Radio is slowly dying

[jondavidvox]

David....

Is Radio as relevant now as it was 10 years ago? 20 years ago? 30 Years ago?

Will it be more relevant 10 years from now? 20? 30?

Jack-FM is #3 in LA 25-54, 5th in AM Drive, and 2nd in Middays.....Among Radio listeners. Where do they finish on the list of I-POD, CD, Satellite, and Other Ways People amuse themselves 25-54? 18-24? 12-18? You know....The Future?

Does Jack contribute to Radio's future, or its opportunistic present?

You've always argued the status-quo ante. When Arbitron was using the Diary Method you constantly argued both its consistency, and accuracy....Why do you not argue for it now?

This is a conversation about Radio's Future, David. Every post you've made for the last 5 years argues for its present.

When we need an opinion about what Radio is doing 10, 20, 30 years from now....We'll ask you.

Jon-David Wells
The Wells Report

 

[TheBigA]

Is Radio as relevant now as it was 10 years ago? 20 years ago? 30 Years ago?

You didn't ask me, but the answer is yes and no. Depends on which station you're talking about.

The Beatles haven't toured or recorded a new song in 40 years. Are they still relevant? How about Elvis?

To some people, yes, to some people, no. Same with radio.

If you'd ask me if radio is as IMPORTANT as it was 30 years ago, I'd say no. Once phones became portable, they replaced radios for communication. In the same way as the car replaced the train. The train get get you from one town to another, but a car can take you from your home to the store. See the difference?

I really believe Marconi was attempting to build a portable phone when he invented radio. It just took 75 years for the electronics to get small enough.

Does Jack contribute to Radio's future, or its opportunistic present?

I could ask that question of you and your show. How are you advancing the human race? And believe me, I like what you do on the radio. But you are very much "in the moment." Which is what you need to do in order to communicate.

I have done shows that are in the Museum of Radio & TV, and I've done shows that are cotton candy. The public loves both, and so do I. Jack is cotton candy. Nothing wrong with a little confection every now and then. It's what makes the world go round.

 

[TheBigA]

Where do they finish on the list of I-POD, CD, Satellite, and Other Ways People amuse themselves 25-54?

That's a good question. You ask it as though people use each of those things to the exclusion of the others. That's an incorrection assumption.

What we see is that people include radio in a mix with all other media, including video games. And it's not unusual for a person to listen to at least three radio stations in a sitting. They are making their own mix. That's how radio has changed in the last 20 or 30 years. And it will continue to evolve and change as other options present themselves.

 

[oldmanradio]

. BTW, all of CC's stations are tied to a central location in Cincinnati. Law enforcement can reach them and an emergency announcement can be on the air in minutes.

First, you would have to trust a Clear Channel operation which is a stretch for some.

Second, in theory the announcement might be on in minutes.

In reality ... what do the rest of you think would happen?

 

[oldmanradio]

This type of format is not a reaction to costs, but to the rejection by some listeners of DJs and talk.

True, but the format certainly does cut costs.

 

[oldmanradio]

Where are these local owners who are paying high wages?

Dead

 

[oldmanradio]

Until then...we should be content with sucking major donkey bawls.

Hmmm, food for thought.

 

[oldmanradio]

Is a box full of noise and a facade of marketing to people foolish enough to buy ads.

Rush, Sean and Russ are not glamorous?

You're pulling my leg, man.

Yep, that box is noisy. Listen long enough and your brain will ... you know.

 

[davideduardo]

Is Radio as relevant now as it was 10 years ago? 20 years ago? 30 Years ago?

No, radio is not as singularly relevant as it was decades ago because there are more entertainment options. That does not mean, however, that radio is not viable... just that it shares the stage with other players.

Jack-FM is #3 in LA 25-54, 5th in AM Drive, and 2nd in Middays.....Among Radio listeners. Where do they finish on the list of I-POD, CD, Satellite, and Other Ways People amuse themselves 25-54? 18-24? 12-18? You know....The Future?

Again, these are things that people also use. "Also" as "in addition to..."

The cume of radio is as high as it has been at any point in the last 45 years (before that we did not have true weekly cume). Time spent listening is lower, due to the already mentioned options, among others.

BTW, you missed mentioning gaming consoles, of which there have been over 120 million sold.

Does Jack contribute to Radio's future, or its opportunistic present?

Both... because it represents how some people want to use radio today. And, likely, tomorrow.

You've always argued the status-quo ante. When Arbitron was using the Diary Method you constantly argued both its consistency, and accuracy....Why do you not argue for it now?

There is nothing wrong with the diary methodology, and it is still being used in nearly 250 markets... and is the only method Nielsen chose for its entry into radio measurement.

The reason agencies wanted electronic measurement have to do with speed of delivery and granularity which are not issues easily done with something that makes a round trip via the US Postal Service.

The PPM methodology is good, also. Both, however, require a good, proportional sample.

This is a conversation about Radio's Future, David. Every post you've made for the last 5 years argues for its present.

