Question for the Board

[taylorengineer]

So just what DOES constitute a "GOOD" radio station?
I've listened to DAVE FM a good bit lately......I don't get what is sooooo bad about this station in ANY respect - music, talent, imaging.....all the mechanics seem to be just what the doctor ordered for white males.
Now you can argue successfully that must white males(I'm in the demo)are fairly shallow and easy to please. Sex, football, beer, video games, sex, sports talk radio, more sex, lesbian sex, baseball, basketball, more lesbian sex...................you get my drift. Somewhere in there is Rock and Roll.
So I'm at a loss to understand what you, the majority of board posters, actually want from DAVE or 99X.
Do you:
1. Want your Led Zepplin played backwards?
2. Want Mara to do the show naked?(Now there's talent!!)
3. Turn the transmitter into a death ray to zap Iranians with?
4. Think this Neil guy would really make a good PD?

 

[BingCrackle]

For me personally what makes a good station is if I listen to it during the day. I think that if a station is one of your presets it must be one of your favorites.

99x to me is the best because of the music they play. Their morning show is forced conversation with a strong need to be funny. That forced need makes the show unbearable. This problem needs to be fixed.

AM750, or Boortz to be specific, is a great show overall. Some days are better than others. His conversation is natural. The rest of the day parts are not for me.

DaveFM is in my rotation. If I don't like the song I change the station.

Here are a list of my presets. This must mean they are one of my favorites:
92.9 94.1 96.1 97.1 98.5 99x 750am

WGST used to be one of my favorites. No longer in my rotation.

 

[middlega]

For me, strictly personal taste & leaving any professional assessment of them aside for now, the music is simply far too light. There's rarely an artist that they play that's in my personal music collection & typically only maybe one song an hour that wouldn't be an instant button push if I scanned across it randomly on a roadtrip somewhere.

I've never gotten the impression that I'd enjoy 5 minutes over coffee with any of their current air staff, although I don't think the ones I've heard are actually that bad from a technical/professional standpoint. I simply don't feel any common ground or connection with them, and it's that old thing about listening to people that you actually (think you) like.

Ultimately, I think they come across as a station built for midtown/city limits listeners ... but they're in a market where a big chunk of their potential listeners are in the suburbs and/or OTP. Looking over some recent music logs randomly, I simply don't know that many (okay, any) white males who want to listen to Norah Jones. Heck, I'm not sure I even personally know any white males who know who she is.

 

[winreader]

So just what DOES constitute a "GOOD" radio station?
I've listened to DAVE FM a good bit lately......I don't get what is sooooo bad about this station in ANY respect - music, talent, imaging.....all the mechanics seem to be just what the doctor ordered for white males.
Now you can argue successfully that must white males(I'm in the demo)are fairly shallow and easy to please. Sex, football, beer, video games, sex, sports talk radio, more sex, lesbian sex, baseball, basketball, more lesbian sex...................you get my drift. Somewhere in there is Rock and Roll.
So I'm at a loss to understand what you, the majority of board posters, actually want from DAVE or 99X.
Do you:
1. Want your Led Zepplin played backwards?
2. Want Mara to do the show naked?(Now there's talent!!)
3. Turn the transmitter into a death ray to zap Iranians with?
4. Think this Neil guy would really make a good PD?

The problem with DAVE is simple. It's not fun to listen to. Very little humor. They are driving a left of center political agenda in their promos and jock raps which has limited appeal The music is very narrow in scope. They play the game as if their signal reached no further than Decatur. They don't come close to appealing to OTP white males. The numbers don't lie.

 

[Frustrated Listener]

I agree with everyone's analysis of Dave FM.....Excellent ITP station, but it doesn't speak to the OTP at all.

Speaking of the OTP, the River is geared toward us. As an unofficial spokesman for the OTP, please add two or three different songs to your rotation......PLEASE!!!!!

 

[Twitch]

They are driving a left of center political agenda in their promos and jock raps which has limited appeal...

Pardon my ignorance, but what does this mean, and can you cite a couple of examples?

 

[grmf]

Ooh ooh ooh, do the death ray thing.

 

[stench]

DAVE-FM? The stuff between the songs is lame. No thought, creativity or passion. I would say lazy is a great descriptor.

