Praise Morey! Terrestrial Radio Saved! (Could it happen here?)

[eGillCVI]

Get ready to laugh. A group called The Morey Organization (TMO) thinks they've found a revolutionary new way to run radio stations and that every radio company will eventually adopt their business plan. They call it "FM Channel Casting."

If you're drinking something as you read, cover your nose when you get to the part where TMO's president has the audacity to say: "I truly believe that TMO has revolutionized the industry and saved terrestrial radio." I believe what he's going for was "I truly hope that TMO has revolutionized the industry..." Because if he's wrong (and I think he is), he'll be out of a gig sooner rather than later.

Oh, PS- If he is right, then every jock across the country had better learn a trade because part of "FM Channel Casting" is firing every jock in existence.

Check out the article. It's a hoot: <a href="http://www.kurthanson.com/archive/news/091305/index.asp">TMO Saves Radio!</a href>

 

[pab]

> Oh, PS- If he is right, then every jock across the country
> had better learn a trade because part of "FM Channel
> Casting" is firing every jock in existence.

Has any of these people ever listened to satellite radio? The appeal is not only that it's really commercial free, but (a) broader variety of music, and (b) REAL personalities. Cousin Brucie, Pat St. John, Ray Rossi, and other people get a chance to be themselves on satellite.

It's fun to listen to music on satellite, something that it hasn't been in Philadelphia terrestrial for quite some time. With notable exceptions, of course.
<P ID="signature">______________
The Pab Sungenis Project - http://www.lowbudgetradio.com</P>

 

[1290wgli]

> Get ready to laugh. A group called The Morey Organization
> (TMO) thinks they've found a revolutionary new way to run
> radio stations and that every radio company will eventually
> adopt their business plan. They call it "FM Channel
> Casting."
>
> If you're drinking something as you read, cover your nose
> when you get to the part where TMO's president has the
> audacity to say: "I truly believe that TMO has
> revolutionized the industry and saved terrestrial radio." I
> believe what he's going for was "I truly hope that TMO has
> revolutionized the industry..." Because if he's wrong (and
> I think he is), he'll be out of a gig sooner rather than
> later.
>
> Oh, PS- If he is right, then every jock across the country
> had better learn a trade because part of "FM Channel
> Casting" is firing every jock in existence.
>
> Check out the article. It's a hoot: TMO Saves Radio!
>

From a sales standpoint, one has to wonder about impressions. Nobody wants to talk about the impact the 3rd spot in a 5 spot cluster has. One of the benefits here for the advertiser (which is what it's ALL about) is that they are the lone wolf. If the mention is quick enough (and blends in well enough) that the listener doesn't dial out, there *may* be something here. The big question is revenue, one advertiser per hour vs 10-12 or more. The $7 per hour the jock makes doesn't make up for the rest of that.

 

[KeithThompson]

Payola Radio

This is an interesting idea from a programming perspective but it sounds like a flawed one from a sales revenue standpoint.

The main selling point of this programming idea is music branding with advertisers attaching themselves onto the music brand instead aiming ads at a broad targeted audience. I would think that the advertisers most interested in this kind of programming model are record companies who would pay for specific time periods to get airplay for their artists, which reduces this programming model to legal payola.


> Get ready to laugh. A group called The Morey Organization
> (TMO) thinks they've found a revolutionary new way to run
> radio stations and that every radio company will eventually
> adopt their business plan. They call it "FM Channel
> Casting."
>
> If you're drinking something as you read, cover your nose
> when you get to the part where TMO's president has the
> audacity to say: "I truly believe that TMO has
> revolutionized the industry and saved terrestrial radio." I
> believe what he's going for was "I truly hope that TMO has
> revolutionized the industry..." Because if he's wrong (and
> I think he is), he'll be out of a gig sooner rather than
> later.
>
> Oh, PS- If he is right, then every jock across the country
> had better learn a trade because part of "FM Channel
> Casting" is firing every jock in existence.
>
> Check out the article. It's a hoot: TMO Saves Radio!
>

 

[Slinky]

> Get ready to laugh. A group called The Morey Organization
> (TMO) thinks they've found a revolutionary new way to run
> radio stations and that every radio company will eventually
> adopt their business plan. They call it "FM Channel
> Casting."

