in that same period of time, because the viewer tired of Top 40 found out that hearing obscure and unlistenable music played by a jock on acid saying things like "it's 10 after one like if you're into time, man" was almost as bad as hearing the Archies every 90 minutes.

 

[reelyreal]

Of the top 100 most played songs on WBLS, two are by Beyonce and one is by Jill Scott. Two songs in the top 100 by one of the biggest stars IN THE WORLD is not overblown.

Just for curiosity's sake, are any of those three songs powers?

BLS is spinning their powers 29 times a week, give or take a couple of spins. Beyonce's Love on Top and Jill Scott's Blessed both had 19 spins this week putting them in the top 10.

Another interesting note, of BLS' top 50 songs, 46 of them were only heard on WBLS in the New York market. Without WBLS, these songs wouldn't be getting ANY play in market #1... I'd say that makes WBLS a valuable resource.

 

[FLjack2]

WBLS being tight and repetitive makes sense right now. They want to get everyone from Kiss to sample them and hear something familiar that they hopefully like.

Look for the playlist to broaden out in a couple of months. Right now, it's like being on the first few dates where you try to put your best stuff out there. You don't even want to attempt the car door mask the fart trick on the first few dates in case it fails. Same thing for BLS. Can't afford to play a clunker while they're courting former Kiss listeners.

why would they have to broaden the playlist? They are the only game in town now. No competition. Keep the playlist tight, like a typical AC or CHR and you'll keep those higher ratings.

 

[Sara-Caldwell]

Another interesting note, of BLS' top 50 songs, 46 of them were only heard on WBLS in the New York market. Without WBLS, these songs wouldn't be getting ANY play in market #1... I'd say that makes WBLS a valuable resource.

BLS is valuable, even if they are still trying to figure out how to please current BLS and former KISS listeners. Their identity has certainly changed since KISS was dropped for ESPN.