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OK JD WELLS Here is the answer .. What GST should do.

P

phonejock

Guest
JD I put your name is here cause I knew you would read it. After all you have nothing better to do. And we now know you type 60 wpm.. Wow that's fast. But this post really isn't about you.
You did say you wanted to read some postive things about GST

OK I will play along with you JDW.

Here is what GST really needs to do to win.
First and foremost to beat WSB they need to fill a need that WSB cannot, and that is local issues. WSB has great talent, a powerful signal and huge share of Atlanta's talk listeners right now.

What the little station can do is beat them to death on the local issues. Most of WSB's day is filled with syndicated shows that cannot talk about whats going on in Atlanta. I've even heard Boortz say to callers "that's an Atlanta issue we can't talk about that on the network" .

Why can't GST wake up to that? When they hear people say they want local hosts, I think they want hosts who talk about whats happening in Atlanta. Hosts who know the difference between Buford Hwy and Buford GA. GST cannot compete with WSB on the national stories, leave that to Boortz and Hannity. But they can win on local issues. That should be their wedge. What's going on in Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Clayton? There are a ton of local issues that GST could own. The Fulton Co jail is just ripe.

GST doesn't have to look to far for talk talent. Lets not have another 2 month search for the "best talker in the nation". Just pick one you fired. Any one of them had a better grasp of things happening in Atlanta.

Here are some choices. Mike Rose with David Paul. . OH Yea. .OR Pete Davis with Jimmy Baron, or Wayne and Pete or How about Royal Marshall and David Paul. . Ok. .Royal will never leave Boortz.. At least Royal had the right idea with his local politican night. But give me some guys who know Atlanta, not some transplants who are still looking for the Fox on I285.

Secondly GST should drop all Braves coverage!! Yea I know. Dream on. But the Braves are not helping them at all. Everyone listens to them on 96 rock. So they are stuck promoting a feature that their audience will go to another station for. How smart is that? I know they cannot get out of this deal (that they apparently paid tons of money for) but if they could, they should drop the Braves asap. More LOCAL time for David Paul, Mike Rose et al.

Look in all fairness to Wells, Bloomquist and the gang. I'm just a real estate investor who listens to a lot of talk radio. I have been in this market for almost 20 years now. I'm in and out of my car all day looking at properties and I also listen when I'm working from home. I really don't know much about the radio business but it seems to me if GST is going to win they have to fill a void left by the giant WSB.

btw. JD Wells, I have never seen the Kimmer or Boortz post to this board. They are truly thick skinned.
 
I think this was an excellent post. Were this to happen, I for one would be an avid listener. Right on the mark. Well done, PJ.
 
First, I'm not sure any local presence will help talk radio on the AM band. With one notable exception...ALL NEWS. Now, track with me for just a moment. Talk radio is designed to stir up people's emotions and encourage feedback. When it works it's entertaining, informative and just plain fun. But, all talk radio formats that are worth anything will immediately break in to a great show (even Mr. Rush) when there is a major news event. A well promoted news station will immediately draw most talk radio listeners simply because their coverage is far more in depth than any talk or news-talk station can offer. Atlanta's localism on radio could very well be an all-news all the time operation. Yes, the format's not cheap and the ratings may hurt in the short term but all it takes is one or two big breaking stories, either local OR national in scope, and you'll have most of the city tuned in.

If WGST decided to give this format a go, they may very will finally distinguish themselves from the pack. However, if I were a betting man, I'd like to see this format on FM (Dave???) simply because the clarity and signal coverage would be far superior to any Atlanta AM signal...even WSB.

Anyway, that's my uninformed opinion.
 
Phonejock is right on the money. As for all news, GST tried it, so did WCNN. It is a "high maintenance" expensive format. It would be great if they could do it again, but I don't think that's where they'll find the ratings and revenue.
Talkers focusing on local issues, with lots of local news breaks may be the ticket. Then again, a better frequency/night signal is sorely needed.
 
I completely agree, I would listen to locals-preferably a little younger. Not a big fan of Jimmy Baron but I would have definetly listened all week. The station seems old and broken, and for the life of me I don't get why anyone would listen to the Braves on 640 when they're on 96Rock? Are there some people that only have AM Radios?
 
I'm confused about the local angle to beat WSB. My last count shows Denny Shaffer and The Kimmer as being Live and local. WSB only has Chris Krok at night. If Clark Howard leaves to go into politics, as many people think may eventually happen, then Dave Ramsey can fill that void. The other people you mentioned will not even come close to beating Boortz. They need to find the next talk radio star, much like they did when they hired Hannity from Huntsville to replace Boortz. Not sure if that's ever going to happen. The only possible way to beat WSB is to do what they did, cough up the money and bring Boortz back. You know Boortz will ALWAYS follow the money, as he did when he left GST and went to "We're Such Butthead's" , as he used to call them.
 
Surfer said:
First, I'm not sure any local presence will help talk radio on the AM band. With one notable exception...ALL NEWS.
Click to expand...

I too have been thinking about the need for an all news format which would fit perfectly on GST if IT IS DONE RIGHT. That takes care of the "local" issue right there. You could have clear-sounding traffic reports with alternative routes (solutions to problems). Team up with the Weather Channel again for 24 hour (not pre-recorded) reports. Throw some "news entertainment" in there, too - pull from the other local CC stations to get TRG and Randy & Spiiff's "slant" (and funny bits) on the LOCAL news.

