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Sat Radio

S

STICKBOY

In the Wall Street Journal early this week an article stated that sat radio companies lost over 500 million each thus far this year. Many free subscriptions are comming due. Many are suspected bnot to renew. Also many purchased plans are never acitvated. Why ,,, cant we as broadcasters work together against this menace as oppose to bashing each other. I know the rab does some spots along with the nab I believe. Can you imagine
the spot. " jumpin jeff walker daniels and webster frankie warren" all for free. Hey its a thought. What do you think ?????
 
Competition makes everyone stronger. You look at it as a menace. I see it as an opportunity to improve. You have to look at the reasons people buy satellite radios: format consistency, audio quality, a lack of commercials, variety. A lot of local stations are really deficient in those categories. I know you can't eliminate commercials, but you can produce them better. You can back off from 20 minutes an hour in big azz clusters. You can start doing a little news and get involved in the community.
 
I remember when: radio fought tv, movies fought tv, tv fought cable. Didn't get anywhere. As Nigel said, "You can start doing a little news and get involved in the community." Give people a reason to listen.
 
The problems with local radio is local radio, not satellite radio. More and more stations have dropped local people and news in favor of automation and voicetracking (along with so called cookie cutter radio). Media companies have become so concerned with profit that they are willing to continue eliminating the bottom line as much as possible. What they don't realize is that a little investment can lead to more profit. Satellite has it's place--some people like just listening to a particular genre of music that only satellite can provide or listening to national news-talk. But when they want some local news, info or just a local connection, they will always turn on the radio. Local radio has to be there for them. Give the people what they want.
 
My point is not that stations should not be as good as they can be. My point is not that our industry needs to improve. Competition does make us better. It seems though in this business rather than working hard to get your own horse ,,, we would rather kill our neighbors to be equal. I just think since this is the most read and least admitted to fourm of the local bizz. If we could create some continuity as we all run the smae mcdonalds spots!!! We may be ahead of the game. cable tv does it against sat tv. Why not us against sat radio?? ;)
 
I agree to some extent to what you are saying. We've seen some stations created just for the sole purpose of bringing down ratings of a competitor (e.g., when EZ 103 was created to bring down Magic 93, so that co Entercom station KRZ--or even Froggy would become number 1; EZ has since seemed to take on a life of its own and has survived despite being just a tool). This is extremely counterproductive and it mainly says that each company cannot just be a great station on their own. I agree that stations should be great on their own merits, not by taking down the competitions a few Arbitron points.

I've always thought it ironic that Citadel and Entercom, with all their resources, cannot do a better job with their stations. Just because they are big media companies does not mean they cannot be locally oriented.

There need not be competition between satellite and terrestrial radio. To me they both offer distinctive services, and unlike satellite TV vs. cable (both of which cost money), terrestrial will always be free. To get local school closings, weather, traffic, you're probably going to always have to turn on the radio, at least in NEPA.
 
This is extremely counterproductive and it mainly says that each company cannot just be a great station on their own. I agree that stations should be great on their own merits, not by taking down the competitions a few Arbitron points.
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Agreed 100%. But it ain't you and me that's running any stations. Those that are see things in an entirely different way. To state the obvious, they want money, lots of money, obscene amounts of money. And whatever it takes to get those obscene profits is just fine by corporate America. After all, it's just business, right? Just business, yeah, it's just business. From a completely different perspective, however, hurting another station to help yourself is nothing more than strategy, and it has been practiced in this market for decades. For instance; a well-known, yet for now nameless, retired programmer in this market was famous for targeting talent on other stations that he thought could hurt his station. He'd then convince a station(where he typically had friends) in another market to lure them away. A lot of jocks in this market got offers, having absolutely no idea that the beginnings of the offer came from right under their noses.
 
The Discovery Channel has been running a wonderful documentary on the AM radio "Boss Jocks" of the '60s. These guys are the reason I got into radio---and their passing is the reason I got out. One of the previous posters was right. Why are people tuning to satellite radio? I'll tell you why---a friend of mine has Sirius. He sits on his back deck and listens to it every night. To hear him tell it the very things he likes about satellite radio are the very things we complain about terrestrial radio...bigger playlists, no commercials and ENTERTAINING PERSONALITIES!!!! Yeah, getting involved in the community and being live and local helps---that's what I used to love. Why can't we go down to the Tomato Festival and see DJ's broadcasting their Tomato Fight live on the air? That would be a hoot!! Frankie & Jumpin Jeff are getting old and I don't see anyone waiting in the wings to step into their shoes. The next generation of shut-up-and-play-the-same-200-songs-as everyone-else-cue-card-readers are not up to the challenge.
You have to go farther than that---open up your playlists and stop researching everything to death...take a risk...take a chance on something and stop playing it safe. THE SADDEST DAY IN HISTORY WAS WHEN RADIO PROGRAMMERS LOST CONTROL OF THE BUSINESS TO THE BROKERS AND FINANCIAL INVESTORS
Fight satellite radio and take that control back.
 
