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SHOULD WE GIVE UP ON RADIO?!?

S

Surfer

Corporate ownership, poor FCC management, no talent announcers/entertainers, money is the ONLY reason for the medium, no creativity...the list goes on. Does anybody REALISTICALLY think radio as an art/business form can ever re-create what it once was? If not, maybe we should all get out now? Is the medium relegated to traffic and weather every 15 minutes or not?

Personally, I truly doubt we'll ever see radio as it was. In fact, I expect the medium to be gone within 20 years...relegated to a few scattered pirate stations around the country who think they're providing a public service when in fact they're just empty mouthpieces.

OK, that's my opinion, now who's gut guts! ;D
 
Gone in 20 years? No way. Changed forever? You bet. Is there still creativity and originality in radio? Yep. Look no further than NPR for instance. It may not be your cup of tea, but NPR and its counterpart, American Public Media still produce some of the best radio in the nation. Radio will continue to change in form and in substance, with new and innovative methods of delivery, satellite, podcasts, etc. Instead of giving up on radio, pump new life into it.
 
I give up on Commercial Radio here in Atlanta area. I got a subscription to Sirius a month ago & refuse to go back to Commerical Radio. I encourage those of you who have not gotten Sirius and/or XM to join the revolution.
 
I agree with fussbudget...NPR continues to offer quality programming on a national level although I can see how it may not appeal to the anti-intellectual crowd. :) Shows like "My Word," "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me," and "This American Life" thankfully offer some mental stimulation to those of us who don't consider locker room humor, poor Stern imitations, or whining about your significant other to be cutting edge entertainment.
 
Radio is not dead but I agree it is dying a slow corporate death. After all it is a business and as the FCC raises fines and bean counters get even more nervous, the real talent that's out there is not being groomed. Talent is being replaced by voicetracking and liner cards. Safe, no fines and cheap, because after all you have to pay real talent.

I found some ole Gary McKee airchecks one day on the web. Wow! I had heard about this guy and QXI but never heard him do his stuff ( first I head McKee he was on WSB). Fact is, the Radio Stations that gave us a Gary McKee or a Moby or a Neal Boortz would never allow such talents to grow and develope.

The philosophy now is to use them and keep the talent from becoming too big, that way we can keep the next contract under 100k. Hell, 40k if you are an FM jock.

In short, if radio is to survive it will take talent. And that's why she's in a coma right now. Especially Atlanta radio. People will always tune in for a good laugh, to say amen or to get the scoop. Great talent delivers all three. Most of the guys on the radio are good at maybe one or two. Listeners are waiting for the next big thing not 20 hits in a row. They want someone who tell it like it is or at least doesn't tell it like they think you want to hear it. Wouldn't it be nice if just one jock stopped a song right in the middle and said "this song sucks" and then just ranted for 3 minutes. OK, he probably would get fired. But I would prefer that than, " here's annother set of todays (yesterdays-in case of the river) best hits"

jmho.
 
They said television was the death of radio. They said cable television was the death of terrestrial television. They said satellite was the death of cable. They say satellite radio is the death of terrestrial radio. It sustained every "death" that it should have experience and it all will still be around. The wheel is still around, it just needs to be reinvented again. Get radio out of the can.
 
Radio is the antithesis of the concept: "You have to spend money to make money."

It continues to amaze me how radio ownership groups continue to slash budgets and creativity, then wonder where all of their listeners have gone. Then, with fewer listeners, they feel they need to cut budgets.

All my life's a circle...
 
Gone? Nah. Different? you betcha. Cost cuts will occir as long ass they work. When they stop working, either current or new owners will determine a means of making money with a station.. Whether you agree with the front office or not, remember, these people didn't get where they are via stupidity. There must be something to be learned from the Harvard Business School, else all those folks wouln't be clamoring to get into the MBA program. Those who misapply will eventually fall by the wayside, and the ones who replace them will soldier on more or less correctly. Correctly, of course, to be determined... it's a mvoing target.
As an example - I bought a Plymouth in early 1968 - all engine. It was lumpy, noisy, crude, and drank the best gas you could find... but >nothing< passed it. Now, the auto manufacturers are trying to recapture the essence of those old 'muscle cars'. GM brought an Australian product over, called it a GTO, and it sold like cold cakes, even though it was something of a hotrod. Ford builds a Mustang which looks and to a degree runs like the 1969 - 70 product, and they can't build the things fast enough. I got a chance at a preproduction Dodge Challenger the other week. It's dam' near as quick as the old hemi Roadrunner I had, looks like the Challenger of old, and it's totally modern inside and out.. turns on command, stops quickly, and runs on what passes for gasoline these days. Chrysler is going to sell every one of these thay can assemble.
In radio today we have the GMs, and the emerging Fords and Chryslers. It's gonna be fun to watch. Don't give up, just remember the Year One motto "Don't crush 'em - Restore 'em"
 
