Pittsburgh Area Community Radio

[Radio_Realist]

Renda has done a great job with those stations!

I've never been in range of 106.3 to listen to it, but it strikes me as quite a stretch to consider subscribing to a canned format (Sam) as "doing a great job". I don't doubt that the station is profitable, and that is a very important thing. But running a canned format like Sam is the radio equivalent of closing a local Italian restaurant and then reopening it as an Olive Garden franchise.

Not that there's anything wrong with franchised restaurants. If you want no culinary surprises, just some safe, pleasant, and predictable food in a pleasant and predictable setting, then go to a franchise chain restaurant. If you want safe, predictable radio with no surprises, then tune in a franchised chain radio station.

But please, don't put someone who replaced a bona-fide local station with franchised blandness on any sort of pedestal as having accomplished something noteworthy. How can anyone consider simply filling in the blanks on a franchised format's style sheet as doing a "great job"?

With every replacement of real local radio with franchise radio like Sam, Bob, or Jack, the industry is moving another step closer to the return of network radio with the exact same programming carried nationwide with nothing local but some commercial slots dropped in.

 

[lash]

Bona-fide local station? Where you been? That frequency was owned by WAMO, and was a simulcast. Renda bought it, and morphed it into SAM. While it is a canned format, the stuff they do on top of it are well done, and local for Greensburg and Westmoreland County.

On December 11th, I'll once again be speaking to the FCC during a forum concerning big media, being held in Nashville, and how it has hurt the radio industry. I once again look forward to presenting testimony on how independent local radio, owners, and cities and communities have suffered, and what can be done to change it.

CC and their recent buyout has added fuel to the fire. Keeping companies like this and the many others at bay with buying yet more properties to destroy will once again be a goal of this forum and others held around the country.

 

[kenhawk1160]

On December 11th, I'll once again be speaking to the FCC during a forum concerning big media, being held in Nashville, and how it has hurt the radio industry. I once again look forward to presenting testimony on how independent local radio, owners, and cities and communities have suffered, and what can be done to change it.

CC and their recent buyout has added fuel to the fire. Keeping companies like this and the many others at bay with buying yet more properties to destroy will once again be a goal of this forum and others held around the country.

Chris, good luck. You say nobody listened when you presented your case on low-power FM's more than a year ago, but they're sure listening now! Doing anything about it, though, remains to be seen.

 

[kenhawk1160]

I've never been in range of 106.3 to listen to it, but it strikes me as quite a stretch to consider subscribing to a canned format (Sam) as "doing a great job". I don't doubt that the station is profitable, and that is a very important thing. But running a canned format like Sam is the radio equivalent of closing a local Italian restaurant and then reopening it as an Olive Garden franchise.

Not that there's anything wrong with franchised restaurants. If you want no culinary surprises, just some safe, pleasant, and predictable food in a pleasant and predictable setting, then go to a franchise chain restaurant. If you want safe, predictable radio with no surprises, then tune in a franchised chain radio station.

But please, don't put someone who replaced a bona-fide local station with franchised blandness on any sort of pedestal as having accomplished something noteworthy. How can anyone consider simply filling in the blanks on a franchised format's style sheet as doing a "great job"?

With every replacement of real local radio with franchise radio like Sam, Bob, or Jack, the industry is moving another step closer to the return of network radio with the exact same programming carried nationwide with nothing local but some commercial slots dropped in.

Realist, all that's not "local" at SAM is the music outside of morning drive. John Longo once said about his own station (WCNS in Latrobe) that anyone can pop in an oldies CD and listen to it. But it's what his station does in between those songs that makes his unique. That's the case with any station.

In small market radio, it's local news, local sports, and local weather, along with interactive listener promotions that will make you win every time. If all you have to offer is music, of course you're going to get your butt whipped. Two of Renda's four stations in Indiana are satellite...and one of them was doing satellite from the very beginning in 1983 when broadcasters laughed at the idea of an AM station using a satellite service, claiming that satellite-delivered music worked only on FM. They turned a profit almost as soon as they were on the air.

They offered everything I just finished describing. And you know what? They're STILL a success!

Anyone who calls satellite technology safe, pleasant, and predictable, has not been listening to a station that's been doing it right. The only thing I would find "predictable" is where the spot breaks fall, if anything.

