Sometimes Radio can be too repetitive!!

[LIradiofan226]

Last night I was listening to Ron Parker on CBS at night and he announced that the labrador was the top dog breed. This morning I was listening to the Lite FM morning show and Karen and substitute host Nina Del Rio announced the top dog breeds. I switched over to Dan Taylor later just in time to hear him announce " Coming up I'll tell you what the top dog breeds are." Now I'm typing away listening to Robbie Bridges on WEBE 108 and he proclaims that he's got a top 10 list, of the top 10 dog breeds.

 

[andreajesus]

i don't get it - why are you getting so freakin' out crazy about it? ??? listen -- and this may sound naive, but... -- to do personality radio right, you gotta sound like you're with the people, you gotta sound friendly, you gotta sound cool, you gotta sound nice - and you gotta be able to make conversation. What all of these guys are doing is talking to the people about friendly stuff, about cool stuff, about interesting stuff - but i have to admit - i hear Ron Parker talkin' about, for example, the top dog breed or the fattest city in the country or something and i swear - the next day, i'll hear somebody else, whether it be on CBSFM or wherever, talkin about the SAME thing, and i'm thinking to myself "well i already heard it on 101..."

Andrea

 

[neo11]

Yes, but the point is they are talking about the same exact thing, every day!

Then again, if the music on radio is repetitive, then why not make everything else on the radio repetitive as well? :

 

[Bob_Hudson]

Yes, but the point is they are talking about the same exact thing, every day!

Then again, if the music on radio is repetitive, then why not make everything else on the radio repetitive as well? :

Yes, most morning shows don't know how to create their own interesting content (there have been a lot of Stern wannabees who wrongly thought otherwise) so they all gravitate toward the same topical news, using the same "offbeat" news, celebrity dirt, etc. It's kind of like standing in line at the supermarket looking at the covers of People, National Enquirer and the other publications who all seem to have the same headlines about Jen, Angelina, etc. Rare these days is the morning host who can look at the same stuff as his peers and come up with a clever comment or spin on it. Nowadays it's mostly a matter of them reading the item, commenting that "Man that's wild," and then letting all the other members of the morning team comment about how they too think "Man, that's wild."

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

All the the above is an indicator that all of these djs have no talent or creativity of their own and are reading on various spots on internet and vomiting back the same crap as each other. Real talent=innovation. Innovation=doing original material.

 

[amfmsw]

Real Talent + Innovation = Big Dan Ingram.

 

[kms575]

This post is the understatement of the year, both from a musical and a content standpoint.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

The Dan Ingram statement above is absolutely correct. Across the country, in the 60s, there were about twenty more djs who had the same comedic timing, creativity and talent. Comparing today's djs (such as the current CBS-FM all American putz team) to the real radio greats of the 60s, is an insult to some of the greatest djs of all time who worked at such stations in the 60s such as WABC, WMCA, WMGM, WINS, WWDJ, WOR-FM, WCFL, WLS, WYNR, WVON, KFWB, KHJ, KRLA, KBLA, WQAM, WFUN, WINZ, WFIL, WIBG, WMEX, WRKO, WBZ, KYA, KFRC, KLIF, KBOX, WSGN, WING, WSAI, WABB, KROY, WDRC, WPOP, WITH, WCAO, WQXI, WPLO, WFOM, WIXY, WKYC, KYW, WKBW, WYSL, WPGC, WEAM, WKNR, CKLW, KILT, KNUZ, KOMA, WKY, KXOK, WIL, KQV, WIFE, WMAK, WKDA, WDIA, WMPS, WHBQ, WOKY, WCOL, KONO, WLAV, WGH, WAKY, WKLO, KENO, WAPE, KYNO, KAAY, WPTR, WTRY, WLEE, WKGN, WNOX, WLAP, WVLK, WOHO, KIOA, WAXC, KOIL, KJRB, KJR, KEEL, WOLF, WAAY, WDXB, WGOW, WFLI, WSGA, KINT, WOWO, WHHY, KCBQ, KGB, KBTR, KIMN, KTLK, WHB, WOKY, KDWB, WDGY, WAYS, WKIX, WLCY, WFLA, WNOE, WTIX, WNUE, WBSR, KRIZ, KRUX, KUPD, KORL, KPOI, WMID, CHUM, CKEY, CKGM, CFCF, CFOX, CFUN, BBC RADIO ONE, RADIO LONDON BIG L, RADIO CAROLINE, 6KY, 6NA, 2SM, XERA, XERB, XERF, XEROK, AFRTS, AND RADIO LUXEMBOURG

 

[oldies76]

Comparing today's djs (such as the current CBS-FM all American putz team) to the real radio greats of the 60s, is an insult to some of the greatest djs of all time who worked at such stations in the 60s

Why always bashing CBS-FM?? Ok..it's not the 60's anymore, but take what you can get today or would YOU rather have nothing??

