First of all peps, I am a new to this board. I've been reading your comments for some time now but now I thought I'd finally post my thoughts. I've been in the biz for over 20 yrs here in Dallas and yes, I am part of the 990 crew as of a couple of days ago. I just want to hear your input on what you think should be done and what you think can work. I will tell you that I am excited about the potential and yes, it is and will be a work in progress. Now....with that said, I have not given up my other gig that pays the bills....lol....but like I said, give me some feedback because the time I have spent reading your comments, well......let's just say that I think the majority of you are pretty passionate about radio as ofcourse I am.
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sportsfan 990
- Thread starter born2run
- Start date
G
gordontalk
Guest
Honestly the best advice that I can give you is to keep that gig that pays the bills.
I give the same advise I would give anyone considering radio as a career.
First, get an education so you at least have 'something' to fall back on if it doesn't work out.
Second, even if you are working in radio fulltime, become a "juggler". Have three things in the air at all times. Be a voiceover talent, become an actor locally, write for a paper or magazine, tend bar..whatever. When (not IF) one of them falls down, you still have two things to help pay the bills till the next radio gig.
Also, you never know, one of the other gigs may end up being what you really are good at or like better!
Third, if radio doesn't provide the income you require, do it on weekends for fun if you must, but have a normal career that takes care of you and your family.
First, get an education so you at least have 'something' to fall back on if it doesn't work out.
Second, even if you are working in radio fulltime, become a "juggler". Have three things in the air at all times. Be a voiceover talent, become an actor locally, write for a paper or magazine, tend bar..whatever. When (not IF) one of them falls down, you still have two things to help pay the bills till the next radio gig.
Also, you never know, one of the other gigs may end up being what you really are good at or like better!
Third, if radio doesn't provide the income you require, do it on weekends for fun if you must, but have a normal career that takes care of you and your family.
M
MikeShannon914
Guest
First, can (or will) this town support all these sports stations? A new one just signed on in Houston (on the old KFNC-97.5FM) amidst a pool of three other sports stations. Talk about a diluted format there, and it's going to happen here. Even if you use the original Schum model for 990 (tying in with the FC-Dallas team, having a master plan of trading the once-established talk format at 990 over to 700 AM and starting up a sports talk station at 990,) there's no assurance of anything. There's not a major league sports team left to partner with, and no matter how the years pass and who comes and goes in this town, DFW listeners just don't rally around minor-league teams or unproven sports. But as a sports station, you need some sort of team sports relationship to draw in listeners and to tie in your events with.
Next, I understand your lead guy there at 990 is a little TOO passionate about the process, and seems to think there's no difference between leasing out 12 hours a day at possibly $20K a month, against TAKING OVER the station (as he puts it) in three months at a probable cost of $12 million. Emotion has gotten the best of that guy, and, while that's all cute and nice, slogans and pep rallies don't pay the bills. Does he have any radio ownership background? Business education? Marketing background? Solid investors? Or is it just coincidence that the 990 frequency seems to only draw in speculators and dreamers and underfinanced wanna-be's? Having an idea is fun and all, but your leader MUST have the whole plan fleshed out, and be in complete touch with REALITY. Ideas with no "legs" will go no-where. I would guess that this guy is hell-bent on this sports format, and that's all he can "see" and refuses to think about anything else that would work BETTER. That's where your leader ceases to lead. And it's not just his dime here...it's yours and anyone else's that works for him. It'd be tough to not look at the failures of Cafe 990, Mainstreet 990, KVCE-1160 and some others, and feel completely confident that your workplace will still be open the next day.
Women's talk is taking root elsewhere now, and it could still work here. There's not a lot left to program AM with. Music's out (sure, KAAM is still kicking, but there's only room for one.) If you're programming for an English-speaking audience, it's ultimately going to take finding some niche within the talk radio format. Sports is taken and already saturated. Conservative talk, the same. Perhaps moderate talk (no, not liberal necessarily) could be of interest IF MARKETED PROPERLY. Otherwise, one could do as most other AM's and whore the thing out to foreign language interests and just cash the checks.