Isn't it funny! Yes, Television, Cable, Satellite, Print, and on and on, all tried to commit HOMICIDE on radio and failed! Then along came some of the "smartest" Radio people in the world... and they helped radio commit ASSISTED SUICIDE! The Radio Industry has killed itself. We had one advantage that no outside force could compete with... WE WERE LOCAL! We were your friends... we made you happy... we told you when something was going on in your hometown... we helped keep your family safe... we came out into your community and helped make things better... in other words, we were people you knew doing things to make your life better. But that was then... this is now... Unless you go to our fancy web site (controlled by some egghead at home office) you don't even know what we look like! And you sure don't know that we are sitting in a studio in Kansas City (or fill in the blank) doing not only your mid day, but three other stations too! I'm not going to talk to you about your weather... cause I don't have the foggiest idea what it is! I'll just throw it to the national weather service we use and you'll get a recorded message about one of the things you have told me that is the most important in your daily life! Same thing about traffic, sports, community events, and on and on. I no longer send my top personalities to host your community event... but I will run twenty or thirty promos and claim to be the "official station" of the event! (BTW.. they now must be 30's cause we sure aren't going to spend 60 seconds of our precious time promoting something we aren't going to make any money on... the sales staff couldn't find someone willing to pay to be the sponsor, don't you know!) and of course our FCC attorneys have figured out the fewest number of promos we have to run in order to still meet our FCC obligations! Everything on my air has been sanitized, institutionalized, nationalized, and commercialized! There are a few, and I do mean a FEW, radio operators out there that still get it and are tyring to still offer real radio to their listeners... but they are few and far between! I could go on and on... but the truth is those of you that get it already know what I am talking about and are saying AMEN... and those of you that don't get it will never get it so it really doesn't matter.
Joe
 
Surfer said:
Corporate ownership, poor FCC management, no talent announcers/entertainers, money is the ONLY reason for the medium, no creativity...the list goes on. Does anybody REALISTICALLY think radio as an art/business form can ever re-create what it once was? If not, maybe we should all get out now? Is the medium relegated to traffic and weather every 15 minutes or not?

Personally, I truly doubt we'll ever see radio as it was. In fact, I expect the medium to be gone within 20 years...relegated to a few scattered pirate stations around the country who think they're providing a public service when in fact they're just empty mouthpieces.

OK, that's my opinion, now who's gut guts! ;D
Click to expand...

we will also never see.....................

tv as it was
movies as they were
automobiles like their heyday
computers like yesteryear
medicine like 20 yrs ago
athletic skills like the sixties

get it---the world is constantly changing. why do u insist on living in **THE DAY**?????
 
Radiofriend, you are missing the point. You said:


we will also never see:

tv as it was
(3 channels in black and white?)
movies as they were
(cartoon, newsreel, and a full blown musical?)
automobiles like their heyday
(metal dash, no seatbelts, clutch, gas guzzlers?)
computers like yesteryear
(Commodore 64?)
medicine like 20 yrs ago
(no way to control measles, wipe out small pox, no vaccine for cervical cancer?)
athletic skills like the sixties
(huh? Today's athletes (at least those not on steroids) have plenty of skill.)

***

The point is, movies in many ways are much better, computer animation, special effects, and so on. Does anyone really miss the newsreels?
Computers like yesteryear were horrible by today's standards.
There have been amazing advances in medicine. Granted, a few setbacks as well but no one I know wants to go back to the treatments of 20 years ago.
What does athletic skill have to do with technology (unless we're talking steroids)?
Radio has become much worse than it was 20 years ago, it is rarely "live and local" anymore. Commercials have become so frequent they destroy the continuity of even the most creative programming. Sure, we have more choices than we did two decades ago but are those choices more interesting, entertaining and enlightening? With radio's decline we've truly lost something that once made our lives a little bit better and that is a shame.
 
fussbudget said:
Radiofriend, you are missing the point. You said:


we will also never see:

tv as it was
(3 channels in black and white?)
movies as they were
(cartoon, newsreel, and a full blown musical?)
automobiles like their heyday
(metal dash, no seatbelts, clutch, gas guzzlers?)
computers like yesteryear
(Commodore 64?)
medicine like 20 yrs ago
(no way to control measles, wipe out small pox, no vaccine for cervical cancer?)
athletic skills like the sixties
(huh? Today's athletes (at least those not on steroids) have plenty of skill.)