In your defense, the only place where I would say predictability should be kept to a minimum would be the morning show. I have always felt that a live drive-time local jock show in the morning should be a staple of every station.

 

[Radio_Realist]

And you know what? They're STILL a success!

I never said that running a franchised format station wouldn't make one a success. I only said that it made for bland, boring and predictable radio. When 60 minutes of a broadcast hours breaks down to a certain number of minutes of commercials and a certain number of minutes of songs at around 3 minutes each, that doesn't leave all that much time for any significant other local content. Ten seconds of "That was Cheap Trick here on Sam in Greensburg, where the skies are sunny" doesn't impress me greatly as significant "local content".

However, when compared to being a WAMO repeater, I imagine that is a small step forward. As I said, I'm not in a position to listen to the radio stations in Greensburg on my radio, so to me it's as remote a market as Lawrence, Kansas would be.

They turned a profit almost as soon as they were on the air.

We're talking apples and oranges here. I do not dispute that franchised formats, whether locally fulfilled or pulled down from a satellite, aren't profitable. I believe that canned, franchised formats, like franchised restaurants, are very profitable. If I were in a business simply to make a profit, I'd be running some sort of franchise.

Radio stations running franchised formats are good business. I accept that as an accurate statement. Radio stations running franchised formats are not exciting, compelling radio. I regard that as also being an accurate statement. Bland sells. Boring sells. Safe and predictable sells. Vanilla rules!

 

[lash]

So what is your local format? Here, you've been handed the PD reins of SAM in Greensburg.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Here, you've been handed the PD reins of SAM in Greensburg.

First, I'd hire the best, hungriest sales staff I could find. No matter what you put on the air, you can make a profit from it with a good sales staff.

Second, I'd interview every live venue club DJ who works in the Greater Greensburg area and find some who knew first hand what songs worked with Greensburg audiences, and what songs didn't. Then I'd put the best of the bunch on in PM drive, assuming he could also talk and be entertaining.

I'd find a morning team, or build one, and give them free rein. If they weren't good enough to handle being given a free rein, I wouldn't hire them. I'd encourage them to be outrageous, to take calls, do skits, and anything else they could think of to be entertaining. And I'd do research to find out what they were doing that worked, and encourage more of it, and what didn't work and I'd encourage less of it.

I'd have rookies and wannabes looking to break into radio working the graveyard shift for the smallest amount I could pay them. If any of them show promise, I'd work them into a better shift.

For daytime, I'd find someone who was housewife friendly, but not so Martha Stewart that guys driving around town wouldn't also like their show. I'd push the phone-in request line heavily, and honor as many requests as practical, with the requester getting on the air.

The post-drive evening slot would be a sports talk show, except when there was a local game to be broadcast. I'd go after any and all local sporting events I could get the rights to.

I would endeavour to get the largest library of popular songs that I could get my hands on, with the goal of having every song that ever charted at 25 or higher on the BillBoard pop charts in the years 1960 to 2005 in the station's library. Any listener who called in to request a song that fits that criteria that we didn't have in the library would win a prize. Every disc jockey would be expected to be reasonably familiar with most of what's in the library.

I'd hire the best song-picker I could find to come up with a solid 500 songs for heavy rotation, with 100 songs turning over every week to keep things fresh. Each disc jockey would be expected to program his own show from that list.

I'd also buy or build a remote studio rig like the old KQVehicle, and run remote broadcasts at as many venues as I could book. There wouldn't be an event in Greensburg that didn't have someone from the station there, live and on the air. Hell, I'd have a roving remote guy with a cell phone and mic interface hanging out at the Westmoreland Mall and other Greensburg hot spots (assuming there are some) doing man-on-the-street interviews all the time.

If there's a good live music venue in Greensburg, then I'd try to put together a Saturday Night live music show with local acts and with the station's DJ's hosting.

That might not be the best formula for achieving financial success. On the other hand, if all I cared about was making money, I would simply sell the radio station and buy a car dealership or a restaurant franchise. I can't understand why anyone would choose to own and operate a music format radio station if he didn't really love both radio and music. A radio station owner who doesn't really love music and care about it is as out of place as a vegetarian owning a steak house. If anyone's idea of running a local radio station is to run some franchised format with a few newscasts and consider that "local", then maybe that person is in the wrong business.

