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So when did this become "content," and why?

J

John-Summers

Guest
I drive 45 minutes home from work every day and punch around to a variety of stations and formats, so this could be anyone at any station. I'm not going to say who in particular I heard.

Yesterday I punched into an announcer with no interest in his voice rendering the night's TV grid. "Tonight at 8 on NBC it's...then at 8:30 it's...followed by (whatever) at 9..." It was like a 60 second "live" commercial. Actually it was longer. Then he went into a stop set. He told me nothing about the shows, just that they were going to be on. It almost sounds like some idiot consultant told him that he had to do this because people are interested in what is on TV.

Memo to consultants: People are not interested in this. They know when their favorite shows are on and don't care what else in on. If they're like me, they watch them on Hulu anyway, on their own time. And why tell people to watch TV anyway. Isn't TV "competition?"

I mention this because I hear this all the time, on morning shows and afternoon shows, a bland rendering of the TV grid. I've always heard that if you don't have something interesting, entertaining or informative to say (and face it, often you don't) you should keep it brief, shut up and play the music or get into your stop set.

Going back to my question: When did someone decide that this is "content," and why?
 
It's not content. It's lazy radio. I would also add Today In History also falls into this category. Same for celebrity birthdays.
 
Yes, celebrity birthdays. Who gives a rip about those. Same with today in history.

"Yes today in 1215 the Magna Carta was signed by King John. How about that, Jennifer?"

"Wow. That's really something Kevin."

I should add that the guy reading the TV grid did it for all four networks, each one just like the one before. "Moving on to CBS..." Thank God he didn't do cable! "Tonight on the Hallmark Channel..."

You're right, this is lazy stuff that isn't in any way interesting, but people persist in doing it.
 
Celebrity birthdays and what's on TV should only be used as springboards for other jokes.
 
Pab Sungenis said:
Celebrity birthdays and what's on TV should only be used as springboards for other jokes.
Click to expand...


Nothing wrong with talking about a hot TV show that you know your listeners care about. But to just read what's on tonight is ridiculous. And extremely lazy.
 
This is why John Summers is one of the best jocks in the region. He understands content. Go Johnny Go!
 
bobmathers said:
This is why John Summers is one of the best jocks in the region. He understands content. Go Johnny Go!
Click to expand...

Well Bob, I wouldn't say that, but thanks for the compliment.
 
More likely a jock that thinks that he/she needs to talk as much as they can. They feel the audience hangs on every word they say. Automation often works because you never have to tell it to shut up and play the music.
 
Talking too much is the never the problem. Saying too little is. Radio is the only entertainment medium where many times the creative process BEGINS when the mike is keyed. Every break should be prepped, then edited. It is amazing how powerful on-air content, even in :15 blasts, can be when just the right words are chosen and the rest are eliminated. There are dozens of words that have similar meaning, yet each can provide a different mood. Radio is at it's best when emotion is transmitted, not just a fact. Think Rush, think Delilah. You may not care for their content, but you gotta agree that they are powerful communicators.
 
Growing up....sometimes the best stuff was heard in less than :15.

DAAAANN Ingram (Ding !)
 
Dan Ingram was the best. He employed word economy. He understood emotion. Like the greats of many in the arts, his talent worked on multi-levels, appealing to different listeners in different ways. Because of his ability to relate to the timelessness of the human condition, much of his work still stands up today. Times change, but what people feel remain the same. He never "dumbed down".
 
Roger Hodgson is 65 today, did you see "Glee" last night? Wow! Check out my blog and see a video that everyone's already seen, but I will nonetheless present as new! Lindsey Lohan is going to be in Playboy ... uh-oh! Now I'll convey insincere and exaggerated support for local sports teams! Coming up, some forced and reluctant banter, a traffic report originating 90 miles away, and then I'll read from this liner copy!
 
Things started changing in the mid-80's when jocks became nothing more than liner card readers. Consultants told stations to 'shut up and play the hits.' That was the biggest listener complaint, so they said. Sound familiar? It wasn't that jocks talked too much. It's that they didn't say anything. For most of Dan Ingram's career, his only job was to create compelling content in between the records (in the least amount of time/words as possible) and keep listeners tuned in. He had to do very little station promotion...that's what recorded promos were for. As time went on, the scripts went from simply liner cards to client mentions...and the breaks got longer and longer...and even more of a tuneout to the listener. As time wore on it became a self fufilling prophecy. That brings us to today, when local jocks aren't even needed anymore. There's no connection to the listener, and since most people have never heard a truly compelling air talent, they don't know what they're missing. Consolidation and corporate radio didn't cause this. The death of the radio DJ has been going on for over a quarter century.
 
