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NYRMB Spearheading "Jack" Advertiser Boycott (Well, Sorta)

D

DiamondJoe

Guest
I have to give Mr. Sniffen and his website's community huge credit if they succeed in pulling it off... Most posts on his WCBS-FM-dedicated board feature the "101.1 Jack-FM" advertiser in the title. And while Mr. Sniffen didn't specifically say a boycott was on, he told one poster - in a thread he started titled "They Don't Care..." - she had the okay to post each advertiser to the board. The only part I will quote is this: "The one thing you have today is the Internet. That's a huge tool. You have to seize the moment. Thousands of people a day are hitting this board. Take advantage of that. Make it snowball. More publicity will come if it's handled correctly."

Once again, I'm not here to get under that website's skin, I just wanted to let this community about the effort being put forth over there, that's all... And CBS-FM's was a strong listener base, no matter what the ratings said. I don't know what the picture was in Chicago, but perhaps they can start their own mission, if they please.

That is all...<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
I hate to be cynical but I believe this has more to do with Sniffen's ego than any realistic chance to bring back Oldies to CBS FM. Sniffen see's himself as a king maker and the ultimate authority on radio even tho he's a dentist.

That said, I feel for all the fans of CBS FM and I wish them well.
 
> I hate to be cynical but I believe this has more to do with
> Sniffen's ego than any realistic chance to bring back Oldies
> to CBS FM. Sniffen see's himself as a king maker and the
> ultimate authority on radio even tho he's a dentist.

Hmmm... I don't know whether to condone that statement or delete it... You're entitled to your two cents... Again, it's worth a shot... Nobody saw the flip coming, so if it makes them happy, let's see what comes out of it.<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
> I'm all for them trying to bring back CBS FM. I only
> question the motives of it.
>
im not for it, there wasting there time on nothing, cbsfm won't go back to oldies<P ID="signature">______________
xxnate_doggxx (at) myway (dot) com
</P>
 
When was the last boycott was successful in bringing back a station?

> im not for it, there wasting there time on nothing, cbsfm
> won't go back to oldies

When was the last boycott was successful in bringing back a station?
 
> I hate to be cynical but I believe this has more to do with
> Sniffen's ego than any realistic chance to bring back Oldies
> to CBS FM. Sniffen see's himself as a king maker and the
> ultimate authority on radio even tho he's a dentist.
>

It has been said that for Evil to triumph is for Good men
to do nothing. Here is someone doing something.

Mike Dane
WSTB-FM 88.9
SundayOldiesJukebox.com
 
Re: When was the last boycott was successful in bringing back a station?

> > im not for it, there wasting there time on nothing, cbsfm
> > won't go back to oldies
>
> When was the last boycott was successful in bringing back a
> station?
>

Perhaps some of the posters from the Jersey board can help me on the exact date here, but in Wildwood, NJ a legendary nostalgia/MOR station went to a "pure oldies" format back in February or so. Some of the locals protested outside of the station, and this prompted the owners to restore the previous format a mere two days later. Or, at least that's what I remember.

Are these sucessful? Seldom...but they do happen, and some owners do buckle.<P ID="signature">______________
FOX News Alert: YOU SUCK!!! Ya like apples?</P>
 
Mike, do you really think what Infinity did rises to the level of Evil? I would also ask if what is being done is being done in the name of good or is it being done in the name of ego? Seriously, if you had heard his audio remarks, you would know Sniffen is trying to work people up into a frenzy. Is he doing it because he really thinks they can get Infinity to change their minds or is he doing this because he wants publicity for himself? I believe the later. He may be honestly upset about what happened but he knows he isn't going to get Infinity to bring back oldies to CBS FM and he isn't going to affect the bottom line of any advertiser. This is purely ego driven. We live in a age where there are many choices and avenues to get the music you want and the 3 percent of the listeners who listened to CBS FM doesn't compare to the 97 percent of listeners who didn't listen. The advertisers are not going to boycott Infinity or Jack 101.1 because they get a few angry letters or emails.

I know how the fans of CBS FM feel however. I felt the same way about WNEW FM when they dumped Rock music for talk. I am also a fan of oldies but not of oldies radio with their 200-300 song formats. I stopped listening to oldies radio years ago except for special occasions.
 
Regarding Mr. Sniffen and the "Jack" Boycott...

