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Rants about local media

P

pghfmradiosucks

Please allow me to rant. I am so disgusted with most of Pgh media, I decided to create an account here to get some things off my chest. I do like some personalities in Pittsburgh media. There are actually some very talented ones here. Stan Savran, Guy Junker,Eddie Crow,Doug Hoerth, Mark Madden. But for the most part, media in this town sucks. A few observations:
Memo to Jon Burnett; I watch you so I can find out the weather. I am not interested in your motorcycle rides, your wife, your kids and what event you just participated in.
How can Massie Toyota advertise they are 15 minutes from anywhere? I live in the Northern suburbs and I cannot drive the length of McKnight Road in 15 minutes.
When does Tim Benz sleep?
WDVE is a joke. How long will they continue to get great ratings? As long as there are people in this town who are not bothered hearing the same playlist over and over. I wish people would have the guts to turn this horrible station off for good as I have done. I do not need to hear Billy Squier and Whitesnake every evening. If you are going to play the same songs over and over again, at least play good songs by great artists.
And finally
Last but not least
96.1 Kiss What is your problem? At least WDVE plays the same 30 songs over and over and over. I swear that you play the same 10 to 15 songs over and over and over. I am forced to listen to this station at work and I do my best to tune it out. The people who program that station along with WDVE should be ashamed of themselves. They really should. If I gave that kind of effort at my job I would be fired.
I call on all Pittsburghers to tune out these staions and do what I have done. Subscribe to satellite radio and legally download songs from the internet. This way we will not be held hostage by radio stations who do not care about us. Thanks for allowing me to vent. Please feel free to respond.
 
I have to agree for the most part, however, I don't put the blame on DJ's , but corporate managements who have a pea brained idea to only play the "proven hits" of the years. Who has a right to say what is a proven hit? Everyone has their own tastes and a wide variety pleases all. BOB Fm was going in the right direction at first, THEN, thinking the same was as other corporates, started tightening up the playlists, and sitting watching the ratings continue to fall.

The old days of radio are gone. When I was in, (80's to early 90's), you played what your listeners asked for, not what "they supposedly want" as deemed correct by surveys or corporate mgmt .
 
Thank you for correcting me. You are 100 % right. The stations decision to play the same horrible songs over and over again is not the dee jays fault. The fault lies in the lap of the radio executives who do "research" to determine what you and I like. You are also correct about Bob FM. I had high hopes for this station but as time has worn on, they are no better,different or varied than any other station. Shame on them as well.
 
An example of radio executives being clueless is when Clear Channel fired Stan Savran because of of poor ratings and replaced him with Tim Benz who has less sports knowledge and is not as entertaining, and who is classless. Ratings were so bad that they had to get him help to bail him out (Joe Bendel). Guess what, their ratings are still poor. Great decision executives!!!!
 
If WDVE is playing Whitesnake and Billy Squier in the evenings it is an improvement. I was getting sick of Steely Dan.

If you want a rant against Pittsburgh sports media, one thing I would say is there are too many smart allecks.

You mentioned many of them above. And to be honest, I think the style has played out, hence the success of Ellis or Rocco or Greg as an antidote.
 
pghfmradiosucks said:
An example of radio executives being clueless is when Clear Channel fired Stan Savran because of of poor ratings and replaced him with Tim Benz who has less sports knowledge and is not as entertaining, and who is classless. Ratings were so bad that they had to get him help to bail him out (Joe Bendel). Guess what, their ratings are still poor. Great decision executives!!!!
Click to expand...

Benz-Bendel was planned as a two-man show from the start. The issue with Savran was demographics. He didn't get many listeners and the ones he got were disproportionately over 50. That's not the demo sports radio can sell.
 
Boss- WBGG with Tunch and Wolf and Savran peaked at 1.1.

Savran alone used to at least show up in the book.

With Benz-Bendel the station is no longer showing up in the book.

Has Benz-Bendel shown any kind of improvement from Savran?
 
Pratte4Life said:
Boss- WBGG with Tunch and Wolf and Savran peaked at 1.1.

Savran alone used to at least show up in the book.

With Benz-Bendel the station is no longer showing up in the book.

Has Benz-Bendel shown any kind of improvement from Savran?
Click to expand...


