Lower down on the board there was a big discussion about broadcasting school closings. Well, my wife just told me something that made me want to bring this up again. She said a woman she works with has no cellphone, no time to watch the news in the morning and has no internet access in her car on the way to work. Recently (i know it's been a weak winter) but recently there were school closings and early dismissals. While listening to her favorite station on the way to work, she didn't hear the closings, so she switched the station and has yet to listen to her "favorite" station again. This brings up the point that although we as broadcasters may get annoyed by closings and think people will get them elswhere, the average listener things otherwise. Every 15 minutes may seem like too much, but this person spent 15-30 minutes in her car and never heard them. Any thoughts?
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school closings can of worms
- Thread starter waunderlust
- Start date
E
ElectricNoodle
Guest
> Lower down on the board there was a big discussion about
> broadcasting school closings. Well, my wife just told me
> something that made me want to bring this up again. She said
> a woman she works with has no cellphone, no time to watch
> the news in the morning and has no internet access in her
> car on the way to work. Recently (i know it's been a weak
> winter) but recently there were school closings and early
> dismissals. While listening to her favorite station on the
> way to work, she didn't hear the closings, so she switched
> the station and has yet to listen to her "favorite" station
> again. This brings up the point that although we as
> broadcasters may get annoyed by closings and think people
> will get them elswhere, the average listener things
> otherwise. Every 15 minutes may seem like too much, but this
> person spent 15-30 minutes in her car and never heard them.
> Any thoughts?
Yeh... School Closings don't make any money. Closings interupt the flow of music and push the times the commercials are to play back by a few minutes. This of course effects ratings and lowers the value of the commercial time. Pretty soon the entire building is crumbling into a smoking pit like the end of "Carrie".
This is only the short version but NOW you know why they don't do School Closings on the radio anymore.
Sad isn't it?
EN
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by PA_Radio on 02/07/06 09:25 PM.</FONT></P>
> broadcasting school closings. Well, my wife just told me
> something that made me want to bring this up again. She said
> a woman she works with has no cellphone, no time to watch
> the news in the morning and has no internet access in her
> car on the way to work. Recently (i know it's been a weak
> winter) but recently there were school closings and early
> dismissals. While listening to her favorite station on the
> way to work, she didn't hear the closings, so she switched
> the station and has yet to listen to her "favorite" station
> again. This brings up the point that although we as
> broadcasters may get annoyed by closings and think people
> will get them elswhere, the average listener things
> otherwise. Every 15 minutes may seem like too much, but this
> person spent 15-30 minutes in her car and never heard them.
> Any thoughts?
Yeh... School Closings don't make any money. Closings interupt the flow of music and push the times the commercials are to play back by a few minutes. This of course effects ratings and lowers the value of the commercial time. Pretty soon the entire building is crumbling into a smoking pit like the end of "Carrie".
This is only the short version but NOW you know why they don't do School Closings on the radio anymore.
Sad isn't it?
EN
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by PA_Radio on 02/07/06 09:25 PM.</FONT></P>
3
31POWER
Guest
This rant brought to you by the new depends for sales managers.
Be like the Chinees get more work done, and keep your sales folks out of the office because of your ahhhhhhhhh
well whatever
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by PA_Radio on 02/07/06 09:26 PM.</FONT></P>
Be like the Chinees get more work done, and keep your sales folks out of the office because of your ahhhhhhhhh
well whatever
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by PA_Radio on 02/07/06 09:26 PM.</FONT></P>
J
JAFO
Guest
> This rant brought to you by the new depends for sales
> managers.
> Be like the Chinees get more work done, and keep your sales
> folks out of the office because of your ahhhhhhhhh
> well whatever
>
Can we give Captain H&B an award for this, his most incoherent rant ever?????
> managers.
> Be like the Chinees get more work done, and keep your sales
> folks out of the office because of your ahhhhhhhhh
> well whatever
>
Can we give Captain H&B an award for this, his most incoherent rant ever?????