 

[lash]

Hmmm! Not bad! I'd leave this out however (live venue club DJ's) Unless you want it to be an oldies format. Their aren't a lot of venue club DJ's in the immediate Greensburg area. But legends like Charlie Apple etc. keep very busy each weekend.

 

[Radio_Realist]

Unless you want it to be an oldies format.

It would not be what anyone currently recognizes as "oldies", though it would be mostly "vintage" music. On further reflection, I would include both every song that ever went over 25 or higher on the singles charts and every album that ever charted over 25 on the album charts, with all cuts on those albums included in the "if someone asks for it, they'll get it" mix. I'd also have to put some sort of checks in place in case some fool 13 year old kid gets his buddies to barrage the station with gag requests.

Anyone looking to pigeonhole this hypothetical station into a neat little box would have trouble doing so. The music director and disc jockeys would be instructed to pick the songs or song sequences based on how the music sounds, not on when it was recorded.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Here, you've been handed the PD reins of SAM in Greensburg.

First, I'd hire the best, hungriest sales staff I could find. No matter what you put on the air, you can make a profit from it with a good sales staff.

Second, I'd interview every live venue club DJ who works in the Greater Greensburg area and find some who knew first hand what songs worked with Greensburg audiences, and what songs didn't. Then I'd put the best of the bunch on in PM drive, assuming he could also talk and be entertaining.

I'd find a morning team, or build one, and give them free rein. If they weren't good enough to handle being given a free rein, I wouldn't hire them. I'd encourage them to be outrageous, to take calls, do skits, and anything else they could think of to be entertaining. And I'd do research to find out what they were doing that worked, and encourage more of it, and what didn't work and I'd encourage less of it.

I'd have rookies and wannabes looking to break into radio working the graveyard shift for the smallest amount I could pay them. If any of them show promise, I'd work them into a better shift.

For daytime, I'd find someone who was housewife friendly, but not so Martha Stewart that guys driving around town wouldn't also like their show. I'd push the phone-in request line heavily, and honor as many requests as practical, with the requester getting on the air.

The post-drive evening slot would be a sports talk show, except when there was a local game to be broadcast. I'd go after any and all local sporting events I could get the rights to.

I would endeavour to get the largest library of popular songs that I could get my hands on, with the goal of having every song that ever charted at 25 or higher on the BillBoard pop charts in the years 1960 to 2005 in the station's library. Any listener who called in to request a song that fits that criteria that we didn't have in the library would win a prize. Every disc jockey would be expected to be reasonably familiar with most of what's in the library.

I'd hire the best song-picker I could find to come up with a solid 500 songs for heavy rotation, with 100 songs turning over every week to keep things fresh. Each disc jockey would be expected to program his own show from that list.

I'd also buy or build a remote studio rig like the old KQVehicle, and run remote broadcasts at as many venues as I could book. There wouldn't be an event in Greensburg that didn't have someone from the station there, live and on the air. Hell, I'd have a roving remote guy with a cell phone and mic interface hanging out at the Westmoreland Mall and other Greensburg hot spots (assuming there are some) doing man-on-the-street interviews all the time.

If there's a good live music venue in Greensburg, then I'd try to put together a Saturday Night live music show with local acts and with the station's DJ's hosting.

That might not be the best formula for achieving financial success. On the other hand, if all I cared about was making money, I would simply sell the radio station and buy a car dealership or a restaurant franchise. I can't understand why anyone would choose to own and operate a music format radio station if he didn't really love both radio and music. A radio station owner who doesn't really love music and care about it is as out of place as a vegetarian owning a steak house. If anyone's idea of running a local radio station is to run some franchised format with a few newscasts and consider that "local", then maybe that person is in the wrong business.

It's definitely a good idea, Realist...I won't argue with you there. I'd say good luck with finding a "hungry" sales staff, though...it's tough to find people like that nowadays. Most stations are having a hard time finding sales reps these days that are willing to work that hard.

I do think you're wrong however, on this point, though:

"If anyone's idea of running a local radio station is to run some franchised format with a few newscasts and consider that "local", then maybe that person is in the wrong business."

