Today we celebrate Labor Day.
And with the continued slashing of payroll- particularly for on-air talent, I guess a lot of the celebrating is by corporate. Listeners have been conditioned to expect so very little from radio now. With few exceptions, radio is iPod (Light) – music with sweepers and a couple commercial breaks per hour.
This surely isn’t news but I suspect things will continue down this road – watch middays. You can just imagine some “research” sitting on someone’s desk that says average listeners don’t really care if there is a midday request show or not and the reality is – so few actually call and an even smaller percentage of requests actually get played. Some bean-counter will make the usual recommendation that reducing midday payroll will outweigh the benefits.
If you look at latest Jax trends, we surely don’t see listener revolt. Even with periods of ups and downs, stations such as Eagle get good numbers and this has so very little to do with the on-air talent. 5 years ago, if anyone were to tell me a Top 5 station in the #47 market would abandon 90 minutes of AM drive for automation, I wouldn’t believe it. No traffic, weather or news during the prime time of radio – no way!
And while not unique to Jax, WOKV and its’ syndicated line-up is well positioned (Election Season) to remain at #1 for the next year. I can understand the decision to simulcast WOKV on FM and this will prove a great return for the investment. Yes, again at the expense of people but if this were the exception, I wouldn’t feel as I do.
And on this Labor Day, I recall how I was once excited about radio deregulation. My first thought was this would benefit those in the business and help many stations survive. Better to work for a strong company than a weak one, right? I don’t have a clue why I remember things like this but one morning Dave Scott on the old Cool 96.9 mentioned how great the benefits were with then new owners, Cox Radio. I guess the trick is to last long enough to enjoy them.
Even with the big guns owning a lot of the property here, I remain optimistic that a radio station here and there will be sold to those who will bring personality back to radio. You should all know, by now, what I want for this market. Nothing is impossible.
I’ve always appreciated the hard work of those on the air (past and present) and those behind the scenes. That was my real reason in posting today. Thanks for the good times and great memories. I consider many of you - friends -and I wish you the very best.
And with the continued slashing of payroll- particularly for on-air talent, I guess a lot of the celebrating is by corporate. Listeners have been conditioned to expect so very little from radio now. With few exceptions, radio is iPod (Light) – music with sweepers and a couple commercial breaks per hour.
This surely isn’t news but I suspect things will continue down this road – watch middays. You can just imagine some “research” sitting on someone’s desk that says average listeners don’t really care if there is a midday request show or not and the reality is – so few actually call and an even smaller percentage of requests actually get played. Some bean-counter will make the usual recommendation that reducing midday payroll will outweigh the benefits.
If you look at latest Jax trends, we surely don’t see listener revolt. Even with periods of ups and downs, stations such as Eagle get good numbers and this has so very little to do with the on-air talent. 5 years ago, if anyone were to tell me a Top 5 station in the #47 market would abandon 90 minutes of AM drive for automation, I wouldn’t believe it. No traffic, weather or news during the prime time of radio – no way!
And while not unique to Jax, WOKV and its’ syndicated line-up is well positioned (Election Season) to remain at #1 for the next year. I can understand the decision to simulcast WOKV on FM and this will prove a great return for the investment. Yes, again at the expense of people but if this were the exception, I wouldn’t feel as I do.
And on this Labor Day, I recall how I was once excited about radio deregulation. My first thought was this would benefit those in the business and help many stations survive. Better to work for a strong company than a weak one, right? I don’t have a clue why I remember things like this but one morning Dave Scott on the old Cool 96.9 mentioned how great the benefits were with then new owners, Cox Radio. I guess the trick is to last long enough to enjoy them.
Even with the big guns owning a lot of the property here, I remain optimistic that a radio station here and there will be sold to those who will bring personality back to radio. You should all know, by now, what I want for this market. Nothing is impossible.
I’ve always appreciated the hard work of those on the air (past and present) and those behind the scenes. That was my real reason in posting today. Thanks for the good times and great memories. I consider many of you - friends -and I wish you the very best.