T
TomCarten
Guest
>>>Can we give Captain H&B an award for this, his most incoherent rant ever?<<<
Not "ever" -- just "so far."
<P ID="signature">______________
Use "Radio-Info" in e-mail subject line.</P>
Not "ever" -- just "so far."
<P ID="signature">______________
Use "Radio-Info" in e-mail subject line.</P>
If a radio station doesn't give it's listeners what they need, they'll find it somewhere else. I don't care what age they are. Do you know any high school kid who woke up one morning, saw snow on the ground and popped on the news station? They put on THEIR station and want to know if they've got a day off. I've been the morning host on the #1 CHR, the #1 Rocker and the News Talk station in various markets and every time it snows we get innundated with calls wanting to know if there are any closings or delays.... from OUR CORE AUDIENCE. Sponsored or not, do 'em. Break 'em up somehow if the list gets immensely long, switch announcers every ten schools or every page, drop a son in between counties or between closings and delays (just be constantly teasing ahead about what list is coming up.), goof with callers by trying to get them to guess their schools password so that they can close their school. Use your head. If your too cool for the room, you'll soon be alone in it.
A
Aramondo
Guest
(snip)
> again. This brings up the point that although we as
> broadcasters may get annoyed by closings and think people
> will get them elswhere, the average listener things
> otherwise. Every 15 minutes may seem like too much, but this
> person spent 15-30 minutes in her car and never heard them.
> Any thoughts?
I don't know. I think there was probably a period of a few years when people complained that it was getting harder to find a store that sold those little hooks they once needed to do up their button shoes. I think the population that relies solely on radio for something like school closings is shrinking. Your story is one of the few I suspect.
Flip on the TV, three stations are running a crawl and they're not all "only on the D's?" Radio and TV websites are another source. Even schools have it posted on their sites. You can also get the word in an e-mail in case you get in front of the computer and haven't opened Explorer yet, it's already in your Inbox. Kids see snow, pop on the IM and get the word from a friend who already got the word from wherever.
To me it's like watching the 15 minute sports report on local news in the fall. If I give a s _ _ t about anything at all on there, it's one game. The rest is drone and doesn't have me transifxed. Same with any laundry list.
> again. This brings up the point that although we as
> broadcasters may get annoyed by closings and think people
> will get them elswhere, the average listener things
> otherwise. Every 15 minutes may seem like too much, but this
> person spent 15-30 minutes in her car and never heard them.
> Any thoughts?
I don't know. I think there was probably a period of a few years when people complained that it was getting harder to find a store that sold those little hooks they once needed to do up their button shoes. I think the population that relies solely on radio for something like school closings is shrinking. Your story is one of the few I suspect.
Flip on the TV, three stations are running a crawl and they're not all "only on the D's?" Radio and TV websites are another source. Even schools have it posted on their sites. You can also get the word in an e-mail in case you get in front of the computer and haven't opened Explorer yet, it's already in your Inbox. Kids see snow, pop on the IM and get the word from a friend who already got the word from wherever.
To me it's like watching the 15 minute sports report on local news in the fall. If I give a s _ _ t about anything at all on there, it's one game. The rest is drone and doesn't have me transifxed. Same with any laundry list.
T
TomCarten
Guest
>>>Goof with callers by trying to get them to guess their school's password so that they can close their school.<<<
When I was a teen, I knew my school's password; I was working in the news department of the dominant regional station. I also had the smarts not to tell anyone at school about this secret knowledge.<P ID="signature">______________
Use "Radio-Info" in e-mail subject line.</P>
When I was a teen, I knew my school's password; I was working in the news department of the dominant regional station. I also had the smarts not to tell anyone at school about this secret knowledge.<P ID="signature">______________
Use "Radio-Info" in e-mail subject line.</P>
B
bierkenstock
Guest
This listener is not "average." One person, especially a friend of your wife, is not a trend. This is why we do audience research. To make programming decisions based on somebody who complains to your wife, is close to making programming decisions to please people who call the station to complain.
