Perception IS Reality

[AC Tones]

I pulled this quote from Carol Archer's "The Straight Skinny" this week. "Big brother" IS watching. WSMJ in Baltimore was one of the stations Allen Kepler referred to in Carol's piece:

"None of these stations were programmed by BA. All had strong local PDs who we actually looked to for advice as to what new music they were hearing – an interesting difference between perception and reality and the perpetual motion of negativity and myth," Kepler notes.

Now the REALITY: WSMJ was at one time locally-programmed by former PD Lori Lewis, but it was largely if not exclusively BA-programmed at the time of their flip, and that is a FACT that cannot be denied. I know because I was a regular listener. In early 2008, at a specific date I cannot recall, Lori moved from her longtime PM drive slot to middays to make room for Dave Koz's "Smooth Ride Home," which was followed by Maria Lopez and the rest of BA's typical lineup at the time. In fact, save for Lori's midday slot and Trish Hennessey's "Smooth Jazz Brunch," it was almost exclusively a BA product.

As I have said on this board before, Lori did a very respectable job and was a quick study for someone who had "Classic Rock" in her blood. I distinctly recall Lori pleading with her old WOCT listeners on the air (I was one of them) to give the new format (Smooth Jazz) a shot, and that it was something "new" for her too but that she was excited about the new challenge. I had regular e-mail contact with Lori during her stint at WSMJ. She embraced the Smooth Jazz format with enthusiasm and as a true professional. The fact that she is now being made a scapegoat for BA's flawed direction is unconscienable to me.

I can't speak for the other cities/stations mentioned in Carol's piece, but in the case of Baltimore, perception IS reality.

 

[majaman78]

I pulled this quote from Carol Archer's "The Straight Skinny" this week. "Big brother" IS watching. WSMJ in Baltimore was one of the stations Allen Kepler referred to in Carol's piece:

"None of these stations were programmed by BA. All had strong local PDs who we actually looked to for advice as to what new music they were hearing – an interesting difference between perception and reality and the perpetual motion of negativity and myth," Kepler notes.

Now the REALITY: WSMJ was at one time locally-programmed by former PD Lori Lewis, but it was largely if not exclusively BA-programmed at the time of their flip, and that is a FACT that cannot be denied. I know because I was a regular listener. In early 2008, at a specific date I cannot recall, Lori moved from her longtime PM drive slot to middays to make room for Dave Koz's "Smooth Ride Home," which was followed by Maria Lopez and the rest of BA's typical lineup at the time. In fact, save for Lori's midday slot and Trish Hennessey's "Smooth Jazz Brunch," it was almost exclusively a BA product.

As I have said on this board before, Lori did a very respectable job and was a quick study for someone who had "Classic Rock" in her blood. I distinctly recall Lori pleading with her old WOCT listeners on the air (I was one of them) to give the new format (Smooth Jazz) a shot, and that it was something "new" for her too but that she was excited about the new challenge. I had regular e-mail contact with Lori during her stint at WSMJ. She embraced the Smooth Jazz format with enthusiasm and as a true professional. The fact that she is now being made a scapegoat for BA's flawed direction is unconscienable to me.

I can't speak for the other cities/stations mentioned in Carol's piece, but in the case of Baltimore, perception IS reality.

Just like WQCD in New York. Go look at the BA bio I linked in another post, they consulted them in the past.

Wasn't a "true" BA product because they used home grown personalities...but was truly influenced by BA consulting "strategy". Did anybody here ever listen to them the final few years?

They sucked.

They did attempt chill, though. Too bad they incorporated it into dreaded BA playlists.

Hey Emmis...how did those consultants work out for you in the end? Did you get what you paid for?

 

[cklw800]

Majaman and AC, points well taken. Your comments have opened up the door for Mr. Eduardo to comment, so I won't comment...just acknowledge. We have to admit it, he knows it all, and lets you know it. And I, personaly, am very humbled by his comments. It's a comfortable, warm, fuzzy feeling knowing he'll school us on everything we need to know. Majaman, you say you know for a FACT...well, wait until DE chimes in and he'll show YOU! He knows more. He's checking historical data as we speak and should be here shortly.

 

[davideduardo]

Just like WQCD in New York. Go look at the BA bio I linked in another post, they consulted them in the past.