Look, it's no secret that several radio professionals congregate on Mr. Sniffen's board. It's also no secret that he is undeniably pissed that Infinity killed CBS-FM with a format that amounts to nothing more than "an iPod with commercials". If I was a loyal listener to a format that was replaced by "an iPod with commercials", I would be angry, too. And I was a semi-casual listener of CBS-FM's Oldies format, and I personally think Jack has a format with a "spunk" other stations can't match.

At the same time, I'm not trying to defend Mr. Sniffen by saying that anyone who thinks he's using his board, visited by many radio industry vets, as a tool to "reverse Jack" for an ego boost, doesn't know what they're talking about, either. Sniffen was and still is a fan of the old Musicradio 77. He knows that format wasn't coming back in this climate. So of course when the closest thing to the old 77, CBS-FM, gets hit with the "Jack" bomb, you can say it's akin to a Viet Nam flashback. Mr. Sniffen is basically a fan of the format and "Golden 101" in general, and so are most of the visitors and posters to his board. He didn't specifically say, "It's on, boycott Infinity", he just gave permission to anyone who wanted to engage in such activity the green light to do so.

Note the title of this thread, "NYRMB Spearheading "Jack" Advertiser Boycott (Well, Sorta)". Note it does not say "Allan Sniffen Spearheading "Jack" Advertiser Boycott", because he isn't calling for it, he's only condoning it. And as a frustrated fan of CBS-FM and Musicradio 77, he has every right to. Maybe it gives you a right to call him an egomaniac; I'm just saying it's wrong and we should look at the big picture.<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
There's many ways to send a message...

> Are these sucessful? Seldom...but they do happen, and some
> owners do buckle.

Well, you've got viewers of TV shows that, when cancelled, they'll do anything necessary to get it back on the air. The great "Roswell" Tabasco campaign comes to mind... If I'm not mistaken, that worked... In the case of "Family Guy", that show was cancelled by Fox in 2002. Meanwhile, successful DVD sales of the entire series actually helped the show get reinstated by Fox and is currently in the middle of its fourth season.

Perhaps a boycott isn't the way to go... Buy more oldies CD's, heck, even send crates of Elvis wine to 1515 Broadway. Send a message, is what I'm trying to say...<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
> I have to give Mr. Sniffen and his website's community huge
> credit if they succeed in pulling it off... Most posts on
> his WCBS-FM-dedicated board feature the "101.1 Jack-FM"
> advertiser in the title. And while Mr. Sniffen didn't
> specifically say a boycott was on, he told one poster - in a
> thread he started titled "They Don't Care..." - she had the
> okay to post each advertiser to the board. The only part I
> will quote is this: "The one thing you have today is the
> Internet. That's a huge tool. You have to seize the moment.
> Thousands of people a day are hitting this board. Take
> advantage of that. Make it snowball. More publicity will
> come if it's handled correctly."
>
> Once again, I'm not here to get under that website's skin, I
> just wanted to let this community about the effort being put
> forth over there, that's all... And CBS-FM's was a strong
> listener base, no matter what the ratings said. I don't know
> what the picture was in Chicago, but perhaps they can start
> their own mission, if they please.
>
> That is all...
>

Not to out-ego Sniffen, I mentioned that idea on his CBS FM board shortly after the switch, that if listeners conatacted the local advertisers, because I think national sales will be difficult to affect, and tell them that if they advertise on CBS FM, they will have lost a customer, that wouild be a effective way of showing displeasure over the move that Infinity made and the callous way the dropped oldies from that station. Listener outrage has worked in the past, recently in Portland Maine an Air America station was going to change to ESPN but the station changed it's plans when enough people showed their displeasure with the change and showed their support for Air America programing. Don't threaten advertisers but let them knomw you don't appprove of them supporting that station. Money talks and if sales are hurt, infinity will get the message quick enough.
 
Re: When was the last boycott was successful in bringing back a station?

> > im not for it, there wasting there time on nothing, cbsfm
> > won't go back to oldies
>
> When was the last boycott was successful in bringing back a
> station?
>
As I said above a station in Portland Maine was going to dump Air America and program ESPN and enough listener complaining caused the owners to change their mins. he's had over 36,000 hit in about 2 days alone on that board. I got calls at work today from Washington asking about the change. This is an unusual case. After 33 years as an oldies station (That's right, 33 years) they give their staff less than 1 hours notice that they are being taken off the air. This was an ultimate example of classlessness, if such a word exists.
 