I can understand the DJ issue a bit, you wanting more of a certain style of delivery, but it's the best they've got right now.
The music: 60's, 70's, 80's and some 50's. Besides WLNG, how thorough can you get?

Sure, there will always be the legends and greats and believe me, there were GREAT, but you cannot compare them to today's DJ's. Different circumstances warrant the way today's DJ's perform and are under different guidelines and circumstances than ever before.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

If the talent was there (which it isn't), the talent would translate to numbers and the numbers would translate to
revenue. Using CBS-FM as an example or any other CBS owned classic hits/former oldies station, there will be more automated day parts because going to automation and firing a mediocre jock makes no difference. KLUV in Dallas, a CBS owned classic hits/former oldies station fired mid day jock Debi Diaz after she was there for sixteen
years. They replaced her with automation. Because she was a liner card reading, barely adequate jock, no one will care and it will make absolutely no difference to the station. The same thing is going to happen at CBS-FM and all the other CBS owned classic hits/former oldies stations. Bye bye to all the mediocre CBS jocks and hello
computer automation. Will all the groupies want to be groupies to a computer?

 

[adma]

The Dan Ingram statement above is absolutely correct. Across the country, in the 60s, there were about twenty more djs who had the same comedic timing, creativity and talent. Comparing today's djs (such as the current CBS-FM all American putz team) to the real radio greats of the 60s, is an insult to some of the greatest djs of all time who worked at such stations in the 60s such as WABC, WMCA, WMGM, WINS, WWDJ, WOR-FM, WCFL, WLS, WYNR, WVON, KFWB, KHJ, KRLA, KBLA, WQAM, WFUN, WINZ, WFIL, WIBG, WMEX, WRKO, WBZ, KYA, KFRC, KLIF, KBOX, WSGN, WING, WSAI, WABB, KROY, WDRC, WPOP, WITH, WCAO, WQXI, WPLO, WFOM, WIXY, WKYC, KYW, WKBW, WYSL, WPGC, WEAM, WKNR, CKLW, KILT, KNUZ, KOMA, WKY, KXOK, WIL, KQV, WIFE, WMAK, WKDA, WDIA, WMPS, WHBQ, WOKY, WCOL, KONO, WLAV, WGH, WAKY, WKLO, KENO, WAPE, KYNO, KAAY, WPTR, WTRY, WLEE, WKGN, WNOX, WLAP, WVLK, WOHO, KIOA, WAXC, KOIL, KJRB, KJR, KEEL, WOLF, WAAY, WDXB, WGOW, WFLI, WSGA, KINT, WOWO, WHHY, KCBQ, KGB, KBTR, KIMN, KTLK, WHB, WOKY, KDWB, WDGY, WAYS, WKIX, WLCY, WFLA, WNOE, WTIX, WNUE, WBSR, KRIZ, KRUX, KUPD, KORL, KPOI, WMID, CHUM, CKEY, CKGM, CFCF, CFOX, CFUN, BBC RADIO ONE, RADIO LONDON BIG L, RADIO CAROLINE, 6KY, 6NA, 2SM, XERA, XERB, XERF, XEROK, AFRTS, AND RADIO LUXEMBOURG

But you seem to be overlooking something: "the music, stupid".

That is, for all the delivery gifts of the DJs, what the (younger, especially) listenership *really* went for was the music. The truest stars were the Beatles and the Stones. *Not* Dan Ingram, Cousin Brucie, whomever. Sure, they may have played their subtle and underheralded role; but ultimately they were plaid-jacketed old squares who were no match for the new.

And with 40+ years hindsight, we may say that the term "DJ" only became attached to some level of Beatles/Stones/Zeppelin-level stardom (in quality, if not in quality) when it divorced itself from those tanned, toupeed big-voiced middle-aged sleazebag vulgarians on the air and attached itself to those working the clubs, instead--think of the disco, the hip-hop, the electronic scene onward. These days, when "DJ historians" speak of 60s-style Top 40 "announcers" and "personalities", it is as something practically prehistorical and as dated as telegrams...