Next, I understand your lead guy there at 990 is a little TOO passionate about the process, and seems to think there's no difference between leasing out 12 hours a day at possibly $20K a month, against TAKING OVER the station (as he puts it) in three months at a probable cost of $12 million. Emotion has gotten the best of that guy, and, while that's all cute and nice, slogans and pep rallies don't pay the bills. Does he have any radio ownership background? Business education? Marketing background? Solid investors? Or is it just coincidence that the 990 frequency seems to only draw in speculators and dreamers and underfinanced wanna-be's? Having an idea is fun and all, but your leader MUST have the whole plan fleshed out, and be in complete touch with REALITY. Ideas with no "legs" will go no-where. I would guess that this guy is hell-bent on this sports format, and that's all he can "see" and refuses to think about anything else that would work BETTER. That's where your leader ceases to lead. And it's not just his dime here...it's yours and anyone else's that works for him. It'd be tough to not look at the failures of Cafe 990, Mainstreet 990, KVCE-1160 and some others, and feel completely confident that your workplace will still be open the next day.
Women's talk is taking root elsewhere now, and it could still work here. There's not a lot left to program AM with. Music's out (sure, KAAM is still kicking, but there's only room for one.) If you're programming for an English-speaking audience, it's ultimately going to take finding some niche within the talk radio format. Sports is taken and already saturated. Conservative talk, the same. Perhaps moderate talk (no, not liberal necessarily) could be of interest IF MARKETED PROPERLY. Otherwise, one could do as most other AM's and whore the thing out to foreign language interests and just cash the checks.
How in the world can you call KVCE 1190 a failure? It just signed on the last couple of months and like any new station in a market it takes tiime. I wouldn't call it a failure for at least a year and a half. They are trying to do the same thing with KVCE as they have done with KSEV in Houston. KSEV, whereas it is not a ratings bonanza, is successful as a very right wing conservative talker with an extremely loyal and audience and advertiser base. It has made Dan Patrick a very wealthy man and a state senator and if he has his way a Governor. By the way, that is the main reason Patrick and his investors put up KVCE. He's going to try to use his radio stations to politic his way to a higher level government office. Again, you shouldn't call properties that new failures. Stations you can call failures are stations like BizRadio in both Dallas and Houston. After 2 years on the air neither have any ratings, consistent advertisers or steady loyal audience like the above mentioned KSEV. Dan Frishberg is one of those radio owners described in this thread as a radio wannabe with money and no substantial experience or talent, but he thinks he has. Now, you would be accurate calling an AM talker like BizRadio a failure.
K
KPLEXCOMPLEX
Guest
Darn Ad Guy..You blew it. BIZRADIO'S is a different sort of breed to be measured against. Its Billing has increased a lot, they are finding their niche audience,plus many business types are seeking to do shows on it. They will not appear in the ratings ,because they are more of a marketing arm than a radio station by definition. Believe me they ain't hurting.You still got the ax to grind on it,(like the Houston board) Some points I do agree with you(Owner),however they are doing fine.
KVCE is 1160 by the way,and their sales are waaaaaay off. No one is buying. As far as Dan Patrick is concerened,have you see his legislation ? He has put fourth 5 bills so far,and each has received only ONE vote!!
HIS OWN! Yes sir he will make a fine Gov. of Texas. Most likely Fantasy Island.
KVCE is 1160 by the way,and their sales are waaaaaay off. No one is buying. As far as Dan Patrick is concerened,have you see his legislation ? He has put fourth 5 bills so far,and each has received only ONE vote!!
HIS OWN! Yes sir he will make a fine Gov. of Texas. Most likely Fantasy Island.
