QUESTION AND COMMENTS FOR ROBERT BASS

[RADIO TRUTH]

First, I want to say that I am going to continue to be critical of Dallas radio but, don't think that my criticism for current radio just applies to Dallas. In my opinion, versus the 1960s, radio is pretty sad everywhere with the exception of some cutting edge stuff on the internet. Current radio is no better in New York, L. A. or Atlanta either. Historically, I will stand by my statement that not much dj talent has come out of Dallas but, that is not why I'm writing this. I think it is very positive that KEOM trains young kids to work in radio but, this brings up a few questions. How many of these kids in the program actually want to work in radio and how many are just doing it for credit or because they think it is cool? Do you tell the kids that want a future in radio that the industry is contracting rather than expanding and that major companies like Clear Channel are laying off as many people as possible to help Clear Channel's bottom line? Do you tell the kids that more and more dayparts in major markets are now being voicetracked and salaries in radio versus the value of the dollar, are going down? Do these kids have realistic expectations of what the world in broadcasting, from an employment perspective, will be like? I, also, have a few suggestions for KEOM that I think would make the station better for Dallas. Instead of playing 70s music, play 50s and 60s top 40 hits because there is no over-the-air radio station playing this music and you would be providing a valuable service by making 50s and 60s music available locally on a regular basis. Increase the audio processing. The station needs more compression and some plate reverb in the audio chain would be very nice. Remember, young kids do not have developed vocal chords and some reverb will make them sound bigger and add some density to your sound. As people get older, they gain bottom in the voices as their vocal chords thicken but, reverb would help these young kids to sound less young. Structure the format where the kids do more adlibing and less reading. It would sound less mechanical and the kids could experiment with being personalities. You can't learn to be a personality and think for yourself unless you practice doing it and these kids have to start somewhere and I think that KEOM should be a training ground to teach kids personality radio. Anyway, I will be curious to see your response. Thank you.....

 

[Robert Bass]

Regarding all your questions about the student DJ program: You need to call the station and speak with our GM, Dr. James Griffin. KEOM's phone # is 972-882-7560. As I have stated before, I am not personally involved with the student DJ portion of our program. This is because my workday starts in the late afternoon, and continues through the evening. Essentially the students have already passed throgh for the day.

Regarding KEOM's processing: It is our CE's belief that it is better to preserve as much of the natural sound, as possible. Therefor, we use far less processing than most other stations. This is a belief that our GM shares, as well as myself. It makes the station more listenable as compared with an over-compressed station. Personally, I can't stand reverb! But that is a call for our CE and GM to make..

Regarding our music programmiing: Ultimately that is Dr. Griffin's decision, which he bases on our Arbitron ratings. Presently the ratings are showing an overall aging of our audience. In my opinion, adding 50's and 60's music would be a step backwards. Expect an evolvement to 70's and 80's, in the not too distant future.

R

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

I was under the impression that you ran the station so I guess you can't answer my questions. In regard to the age of the music, why should ratings matter? This is a non-commercial high school station. I think it is a better use of a public frequency to fill an unfilled void in the market musically and this means playing the 50s and 60s. The age of the audience should not matter. Serving the public should matter.

 

[1Letterman]

I was under the impression that you ran the station so I guess you can't answer my questions. In regard to the age of the music, why should ratings matter? This is a non-commercial high school station. I think it is a better use of a public frequency to fill an unfilled void in the market musically and this means playing the 50s and 60s. The age of the audience should not matter. Serving the public should matter.

If you know the ratings and demographics, wouldn't that make it easier to determine how much of the public you are serving, and who they are to some extent?

And, if your ratings are higher rather than lower, wouldn't it indicate you are serving more people?

And, if content (in terms of the importance of what you are communicating--not necessarily the popularity) determines service rather than ratings, wouldn't it still be nice to know how many people are listening?

And, if you're going to train young men and women to enter the bleak and harrowing world of radio that you describe, isn't a ratings book against the professionals a good measuring stick for this herculean task of making it in radio?

And, if so, wouldn't you want them to jump up over a very high measuring stick in order to make sure they are innately qualified to survive in the harsh and unforgiving world of radio? (Like ratings against the pros which you'd naturally want as high as possible to insure that students are as good as possible?)

And KEOM just flat out kicks butt to listen to. Period.

 

[little1]

? This is a non-commercial high school station. I think it is a better use of a public frequency to fill an unfilled void in the market musically and this means playing the 50s and 60s.

But if you use that reasoning, aren't their even greater unfilled voids? Why not goo all-gregorian chants. All russian folk songs. Or get Moe's steel drum band out of retirement and go all steel drum, all the time...(That would be my positioner, that or 'the best steel drum music of the cara-be-in, ca-rib-e-in and today)

 

[Robert Bass]

Oh lord there are a TON of format voids in Dallas alone. AAA, Dance and SMOOTH JAZZ, are just just a few.

