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Radio is Pathetic

B

BossJock1947

I'm from the LA area and was visiting relatives in Sacramento. I can't tell you how many times i heard dead air, two spots playing at one time on big AM stations. Nobody at the switch. I wonder what advertisers think when they hear their spots run all the way through newscasts?

I thought i was in market # 295 :'(
 
Apparently not much has changed since I lived in Sacto in the late 80's. I'd usually spend my radio time listening to the Bay Area stations via cable.
 
IMO few ownership groups take real pride in the product. It's simply money to them. If the individual stations had a budget and could have more control over what they do (versus corporate mandates), I'm sure we'd hear some quality broadcasting again.
 
Welcome to Suckatomato. Large market cume, small market delivery.
 
BossJock1947 said:
I'm from the LA area and was visiting relatives in Sacramento. I can't tell you how many times i heard dead air, two spots playing at one time on big AM stations. Nobody at the switch. I wonder what advertisers think when they hear their spots run all the way through newscasts?

I thought i was in market # 295 :'(
Click to expand...

BJ1947, it's the same aura in market #4, SFO, also...especially on Amplitude Modulated stations
and on weekends...
--jay
 
Really? All I know is corporate radio in the last decade or two, but remember before that, local owned stations had a real family feel. You'd think that would still be same, but....

Look! Look out the window! A flying pig!!!
 
John Walker said:
Really? All I know is corporate radio in the last decade or two, but remember before that, local owned stations had a real family feel. You'd think that would still be same, but....

Look! Look out the window! A flying pig!!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, family feel...like Peyton Place. I worked at one of those places. The GM was having an affair with a married woman, while his wife was down the hall running the personnel department. My favorite day was when the husband of the GM's mistress came into the station and shot the GM. Ahh yes. Family owned radio. Gee I really miss those days.

I also love flying pigs. Remember KZAP? Not locally owned. I digress.
 
djj said:
BossJock1947 said:
I'm from the LA area and was visiting relatives in Sacramento. I can't tell you how many times i heard dead air, two spots playing at one time on big AM stations. Nobody at the switch. I wonder what advertisers think when they hear their spots run all the way through newscasts?

I thought i was in market # 295 :'(
Click to expand...

BJ1947, it's the same aura in market #4, SFO, also...especially on Amplitude Modulated stations
and on weekends...
--jay
Click to expand...


Agreed. Same here in Los Angeles. KABC is really sounding bad lately. Less and Less local coverage and it's LA!!!
 
John Walker said:
Really? All I know is corporate radio in the last decade or two, but remember before that, local owned stations had a real family feel. You'd think that would still be same, but....

Look! Look out the window! A flying pig!!!
Click to expand...

The mom and pops can be just as bad and worse.
 
Really...does the drop in quality surprise anyone? How is the on-air talent going to learn their craft? Live overnights are a thing of the past, live weekends are following close behind, and anyone who can serve as a mentor has been shown the door due to cost-cutting.

Let's take the Zone as a "for-instance." Suppose I'm new in from a small market, getting my first shot at "big-city" radio at KZZO. Here's the scoop on my new team: The PD has just been canned, latest casualty in a long line of PDs who had the revolving door smack them in the ass. The de-facto PD has been forced to split his time between two stations and can rarely be found in the building. APD? MD? Nonexistent, as far as I can see. Even the promotions director is gone.

And the air staff? The morning host-of-the-week is gone, replaced by a syndicated team out of Las Vegas. The midday host...the longest-tenured member of the station's air staff and a potential gold mine of advice and information...has just been blown out. The night guy has been sent packing. In fact, there's exactly ONE full-time staffer who's been at the station for more than one book. Unfortunately, as talented as he is, our paths rarely cross so I don't have much of an opportunity to learn anything from him.

Pretty g*ddamn depressing. And the sad truth is, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.
 
nomorejeffs said:
Really...does the drop in quality surprise anyone? How is the on-air talent going to learn their craft? Live overnights are a thing of the past, live weekends are following close behind, and anyone who can serve as a mentor has been shown the door due to cost-cutting.
Click to expand...

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Working overnights is no way to "learn their craft." It's rare that someone on the overnight shift gets promoted to a better shift on the same station. Once a PD finds someone who will show up every night, he keeps them there until he quits. There is no mentoring that gets done with overnighters. No one at the station even knows they're there. If you do overnights, you either stay there forever, or you quit and get a better shift someplace else. My advice to someone who wants to learn how to be on-air talent is to work with someone who has a real shift. Be part of a morning team in a market. Learn what goes on in drive time. Not overnights.

Also, you don't start in a Top 30 market. That's not going to work. And an AC station is a terrible place to start. Even if they had a full time local staff, what kind of training is that? No one said it's going to be easy. There is a glut of people who want to work in broadcasting. The colleges are spitting out thousands of newbies every year. I compare it to becoming a recording artist. What percentage of singers become superstars? Same with radio.
 
nomorejeffs said:
Really...does the drop in quality surprise anyone? How is the on-air talent going to learn their craft? Live overnights are a thing of the past, live weekends are following close behind, and anyone who can serve as a mentor has been shown the door due to cost-cutting.

Let's take the Zone as a "for-instance." Suppose I'm new in from a small market, getting my first shot at "big-city" radio at KZZO. Here's the scoop on my new team: The PD has just been canned, latest casualty in a long line of PDs who had the revolving door smack them in the ass. The de-facto PD has been forced to split his time between two stations and can rarely be found in the building. APD? MD? Nonexistent, as far as I can see. Even the promotions director is gone.

And the air staff? The morning host-of-the-week is gone, replaced by a syndicated team out of Las Vegas. The midday host...the longest-tenured member of the station's air staff and a potential gold mine of advice and information...has just been blown out. The night guy has been sent packing. In fact, there's exactly ONE full-time staffer who's been at the station for more than one book. Unfortunately, as talented as he is, our paths rarely cross so I don't have much of an opportunity to learn anything from him.

Pretty g*ddamn depressing. And the sad truth is, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.
Click to expand...

If indeed all these changes happened at KZZO, the GM should be fired.
 
TheBigA said:
John Walker said:
I keep saying, radio needs to get back to more localized ownership.
Click to expand...

Hate to tell you, but things are no better at the locally owned stations. In fact, they're worse.
Click to expand...


Agreed! Ed Stolz anyone?
 
hammerpants said:
As I recall Mr Stolz's station had very good numbers and made money (a lot of it!!) without having to answer to any share holder!
Click to expand...

Stolz's did pull in some good money given the circumstances, but nothing in comparison to what I see some of these corporate giants raking in. However his business and operation tactics left something to be desired. Perhaps his monthly deposits at the bank were so big because the employees got paid insulting wages (when their paychecks weren't bouncing) and did the jobs of several people at once. It was however, an good place to learn radio and get a foot in the door.
 
Ed really left a lot to be desired when it came to tactfulness 101 thats a fact! The biggest dumb mistake the man ever made was letting the Entercom people through the front door. The next was ever letting them into his office! He made all his own problems without a doubt!

What is going on at the Zone 100.5 is really sickening to hear about. But this crud from Las Vegas is truely pathetic veg-a-matic slice and dice poo poo!
 
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