Outside firm selling "PSA's" on local radio stations to local businesses.

[Bongwater]

Yes, it's a pretty common thing. I can't remember the name; but there used to be a company that used to broker spots, mainly to smaller market stations with open inventory, who wrote and sold spots with a public service bend. Copy would go something like this: 'Beltsville True Value wants you to be safe in 2024, by always buckling up and being sure to keep kids out of a hot car. This public service announcement is from your local hardware store, True Value Hardware on Main Street in downtown Beltsville.'

But c'mon, couldn't any station with a functioning production room could do this in-house and cut out the middleman? There were stations that directly sold PSA sponsorships for a basement rate. All anyone had to do is not turn the PSA into a full blown advertising spot.

 

[bturner1]

Sure they could but these guys specialized on getting businesses that normally didn't advertise. I don't know how they sold those businesses. At one station I sent my salespeople (including myself) out to establish a relationship and sell them the same sort of ad but at our rates and a better frequency for about the same money. We never sold a one in about 6 months but those telemarketers could sell them every 6 months at a huge rate per commercial. We had anything from funeral homes and unmanned car washes to public relations firms to oil industry parts supplier. It was amazing who they unearthed. That big metal building along the side of the road with that made-up name that you have no clue about what they do, well that telemarketing group could sell them even though they sold the design and creation of assembly lines for the manufacturing industry.

 

[michael hagerty]

But c'mon, couldn't any station with a functioning production room could do this in-house and cut out the middleman? There were stations that directly sold PSA sponsorships for a basement rate. All anyone had to do is not turn the PSA into a full blown advertising spot.

It doesn't have to be something every station needs---just some. In an era where remaining staff wears five hats, taking the PSA load off the midday jock who does production and also voices overnights might be a selling point. And for the really small station where the owner/GM is doing it, he/she might resent having to spend time recording stuff that doesn't make him/her money.

 

[The Prototype]

They sold the hell out of everything, I'll grant you that.

But did anyone actually LISTEN to the stations?

Outside of the people trying to sell their random crap on Trading Post, who actually had their radios tuned to these places?

I remember the sales people bragging that Trading Post was the most listened to thing on KTJJ...and you could see the seeds of the ultimate destruction planted right there.

If that's your best listened to hour--you have deep, systemic problems, and they were never corrected.

If you're going to compete with stations in St. Louis, you don't run remote breaks of seven minutes, which KTJJ did on a regular basis.

You don't run 26 minutes of political ads, which I had to cram into one hour prior to a high school football game one Friday.

I remember giving tours in Farmington to Cub Scout Troops, and their parents had never heard of either station.

I remember our sports department cutting up these football player tributes, with a bunch of jocks spouting off about how great they were.

Sure they were sold--but what was the point?

Your point about the banquets are interesting...on KTJJ they used to be carried live, until one year when the wrestlers were caught making lewd comments about the volleyball girls, which got reported back to parents, which meant all hell broke loose.

 

[The Prototype]

And speaking of which--assuming whatever sales staff is left, who is going to write, and produce, and log, all their spots if there are few,, if any folks left in the building?

When I was there, KTJJ had five vehicles which were contained in a huge garage--what happens to those with no staff to drive them anywhere?

That KTJJ facility is huge...had to be at least three production rooms, and a desk and computer for everybody...what happens to all those work stations?

What happens on election nights, if you have no news division?

 

[PTBoardOp93]

And speaking of which--assuming whatever sales staff is left, who is going to write, and produce, and log, all their spots if there are few,, if any folks left in the building?

Probably no change. Most of the radio chains have centralized production and traffic for their whole group into one office. There's no reason the person reading a spot has to be within 100 miles of the business being advertised.

When I was there, KTJJ had five vehicles which were contained in a huge garage--what happens to those with no staff to drive them anywhere?

They get sold (or returned off lease)

That KTJJ facility is huge...had to be at least three production rooms, and a desk and computer for everybody...what happens to all those work stations?

They get sold.

What happens on election nights, if you have no news division?

Nothing. Election night coverage is one of those things the sales staff will no longer have available to sell.

 

[bturner1]

Earlier it was pointed out any station could do the same. They could but not as successfully as those telemarketers. The most attractive part is you don't have to lift a finger to get a check and some live copy to read. No sales commission, copywriting and production, no billing and hoping they'll mail a check. Just tell them you and wait for the money which was never massive but certainly a pleasant surprise for doing nothing.

 

[K.M. Richards]

We had those at my first station, too. The copy would have (sponsor name) about ten seconds in and then again at the end, and the easiest way to do that was to have a list of sponsors off to the side---check one off as you read it and next time, read the next sponsor.

It wasn't just small-market radio stations that did that. In 1971, KMPC in Los Angeles did the same thing, and the legendary Gary Owens didn't look ahead to see who the sponsor was, resulting in ...

Of course, that wasn't exactly the same as what we are discussing here. It used to be common practice for radio stations to dump all the regular produced spots on December 24 and 25 in favor of what you described so well, Mike. Copy book with generic seasonal greetings and holiday scenarios ... and when you got to the (sponsor name) you would either have that list of sponsors next to the copy book, or -- and I confirmed with G.O. a few years prior to his death that this is what actually happened on that fateful occasion -- look down at the log to see which sponsor you were reading the spot for. The traffic department scheduled as if the regular spots were going to play, so this was the only way to handle the Christmas replacements.

The real punch line was that, while most of us would have just been glad it was over and moved on, Gary (never one to miss a chance to be funny) had it dubbed from the logger reel to a cart and gleefully played it again, once per shift between Thanksgiving and Christmas for years afterwards.