The fact is there are a lot better ways to get the information out:
TV crawls (which do not interrupt programming)
Websites (school websites and station websites)
And possibly best of all, station School Closing lines. The listener calls your special number, punches in their school code, hears a :10 spot (yes, you can make some money here) and then gets the info they want. No waiting to hear a long list read on-the-air.
Cover closings in general as part of the news or in the weather, and then send people to the phone line and website. Talk about closings but don't read lists.
Many listeners don't have kids in school and want to hear regular programming. You are driving those people away. And the rest want to hear only one number; they want it now and then they want regular programming.
> This brings up the point that although we as
> broadcasters may get annoyed by closings and think people
> will get them elswhere, the average listener things
> otherwise.
>
The fact is there are a lot better ways to get the information out:
TV crawls (which do not interrupt programming)
Websites (school websites and station websites)
And possibly best of all, station School Closing lines. The listener calls your special number, punches in their school code, hears a :10 spot (yes, you can make some money here) and then gets the info they want. No waiting to hear a long list read on-the-air.
Cover closings in general as part of the news or in the weather, and then send people to the phone line and website. Talk about closings but don't read lists.
Many listeners don't have kids in school and want to hear regular programming. You are driving those people away. And the rest want to hear only one number; they want it now and then they want regular programming.
> This brings up the point that although we as
> broadcasters may get annoyed by closings and think people
> will get them elswhere, the average listener things
> otherwise.
>
B
bierkenstock
Guest
CLOSE THE CAN
> drop a son in between counties or between closings and delays
Drop a son? That could be interesting radio.
"More closings in a moment but first, we're up here on the roof with John Doaks and his eight year old son, Tommy. John, why do you want us to drop your son into the snow bank down there? ..."
Great bit.
But seriously,
Music stations often don't do school closing on-air. Maybe online or maybe via an automated (and sponsored) special phone line. Otherwise, they leave them to the AM news and news-talk stations. And when it snows, the rest of the world stops while these stations read long, long lists in morning drive. Since the audience for these stations skews old, you have a lot of regular and core listeners who do not have school-age kids. Essentially, they drive away a lot of people who tune to those stations for regular programming. And they do this to accommodate people who normally listen to something else (and will go back to something else the next day). This does not make sense.
> every time it snows we get innundated with calls
> wanting to know if there are any closings or delays
I've taken a lot of those calls. Generally they are not from listeners (core or occasional). However, what this says to me is people don't want to sit still and listen to us read a long list of closings when there is only one closing (or two to three at most) they care about. We need to get each listener the information he wants when he wants it (which is RIGHT NOW). Websites and special automated phone lines can do that; not reading lists on the radio.
And these !@#$ lists keep getting longer. First it was public schools and parochial schools. Then the pre-schools and day-care centers (often some woman baby-sitting three or four kids in her home), senior centers, Y's and then small business want to get in on the act. And they keep making the message more complicated (K-2 report two hours late; 3-4 report one hour late. No bus service. Staff report on time. After-school programs cancelled. ....). Announcements get longer, so the list gets longer (or the time to read the list gets longer).
Radio is a mass medium. It is not suited for personal announcements, each relevant to a small number of people.
> goof with
> callers by trying to get them to guess their schools
> password so that they can close their school.
Talk about waving a red flag. Some kid hears that and that's what he'll do. One place I worked had only one password for everybody. Guess what....?
Yes, we need to get this information to people but there has to be a better way than the 50 year old practice of reading lists on the air.
> drop a son in between counties or between closings and delays
Drop a son? That could be interesting radio.
"More closings in a moment but first, we're up here on the roof with John Doaks and his eight year old son, Tommy. John, why do you want us to drop your son into the snow bank down there? ..."
Great bit.
But seriously,
Music stations often don't do school closing on-air. Maybe online or maybe via an automated (and sponsored) special phone line. Otherwise, they leave them to the AM news and news-talk stations. And when it snows, the rest of the world stops while these stations read long, long lists in morning drive. Since the audience for these stations skews old, you have a lot of regular and core listeners who do not have school-age kids. Essentially, they drive away a lot of people who tune to those stations for regular programming. And they do this to accommodate people who normally listen to something else (and will go back to something else the next day). This does not make sense.