Waaaaay in the past. In fact, BA had nothing to do with the Emmis ownership era, which began 12 years ago.

Wasn't a "true" BA product because they used home grown personalities...but was truly influenced by BA consulting "strategy". Did anybody here ever listen to them the final few years?

That would be 1995, 1996. Who remembers what a station sounded like, in detail, over a dozen years ago?

They sucked.

Why do you say they sucked back in the mid-90's?

They did attempt chill, though. Too bad they incorporated it into dreaded BA playlists.

When Emmis tried the Chill experiment, BA had not been involved for years and years and years.

Hey Emmis...how did those consultants work out for you in the end? Did you get what you paid for?

Emmis did not use BA, Tribune did. And Tribune sold to Emmis in '97.

WQCD might have made it had they been with BA.

 

[davideduardo]

I know because I was a regular listener. In early 2008, at a specific date I cannot recall, Lori moved from her longtime PM drive slot to middays to make room for Dave Koz's "Smooth Ride Home," which was followed by Maria Lopez and the rest of BA's typical lineup at the time. In fact, save for Lori's midday slot and Trish Hennessey's "Smooth Jazz Brunch," it was almost exclusively a BA product.

The station flipped to its current format and the WCHH calls in Mid-2008, so you could not have listend for long. The recession was "on" then, and despite what ammounted to a few months of cost savings with BA networking, the need for a demographically motivated moved was still there; the 25-54 had been in decline for a long time, and they were unwilling to give the BA offering time to change the demo profile.

 

[Double D]

I had a hard time finding my earlier post on this forum as it relates to this discussion (the "show the last posts of this person" feature here is not working) , but I did finally find it...

My correspondence with Steve occurred immediately following my return from Panama City Beach FL vacation, during which time I listened to the JSJ affiliate 105.1 WASJ. I was curious and disappointed as to why WJZI-FM sounded so poor in comparison to WASJ.

Excerpt...

"In talking to Steve Scott, PD @ WJZI back in '03, he stated emphatically that management was very "dedicated" to the heavily researched format (BA was the "consultant"), preferring to abide by the "focus group" model.

My point to him was (which he agreed with), if these so called "focus groups" are never exposed (by the "researchers") to good songs (which he acknowledged they are not), how will they ever know the difference?

Steve wanted to incorporate more variety, but was instead shown the door."

WJZI's PD Steve Scott Shown The Door in Favor Of BA Consultancy

Although this example is now several years old, it shows the "rigidity of mindset" between Kepler/BA and station management (who unfortunately consumed the BA Kool-Aid).

This example would also contradict Keplers latest "it isn't my fault" pabulum he is spewing!!

DD

 

[AC Tones]

I know because I was a regular listener. In early 2008, at a specific date I cannot recall, Lori moved from her longtime PM drive slot to middays to make room for Dave Koz's "Smooth Ride Home," which was followed by Maria Lopez and the rest of BA's typical lineup at the time. In fact, save for Lori's midday slot and Trish Hennessey's "Smooth Jazz Brunch," it was almost exclusively a BA product.

The station flipped to its current format and the WCHH calls in Mid-2008, so you could not have listend for long. The recession was "on" then, and despite what ammounted to a few months of cost savings with BA networking, the need for a demographically motivated moved was still there; the 25-54 had been in decline for a long time, and they were unwilling to give the BA offering time to change the demo profile.

Wrong again, David. If you had read my entire post you would have noticed me refer to 104.3FM's old call letters "WOCT." You see, as a Baltimore native, I have followed the station going back to the old B-104 days with "Brian and O'Brien" and "Willie B". So please don't try to educate me about Baltimore radio. I listened to the station and Lori Lewis even before they flipped to WSMJ in 2004, and listened for its entire tenure on the air until Clear Channel decided to abruptly roll out Christmas music one afternoon in June 2008, a slap in the face to the few loyal listeners who were holding on for dear life even with BA's product---YES, let me repeat that FACT---BA's product. Admittedly, I could not bear to listen to BA's version of WSMJ for any more than a set or two, so at that point I was streaming Jones (WQJZ) at 32 kbps pretty much full time.

My hope is Lori Lewis reads Carol's column this week and sets the record straight. BTW, welcome back DD!!! Great to see you again, brother!

