The Sigon said:
"Buyers are smarter now"...I love an anecdotal pre-condition that comes to one's keyboard as the premise by which others are expected to buy the argument.
I'm reading all this back and forth and a "I'm in radio almost 16 years" and "hot zips" and on and on. You people are talking about all this like you're experts and this is important. Radio is neither an art NOR a science. It's about luck or gut instinct and that's it.
Arbitron is a fool's game but the only game in town. Every rating, every station, none of it is accurate. When a station's book is high, that's not real. And when it's low, that's not real either. I posit that every station everywhere is consistently somewhere between their best and worst book, always.
Someone mentioned laziness and resting on one's laurels? I don't know what goes on at 107 firsthand but my experience has been that program directors aren't so much lazy or content to rest on laurels as they are fearful and connected at the hip to the low bid consultant and they see "middle of the road, take no risks, doesn't test well" as the end all and be all upon which to pin their hopes. My guess is that 107 isn't lazy or resting so much on their laurels as they are chickenshit to step outside the very safe and narrow boundaries dictated by "out of town jaspers" and likely flawed music tests.
And speaking of 107, what's with "107 has had this coming for 20+ years"? I guess they were on the air for a year or so and then they've had it coming since then? [EDIT]Ann Landers (or was it Dear Abby) used to say "It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it."
[EDIT-inflammatory]
You're quite funny to me...considering thru your 20 posts here you freely admit that everything you know is "from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend" about what actually goes on within the radio business. I can say I'm an expert since I'm in the decision making chair...big difference! You're right about one thing, it's not a art or a science. It's 80% gut and 20% instinct in my book. A programmer needs to be smart and recognize the audience's tastes and program from there.
PD's that aren't creative, don't understand strategy, and don't have street smarts are also the same guys that can do a good music log, bow down to salespeople that bring stupid proposals/ideas for their clients and end up junking up their station since they're afraid to stand up for the pride in their product, and can't manage people are the ones that most of the time end up with consultants. They're good workers, but can't stand up for themselves and really should be an APD. But due to the wonderful times our business has endured in the past 10-12 years...companies don't pay for the excellent creative people that have a long track record of success except for a few cases, they decide to settle for the 2nd best person and hope that person develops while surrounding them with people to make the overall strategy for them while teaching them nothing.
I've never had an outside consultant, but I've used a person or 2 within my company to bounce ideas off of...since I know I've got things to learn or find myself encountering a new issue that I've never dealt with before (blowing up a morning show and starting over, etc.).
When a station consistently grows it's numbers book to book over a year or so, takes a little tumble, then bounces back up and grows more, then goes down a little and comes back up...it's real. A station that goes from a 7, to a high 4, then back to a mid 6, then down to just under a 4....that's not Arbitron messing up, it's proof positive that the product has major flaws and can't make long term adjustments to maintain it's high level of success. Someone else referenced Magic falling to below a 7 in one book...but failed to mention the other 20 before it that had the station between a high 7 and a 10 share...the one pothole below 7 is a very obvious Arbitron "flaw" or bad book...and not indicative of a PD not doing their job.
Bottom line IMO...107 was able to get by until 2005ish with the same stale BS and not growing with their audience...the same that other classic rock station have done across the country and they're also dying a slow, painful death as well. The ones that have found new ways to freshen their product thru talent, adjusting music, and fantastic marketing and promotions have survived and in some cases...might be stronger than ever!
In this case...I really believe your view is off base...and please refrain from the need to be edited language.
