Opie & Anthony

[livingfruitvirus]

Ultimately, I agree that radio's main goal is to entertain.

However, terrestrial radio's ability to maintain its relevance will be with their ability to tap into the local community and local culture. Every city/region has a unique agenda and a unique culture, which is represented by more than talking about local intersections.

And I think that's the problem. I don't SEE any of that ability to tap into local culture as I used to. What I mentioned before about the simple local references, that seems to be the result of some PD behind the scenes saying "We'll beat the competition by being LOCAL!" Back in the mid-90s down in Miami, we had Phil Hendrie on WIOD in afternoons. A lot of his show characters were very representative of their local areas, which he poked fun at, and the guy was just genuinely funny. It was a very local show, but a good local show. Hell, he would go on sometimes and pretend to be Brian Cox doing a radio show (and that sure got him in trouble with the Dolphins). We were happy to eventually see him syndicated.

Right now, I can't think of a single good local show in my radio market. Sure, I hear local hosts talk about local events and circumstances and try to appeal locally, but they do it in the dullest, most uninteresting ways.

 

[content]

Do you guys also object to TV stations that carry network shows instead of live and local programming? Why should radio be any different?

Good question....similar to asking if Apples should taste different than Pizza, eh?

While most network affiliates do cary a significant representation of local oriented programming, TV and Radio are different animals and used differently (despite having the same mission of selling advertising, based on reaching audience)

 

[Eye]

Re: Dopie & Anthony

Of course I prefer good local programming, but I don't think it's ever going to come back. The business has changed. Radio is now another hamburger franchise....standardized, consistently bland, and cheap to produce. Perhaps we are resisting inevitable change, just as 1940's radio people resisted the move from live drama and in-house bands to (gulp) disk jockeys.

 

[Musicradio]

Did anyone see this story?


http://mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002877791&imw=Y

 

[little1]

Re: Dopie & Anthony

Of course I prefer good local programming, but I don't think it's ever going to come back. The business has changed. Radio is now another hamburger franchise....standardized, consistently bland, and cheap to produce. Perhaps we are resisting inevitable change, just as 1940's radio people resisted the move from live drama and in-house bands to (gulp) disk jockeys.

Doesn't it all depend on what your definition of good is? For example, I remember hearing about a consultant who wanted to fire the midday show of a local radio station. After they'd been on for less than a year. They didn't follow formatics, didn't go to the phones soon enough, talked to much baseball, yadda yadda yadda. All of which convinced the consultant that they were never going to be "big market, big time"...Then of course, those pesky ratings came out and and the show was a roaring success...So do consultants really know what 'good' is, or do they know just know the formulas that they think work?

And So, does the Ticket not count as 'good local programming"? Or are the Marconi peeps totally fooled by "The Little Ticket"? Isn't Kidd good and local? Mark Davis?