MASTERG
I know who that person is....He tried to get ME hired out of the market. One day I'm sitting in the jock lounge and I get a phone call from a station in Wilmington, Del with tremendous job offer---I was wondering what the hell was going on. Not only was I not looking for a job, but I had no intentions of leaving town because of extensive family connections here...my wife had a great job...I was clueless. I mentioned it to one of the other jocks and he told me "So-And-So just tried to get you hired out of the market---If I were you I'd call him and thank him for the compliment!!" Which is exactly what I did.
 
Yeah, getting involved in the community and being live and local helps---that's what I used to love.
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But there is just no denying that those days are gone. The world is shrinking daily, and getting impressed by seeing your local jocks(small market or big)down at The Annual Flip The Cow Turd Contest just doesn't happen nowadays. While we can easily blame corporate ownership(and I always will), the sad fact is that things began to change dramatically in radio 20-25 years ago, and there is no going back. I'm sure some out there can remember the excitement caused by the appearance of the WARM Flagship in their neighborhoods. By the early 80s(and that's stretching it)the WARM Flagship was a big yawwwwnnn, no matter where it went. What had replaced it was one of the local teevee stations showing up in your neighborhood with a crew. And, as with everything else, even that became tired and mundane within a decade or so.

When I began in radio(early 70s)many stations, especially in small to medium markets, were a huge part of the communities they served, they were a very important part of daily life. Citizens looked to "KORN Radio-The Smilin' 1590" for entertainment, information, news, weather, ag reports, what stores had what sales, and it was a glorious time to be in the biz. We all know that thing about never saying never, but my money says those days are never to be seen again. And it is indeed sad...
 
scmidlapp said:
Why can't we go down to the Tomato Festival and see DJ's broadcasting their Tomato Fight live on the air? That would be a hoot!!


I know that ROCK 107 overnight guy / AM show producer Dave Di Renzo is going to be in the fight and do some breaks. If I weren't such a huge baby about food and sticky things I'd join him in the fight.

Prospector
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That's one thing Rock 107 does extremely well, they seem to be involved in everything. I see them at picnics, charity events, parades etc. And it amazes me to because they only have a 2 man promotion team from what I understand. I was blown away when Daniel and Websters started doing the thier small town tour. They are in a different small town every week. What a great idea.
 
bandit1 said:
That's one thing Rock 107 does extremely well, they seem to be involved in everything. I see them at picnics, charity events, parades etc. And it amazes me to because they only have a 2 man promotion team from what I understand. I was blown away when Daniel and Websters started doing the thier small town tour. They are in a different small town every week. What a great idea.
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Hey Bandit, Thanks for recognizing the hard work the promotions guys put in. Truly 107 would be nowhere without them. We are down to one right now and looking for some help. Added benefit to the D&W small town tour, the free eats they bring back to the station.

Prospector
 
As a dual subscriber of both satellite radio services, I can say that, like others, I have these subscriptions to avoid local radio as much as possible. There are many formats that won't get touched in this market on satellite.

Personally, if I didn't already have satellite, and I were to hear a "commercial" telling me that instead of paying $13 a month for better radio, that I could get Frankie Warren or Jumpin Jeff Walker for free on local radio, I'd be at Circuit City as soon as possible getting a [satellite] radio. There are people who know (and praise) satellite's alternative: All Music, No Commercials, No DJ's.

Maybe if there were some diversity in formats and personalities (length of some's tenure), local radio might be more appealing. But, it's usually the same 500 songs day in and day out, the same DJ's (some for 20+ years) doing the same thing. Those who have been with them since their start still tolerate it, but the younger (40-under) have, and are using the other alternatives. Not just sat radio, but iPods, MP3 players, etc.

Keep it current, be diverse, be professional, and yes, be local. There are many posts which constantly come up about WARM. It was the thing in its day. There really wasn't any other competition out there back then. I guarantee you that if there were other listening options, WARM would have still come out on top. They were on top of things. But things have advanced so much since then. WARM today, if it were like it was still doing the same thing, with the same people would fail.

Things aren't changing with the times in NEPA. The same thing is being done as it were 20 years ago. Sure, there is still advertising revenue coming in (which is all that matters, I guess). We won't even get into other things that local stations can do to keep up with the "threats" (*cough* IBOC..install and promote that)... but listenership is not as high as it could be with stations because it is stale.