 

[scooty430]

One need only listen to Charlie Tuna on KRTH every weekend to hear that it doesn't matter how talented you are. (Tuna was on more than a few of the stations on Radio Truth's big fat list of excellence.)

If you are only allowed to speak for a few seconds, and you have to spin the same boring crap over and over, you will sound bad. And though Tuna certainly doesn't sound "bad," it isn't really worth tuning into his show, despite the fact that he could sound wonderful if allowed to.

(And he knows it. Whenever K-Earth breaks format and does an A to Z or all request, he is right there throwing ecstatic listeners on the air. When they say, "Why can't you sound like this all the time?" he says, "Hey, tell my boss!")

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

But you seem to be overlooking something: "the music, stupid".

I am truly glad you brought up the music. This is just another reason why all the CBS classic hits/former oldies station are a cheap imitation of yesteryear. 50s and 60s music was mass appeal. 70s and 80s music was not mass appeal. When a 50s or 60s artist was on tv, everybody saw them. There was no fragmentation. The number one top forty stations in the 60s, in each market, routinely pulled 25 to 50 shares. When those stations played a song, everybody heard it. By the mid 70s, the number one top forty station, in each market, was pulling under an 8 or lower. This is why
50s and 60s music has stood the test of time better than 70s and 80s music. 50s and 60s music got more exposure to more audience. This is also another reason that all the CBS classic hits/former oldies stations are far inferior to stations of yesteryear. I totally know the demographics argument about why 50s and 60s music will never be played on over-the-air radio again but, if the demographics argument did not exist, the cume ratings for
all CBS classic hits/former oldies stations would be much higher. Unfortunately, the median age of the audience would be too old to sell. I have seen a few people post that the current CBS-FM is better than nothing but, I say "With mediocre djs, automation and primarily 70s and 80s music, CBS-FM is nothing."

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

One need only listen to Charlie Tuna on KRTH every weekend to hear that it doesn't matter how talented you are. (Tuna was on more than a few of the stations on Radio Truth's big fat list of excellence.)

If you are only allowed to speak for a few seconds, and you have to spin the same boring crap over and over, you will sound bad. And though Tuna certainly doesn't sound "bad," it isn't really worth tuning into his show, despite the fact that he could sound wonderful if allowed to.

(And he knows it. Whenever K-Earth breaks format and does an A to Z or all request, he is right there throwing ecstatic listeners on the air. When they say, "Why can't you sound like this all the time?" he says, "Hey, tell my boss!")

Charlie Tuna certainly ranks up there with some of the great jocks of all time. Unfortunately, most of the really great djs are either too old, out of radio or dead. After two to three generations of liner card readers, if the shackles came off, this load of mediocrity would be totally clueless as to what to do with it. It would take a brand new generation of personality djs who have never worked in radio before. I would rather teach a young stand up comedian with a quick mind to be a personality jock rather than try to reeducate two to three
generations of mediocre air talent (I use the word "talent" very loosely). Why do you think talk radio
does so well? The talk show hosts are the closest thing to personality djs of yesteryear and much closer than
the current load of so called music personality djs.

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

And.....in conclusion, this is why many of these mediocre jocks are being fired and replaced with automation. The general radio audience doesn't know the difference and the general radio audience doesn't care and the companies that own the stations save a few bucks with no loss in quality. You can't miss what you never had.

 

[adma]

But you seem to be overlooking something: "the music, stupid".

I am truly glad you brought up the music. This is just another reason why all the CBS classic hits/former oldies station are a cheap imitation of yesteryear. 50s and 60s music was mass appeal. 70s and 80s music was not mass appeal. When a 50s or 60s artist was on tv, everybody saw them. There was no fragmentation. The number one top forty stations in the 60s, in each market, routinely pulled 25 to 50 shares. When those stations played a song, everybody heard it. By the mid 70s, the number one top forty station, in each market, was pulling under an 8 or lower. This is why
50s and 60s music has stood the test of time better than 70s and 80s music. 50s and 60s music got more exposure to more audience. This is also another reason that all the CBS classic hits/former oldies stations are far inferior to stations of yesteryear. I totally know the demographics argument about why 50s and 60s music will never be played on over-the-air radio again but, if the demographics argument did not exist, the cume ratings for
all CBS classic hits/former oldies stations would be much higher. Unfortunately, the median age of the audience would be too old to sell. I have seen a few people post that the current CBS-FM is better than nothing but, I say "With mediocre djs, automation and primarily 70s and 80s music, CBS-FM is nothing."