The talent has little or no enthusiasm for the music, especially the new crap they play which will never get familiar given the AAA rotations deployed...sort of an oxymoron. We love new music but we won't give it a decent rotation.

If the PD was smart she would become more Artist-centric and less song driven...here's yet another track from the new Sphincter CD, we'll be featuring tracks from this new cd all week.

I better stop now or I will turn into that Neil guy.

 

[troone]

Maybe the "We need more green space in Piedmont park" promo is what the earlier poster was talking about. Never understood what made 'green space' a political football, but that's for another board... I hadnt heard any other liberal bias, though its well known that Mara is a Bush-hater, through her blog, etc.

 

[FloydB]

I miss radio when it was personality-driven. Of course, it lead tothe days when jocks cared more about their ego than the music. But, when a station gets more music-intensive and less personality-driven, it drives me to the excuse that they claim are taking their ratings: satellite radio and personal music players. Why would I ever want to listen to a radio station to hear only music in a rotation I can't control instead of listening to my own CDs, or my iPod with music I can control? The music, of course, draws us to the station, but the personalities keep us listening.

Dave, IMO, is a good "alternative" to X and Project. It's not as hard, but has a good chill, mellow feel. It's something that myself (a family man in my early 30s, and I'm OTP) can listen to, enjoy good music (yes, I know who Norah Jones is), and still feel young enough to rock it out, but not too "mature" to be forced to be part of the B98 crowd when I don't want to hear the whiny "skater-rock" considered music on 99X and Project.

What I would like to see Michelle focus Dave on is the jam/folk bands that are being neglected by the other "rock" stations in this market. They're considered not hard enough to be on X or Project, but too "rock" to be considered anything else.

 

[bgwilde1]

I listen once in a blue, but for me personally (A 40 y.o. white male) they are hard to listen to for a few reasons:

- They are not that topical when they speak. To me, it is like when my wife talks about shoes, I just don't care or get it
- They NEVER tell you what they just played, and spend lots of time teasing one song when they could better spend the time just telling what several songs/artists are to be played. It may be about the music, but not telling me WHAT that music is more thoroughly and consistently is frustrating
- A good personality with a strong voice goes a looooong way, and adding in elements such as local news and some nice contests mix it up enough to give me more of a reason to listen.
- If I want to hear only music, the 6 or 7 CDs I carry along give me more of what I want than a music only station with little else to offer around the music

Oh well, at least I can dream!

 

[DashRiprock]

So just what DOES constitute a "GOOD" radio station?

For a rock station it's an entertaining local jock taking calls, doing bits, and talking about local stuff in between about 6-8 songs an hour. I'd like to hear the occasional local band in the mix with interviews and live performances. Pretty close to 96Rock in the late 70's.

...and traffic on the 8's during am/pm drive

 

[winreader]

They are driving a left of center political agenda in their promos and jock raps which has limited appeal...

Pardon my ignorance, but what does this mean, and can you cite a couple of examples?

Jock raps about Darfur rallies, environmental bits, playing protest music. Nothing radical, but nothing relatable to the OTP males who want some dynamics other than music. It sounds like the station is programmed by Meadow Soprano.

 

[Twitch]

Jock raps about Darfur rallies, environmental bits, playing protest music. Nothing radical, but nothing relatable to the OTP males who want some dynamics other than music. It sounds like the station is programmed by Meadow Soprano.

I'm sorry, I meant specific examples of these jock raps. When did you hear it? Who said it? What music was played? Stuff like that.

I ask because we keep Dave-FM on here in the office every day and I've never heard anything like this. Maybe it's on the weekend? Overnights?

 

[70sdj]

The "depth" of this discussion is amazing!
Quite worthy of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame!

 

[Lounge_Lizard]

You mean like weekends, Twitch? Afternoons on the weekends?? Just askin' for clarification...