M
MikeShannon914
Guest
I wouldn't have included KVCE in this thread, except that Dan Patrick's actions with his Dallas outlet prove that he's desperate and has assumed failure already. He has no sales staff now, he's cut the board ops' hours, and sent his partner off on an extended vacation while Dan cleaned house in Dallas. He's also moved people around, including his morning guy to some other shift, and seems to be beyond experimentation and trial-and-error to get something going here. He also refuses to do any advertising or promotion, or to hire people to handle this for him at the Dallas station. The only action seen so far is some lackey hired to shimmy up a tower and hang a Mexico flag from it. They could have at least spray-painted "ILLEGALS HATE THE NEW KVCE-1160...DAN PATRICK MORNINGS 6-9" on it for maximum effect.
I don't know what the curve was in Houston before he found success, but Dan apparently had very high expectations and no patience with the Dallas outlet. So this "failure" I identified is a result of Dan's definition and actions. Sure, anyone else would give that 1.5 years that AdGuy mentioned as a MINIMUM time to expect results...I don't dispute that timeframe or expectation, and anyone with an understanding of business, let alone radio, should know that success seldom comes overnight. With a heavy hitter like WBAP here, and the continued poor showing of 3-year old KSKY, that the Conservative Talk format is a toughie to penetrate in DFW...especially when your only calling card is a politician with no name recognition whatsoever in DFW. It's not too late to launch a marketing strategy; some strategy would be better than none (as it is/isn't now.)
I heard a funny story that KVCE tried doing several nice giveaways on the morning show a few weeks back...but the phone NEVER EVEN RANG ONCE. That should tell somebody something, huh?
I don't know what the curve was in Houston before he found success, but Dan apparently had very high expectations and no patience with the Dallas outlet. So this "failure" I identified is a result of Dan's definition and actions. Sure, anyone else would give that 1.5 years that AdGuy mentioned as a MINIMUM time to expect results...I don't dispute that timeframe or expectation, and anyone with an understanding of business, let alone radio, should know that success seldom comes overnight. With a heavy hitter like WBAP here, and the continued poor showing of 3-year old KSKY, that the Conservative Talk format is a toughie to penetrate in DFW...especially when your only calling card is a politician with no name recognition whatsoever in DFW. It's not too late to launch a marketing strategy; some strategy would be better than none (as it is/isn't now.)
I heard a funny story that KVCE tried doing several nice giveaways on the morning show a few weeks back...but the phone NEVER EVEN RANG ONCE. That should tell somebody something, huh?
Can an underfunded unpromoted part-time sports station on a weak AM signal with largely unimpressive talent compete against The Ticket and ESPN 103.3 FM? I'm sure there are spirited and dedicated people working at 990, but the chance of success is pretty darn low. Maybe even a little lower than that.
I read that they planned to get homeless people to put flyers on the windshields of cars parked at the Stars hockey games. Are they serious? At night the 990 signal hardly reaches the arena and even if someone was able to get the station they'd hear Spanish music at night, not sportstalk.
With no strong reason for advertisers to buy spots on 990 I'd be very surprised if the format lasts more than a couple of months.
Of course I could be wrong.
I read that they planned to get homeless people to put flyers on the windshields of cars parked at the Stars hockey games. Are they serious? At night the 990 signal hardly reaches the arena and even if someone was able to get the station they'd hear Spanish music at night, not sportstalk.
With no strong reason for advertisers to buy spots on 990 I'd be very surprised if the format lasts more than a couple of months.
Of course I could be wrong.
born2run said:First of all peps, I am a new to this board. I've been reading your comments for some time now but now I thought I'd finally post my thoughts. I've been in the biz for over 20 yrs here in Dallas and yes, I am part of the 990 crew as of a couple of days ago. I just want to hear your input on what you think should be done and what you think can work. I will tell you that I am excited about the potential and yes, it is and will be a work in progress. Now....with that said, I have not given up my other gig that pays the bills....lol....but like I said, give me some feedback because the time I have spent reading your comments, well......let's just say that I think the majority of you are pretty passionate about radio as ofcourse I am.
You've got a tough road to hoe here. 990 needs good programming, lots of promotion, and a clear focus on what it wants to be.