Well, I agree, and have long agreed to a point--that is, the ideal "magnetism" about a lot of the oldies (and AM Top 40) radio mythos is very heavily tied in to the era it reflects. Which, we so often forget, not only sets it apart from the fragmented post-1975 era, but also the pre-1955 era of big bands, crooners, etc. And even those who were born after the era in question know the fact.

That said, note the examples I mentioned; maybe more especially from the "Stones" than the "Beatles" end. Ultimately, what led rock musicians and rock culture to be the "true" stars, with radio personalities (or TV personalities like Ed Sullivan) but mere accessories, was already reflecting an incipient breakdown of the "mass appeal" formula.

And not without reason, too--contrary to mythos, "mass appeal" does not necessarily equal "standing the test of time", and I don't just mean the Ssgt Barry Sadler situations. Generally speaking, if the Beatles, the Stones, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, even Sinatra have "stood the test of time", it's in spite of their being raw hit-single-mongerers and airplay cornerstones. As much as radio old-timers like to mythologize their past, maybe said past has not aged as well as they'd like to believe--certainly, not as well as a lot of the music they purveyed, all the more so given the all-too-often brainless ad nauseum way they purveyed it. (It only seems otherwise when you've been living off the fumes of boomercentric oldies radio, or when old airchecks resonate like they happened yesterday.)

Getting away from Top 40, if anyone epitomized a certain 50s/60s notion of "mass appeal", it was Mitch Miller. Yet only the truly senile, reactionary, or philistine would claim, today, that a jillion-selling "Sing Along With Mitch" record has stood the test of time better than "The Velvet Underground And Nico" or "White Light/White Heat"...

 

[RADIO TRUTH]

Well, I agree, and have long agreed to a point--that is, the ideal "magnetism" about a lot of the oldies (and AM Top 40) radio mythos is very heavily tied in to the era it reflects. Which, we so often forget, not only sets it apart from the fragmented post-1975 era, but also the pre-1955 era of big bands, crooners, etc. And even those who were born after the era in question know the fact.

That said, note the examples I mentioned; maybe more especially from the "Stones" than the "Beatles" end. Ultimately, what led rock musicians and rock culture to be the "true" stars, with radio personalities (or TV personalities like Ed Sullivan) but mere accessories, was already reflecting an incipient breakdown of the "mass appeal" formula.

And not without reason, too--contrary to mythos, "mass appeal" does not necessarily equal "standing the test of time", and I don't just mean the Ssgt Barry Sadler situations. Generally speaking, if the Beatles, the Stones, Dylan, Led Zeppelin, even Sinatra have "stood the test of time", it's in spite of their being raw hit-single-mongerers and airplay cornerstones. As much as radio old-timers like to mythologize their past, maybe said past has not aged as well as they'd like to believe--certainly, not as well as a lot of the music they purveyed, all the more so given the all-too-often brainless ad nauseum way they purveyed it. (It only seems otherwise when you've been living off the fumes of boomercentric oldies radio, or when old airchecks resonate like they happened yesterday.)

Getting away from Top 40, if anyone epitomized a certain 50s/60s notion of "mass appeal", it was Mitch Miller. Yet only the truly senile, reactionary, or philistine would claim, today, that a jillion-selling "Sing Along With Mitch" record has stood the test of time better than "The Velvet Underground And Nico" or "White Light/White Heat"...

Whether we agree or disagree, you write well and are a worthy adversary.

 

[videokilledtheradiostar]

Sad that many theads bring up radio personalities from years ago like Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy, Brucie, etc.
What about the radio people of today? Don't they measure up to the past personalities?

 

[neo11]

Sad that many theads bring up radio personalities from years ago like Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy, Brucie, etc.
What about the radio people of today? Don't they measure up to the past personalities?

Anyone else see the irony in the above post and the username "videokilledtheradiostar"?

 

[DouglasB]

Sometimes Radio can be too repetitive!!

Say that again?? and again....