All it takes for evil to win

Bob, I am not saying they are evil. But the saying
(and I am paraphrasing)is 'All it takes for evil to
triumph is for good men to do nothing'
In other words All it takes for (insert what ever
you want here) to triumph is for people to do nothing.
If you do nothing the otherside has already won.
As for Mr. Sniffen, I've never heard of him before, so
I can't say anything either way.
If someone would show me a link to his site I'd be
happy tp poke around.

Mike Dane

> Mike, do you really think what Infinity did rises to the
> level of Evil? I would also ask if what is being done is
> being done in the name of good or is it being done in the
> name of ego? Seriously, if you had heard his audio remarks,
> you would know Sniffen is trying to work people up into a
> frenzy. Is he doing it because he really thinks they can
> get Infinity to change their minds or is he doing this
> because he wants publicity for himself? I believe the
 
I'll do you one better...

> As for Mr. Sniffen, I've never heard of him before, so
> I can't say anything either way.
> If someone would show me a link to his site I'd be
> happy to poke around.

For me to give you a direct link to his board, that would be kinda like going into McDonald's and getting a coupon for Wendy's.
However, given this story, I'm actually going to give you a link to a thread on the subforum of his board devoted to the WCBS-FM switch. On it, you can hear an audio clip in which he shares his disapproval of the switch. You can feel the emotion through your MP3 player...

Click here to listen to his comments.<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
The definition of Classlessness

> This was an ultimate example of classlessness, if such a word exists.

Nope, it does:

Wikipedia: Classlessness<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
Thats Viacom for you.

> This is an unusual case. After 33 years as an oldies station
> (That's right, 33 years) they give their staff less than 1
> hours notice that they are being taken off the air. This was
> an ultimate example of classlessness, if such a word exists.

Well the short answer is: Thats Viacom for you.

About a year ago on the TV side, WCBS fired Warner Wolf, again without warning and handled in a horrible way. Warner was just yanked without giving him a chance to say good by. Who did Diane Doctor replace him with? Chris Wregge, who is cheaper and someone they feel who could appeal to a younger demographic. However, the difference between CBS 2 News and WCBS-FM is that CBS 2 News is a ratings train wreck and WCBS-FM was a strong performer.

My guess is that they think younger and cheaper is better, which isn't always the case.
<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks</P>
 
Re: I'll do you one better...

Thank you Joe, it was hilarious. now mind you I am not laughing
AT Mr. Sniffen, I just found his delivery funny.
As for Wendy/McDonalds - this board vs his board, that would
be like going from Ruth's Chris Steak house (this board) to
white castle (the other board).

Mike Dane

> For me to give you a direct link to his board, that would be
> kinda like going into McDonald's and getting a coupon for
> Wendy's.
> However, given this story, I'm actually going to give you a
> link to a thread on the subforum of his board devoted to the
> WCBS-FM switch. On it, you can hear an audio clip in which
> he shares his disapproval of the switch. You can feel the
> emotion through your MP3 player...
>
> Click here to listen to his comments.
>
 
Re: All it takes for evil to win

> Bob, I am not saying they are evil. But the saying
> (and I am paraphrasing)is 'All it takes for evil to
> triumph is for good men to do nothing'
> In other words All it takes for (insert what ever
> you want here) to triumph is for people to do nothing.
> If you do nothing the otherside has already won.
> As for Mr. Sniffen, I've never heard of him before, so
> I can't say anything either way.
> If someone would show me a link to his site I'd be
> happy tp poke around.
>
> Mike Dane
>
> > Mike, do you really think what Infinity did rises to the
> > level of Evil? I would also ask if what is being done is
> > being done in the name of good or is it being done in the
> > name of ego? Seriously, if you had heard his audio
> remarks,
> > you would know Sniffen is trying to work people up into a
> > frenzy. Is he doing it because he really thinks they can
> > get Infinity to change their minds or is he doing this
> > because he wants publicity for himself? I believe the

I think he's over thinking the whole thing and Sniffen is notorious for overthinking things, his own influence especially.
 
I wish them all the luck!

Even though dance was already off the airwaves, we made noise back in 1993. And at that time the Internet was NOWHERE NEAR what it is today! We basically had to make copies of newsletters and drop them off in dance music record stores. We held meetings, but without the power of the Internet, it was a tough draw.

At least now, for oldies fans, something CAN be done and perhaps a stronger united front to get this format back on the NY terrestrial radio dial can happen and perhaps can succeed!

TONY SANTIAGO
(Metro New York Dance Radio Coalition 1993-1996)
 
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