Renda Broadcasting unplugs....

[pocket-radio]

Broadcaster unplugs internet streaming. Yesterday, Renda Broadcasting pulled the plug on WSHH-FM (99.7) and WJAS-AM. Their Jax cluster went silent a while ago and I believe most of their stations are off or in the process. RIAA royalities and a bad economy didn't help.

Paid or free nationwide wireless internet access is in our future. And within 5 years ever car will be internet enabled. Already we're seeing an internet radio made by Blapunkt for automobiles. I have to ask the question, what does Blapunkt know that Renda doesn't?

Maybe somebody should ask them? I guess Renda likes looking in his rear view mirror.

I liked the 70's too...The music and hair were great.. LOL...

http://pbrtv.com/blog/entry_868.php

 

[Boss Radio]

The current agenda at Renda is more meeting the next payroll than formulating a five-year plan.

 

[Snafu]

There's nothing to prevent them from going back some day and plugging it back in when they can figure out how to make money with it. Right now their revenues are just awful (like many broadcasters) and they are trying to make it to the end of the quarter with something left in the bank.

 

[Parttimer]

With the possible exception of talk formats, the older the audience the less the demand for streaming.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

I'm over 54 and I love to stream. I like KRTH, WCBS, and WOMC. I like to check out stations around the country since DX'ing is impossible in Florida with all the interference from Cuba . Beside, you can't DX FM stations from much farther than Georgia anyways.

 

[Parttimer]

I challenge you to find another 54 year old female anyhwere that DX's. Or even knows what it is.

And the streaming comment was primarily about WJAS... not many 80-year-old listening online, I'd be willing to bet.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

1) I listen to WJAS when I'm in Pittsburgh. It helps me fall asleep much as WDUV does when I'm in Tampa. :-X

2) I was a dee jay groupie the first time I saw "Walk and don't walk" . First thing I did when rambling around in the Sixties was check out the radio stations and go to "record hops". I went all the way to Miami in 1962 and got to a WQAM event. Other girls liked the musicians. I liked the platter pushers. : : : :

3) Met Dave Diamond on KHJ in 1965 Doug Hoerth knows by an e-mail name. I was big fan and we talked about the good old days of WABC and WMCA on his show. ???

4) Playing on the internet is all I got left.

 

[listner1]

If a station is not making money, or having a rough time at it, normally they don't shut the transmitter off do they? That is in effect what Renda is doing here. Streaming is the future of radio. If broadcasters want to still have a business in 5 years, they need to embrace the internet now. There are several ownership groups out there that still don't get that being on the internet and original content is the only thing that will keep them going. Groups that are killing their streams and increasing automated, and voice-tracked programming are doomed.

 

[Parttimer]

If a station is not making money, or having a rough time at it, normally they don't shut the transmitter off do they?

Actually you're going to see quite a bit of that in the next couple of years.

That is in effect what Renda is doing here. Streaming is the future of radio. If broadcasters want to still have a business in 5 years, they need to embrace the internet now. There are several ownership groups out there that still don't get that being on the internet and original content is the only thing that will keep them going. Groups that are killing their streams and increasing automated, and voice-tracked programming are doomed.

Who is the average listener to WJAS? How could you pitch ANY advertiser that ANYONE would be listening to that content online?

 

[MsMusicRadio]

I listened every Sunday night to Doug Hoerth's doo-wop show. Something like that was quite unusual being 6 hours long. He played all the hits I remembered and did a dead on BMR impression. It was a classic.

 

[Boss Radio]

If a station is not making money, or having a rough time at it, normally they don't shut the transmitter off do they? That is in effect what Renda is doing here. Streaming is the future of radio. If broadcasters want to still have a business in 5 years, they need to embrace the internet now. There are several ownership groups out there that still don't get that being on the internet and original content is the only thing that will keep them going. Groups that are killing their streams and increasing automated, and voice-tracked programming are doomed.

