Radio News?

[SirRoxalot]

Made Up Stuff

I've been in the business long enough to remember what it was like 40 years ago, and 30 years ago, and 20 years ago. The number of opportunities to talk and entertain - even in the Drake format - was considerably greater than 4-5 times per hour. There were fewer and shorter liners and positioning statements. Sklar was even less restrictive.

Charlie Tuna - and everybody elso on KHJ during the "Boss Radio" era - had a lot more opportunity to entertain than anybody outside of morning drive today. Drake, Sklar, and every other good programmer all said one thing: Don't talk unless you've got something entertaining and/or informative to say - and say it succinctly. Now, the edict is "Read the liner and get out". Audiences know that most of what they're getting on many stations is just another selling job and not anything with real entertainment value. Half of what's said ("much more music", "another ten in a row", etc.) is a flat out lie anyway, reducing the credibility of the jock anyway.

Put Seacrest the same format as a local guy, and he'll be lucky to get the same numbers that the local guys do. Give the local guys a little more leeway, and you might discover the next Seacrest. At the very least, the local guys will be more entertaining than they are now. It's not about :60 gab fests between records. It's about unstructured opportunities to add value to the program within the confines of intros or around other programming elements.

 

[TheBigA]

Re: Made Up Stuff

Charlie Tuna - and everybody elso on KHJ during the "Boss Radio" era - had a lot more opportunity to entertain than anybody outside of morning drive today.

That's absolutely wrong. I can name you 20 local afternoon drive DJs who get as much talk time as most morning folks. And they all work for major companies. I bet a few of them work within 30 minutes of where you live.

Now, the edict is "Read the liner and get out".

That edict mainly applies to the AC format. Maybe one other. No one says that in country, urban, or CHR. You're obviously not listening to a wide variety of formats.

Put Seacrest the same format as a local guy, and he'll be lucky to get the same numbers that the local guys do.

It gets back to Drake's line about having something to say. Seacrest knows what to say. Most local guys clearly don't. At least the ones I hear.

It's about unstructured opportunities to add value to the program within the confines of intros or around other programming elements.

Most unstructured opportunities that I'm hearing aren't adding any value. If they did, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in. And the key thing you're missing in all these posts is the new media. If all you're doing is talking on the air, you're missing the other 75% of the gig.

 

[SirRoxalot]

And the Winner Is...

I think that the readers of this thread have a pretty good idea of who's got the real story, and who's blowing smoke. I'll let them judge the commentary on its merits.

As far as "the other 75% of the gig" is concerned, most of the guys I know blog on the station website, have a Facebook account that they update frequently, do appearances when requested - including free charity appearances - and put in a lot of extra hours doing the work that used to be done by staffers that were cut by corporate. They even go on sales calls with sales people if requested. They're the ones putting in a lot of extra hours because corporate overpaid for radio stations, and forgot about the "recession" phase of the business cycle.

I know that you think that most jocks are lazy, overpaid, undertalented narcissists. That's about as accurate as the perception that all management are money-grubbing, heartless weasels. Can you find examples of both? Yeah, but it's really the exception, not the rule.

 

[Board Editor 3]

MOVED: Re: Radio News?

Some posts have been moved to Take It Outside.

[iurl=http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=120805.0]http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=120805.0[/iurl]

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Apparently Magoo's gonzo post was moved to TIO because it was "totally Buffalo." No punches pulled and much like what you'd hear from Magoo when he worked at The Bear and The Fox. I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I read it.

BigA, I'd just offer this. It's not that your posts aren't valid, it's just that you made your appearance here much like a BMOC who walks into a frat party and says "OK everybody, I'm here." Typical response? Any of the great scenes from Animal House where Bluto-Belushi derides the BMOC and gets great laughs. Like Magoo's response. Didn't help that you tangled with Rox, who's been pretty much on-the-money over the years. You might have ingratiated yourself had you "worked the room" first and got the lay of the land.

We here have our disagreements from time to time and occasionally somebody gets their nose out of joint. But we also have a pretty good sense of humor and we take more kindly to new posters and outsiders than the zealots on the Cincinatti board, which by comparison, most resembles a Friday night bar brawl at the Masthead, Merlin's or Mulligan's Brick Bar. (((This would be the kind of local metaphor I'd use in describing the situation if I was on the radio. You'd appreciate it more if you were from Buffalo and in the demo.)))