***

The point is, movies in many ways are much better, computer animation, special effects, and so on. Does anyone really miss the newsreels?
Computers like yesteryear were horrible by today's standards.
There have been amazing advances in medicine. Granted, a few setbacks as well but no one I know wants to go back to the treatments of 20 years ago.
What does athletic skill have to do with technology (unless we're talking steroids)?
Radio has become much worse than it was 20 years ago, it is rarely "live and local" anymore. Commercials have become so frequent they destroy the continuity of even the most creative programming. Sure, we have more choices than we did two decades ago but are those choices more interesting, entertaining and enlightening? With radio's decline we've truly lost something that once made our lives a little bit better and that is a shame.
Click to expand...

i bring all that up becuz this is all bigger than just tall towers in big fields. **live & local** is great...........for the right stations. if u wanna get hung up on it and think all jox should sit in a studio, hit buttons and answer request lines for 5 hours THINKING THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE GREAT RADIO, then fine go ahead and do it

but why proclaim RADIO TODAY SUCKS becuz everybody doesn't think that way

if u don't like it, get out. it's america-u have choices
 
Everything changes, but not always for the better. Cable supplanted regular TV with innovative programing and the result is a poor selection of network choices, thus forcing people toward cable. ABC could spend it's money on some interesting short-term series, but prefers to air a fictionalized version of current events. It's cheap, it's easy and it guarantees viewers--it doesn't have to be well-written, well-acted or even true. I believe the big so-called communication companies are systematically devaluing terrestrial radio so that they can move people toward fee-based satellite. This is what everybody is doing in every facet of entertainment. Why take a chance on a new movie when one can re-make a film? Again, quality is not the key, but dollars at the box office is. I have given up on radio. I found myself spending my morning ride switching from station-to-station and finding nothing worth listening to. So, now play CDs--it's not what I want but it is what's available.
 
Anyacat said:
Everything changes, but not always for the better. Cable supplanted regular TV with innovative programing and the result is a poor selection of network choices, thus forcing people toward cable. ABC could spend it's money on some interesting short-term series, but prefers to air a fictionalized version of current events. It's cheap, it's easy and it guarantees viewers--it doesn't have to be well-written, well-acted or even true. I believe the big so-called communication companies are systematically devaluing terrestrial radio so that they can move people toward fee-based satellite. This is what everybody is doing in every facet of entertainment. Why take a chance on a new movie when one can re-make a film? Again, quality is not the key, but dollars at the box office is. I have given up on radio. I found myself spending my morning ride switching from station-to-station and finding nothing worth listening to. So, now play CDs--it's not what I want but it is what's available.
Click to expand...

good news is when we see something we don't like, we can.........

**accept it
**change it
**leave it

...........whining about it never solved anything
 
Look.. no one over the age of 15 is using "U" unless they're texting their 15 yr old friend. I'm just saying if you want someone to take you seriously, using letters that could be words isn't helping your cause. R U mad now? Becuz if U R, Y dont U B a good boy and go away. ;D
 
Insideradio said:
Look.. no one over the age of 15 is using "U" unless they're texting their 15 yr old friend. I'm just saying if you want someone to take you seriously, using letters that could be words isn't helping your cause. R U mad now? Becuz if U R, Y dont U B a good boy and go away. ;D
Click to expand...

wow what a verbal spanking u gave me..................NOT

if U have a problem U choose to air out in public so U appear superior, try using a mirror so U can talk to somebody who cares
 
Watch out RadioFriend because Inside Radio has the "rebel" attitude combined with the "I dont care if I get fired" thing going on for him. Much worse awaits you if you continue to spar with him. (see Buzz jocks for more deep thoughts from him). I love all the dorks, I mean, hip, fashionable people with perfect teeth and hair on here who think they're "cutting edge" because they fork out $12.95 a month for satellite radio. I'l try this line of thinking the next time I'm at a bar and trying to meet a woman "Hey, y'know I have...satellite radio andTV too. Yeah. I'm mover and shaker.
 
It costs alot of money to run a radio station and nothing to turn on the radio.
Plain and simple.
To keep "real radio" alive (AND LOCAL!) Get your own station and licence, instead of whining about how radio is today...and into the future.
 
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