Have you been following the thread? Have you been following what's been happening at Renda over the past few years? They're turned 1360 into a brokered station. They've cut to the bone at WJAS. They have two local shows on WJAS, hosted by people who bring in personal clients. Bogut is 73 this year, Cardille just turned 80. There is no five-year plan. It's all about today.

 

[Pratte4Life]

For whatever it is worth, WMNY is still streaming.

 

[fromtheinsideout]

WMNY is still streaming because talk isn't subjected to the same double royalty penalty that music stations have, where they have to pay royalties for both their over the air broadcast as well as their online one. That being said, the obvious reason to pull the plug on streaming, besides saving money, is that their isn't an audience for it. Radio webstreams, especially for locals broadcasts, bring in audiences by the dozens, not thousands that are needed to turn a profit. Plus there is no way to target that audience for advertisers. You can't sell local spots when the audience isn't necessarily local and national advertisers wouldn't dream of spending money to reach an audience that small.

 

[Snafu]

It works in very unique situations such as streaming Steeler games and to a lesser degree Penguin games. Other than that the audience is too fragmented to really sell. Now if five or ten years from now mobile internet is really viable in automobiles then you have a different story. But for most radio stations right now five years away might as well be 5,000,000 years from now. Some of them are in far worse shape financially than you realize.

 

[Parttimer]

In general, what we're seeing as the current "poor economy" has really been going on for years, businesses ranging from radio stations to Circuit City were losing millions but kept borrowing to keep the lights on. When the credit markets collapsed that was no longer an option, so now you see companies going under, and that part isn't done yet. Sirius/XM has big debt looming this year which could result in a takeover by Dish Network or yet another restructuring of the company, maybe even a Chapter 11.

 

[MsMusicRadio]

Since Renda obviously gave up on WJAS as a music station with local personalities, why coudn't they have moved the" sort of liberal talk format "to the better signal on 1320 and see how it did before they pulled the plug and fired some popular local personalities. Sure it could have failed there too, but seems it was worth a try.

 

[Parttimer]

Talk entails more overhead. The better signal would have been unlikely to make a difference in revenue.

 

[Pratte4Life]

Not only that, but, without any disrespect for Cullen, Hoerth, et all

Do you really think they are as popular as Jack Bogut or Billy Cardille?

When a host like Cullen is shown the door- half the population says "It's about time!" and rejoice.

Fire Bogut and Cardille, and while I doubt their audience would take to the streets and protest, it would be a PR nightmare.

 

[fromtheinsideout]

It works in very unique situations such as streaming Steeler games and to a lesser degree Penguin games. Other than that the audience is too fragmented to really sell. Now if five or ten years from now mobile internet is really viable in automobiles then you have a different story. But for most radio stations right now five years away might as well be 5,000,000 years from now. Some of them are in far worse shape financially than you realize.

A quick question, because I honesrly don't know the answer to this....Do the stations radio stations that the games are on get to offer them on their webstreams as well? I was under the impression, maybe mistakenly, that 104.7 offered their talk lineup (at least the syndicated fare) on their webstream instead of the Pirates games, which I figured was in part because the broadcast is actually own and operated by the Pirates. I could be mistaken and someone please correct me if I am, I will admit that I rarely listen to local station streams, especially during sporting events, but are the local games offered online or do the teams have the final say so on that?

 

[MsMusicRadio]

If Renda feels like Bogut and Cardille are so popular, then why did they start dismantaling the station? Why is PM drive filled by John Tesh? Why are they robojocked all night? Don't old people ( like me) like nostalgia radio warm and interactive like WNEW was a long time ago and KDKA and WWSW were back when I was a kid and the adults grooved on Art Pallan etc. I know WDUV is successful playing this music in Tampa and is robojocked except AM drive, but it is also 50,000 watts on FM. Pittsburgh has no true "soft AC" on FM and WJAS kinda feels that void. Pittsburgh does have older demos, so why is WJAS in trouble, but appearantly too good to flip to liberal talk? Isn't WTRV doing well in Grand Rapids? I'm confused and need somebody to help me here!