 

[davideduardo]

Wrong again, David. If you had read my entire post you would have noticed me refer to 104.3FM's old call letters "WOCT." You see, as a Baltimore native, I have followed the station going back to the old B-104 days with "Brian and O'Brien" and "Willie B". So please don't try to educate me about Baltimore radio.

Reread the thread one level up. I responded to your specific comment about disliking the station when the BA SJ Network shows came on; since the flip occured only a few months later to another format, you could not have listened for long. Nobody could have... the BA shows did not last long enough.

 

[AC Tones]

Wrong again, David. If you had read my entire post you would have noticed me refer to 104.3FM's old call letters "WOCT." You see, as a Baltimore native, I have followed the station going back to the old B-104 days with "Brian and O'Brien" and "Willie B". So please don't try to educate me about Baltimore radio.

Reread the thread one level up. I responded to your specific comment about disliking the station when the BA SJ Network shows came on; since the flip occured only a few months later to another format, you could not have listened for long. Nobody could have... the BA shows did not last long enough.

Post #17000 was yet another diversion from the FACT. Was WSMJ BA-programmed at one time or was it not? It's a simple question with a simple answer...YES And what we don't know is the kind of pressure/influence the intelligent posters spoke of that Lori was under before the hammer came down. Only Lori can answer that.

 

[davideduardo]

"In talking to Steve Scott, PD @ WJZI back in '03, he stated emphatically that management was very "dedicated" to the heavily researched format (BA was the "consultant"), preferring to abide by the "focus group" model.

My point to him was (which he agreed with), if these so called "focus groups" are never exposed (by the "researchers") to good songs (which he acknowledged they are not), how will they ever know the difference?

I think it's appropriate in a thread that has BA blamed for Emmis's decade-plus operation of WQCD and where conclusions are made on a few month's of SJ Network on a failing radio station in Baltimore to clarify, again, radio research.

First, brand new unheard and unplayed songs are never tested for any format. Songs are added to a format based on the programmers' guidance, and researched much later. Songs that are unfamiliar can not be researched.

Music is not tested using "focus groups." A focus group is used for perceptual research, and has the general structure of a chat between 8 to 12 persons and a moderator.

A music test is quantitative, not qualitative. It consists of playing segments, called "hooks," of songs that are played as well as ones that may be known, but not currently in play. Listeners, particularly in the BA system, use electronic dials to score each song sample on a scale of 1 to 100.

The people hearing the samples are recruited to represent users of the particular station being researched and, many times, persons who like a particular music genre even if they don't use one specific station. The sample is balanced on things like age, gender, etc. within the limits of the core appeal of a format and the sales target desired.

The results are viewable on all kinds of subsets, ranging from those who listen many hours a week to those who listen less, age, gender, to factor analysis derived clusters of preference subsets.

Steve wanted to incorporate more variety, but was instead shown the door."

"Variety" is perceived by the non-radio person to mean "lots of songs." Variety to a radio person is seen, after years of experience, to really mean "only my very favorite songs." So variety is achieved by playing only those songs most of the audience agrees are big favorites. This is why 80-song list CHRs generally get higher variety attributions than stations with bigger lists, and stations playing too much new music or too many deep cuts flunk the variety test horrendously.

Although this example is now several years old, it shows the "rigidity of mindset" between Kepler/BA and station management (who unfortunately consumed the BA Kool-Aid).

When a few decades of talking to listeners via various kinds of research shows there to be no viable exceptions to rules created by these projects, one can and should become rigid. Like "Stop on the red light" there are no exceptions.

Adding new music is not a question of putting on hundreds or even dozens of new cuts; its about adding a few cuts a month and letting them settle in before adding more.

 

[davideduardo]

Was WSMJ BA-programmed at one time or was it not? It's a simple question with a simple answer...YES

Yes, but for just a few months in 2008 during the start of the nation's worst recession ever, concluding in a change of format to a younger leaning one. The changes were nmo doubt motivated by the approach of PPM measurement in the market.

 

[Double D]

BTW, welcome back DD!!! Great to see you again, brother!

You too Chris!! It has been a while since I've posted here!

Have I missed anything exciting?

DD

PS "The .wav" has never sounded better, my friend!! Many thanks, and be sure keep up the outstanding work!! I don't know what I'd do without my daily "The .wav" fix!!

 

[cklw800]

See?