Put the Kimmer on 96Rock in the afternoons and, for cryin' out LOUD, give the guy some SUPPORT instead of firing them. Make the only breaks in news programmng be Rush in the afternoons and the Braves at night.

Play to the urban audience at night. Present the news & offer solutions to special problems within 285. Bring in some SSSteve or Ralph from Ben Hill type people and have them fit into maybe a more hip news format.

Don't TRY to compete with WSB. Act like WSB isn't there - you are providing a needed service to ATLANTA, and you're gonna get the listeners involved in what's going on around the area. Act professional - people know who you are (You don't have to remind them every 12 seconds.).

Don't worry about the signal. If they want you, they will find you (just like you did WAKE or WQXI when you were a kid and lived on the outskirts of town.). Stream 24 hours on the internet and contract with Mom & Pop stations to carry your nightime (and even daytime) signal in Rome, Athens, PTC, Gainesville, etc. Team up with other CC news stations in the top 25 markets to reserve 25 channels on satellite for people who want DETAILED news in a particular market.

In other words, SPEND SOME DAMN MONEY! It won't cost as much as you think it will. Listen to KRLD/Dallas online; check out what they do, and the style in which they do it. Send someone out there to find out how much they are spending to get the most bang for their buck. (I've heard some people in Dallas "complain" about KRLD. Big deal; listen to the station. Atlanta doesn't even HAVE what a handful of people in Dallas complain about. So, if people are going to complain about GST, they will be complaining about what GST DOES instead of what it doesn't do.) Get a GM in the Atlanta group that will go to San Antonio and TELL them what we need instead of asking them.

You've got the money. You've got the talent (at least some of it left). And you DO have the creativity - but just don't realize it. Don't focus on your limitations. Don't focus on your signal. Don't focus on WSB. Don't focus on talk talent. Don't focus on your past screw-ups. You had something good going in the early 90's with great potential. You can get it back - it's there!

Focus on the future. Make news!!



(and someday I may have a few ideas.......)
 
All news is a hard format to maintain and afford - but what about the concept Fox News Channel uses - have five or six strong shows and repeat them over and over - while staffing the newsroom for breaking stories. Reduces the need for a full blown news staff on duty around the clock, but keep the appearance of "right now"

Another thought is to take a more NPR approach - that is more indepth stories and interviews many of which are done during the day, but aired in the evenings or early morning. Very little of that content is happening "now".

I am not suggesting the political slant of NPR, nor the laid back presentation - something a bit more contemporary that moves foward!

You are right about any talk station worth it's salt will break in for local news.

Problem with all local talk, particularly in a market like Atlanta, is signal and ultimately ratings and revenue. GST has always had trouble being a metro station.
 
As long as their "six tenth of a share morning block" is hosted by Tom Hughes and Denny Schaffer, two guys who have their jobs solely because of their friendship and side deals with management, any talk of "fixing" WGST is treating the symptoms and ignoring the disease.
 
What you are suggesting is Washington Post Radio WTWP 1500/107.7 (Bonneville). I was looking for ratings on DCRTV.com but didn't find any, so that is worth watching. I just drove around DC this past weekend (Wilson Bridge replacement weekend!) and was listening to WTWP. All I can say is get rid of it, and go back to WTOP being on all of the signals, but's there's too much $$ involved for that to happen.

XTalker said:
All news is a hard format to maintain and afford - but what about the concept Fox News Channel uses - have five or six strong shows and repeat them over and over - while staffing the newsroom for breaking stories. Reduces the need for a full blown news staff on duty around the clock, but keep the appearance of "right now"

Another thought is to take a more NPR approach - that is more indepth stories and interviews many of which are done during the day, but aired in the evenings or early morning. Very little of that content is happening "now".

I am not suggesting the political slant of NPR, nor the laid back presentation - something a bit more contemporary that moves foward!

You are right about any talk station worth it's salt will break in for local news.

Problem with all local talk, particularly in a market like Atlanta, is signal and ultimately ratings and revenue. GST has always had trouble being a metro station.
Click to expand...
 
Not sure the concept can work where there already an all news station (like WTOP) but it might where there is none. The Washington Post experiment is worth watching. With declining circulation of the nation's newspapers, there are opportunities for smart broadcasters to tap the news gathering power - just gonna take some doing to get the newspaper people to think in terms of audio!
 
jbaxter said:
As long as their "six tenth of a share morning block" is hosted by Tom Hughes and Denny Schaffer, two guys who have their jobs solely because of their friendship and side deals with management, any talk of "fixing" WGST is treating the symptoms and ignoring the disease.
Click to expand...


Hi Jeff, still upset that they brought Tom back and replaced you with him? Don't you think it is time to let it go? Or maybe you are courting Bloomie?
 
WhatDoIKnow said:
Hi Jeff, still upset that they brought Tom back and replaced you with him? Don't you think it is time to let it go? Or maybe you are courting Bloomie?
Click to expand...


I don't think jbaxter is Hullinger. Isn’t he doing TV in Tampa?
 
DashRiprock said:
WhatDoIKnow said:
Hi Jeff, still upset that they brought Tom back and replaced you with him? Don't you think it is time to let it go? Or maybe you are courting Bloomie?
Click to expand...


I don't think jbaxter is Hullinger. Isn’t he doing TV in Tampa?
Click to expand...


jbaxter has a big hard on for Tom Hughes and it seems to be very personal. Legitimate beefs with radio personalities are one thing, degrading an individual on an industry forum for personal reasons is another.
 
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