I have no idea what (if anything) they're able to sell with Benz and Bendel. They couldn't sell Savran's ratings because of the demographics. Nobody is buying an old sports talk audience in radio. Benz and Bendel may be a huge failure, but they weren't succeeding with Savran, either. It's about revenue.
 
He also had Little's Shoes, though I think I heard Benz do a read for Little's, so maybe they stayed on board. I am almost positive that the Smallman Street Deli pulled their advertising when Stan was let go.
 
Mentioning demographics and such-

I remember once listening to Savran's show and he had to read a commercial for a strip joint. He even had to give the tag about how erotic it was.

And I just thought- "That's something you don't ask Savran to do."

Forget about the idea that it might comprimise a "true professionals credibility" or any of that. I just don't want to hear strip joint ads coming from Stan Savran.

Where I'm going with this- could the radio salesmen in Pittsburgh be a bit shortsighted? I hear an awful lot of ads for strip joints and tout services on Pittsburgh sports stations- and that is really scraping the bottom of the barrell. Can a Mail Order Bride company and having Asian women talk in a sexy voice about how they want you to take them to America and make you "real happy" be far off?

Yeah- I know- male demographic- but there are tons of potential ads that could be targeted to men- ranging from automotive to sporting goods to hardware.

WFAN in New York is the top billing station in the country. I have never heard a strip joint ad on it and I have never heard a tout service.

I have heard ads for baldness treatments, the lottery, car dealers, casinos, and even Freddie Roman for Bonds Men's Wear.

Okay, I haven't heard that last one since WFAN first went on the air almost 20 years ago as Bonds is long gone. But obviously if they had Freddie Roman on as a spokesman they weren't catering to me in my schoolboy years- they were catering to an older crowd. I still have no idea who Freddie Roman was/is.

But those five examples above are not only potential sponsors for a veteran sports talk show host- but they are the sort of sponsors who would be interested in a veteran sports talk show host and his 40+ audience exclusive- not the other Clear Channel holdings.

Which is not something I would think Benz-Bendel would deliver. If I want to sell a Mustang- why do I want to buy an ad on their show instead of The X or WDVE? Even if it's cheaper- I would rather have 10 ads that can be heard instead of 100 that can't.

Bottom line is- the Democratic Party thought they could sell Stan Savran and Clear Channel did not.

And that speaks of the sort of a cold, short-sighted decision- especially in a town where WJAS and KDKA remain some of the most popular listens and sales in the market.

Not to mention being a little cold hearted to an old pro.

It also makes you wonder what the suits were thinking- since top sports talk competetor WEAE's average listener age is a sage 45.

Perhaps "sage" isn't the best word I could have used to describe a WEAE audience, but you get the point.
 
There's no parallel between WFAN and the local sports stations. One of the reasons WFAN has billed so well is because Imus did the morning show until a few months ago. That was a monster revenue generator. WFAN also has signficant play-by-play (exclusives, too, not an FM echo) that bring in listeners and dollars. Don't forget that WFAN is a 50kw signal, whereas the local sports talk stations have a hard time covering Allegheny County completely.

As fas as selling Savran as a political candidate, active voters skew old, which makes him a better demograhic fit in politics than it does in niche-driven local sports radio.
 
i agree with all the rants about WDVE, KISS, and BOB.

WDVE is just stale, but why change it when you have the ratings.

When I get a chance to Hot 101 or WVAQ, I realize just how much music Kiss skips over. And using the same old dance hits to break up the 15 song playlist doesn't help either.

Bob is starting to get predictable to. While I still hear some great songs that I rarely hear elsewhere, I am well aware that I'll be hearing Daughtry and Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" many times throughout the day.
 
Here's a question for all: if WDVE did not have personality-driven shows in morning and afternoon drive - and history on their side - would they still be a viable station with that focus group-friendly playlist? I grew up listening to WDVE; I'm 39 and male and can now only listen to WDVE for the morning show and parts of Sean's show. I was on the road the other day and realized that I was hitting the scan button every time WDVE played a tune. Of course, the pattern after that went: (click) WDUQ's lousy Jazz format for yet another "organist at a roller skating rink in the 1950's" hit record; (click) WXDX playing the same formulaic, slam-mastered, over-processed, emo-metal song that they played 90-mins prior; (click) WPGH and Sean Hannity ranting about the same darned thing he ranted about yesterday at about the same time; (click) back to WDVE in hopes the song would be over and Sean would have something interesting to chat about. For the love of God - I'm listening to an AOR and TUNING OUT the songs.