Sorry, that is not correct. I have been mentioning for a number of years the need to focus on content and not the delivery system. Broadcasters are not in the transmitter business... Harris and Nautel are. We need to deliver our product by every method that may achieve acceptance, not just the AM and FM band.

When we need an opinion about what Radio is doing 10, 20, 30 years from now....We'll ask you.

And this is why I did not answer your borderline absurd and absolutely unrealistic numbered list of "fixes" for radio.

 

[davideduardo]

True, but the format certainly does cut costs.

Done the way KCBS FM does it does not represent savings. DJ salaries on a music intensive station are a small percentage of total expenses, and this particular station researches, markets and promotes agressively...

And the production talents in the air studio likely make salaries comparable with today's pay for music-shift jocks, too. So, no savings.

 

[davideduardo]

I think there has to be more than 4 or 5 stations that use more than 1 transmitter.
Thats 5 right there off the top of my head. They all have 2 sites two different transmitters. But could be That I misunderstood your answer.
KKLF (1700)
KVNS (1700)
KAAM (770)
KHSE (700)
KFXR (1190)

What is meant here refers to stations that use a different transmitter site for day and night operation... not auxiliary sites or auxiliary transmitters... or different towers in a directional system.

KKLF indeed seems to have a dual site. KVNS has the same coordinates for day and night. KHSE is licensed for the same location day and night. KAAM is at the same site day and night.

Among the North American dual site operations that no longer run is CHYR in Leamington, ON (silent, like more than half of Canadian AMs); that one was dual frequency, too. A more interesting dual frequency (same site) is WNZK which is on 690 daytime and 680 at night in the Detroit market.

A dual site station in Toledo recently gave up night operation and became a daytimer from one site. Dual site operations, except perhaps for an X-band station, are very costly.

 

[davideduardo]

KVCE (1160)

That means a significant percentage of dual site stations are in the Dallas metro.

I was thinking that KVCE was not running at night recently... on the other hand, it just may be I was never anywhere that it could be heard!

 

[davideduardo]

1.) We will operate in the Public Interest as Public Trustees.

What is "the public interest" today? Is providing relaxing music during the workday less in the public interest than a talk show about the new sewage plant?

2.) We will focus our Product on our true customers; Listeners.

With the important exception of the horrible facilities, like high-band daytimers, that can not compete, radio stations have to focus on listeners as without a listener group, advertising sales over anything but the very short term is impossible.

3.) We will find and hire real Program Directors, charge them with the mission of delivering a more entertaining, creative, and memorable On-Air Product, than Listeners can provide for themselves elsewhere.

In today's multimedia world, radio can only be a mass medium. At certain times, listeners will want to custom tailor entertainment to their own taste... just like when we played 45's over and over. And at other times, radio's convenience is an important advantage.

4.) We will provide these real Program Directors the tools they need, hold them accountable for the results we seek, and then leave them alone.

Unless you insert "in accordance with the economic ability of each market to sustain" in there, this is a wild dream. Radio, to sustain any programming, must be able to pay for the costs. Many stations have failed in the creation of programming that was too expensive for the market to sustain.

5.) We will watch as these real Program Directors find, hire, and direct On-Air Personalities who are more entertaining, creative, and memorable than Network Programming, I-Pods, Multi-changer CD Players, and Satellite "Radio" Channels.

Problem: not all listeners want "personalities." Some find all so-called "personalities" to be grating and annoying. That is why stations discover alternatives that deemphasize personalites and are successful with them... and that is in the public interest, isn't it?

6.) We will provide these Personalities with the tools, support, and paychecks commensurate with what is necessary for them to own homes, raise children, dress well, drive nice cars, and save money for their futures.

You should design rides for Disney's "Fantasyland." Businesses will pay no more than is required to accomplish the tasks at hand. How many Americans play football? How many play in the NFL and make $10 million a year. The rest are subject to what is generally explained by an excess of supply over demand.

7.) We will fire these Personalities, within minutes of them embarrassing our Listeners, our Communities, or our Company, On-Air, or Off.

We are to empower on air staff, and then expect that they never make a mistake? Save for egregious errors of judgement and things that are illegal, recognizing mistakes, appologizing and moving on is far more fair. And, within today's labor laws and rules, instant firing is freqently not legal.

8.) We will hire Advertising Sales Professionals who advocate for their Clients, and who want to sell our Product, not tinker with it.

You must have worked at a couple of bad stations and now assume that nobody in the business is professional. As high a percentage of sellers that I have met are as honest, ethical and professional as, let's say, dentists I have met.

9.) We will direct our Sales efforts to as few Advertisers as necessary to meet our financial goals, while simultaneously meeting their expectations of results.

Rates are set not just by the radio competitive environment but by the sum of all ad media. In a bad economy, rates fall because there is more supply than demand... no matter what we want to sell for.

And radio is a medium. The success of a campaign is about more than delivering a message... location, need, price, competition, etc. are part of the issues involved here. Radio has little or no control over most of these matters.

10.) Our decision-making will always result in a stronger On-Air Product, not a weaker one.