You have to give them credit for trying something new, but I think the execution is terribly flawed. Some of this is revolutionary, some of it is a cost-cutting move, and some of it is just plain stupid.

The positives:

- "Sponsored" hours with 10-second spots instead of traditional commercials. This is good for both advertisers and listeners. Advertisers finally have a way to stop listeners from tuning out, and also assure that they're the ONLY commercial message on the station for hours. There's no more getting lost in the clutter, and advertisers should be willing to pay a premium for that. It's Clear Channel's "Less is More" strategy to an extreme. Also, you need a lot fewer salespeople when you've only got one advertiser per hour.

- The "Neo-Breeze" format. I hate the name, but the music sounds nice. It's "chill" music, which, outside of a few <a href=http://www.blu1029.com/>stations</a>, hasn't gotten much exposure. Definitely different, and if there's a format that should be automated with few interruptions, it's this one.

The negatives:

- The other formats, Rock and CHR, are not going to sound good without personalities, especially when there are direct competitors with established ones. Too many people have jumped to the conclusion that the "Jack" format means DJ's are no longer necessary. The Jack format works because it's completely unique. A station can't just take one element of Jack and expect to clone its success. What would have been really refreshing is Morey coming right out and saying "We're in a small-market, we can't afford to pay a staff", instead of calling themselves revolutionary.

- The satellite-like nature of the stations isn't going to stop people from getting satellite. Similarly, people aren't going to turn off their iPods just because there's a new station that doesn't play commercials. You buy satellite or an iPod and you have endless choice of music. You listen to Morey's stations, and you have a choice of uh, 3. You can't beat satellite at it's own game.

- The imaging. Calling all three stations "Channel" is not strong branding. Even the satellite companies know that uniqueness in branding is key to a station's image. That's why you have "Ethel 47" instead of "Alternative, Channel 47" and "BPM 81" instead of "Dance Hits, Channel 81".

 

[Jim_Hicks]

This entire idea is neither new nor revolutionary.

This is how radio "ads" were sold from the very beginning. At first, department stores owned major stations. Lit Bros. did NOT sell ads to Strawbridge! The big bands, Glen Miller, Dorsey, etc., were sold as programs to a single sponsor, like Chesterfield cigs, who got mentions throughout the program. The soap operas? They were so named becaused they would be sponsored by a single soap company.

TV started the same way. Look at DVD's of some of the old shows, Red Skelton for example. Pet Evaporated Milk bought his show at one time. He started the first show they sponsored even wearing a night gown with PET written across the back. Milton Berl was Texaco. Oh, and how about the Metropolitan Opera, sponsored for decades by Texaco?

How about the old "Hallmark Theater"?

TV and radio dropped this idea because it brought in less revenue than selling 30" and 60" spots.

The channel idea? How old is that? WABC did it for a month or two, billing itself as "Channel 77". They stopped when NYC TV Channel 77 complained!

And jockless? Think "Ben". Think "Jack."

None of these ideas, either separate or combined, are new, exciting, or enough to save radio. Apparently these people know nothing of radio history and were unemployed. All they are trying to save is their combined radio skins!


> Get ready to laugh. A group called The Morey Organization
> (TMO) thinks they've found a revolutionary new way to run
> radio stations and that every radio company will eventually
> adopt their business plan. They call it "FM Channel
> Casting."
>
> If you're drinking something as you read, cover your nose
> when you get to the part where TMO's president has the
> audacity to say: "I truly believe that TMO has
> revolutionized the industry and saved terrestrial radio." I
> believe what he's going for was "I truly hope that TMO has
> revolutionized the industry..." Because if he's wrong (and
> I think he is), he'll be out of a gig sooner rather than
> later.
>
> Oh, PS- If he is right, then every jock across the country
> had better learn a trade because part of "FM Channel
> Casting" is firing every jock in existence.
>
> Check out the article. It's a hoot: TMO Saves Radio!
>
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Jim_Hicks on 09/15/05 04:36 PM.</FONT></P>