> every time it snows we get innundated with calls
> wanting to know if there are any closings or delays
I've taken a lot of those calls. Generally they are not from listeners (core or occasional). However, what this says to me is people don't want to sit still and listen to us read a long list of closings when there is only one closing (or two to three at most) they care about. We need to get each listener the information he wants when he wants it (which is RIGHT NOW). Websites and special automated phone lines can do that; not reading lists on the radio.
And these !@#$ lists keep getting longer. First it was public schools and parochial schools. Then the pre-schools and day-care centers (often some woman baby-sitting three or four kids in her home), senior centers, Y's and then small business want to get in on the act. And they keep making the message more complicated (K-2 report two hours late; 3-4 report one hour late. No bus service. Staff report on time. After-school programs cancelled. ....). Announcements get longer, so the list gets longer (or the time to read the list gets longer).
Radio is a mass medium. It is not suited for personal announcements, each relevant to a small number of people.
> goof with
> callers by trying to get them to guess their schools
> password so that they can close their school.
Talk about waving a red flag. Some kid hears that and that's what he'll do. One place I worked had only one password for everybody. Guess what....?
Yes, we need to get this information to people but there has to be a better way than the 50 year old practice of reading lists on the air.
T
TomCarten
Guest
Re: CLOSE THE CAN
>>>Yes, we need to get this information to people but there has to be a better way than the 50 year old practice of reading lists on the air.<<<
Maybe read entire districts full-day only ("WB and Pittston Area closed)" and let people look at WNEP's site (maybe 50 does it, too) or the on-air squeeze-box announcements for everything else ("Funny Uncle's Daycare starts at noon"). Many/most people with kids have a computer; everybody has a tv.
<P ID="signature">______________
Use "Radio-Info" in e-mail subject line.</P>
>>>Yes, we need to get this information to people but there has to be a better way than the 50 year old practice of reading lists on the air.<<<
Maybe read entire districts full-day only ("WB and Pittston Area closed)" and let people look at WNEP's site (maybe 50 does it, too) or the on-air squeeze-box announcements for everything else ("Funny Uncle's Daycare starts at noon"). Many/most people with kids have a computer; everybody has a tv.
<P ID="signature">______________
Use "Radio-Info" in e-mail subject line.</P>
Re: CLOSE THE CAN
> Drop a son? That could be interesting radio.
> "More closings in a moment but first, we're up here on the
> roof with John Doaks and his eight year old son, Tommy.
> John, why do you want us to drop your son into the snow bank
> down there? ..."
> Great bit.
LOL. No spell check on this thing!
Honestly, I'd love to be able to run a scroll like the TV stations. We do put it up on the website and generally, we just hit the districts, not individual schools.
The thing that truly breaks my cahones is when school districts will tell their parents to listen to an out-of-the-area station instead of the local news station because the out-of-market station told them that they wouldn't announce their closings unless they were annointed the "exclusive outlet." That's just sleazy. Not unexpected, but sleazy. If that doesn't speak to the importance of school closings, I don't know what does.
> Drop a son? That could be interesting radio.
> "More closings in a moment but first, we're up here on the
> roof with John Doaks and his eight year old son, Tommy.
> John, why do you want us to drop your son into the snow bank
> down there? ..."
> Great bit.
LOL. No spell check on this thing!
Honestly, I'd love to be able to run a scroll like the TV stations. We do put it up on the website and generally, we just hit the districts, not individual schools.
The thing that truly breaks my cahones is when school districts will tell their parents to listen to an out-of-the-area station instead of the local news station because the out-of-market station told them that they wouldn't announce their closings unless they were annointed the "exclusive outlet." That's just sleazy. Not unexpected, but sleazy. If that doesn't speak to the importance of school closings, I don't know what does.
B
bierkenstock
Guest
Do you have Prince Albert in a can?
>
> Honestly, I'd love to be able to run a scroll like the TV
> stations.