Most broadcasters already do that. The first decisions in this business, as in any business, relate to the survival of the enterprise. Since radio did not create the recession, then we are subject to its pressures.

 

[TheBigA]

Regarding the term "a public trust," may I suggest trying to find a copy of a book by that title written in the 1960s. It led to the creation of the public broadcasting system in this country.

Some people obviously feel (based on the topic of this thread) that radio is dying, and this is all happening now for the first time ever. But in fact, you can find many of these exact same symptoms and comments in broadcast commentary of the 60s, starting with the famous quote from former FCC Commissioner Newton Minnow, who called TV a "vast wasteland."

There was a basic realization that happened in the 60s that words like "public trust" and "accountability" were incompatable in a broadcasting system that was run by private, profit-making companies. That you simply CAN'T serve the public and serve advertisers at the same time. That's what this book is all about. So the government decided to create a broadcasting service that wasn't run by private, profit-making companies, but by "the people." It would be paid for by the government, and thus wouldn't be beholden to companies, stock markets, and advertisers. This is 1967, not 2010. And the Congress signed a bill, apportioned hundreds of millions of dollars, struggled with the concept of government ownership of the media, and set up the current system of Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PBS, and NPR. So there, the problem is solved. Except fifteen years later, Ronald Reagan comes along and cuts out the government support side of the equation.

But for those of you who feel radio should operate as a public trust, focus on serving the listeners, turn radio into a mission with the best tools possible, pay them well, create memorable programming, and aim for the best rather than the cheapest or most expedient, there already IS such a place. It's called public broadcasting. I worked there for some time and I can tell you the advantages and disadvantages of that system. But there's no need to turn commercial radio into public radio, when such a system already exists.

 

[oldmanradio]

I often wonder how many people who rant about "full live staffs" ever actually worked in the business.

When I was in grad school in the 80s, I did a case study of an FM satellite rock station in our college town. The first step in my education was that while the tower and transmitter was in the city of license, the actual "studio" was 60 miles away, with the co-owned AM. The second step was arriving at the station and seeing no almost one. The only humans were the receptionist, the sales manager, and the GM. The programming came from a satellite dish, commercials and time checks were inserted by automation, and the place was empty all night. They had a contract engineer who came by once a week and made sure the equipment was in spec, and a part time production person (a college student) who loaded the commercials on the carts. This was Top 5 rated station in a Top 60 market. Go back to the exact same station today, and they have three times as many employees, although they're live from 6 AM to 7PM, with mid-days VT'd from another location. But that's more local origination than they had in the 80s. By the way, half of the stations in this market's Top 10 were run the exact same way.

You cite one example as a trend?

Your logic escapes me.

 

[TheBigA]

You cite one example as a trend?

Your logic escapes me.

How many specific examples have you given?

I also don't think my purpose was to cite it as a trend. Did I say that it was?

 

[oldmanradio]

You cite one example as a trend?


Your logic escapes me.

How many specific examples have you given?

Of what?

I also don't think my purpose was to cite it as a trend. Did I say that it was?

You don't think it was your purpose?

You don't know?

How would I remember what you stated. I am old.

Your first sentence talks about people ranting who were never in the business.
Those people probably have more right to rant (catchy phrasing) than anyone.

My first radio job was in 1970. I never worked at a single station that was left unmanned.

Well, a few guys snuck out for smokes. But ... I never smoked. So I am still alive unlike some of the older guys.

I digress.

Even automated stations that David Eduardo mentions were manned 24 hours a day at the four I worked at in high school. Those old carousel machines were so unreliable that you could leave the room and find two reel-to-reel machines with two songs playing at once with Robert W. Morgan repeating liners over and over on the large cart machine.

Now, that was real radio. The good old days. Ever hear the old KHJ-FM with that Drake automated crap?

Once a woman called me when I was in the production room doing news while the equipment went nuts, and asked me if the disc jockey on duty was drunk.

Wait, I am ranting.

I think.

 

[davideduardo]

Once a woman called me when I was in the production room doing news while the equipment went nuts, and asked me if the disc jockey on duty was drunk.

Wait, I am ranting.

I think.

I think "rant" and "drunk" need to be reversed. ;D

 

[oldmanradio]

Once a woman called me when I was in the production room doing news while the equipment went nuts, and asked me if the disc jockey on duty was drunk.

Wait, I am ranting.

I think.

I think "rant" and "drunk" need to be reversed. ;D

Ladies and gentleman,

Please allow me to be completely honest with you.

I never ever drink. Never. Ever.

Need I elaborate?

Ranting is another story. I have ranted my way out of many a job.

Ranting is a gift you know. Anyone can pass gas ... but ranting ... oh my.

It's a art, trust me.

"Too long to get into now", as Lee Baby would say, after a three-minute monologue.

Adios, amigos.

 

[davideduardo]

I never ever drink. Never. Ever.

OMG. You said you have been in radio since 1970? And don't drink. And don't smoke. I didn't think such a thing existed.

Most of us thought that brownish bronze was the way those RCA mikes came from the factory...