Reader's Choice Awards

[WTUX]

While hardly a scientific survey, I enjoy reading the results of the News-Journal "Reader's Choice Awards". This year's radio section was interesting.

Morning show winner: 93.7 with WJBR and WMMR finalists. Basically, for all 3 of the other radio categories it was WDEL, WILM, WJBR. But what I find amusing is that the Best Radio Station for Sports also included WJBR as a finalist. WJBR as a best station for sports? That just shows many people (probably including station personel stuffing the ballot box) just filled in the same call letters for each category.

Missing in action was WWTX for sports. It was WIP winnner, then WDEL and WJBR. The Ticket is certainly not "The Ticket" for Delaware sports fans!

 

[QzarDE]

At both WJBR and WSTW, their people stuff the ballot box. Not like this is groundbreaking information, but having been in both places, I remember distinctly "Delaware Today" magazines passed out to the staff, with voting instructions.

"Reader's Choice" surveys are a joke. Without them, though, Michael Waite would have nothing to advertise about his morning show.

 

[BRUSSTAR]

It never ceases to amaze me how much time, energy, and money are wasted by radio (and television) people lobbying for these silly, meaningless awards.

I remember hundreds of hours wasted by management at WILM for the sole purpose of assembling "contest reels" so the Hawkinses could save money on wallpaper by having additional plaques commemorating inane awards. Never did such efforts translate into ratings, revenue, or raises for staff members.

Philadelphia's Channel 6 has the right idea. That station refuses to waste time with this nonsense, and focuses on doing the job itself more than patting each other on their backs.

Gee, who will win the award for "Best Delaware News Station"? Will it be 'ILM or 'DEL? I always thought it would make more sense for the two stations to just agree to a deal that would have 'ILM take the odd-numbered years and 'DEL the even ones. They'd save a lot of time in the long run.

Stations that brag about awards listeners/viewers don't give a damn about are so vain. It looks so pathetic when stations run self-congratulatory promos about this stuff. As if someone's going to change his or her viewing/listening habits based on which station won an industry award. Please.

I once worked at a New Jersey station where the general manager actually spent hundreds of dollars buying bundles of newspapers so he could have the staff "stuff the ballot" on one of those stupid "Best of" contests. I walked into the office one day and saw staff members sitting on the floor and at desks filling them out. "Pull up a chair, George", I was told. I informed them I'd gladly assist as soon as anyone could demonstrate to me how the effort would translate into ratings and/or revenue. I don't think they liked me.

 

[WTUX]

George, while I agree with you that the awards are meaningless, it is actually a concept taught in Marketing 101. Advertising is not just to attract new customers, but to assure the ones you already have. People often feel that they are the only customers (listeners). Bragging about awards, as WDEL does often, makes the listener think "HEY I'm not the only one who thinks this is a great radio station."

Yes, that can translate into revenue dollars. To ignore that aspect of marketing can seriously impact the bottom line when you do not take every step possible to hold your listeners.

 

[bk1808]

I want to second what WTUX said and add what I think is the most important aspect. The main reason radio stations campaign for them is that if you win one done by a newspaper you get valuable cross-media outreach and can get some residents to tune in to check you out. If you are on your game, you can convert them into regular listeners.

Joe Thomas
(Two-Time, Lancaster Newspapers' "Best-of-Lancaster" award winner in Morning Show category)

 

[Kyle D]

George, while I agree with you that the awards are meaningless, it is actually a concept taught in Marketing 101. Advertising is not just to attract new customers, but to assure the ones you already have. People often feel that they are the only customers (listeners). Bragging about awards, as WDEL does often, makes the listener think "HEY I'm not the only one who thinks this is a great radio station."

Yes, that can translate into revenue dollars. To ignore that aspect of marketing can seriously impact the bottom line when you do not take every step possible to hold your listeners.

The general public has no idea where the awards came from, and for the most part, I don't think they care. The cross-promtion is an argument, but I don't think it's strong enough of one for all of the time and effort (much of which is "on the clock") that goes in on the other end.

Again, Ch. 6 doesn't seem to be hurting in the ratings/revenue game and they don't take part in ANY contests. Ch. 6's daily contest in the Nielsen Ratings is all they seem to need...

 

[MikefromDelaware]

My guess is the public doesn't follow that stuff to the extent that the radio/TV folks do, yet the TV networks will brag about their news division getting the Peabody Award, etc. So a Marconi award going to a local station probably does impress some of the listeners, and it does seem that people do like validation for their views and choices (why conservative will listen to conservative talk (Rush, etc) and liberals will listen to NPR, etc, has some part of getting that validation or they'd tune in to the opposing point of view to better explore the issues) so the reader's choice awards in the News Journal or Delaware Today provide that validation to the local's, not just for their local radio, but their local restaurant's, etc that also covet those local awards from the two Wilmington print media sources.

Having a well known national voice (Jim Bohannan, Dan Rather, etc) saying on your local radio station in those promos that your station was voted the best by fellow peers in radio (sort of like the Academy Awards) would impress many outside of the industry. People want to follow a winner. Those awards validate many people's belief's that they are winner's, because they chose that winning radio station, or they have good taste, because they eat at that highly regarded restaurant, etc.