>
Actually, Joe, once upon a time when your station was co-owned with the local cable system, that's exactly what they did. One channel carried audio from your radio station (and it seems a fair portion of the audience did listen that way) along with a video bulletin board with school closings (when applicable) as well as the weather forecast, headlines and announcements.
> The thing that truly breaks my cahones is when school
> districts will tell their parents to listen to an
> out-of-the-area station instead of the local news station
> because the out-of-market station told them that they
> wouldn't announce their closings unless they were annointed
> the "exclusive outlet." That's just sleazy. Not unexpected,
> but sleazy. If that doesn't speak to the importance of
> school closings, I don't know what does.
>
I wouldn't call it sleazy. I'd call it "I wish I'd thought of that first." In fairness, they are not out of market. You and they are in the same market but they are a big city blow-torch and you are a suburban station. But you do have a point. I've worked for some "peripheral" stations and I've seen the same kind of mind-set. We'd bust are hump giving air time to local groups and government agencies (promos, interviews, puff pieces)and when some real news happens they won't give us the time of day and fall all over themselves for the city radio and TV stations. Truth is, when that happens I'd like to freeze out those people if I could find some way to do it which would not be self-defeating.
I say again, the school-closing information is important. But reading lists on the air is the worst possible way to deliver that information. I think a case could be made for letting the downtown station do the school closings. You provide a phone line and/or a website and/or a cable crawl for people who don't want to sit through lists. Anybody who appreciates your programming day in and day out but wants to hear some guy read numbers endlessly will be back (especially after they've heard THEIR school announcement and the station keeps reading the same list again and again...)
There is a lemming mentality in this business. They do closings, so we have to do closings. Same thing whenBush makes a speech and every channel has to carry it. It doesn't make sense from a programming stand-point or a business stand-point. Listeners know that radios have tuners and pre-sets, but apparently a lot of people in this business have not figured that out yet.
The only reason most stations do school closings is because they've "always" done school closings. Maybe there was a time it made sense but no more.
>
> Honestly, I'd love to be able to run a scroll like the TV
> stations.
>
Actually, Joe, once upon a time when your station was co-owned with the local cable system, that's exactly what they did. One channel carried audio from your radio station (and it seems a fair portion of the audience did listen that way) along with a video bulletin board with school closings (when applicable) as well as the weather forecast, headlines and announcements.
> The thing that truly breaks my cahones is when school
> districts will tell their parents to listen to an
> out-of-the-area station instead of the local news station
> because the out-of-market station told them that they
> wouldn't announce their closings unless they were annointed
> the "exclusive outlet." That's just sleazy. Not unexpected,
> but sleazy. If that doesn't speak to the importance of
> school closings, I don't know what does.
>
I wouldn't call it sleazy. I'd call it "I wish I'd thought of that first." In fairness, they are not out of market. You and they are in the same market but they are a big city blow-torch and you are a suburban station. But you do have a point. I've worked for some "peripheral" stations and I've seen the same kind of mind-set. We'd bust are hump giving air time to local groups and government agencies (promos, interviews, puff pieces)and when some real news happens they won't give us the time of day and fall all over themselves for the city radio and TV stations. Truth is, when that happens I'd like to freeze out those people if I could find some way to do it which would not be self-defeating.
I say again, the school-closing information is important. But reading lists on the air is the worst possible way to deliver that information. I think a case could be made for letting the downtown station do the school closings. You provide a phone line and/or a website and/or a cable crawl for people who don't want to sit through lists. Anybody who appreciates your programming day in and day out but wants to hear some guy read numbers endlessly will be back (especially after they've heard THEIR school announcement and the station keeps reading the same list again and again...)
There is a lemming mentality in this business. They do closings, so we have to do closings. Same thing whenBush makes a speech and every channel has to carry it. It doesn't make sense from a programming stand-point or a business stand-point. Listeners know that radios have tuners and pre-sets, but apparently a lot of people in this business have not figured that out yet.
The only reason most stations do school closings is because they've "always" done school closings. Maybe there was a time it made sense but no more.
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