Based on my focus group of one, I'm inclined to think that WDVE's listener base resembles that of a battered spouse who keeps returning home because they've convinced themself that the abuser is still worthy of love and deserves yet another chance..."he/she has promised things will be better this time!". :-\
-D

P.S. I apologize if the abusive spouse analogy offends anyone. For the record, I was on the receiving end of an abusive marriage; I can now talk your ear off about co-dependancy, enablers, etc.
 
It has little to do with your bizarre analogy and everything to do with the idea that radio listening is very habit driven.

That was demonstrated when Bogut's celebrated departure from KDKA to WTAE had no impact on KD's ratings or revenue in morning drive. People were talking about how his move was going to turn the market upside down, and it didn't.

Whether listeners realize it or not, they develop a comfort level with stations that become their favorites. The product can change and get worse and they tend not to notice because they're there every day no matter what.

Remember also that a lot of listeners are passive. They only react to songs they either love or hate. The majority they just accept because they're familiar.
 
Excellent point. In my case, WDVE remains the starting point and the typical destination of all scan button activities regardless of my opinion of their music rotation. The only exceptions to this routine in the last 20-yrs included a 5-yr stint when I was working for an AOR; and when WXDX was in its infancy and playing actual alternative rock.
-D

P.S. My analogy was harsh and a bit of a stretch. I shouldn't rant online when extremely tired...
 
Boss, I see your points in your response to my post.

But what I'm saying is I think a respected, veteran broadcaster can be sold.

If you don't like my analogy to WFAN- then consider the many sports shows in America hosted by broadcasters more than 50 years of age who don't have strip joints or tout services as sponsors.

Why couldn't they do that with Savran?

Strip joints work for Mark Madden- but he also has had very creative sponsors for his show. A Las Vegas casino or hotel trying to get business from Pittsburgh. A weight loss product. A lawyer who asked "Maybe you have a problem with drugs! When bad things happen to good people- I can help!"

Sidebar- That sounds an awful lot like the lawyer in McKeesport of a bygone era- whoever he was- who advertised "I'll get you out of jail or out of hell!"

But why couldn't the salesmen be that creative with Savran, who actually had an audience- ancient as it may be.

I just don't see where Benz and Bendel would sell. If I want Tim Benz to be my pitchman- I'm probably going to buy time on his morning show on The X where my ad can be heard.

And if I want Joe Bendel to be my pitchman, I'll merely lobby a TV station to start showing reruns of "The Odd Couple" so the honest-to-goodness Oscar Madison can sell my wares.
 
There are two separate issues here -- Savran's viability is one, hiring Benz-Bendel is the other.

I wouldn't have hired Benz-Bendel. Benz is too snarly and arrogant to work in Pittsburgh. Bendel has no radio skills and no real sports knowledge outside of Pitt, which he covered for the Trib.

Savran had a very small audience and most of it was the older crowd, which advertisers don't want for sports talk. Blaming the sales staff for not being "creative" is a popular new trend but it doesn't apply in this case. 970 is such a small part of the overall CC picture, and Savran's show was an even smaller slice of that pie. It makes no sense for salespeople to be out chasing relative nickels and dimes from mom and pop clients.
 
All I'm saying is that I used to listen to Savran because in that time slot I thought he provided SANE sports talk.

If Savran said something- I knew it was credible.

His show wasn't perfect- but what show is? For every time you realized that, say, maybe Baywood Bernie was just tacky and Eddie Andelman as a frequent guest spoke of him being past his prime- Savran brought you back with something.

Class. Respect for me as a listener.

If I'm a sponsor- I want that credibility selling my product.

Add up his reputation, what had to be some of his own clients through the years, the fact that this is a town with a lot of older sports fans and I think it could be profitable.

Now, Boss. We've kind of been at each other's throats for a bit- but I think we've both gotten to the point where we both respect what each other has to say.

So I want to bury the hatchet because I would like to know-

Who would you have replaced Savran with?
 
5 years ago sports was hardly a format in pittsburgh...who cares...
 
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