If given a choice, we'd all prefer to have live jocks like we did back in the good ol' days. But this is the business model we can't turn our backs on anymore for two main reasons... a) there's more competition among us than ever. and b) the local economy around here has dwindled to the point where the retail districts are composed of big-box stores, rather than the mom-and-pop small businesses of yore. Those big-box retailers seldom do radio, and if they do, it's on the networks, not locally. It's trying to survive in this business by doing more with less...and it's a concept that's not just isolated to radio, but other industries as well.

The "big" small markets aren't so big anymore. You had Greensburg, New Kensington, New Castle, Connellsville and other towns like them that had a full contingency of live and local on-air people. Twenty years ago, those towns were at least double the size of what they are now, and had the ability to support a staff like that.

As for dropping in a few local newscasts, I will agree with you and say that more has to be done with that if you're using a franchised format. You would need to air local news every hour at least during the daytime hours to have any impact. You would also need to have local high school sports, and other sports you might not be able to get in Pittsburgh so easily. The Altoona Curve for example, PAYS affiliates to carry their games. Why not air those? Your average sports fan who prefers college football over the pros might find it more palatable than Major League Baseball.

Plus, creative promotions are a must. Win Win promotions is an excellent vehicle for finding cool prizes that listeners want. We use them for our own giveaways in Butler, and Renda in Indiana does the same thing, as does WLTJ in Pittsburgh, if I'm not mistaken. All you have to do is run sponsor mentions. You can get cookbooks, kids' toys, food products, and more. All you have to do is build a successful campaign around the inventory they give you...and they can even show you how to do that if you need fresh ideas.

But getting back to your idea, I say it's worth a try...if money isn't a problem during the overall trial period. If it is, then that's a hurdle you may not overcome...at least easily.

 

[kenhawk1160]

Hmmm! Not bad! I'd leave this out however (live venue club DJ's) Unless you want it to be an oldies format. Their aren't a lot of venue club DJ's in the immediate Greensburg area. But legends like Charlie Apple etc. keep very busy each weekend.

This is true...and a lot of those guys are a tad biased, as well. They may have their club crowd (especially if they're older) follow them to the dial and clog the request lines.

 

[Radio_Realist]

If given a choice, we'd all prefer to have live jocks like we did back in the good ol' days. But this is the business model we can't turn our backs on anymore for two main reasons...

My whole point was that if you have to operate a small, independent business in a manner that isn't really the way that you want to run that business, then maybe the changes in how the business works should inspire you to switch to a different business.

If you want to operate a business that employs live entertainers, like radio DJ's, but the radio business doesn't let you do that, then maybe you should switch to running a night club or some other business.

 

[kenhawk1160]

My whole point was that if you have to operate a small, independent business in a manner that isn't really the way that you want to run that business, then maybe the changes in how the business works should inspire you to switch to a different business.

If you want to operate a business that employs live entertainers, like radio DJ's, but the radio business doesn't let you do that, then maybe you should switch to running a night club or some other business.

I'd agree with you if I was riveted to the philosophy that radio needs local on-site jocks to be successful. We've already seen proof that it doesn't. Every industry needs to change with the times and evolve, otherwise it's going to be dead. Are you also going to say that because Chrysler uses robot technology instead of line workers at its Brampton, Ontario assembly plant, then they should switch to making something else?

 

[Radio_Realist]

I'd agree with you if I was riveted to the philosophy that radio needs local on-site jocks to be successful.

You're still missing my point. It's not about whether or not a radio station is "successful". It's about whether or not operating a radio station remains fun. If all you care about is whether or not you make a profit, then what difference does it make if you're running a radio station, a used car dealership, or a chain of laundromats? Business is business, right?

If you simply look at a radio station as a money machine, you can be "successful". But if all you're concerned about is running a successful business, why not switch to a business that's easier or more profitable?

It's like we're talking about two very different things. You talk about a radio station being "successful", I'm talking about a person being "successful". You're defining success as a station making money. I'm defining success as a person doing what the person wants to do. If the guy who launched this thread has fun and enjoys himself running a Part 15 station, then he is successful, even if he turns a large fortune into a small one. As I see it, if one enters the radio business because one wants to run a radio station and make the decisions on how it operates, but one has to hire someone else to do all the fun stuff in order to make a profit, then one's station may be a success, but the person is a failure.