fmradio1 said:
Things started changing in the mid-80's when jocks became nothing more than liner card readers. Consultants told stations to 'shut up and play the hits.' That was the biggest listener complaint, so they said. Sound familiar? It wasn't that jocks talked too much. It's that they didn't say anything. For most of Dan Ingram's career, his only job was to create compelling content in between the records (in the least amount of time/words as possible) and keep listeners tuned in. He had to do very little station promotion...that's what recorded promos were for. As time went on, the scripts went from simply liner cards to client mentions...and the breaks got longer and longer...and even more of a tuneout to the listener. As time wore on it became a self fufilling prophecy. That brings us to today, when local jocks aren't even needed anymore. There's no connection to the listener, and since most people have never heard a truly compelling air talent, they don't know what they're missing. Consolidation and corporate radio didn't cause this. The death of the radio DJ has been going on for over a quarter century.
Click to expand...
Who is going to make the appearances at the local car dealers remote broadcast? Who is going to help out the local charity raise money for a community cause? Although I do agree with you in some of your points, I'd like to see your research that says listeners aren't interested in local personalities. Even many talent who were still told to shut up and play the music were able to interject some personality every hour, in how the liner was delivered, and commenting on the weather or a local event. At a time when radio is being attacked by IPODs, satellite, the only thing that is going to make the local station relevant is the local personality. And there are many out there. Many looking for work this morning after the CC bloodbath yesterday.
 
Who is going to make the appearances at the local car dealers remote broadcast?

Well, in the 1970s I never worked for a station that did remotes. They were considered old-fashioned clutter. WSBA did them when I worked there in the 80s, but you were given 60 seconds to do your spiel and at that point the board op was told to cut you off without question. I later worked at a station (not to be named) where some people would prattle on for 3 or 4 minutes! What a tuneout. WROZ had a pretty good policy, I thought: 60 seconds in and out over a music bed at the end of the stop set and no interviewing the store manager or people who randomly showed up. It was treated like a live spot, which is as it should be. You had to prep it, if not write it out.

By the way, people thought Bill Drake's much more music format spelled the end of the "radio personality," but an awful lot of people at some legendary stations managed to be personalities even given the restrictions, at Drake stations like KHJ and CKLW and Drake-inspired stations like WCFL, WLS and WFIL. With all of today's entertainment options, the one thing that sets radio apart is personality, and there are still people who manage to do it.
 
I have always utterly detested remotes for the reasons you cite, John, and many more. The "Murphy's Law" factor being the biggest: lost patch cords and power cords, the equipment doesn't work, wind blew the tent over, etc. I could write a book. Unlike when I do my Mobile DJ gigs with my own equipment. I pack the gear away carefully and know where to find everything the next time. And most of those are INSIDE!

But fact is, at small stations, remotes can be a significant source of billing, a chance to meet the listeners, and THE CLIENTS LOVE THEM! In fact, they actually ask for them more often than we try to sell them. So I guess I'll grit my teeth and keep doing them. Hey, I'm not working at Wal-Mart!!
 
With today's technology remotes can be easier and the quality better than
ever.
We have a lap top computer that links up directly with station.
Plug the mic into the laptop and is studio quality.
In fact I have done remotes via the lap top from a cruise ship in the Bahamas.
and frequently from Nashville, TN. With a wireless card your capable of doing a remote
just about anywhere with little or no hassle.
 
Also regarding remotes in todays competitive radio sales environment
they are definitely a necessity. When dealing with agencies both local
and regional it is expected that you are able to do remotes and along that
lines the expectation from ad agencies today is that you give as much
added value as you can to get the buy. That includes internet banners,
streaming and a multitude of other things. I recently sold a remote to
a national company through an agency that required 5 pages of documentation
that needed to be signed and significant liabilty coverage in force during
stations appearance. Everything was described down to how many banners
the station may hang at the business, and what time you were to be set up
prior and off the premises at conclusion.
 
Oh, I'm not saying remotes are not a valuable, even necessary revenue stream, especially so for small stations with niche formats. And as Ray points out, they are one way to meet the listeners. (From my experience, the majority of listeners who show up at a remote are the ones who are the most bat sh-t crazy, but that's the risk you take.) I'm simply saying that remote breaks, like everything else, should be planned and kept to a reasonable amount of time so as to not tune out the majority of people who are listening to your radio station at home, at work or in the car, and don't give a toot about Carpet World's 5% off sale. ("And remember if you come in and say 'I want a shag from Carpet World' while standing on your head, you'll get a free bumper sticker!") Long, unfocused, unprepped breaks are boring and do the station and the advertiser no real good.
 
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