I can hear it all now... "All Polka, All The Time... This is KEOM!"

I know I'll have a nightmare about this tonight.

And no, I don't run the entire station. I just handle the music, transcribe syndicated shows, jock most of afternoon drive and produce our sports broadcasts. The station itself is owned and operated by the Mesquite ISD.

R

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

The point is that a radio station license is a public trust and the music of the 70s is already being heard elsewhere in the market. The most mass appeal music not being heard in the market is 50s and 60s top forty hits. There is a great format void that KEOM could fill for that. Also, you contradicted yourself. You say ratings, mean something to the operation of the station, yet you have almost non-existent audio processing when the highest rated stations in any radio market used heavily processed audio. How can you care about the demographics of your audience musically but, not care with your audio processing?

 

[little1]

Wait, are you saying that the highest rated is highest rated because it is heavily processed? If it was that easy, all it would take to be #1 is throw everything and the kitchen sink into the audio chain, right?

 

[JayDavis]

I for one would like to see later 70's music and 80's music played on KEOM. I asked that question in another thread, I just never found the answer from Robert.

I'm not EVEN listening to KVIL until after Christmas, so my choices are KEOM and WRR mainly with a light sampling of Mix 102.9 and JackFM and lastly The Bone..............

Lord have mercy, do I miss The Oasis!!

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

Addressing the above.....Heavy audio processing alone does not guarantee big numbers but, historically, over the last 40 years, most of the highest rated stations used a great of audio processing and the stations with the least audio processing did the worst.

As far as the guy missing the Oasis, buy an HD radio and suffer with limited range reception. KEOM needs more Doo Wop music, Motown, English Invasion, Surf Music and Rock-a-billy.

 

[Robert Bass]

Radio-Truth,

I really am beginning to suspect you are the poster who previously used the screen name Talk-Talk. You're making the same type of comments and not fully grasping the answers I am giving.

The music on KEOM serves as a hook, to keep listeners tuned in between the community service elements of the programming.

I made no such contradiction with regard to ratings vs. audio processing. That's like comparing apples to oranges. I said our ratings show our audience is getting older, not our ratings show our audience is getting older because of our audio processing. That is a rather absured approach to compare success. If you offer compelling programming, the listeners will come. It's all about content, not audio quality.

R

 

[Robert Bass]

I for one would like to see later 70's music and 80's music played on KEOM. I asked that question in another thread, I just never found the answer from Robert.

Sorry you missed it, Jay. At some point KEOM will evolve to 70's & 80's, but at the moment there is no set timetable.

R

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

Robert,

I will answer your processing statement later. Right now I want to tell you that I have not written on this site by any other name than the name I am using.

 

[Steve Eberhart]

In the late 70's and early 80's, KVIL has the LEAST amount of audio processing I have ever heard in a major market except perhaps for WRR FM when they were playing classical music.

We had NO mic processors and very very little compression. If you ran the board low, it was low on the air. If a song had a low passage, it was low in audio on the air. The station was targetted to females, who were shown by research to prefer less aggresive audio processing. KVIL experienced some of their highest ratings during that time, so something must have been right!

In the 80's, Jim Loupas was brought in and put an Optimod in along with mic processors and took out the reverb, and such and changed the way KVIL sounded forever.

I love a good processed sound with some punch and bite as much as the next guy, but in SOME cases less is more!

 

[Jake Daniels]

I'm a KEOM alum! YAY for me!

 

[1Letterman]

Robert,

I will answer your processing statement later. Right now I want to tell you that I have not written on this site by any other name than the name I am using.

Yes, we've all heard your "I'll answer that later" mantra before. I think you still have an avalanche of talent to respond to from the Dallas market that Mr. Shannon provided.

 

[Robert Bass]

Robert,

I will answer your processing statement later. Right now I want to tell you that I have not written on this site by any other name than the name I am using.

Please, don't bother. The processing on KEOM is not going to change.

R

 

[Robert Bass]

I'm a KEOM alum! YAY for me!

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

R

 

[Robert Bass]

Robert,

I will answer your processing statement later. Right now I want to tell you that I have not written on this site by any other name than the name I am using.

Yes, we've all heard your "I'll answer that later" mantra before. I think you still have an avalanche of talent to respond to from the Dallas market that Mr. Shannon provided.

And sadly, he probably never will.

R

 

[Robert Bass]

In the late 70's and early 80's, KVIL has the LEAST amount of audio processing I have ever heard in a major market except perhaps for WRR FM when they were playing classical music.

We had NO mic processors and very very little compression. If you ran the board low, it was low on the air. If a song had a low passage, it was low in audio on the air. The station was targetted to females, who were shown by research to prefer less aggresive audio processing. KVIL experienced some of their highest ratings during that time, so something must have been right!

That's very interesting info! 8) Thanks for sharing it.

And yes, sometimes less is indeed more.

R