 

[wooder]

So just what DOES constitute a "GOOD" radio station?
I've listened to DAVE FM a good bit lately......I don't get what is sooooo bad about this station in ANY respect - music, talent, imaging.....all the mechanics seem to be just what the doctor ordered for white males.
Now you can argue successfully that must white males(I'm in the demo)are fairly shallow and easy to please. Sex, football, beer, video games, sex, sports talk radio, more sex, lesbian sex, baseball, basketball, more lesbian sex...................you get my drift. Somewhere in there is Rock and Roll.
So I'm at a loss to understand what you, the majority of board posters, actually want from DAVE or 99X.
Do you:
1. Want your Led Zepplin played backwards?
2. Want Mara to do the show naked?(Now there's talent!!)
3. Turn the transmitter into a death ray to zap Iranians with?
4. Think this Neil guy would really make a good PD?

The problem with DAVE is simple. It's not fun to listen to. Very little humor. They are driving a left of center political agenda in their promos and jock raps which has limited appeal The music is very narrow in scope. They play the game as if their signal reached no further than Decatur. They don't come close to appealing to OTP white males. The numbers don't lie.

This is one of the most astute comments I've read on this board. While I don't know if I agree with the "left-of-center political agenda" acusastion as being the problem, the observation that they are completely humorless and not fun to listen to is dead on. They just take themselves way too seriously and it makes one feel like a visitor who was lucky enough to be invited to their party. A rock station needs to be self-deprecating, fun, and inviting. Dave is the complete opposite on all levels. You can be an "adult" station but still sound like fun.

 

[troone]

A rock station needs to be self-deprecating, fun, and inviting. Dave is the complete opposite on all levels

Aren't you describing Mara's show perfectly? I mean, if anything, she needs to be reined back in. I cant think of any show in Atlanta that's a better example of what you're arguing for.

I'll grant you the morning show is lifeless, but, as we know, it's a fill-in until the (ex-) Captain's contract amortizes in September.

 

[JimV]

So just what DOES constitute a "GOOD" radio station?
I've listened to DAVE FM a good bit lately......I don't get what is sooooo bad about this station in ANY respect - music, talent, imaging.....all the mechanics seem to be just what the doctor ordered for white males.
Now you can argue successfully that must white males(I'm in the demo)are fairly shallow and easy to please. Sex, football, beer, video games, sex, sports talk radio, more sex, lesbian sex, baseball, basketball, more lesbian sex...................you get my drift. Somewhere in there is Rock and Roll.
So I'm at a loss to understand what you, the majority of board posters, actually want from DAVE or 99X.
Do you:
1. Want your Led Zepplin played backwards?
2. Want Mara to do the show naked?(Now there's talent!!)
3. Turn the transmitter into a death ray to zap Iranians with?
4. Think this Neil guy would really make a good PD?

The problem with DAVE is simple. It's not fun to listen to. Very little humor. They are driving a left of center political agenda in their promos and jock raps which has limited appeal The music is very narrow in scope. They play the game as if their signal reached no further than Decatur. They don't come close to appealing to OTP white males. The numbers don't lie.

This is one of the most astute comments I've read on this board. While I don't know if I agree with the "left-of-center political agenda" acusastion as being the problem, the observation that they are completely humorless and not fun to listen to is dead on. They just take themselves way too seriously and it makes one feel like a visitor who was lucky enough to be invited to their party. A rock station needs to be self-deprecating, fun, and inviting. Dave is the complete opposite on all levels. You can be an "adult" station but still sound like fun.

I realize it's enormously satifying to blame every failure in radio on people who don't share your political beliefs or do shows that you don't like, but I suspect that dave's failure has very little to do with Michelle Engle, Mara Davis or anyone there.

I would suggest that it's based on the fact that 99X (such as it is) does a decent job retaining older listeners who might have aged out to a AAA in other markets. I would also suggest that given the strength of WSB, country and Christian music in this market that people in Atlanta are more prone to age into those formats in Atlanta than other markets.

I like AAA and think that dave does a decent job of executing that format, but I'm not sure that Atlanta is an ideal market for it. Dallas, Houston, and Tampa don't even appear to have stations that report Triple A.

 

[AMCM]

i get bored listening to dave. i think they try to build their station around people who listen to radio either in the background or for 1 hour. they need to focus on a longer goal or a more prominent position in peoples' lives. and some *different* artists to rotation, not more of the same old chatter.

let the djs talk and say more than 'this guy has three webbed toes and likes to eat bologna while deep sea diving...'

they also confuse me when they suddenly 'switch formats' and all these artists i was beginning to enjoy go away to make room for more u2 and inxs. blurgh.