The one example I'll state is a station like the River. Sure, the signal isn't the best in NEPA...but it, for the first time in a long time for 104.9 had a pretty darn good book. It's radio done differently, and it's actually working for its benefit. Most of the day is no nonsense music, no traffic, sports, DJ's....just music....and a promise of fewer commercials. All they're going on is a few billboards and an ad at the Red Barons stadium. They must be doing something right, or at least on their way there.
 
There are many posts which constantly come up about WARM. It was the thing in its day. There really wasn't any other competition out there back then
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Are you kidding me? Hell, I can't sit here with a straight face and say the competition was great, but it was diverse, huge, and everywhere up and down the AM and FM dials. My memory isn't really keen on details from, say, 1975 - 1985, but no signals had yet to go dark in this market, they were all doing something different. But I sure cannot argue with you about sat radio, a lot of people love it, and I hear 40+ listeners rave about it all the time. It can't be good for the locals.
 
The one example I'll state is a station like the River. Sure, the signal isn't the best in NEPA...but it, for the first time in a long time for 104.9 had a pretty darn good book. It's radio done differently, and it's actually working for its benefit. Most of the day is no nonsense music, no traffic, sports, DJ's....just music....and a promise of fewer commercials. All they're going on is a few billboards and an ad at the Red Barons stadium. They must be doing something right, or at least on their way there.
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The River had a great showing, broke the top 10 for the first time that I have ever seen for 104.9. This was quite a feat considering you cannot even get the station all that well in downtown Wilkes-Barre unless you have a satellite dish for an antenna. I wish they would stream this station over the internet, it drives me nuts that I can't listen to it at work. :'(
 
masterg said:
There are many posts which constantly come up about WARM. It was the thing in its day. There really wasn't any other competition out there back then
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Are you kidding me? Hell, I can't sit here with a straight face and say the competition was great, but it was diverse, huge, and everywhere up and down the AM and FM dials. My memory isn't really keen on details from, say, 1975 - 1985, but no signals had yet to go dark in this market, they were all doing something different. But I sure cannot argue with you about sat radio, a lot of people love it, and I hear 40+ listeners rave about it all the time. It can't be good for the locals.
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Hey read the Wall st Journal... Sat is not all its cracked upto be...
Many are leaving... Many are unsatisfied...
Here to stay for sure but not in its current form.
Sat radio over paid for Stern, The NFL and Baseball.
One or bothe compaines is on the verg of going broke.
Wnak makes more money than either !!!!!!!!
That ladies and gents is a fact !
 
Yo, Marker

Not to turn this into a side thread or what-not. I have XM for O&A and baseball, but am considering getting Sirius for football and the music. I have DishNet and find myself enjoying the Sirius music channels (especially Buzzsaw) more than XM's (and, somehow, Sirius' processing is better, IMO). Do you feel the same? Or, maybe I should ask, what do you see are the advantages to either satrad'er? Thanks.
 
masterg said:
Are you kidding me? Hell, I can't sit here with a straight face and say the competition was great, but it was diverse, huge, and everywhere up and down the AM and FM dials. My memory isn't really keen on details from, say, 1975 - 1985, but no signals had yet to go dark in this market, they were all doing something different.
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I understand the AM/FM's on the air, but my point was there was no threat from portable music players, CD's, satellite radios...they didn't exist. It was just traditional AM/FM radio "fighting" for the audience.
 
marker102 said:
...but the younger (40-under) have, and are using the other alternatives. Not just sat radio, but iPods, MP3 players, etc. Keep it current, be diverse, be professional, and yes, be local.
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Sounds to me like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth. And it sounds to me like you're allowing YOUR preference for music intensive radio speak for everyone, when not everyone shares your opinion. Satellite in it's present form IS in trouble. Subscribers bailing out left and right. Diverse? Sure. But even a kid let loose in a candy shop will get sick of it, particularly when after he's become sick of (most) of it, he has to continue to pay.

Behind the times here? Yeah, okay. I like to think of that as an advantage. It gives us a couple of years lead time to sidestep the next load of crap that's already slogging it's way through the pipe in bigger "hipper" markets.

You can have a wall-to-wall Chinese drum music channel and all the rest. And you can lament how behind the times we are here, but in the end when you strip away all the "current" trendy new way of doing things, the true value of radio was, is, and remains the fact that the listeners worth attracting are the ones who want local. Those of you who are interested only in a jukebox are, in my opinion, a bit on the dim side of wit.
 
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