Are you also going to say that because Chrysler uses robot technology instead of line workers at its Brampton, Ontario assembly plant, then they should switch to making something else?

Absolutely not, because Chrysler is a large corporation, not an independent entrepreneur. Corporations exist for the sole purpose of making money. Individual human beings should exist for something beyond that. My diatribes about individual businessmen sticking with an industry where they can no longer do what made them enter the industry in the first place is something totally different from corporate philosophies.

In fact, I would submit that an independent entrepreneur who got into the radio business because he wanted to earn a living doing the things that independent radio station operators used to do would be likely to sell his broadcasting business to a corporation if the industry had so changed that it no longer offered the gratification that it used to.

I guess it all comes down to how one defines oneself. If one defines oneself as a broadcaster, if the business changes to the point where one can no longer be a broadcaster, but instead must be nothing more than a bean counter, one is in the wrong business. On the other hand, if one defines oneself as a businessman who simply happens to be in the radio business, then no change in the model of a successful radio business would have much impact on one's interest in remaining in the industry.

This principle applies to a wide variety of industries and professions. I knew an old guy who was a pharmacist for years, but when changes in the industry meant that he switched from mixing ingredients to make medicines to simply counting out pills and operating a general variety store, he changed careers. I've known more than a few people who told me that they switched careers away from nursing when their jobs changed from mostly providing patient care to mostly being a file clerk.

I had an uncle who walked away from a career as an airline pilot when he had to switch from flying an airplane to simply driving an airliner (that's how he expressed the change). He continued to fly as a hobby until he got too old, but he switched to a totally different career.

On the other hand, I know far more people who hate what they do for a living because it has changed so much from what it was when they started, but they'd rather be miserable than risk making a change in their lives.

 

[kenhawk1160]

You're still missing my point. It's not about whether or not a radio station is "successful". It's about whether or not operating a radio station remains fun.

All right, Realist. I'll go with that. But who says you need jocks on-site to have fun? Who says you can't achieve those same results by adjusting the business model, and not changing it completely? All a syndicated format provides are music and jocks. It's what you do between those songs that will make your station unique.

You can still do remotes, contest giveaways, and still have local talent, though they may not be "jocks" in the traditional sense, but rather staff announcers, which are more valuable to the industry, because they're capable of doing more than talking between records and producing commercials.

I got into this business in the summer of 1988 as a part-time jock at an AM in Kittanning that had just been granted nighttime power, thus creating my job. All I wanted to be was a jock until I saw the direction the industry was heading, and that didn't call for live local jocks anymore. So I had to find another way to stay in the business. I sharpened my skills and adapted to "survive" in the business.

Truth be told, I sometimes miss the good ol' days...but despite how much radio has changed in almost two decades, it's still fun! One thing that still hasn't changed is that in small market, you can introduce yourself to someone and they will likely say "I hear you on the radio all the time" as soon as you say your name. I don't even have to say what station I'm with. The fact that there's someone out there listening to my newscasts makes it all worthwhile. [/quote]

 

[lash]

Ok, now I'm scared! I was turned on to a part 15/internet station broadcasting in HD in Charleston, SC. I can't turn it off!

www.surfside1640.com

This is indeed my idea of music on AM! Perhaps even pulling a younger demo.

Great radio, I mean inter, wait, I mean.....whatever it is, its good!

 

[Radio_Realist]

Not to beat a dead horse, but how can music be really "good" in monaural sound, limited bandwidth, and with static?

 

[lash]

Its called HD. That's why I highlighted this South Carolina part 15 AM.

Listen to this station's amazing sounding stream!

 

[Radio_Realist]

Listen to this station's amazing sounding stream!

I was referring to the actual AM broadcast signal. The next AM station that I hear on my radio on which music sounds good will be the first.

And, with dial-up internet access, I doubt if their streaming will sound very good on my system. Though I do not doubt that if you have a high-bandwidth internet connection and expensive speakers, then it will sound quite good.

 

[Radio_Realist]

One other thing. I was referring to the techincal quality of AM radio, not the efforts of people who decide what to put on the air, nor the talents of on-air staff.

I say the same thing about 78 rpm records played on a wind-up Victrola. It's not the musicians' fault they sound the way that they do, it's the technology.