Here's what I mean:
The Ticket is a sports station, but it's also kind of a fun guy talk format that allows the hosts to talk about anything.
ESPN 103.3 is much more focused on serious sports talk.
WBAP is a news-talk station with strong personalities like Mark Davis, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
Those three stations are successful. KLIF and KRLD are unfocused and not successful. You guys have to find an identity of your own and focus on that. You also have to spend a lot of money promoting the station. If you don't do that, you will not succeed, no matter what the programming is. If the owners can't do that, don't waste your time with it. 990 won't succeed if it keeps leasing out large blocks of time to ethnic or religious broadcasters.
KPLEXCOMPLEX said:Darn Ad Guy..You blew it. BIZRADIO'S is a different sort of breed to be measured against. Its Billing has increased a lot, they are finding their niche audience,plus many business types are seeking to do shows on it. They will not appear in the ratings ,because they are more of a marketing arm than a radio station by definition. Believe me they ain't hurting.You still got the ax to grind on it,(like the Houston board) Some points I do agree with you(Owner),however they are doing fine.
KVCE is 1160 by the way,and their sales are waaaaaay off. No one is buying. As far as Dan Patrick is concerened,have you see his legislation ? He has put fourth 5 bills so far,and each has received only ONE vote!!
HIS OWN! Yes sir he will make a fine Gov. of Texas. Most likely Fantasy Island.
KPLEX, no axe to grind, just stating the obvious. The only reason I mention BizRadio is the fact that I only hear the same 5 or 6 advertisers on their station and I listen regularly. The station sounds much better now that they have revamped their schedule, running real business programs in drive time instead of paid program hacks. I actually give BizRadio a lot of credit running the paid programs in the middle of the day. They are probably doing very well revenue wise there, but that revenue, as I posted a year ago, probably comes close to covering their lease and maybe some major expenses on two stations. I called it a failure because you must rely on advertising revenue outside the paid programming to really make money in radio. From what I hear (only 5 or 6 regular advertisers) their advertiser base is very small. I also have heard that their investors have not been paid a dime as Frisberg promised them a couple of years ago. Frishberg stated publically from day 1 that he could survive without any advertisers for 3 years without advertising support. Sounds like he is runnning the station on investor money after the revenue is spent. It will be interesting to see what happens after this year when his buy option comes due. I stand by my previous post that you claim is only a grinding axe. Compared to KSEV in Houston, BizRadio is advertiserless. KSEV has an advertiser base well over the 100 mark, not to mention their national sales that they deliver in Houston. The only thing I can say about KVCE is that it will take at least 18 months to establish itself. If they don't find the same magic in Dallas as they did in Houston then I will agree it will be a failure. As to Patrick, I don't really think he will get to the Governor's mansion. He's way to right for the average Texan, but he received the highest percentage win of any republican IN THE COUNTRY for his Houston senate district. He received around 70% of the vote. I wouldn't call him a flake and as to his performance in the state legislature, he'll make his mark. He was assisned some plum committee assignments and before you write him off as a flake in Dallas, watch his performance over several months, not days.
S
spinderella
Guest
How did Sportsham 990 handle the Parcells retirement today?
Does it matter? You wouldn't be able to hear it anyway.
(Thom Bailey is the nut that some of you have spoken of, and the one Richie Whitt mentioned in his Observer article.)
He like to play music behind the host's talk. Stupid. I called to tell him that with a weak signal, you really shouldn't play music behind them, because the listener ends up hearing a couple of songs.
He thought it added "flavor". Idiot.
And I wish someone would take the clothespin off nicky Granville's nose. Horible radio voice.
(Thom Bailey is the nut that some of you have spoken of, and the one Richie Whitt mentioned in his Observer article.)
He like to play music behind the host's talk. Stupid. I called to tell him that with a weak signal, you really shouldn't play music behind them, because the listener ends up hearing a couple of songs.
He thought it added "flavor". Idiot.
And I wish someone would take the clothespin off nicky Granville's nose. Horible radio voice.
spinderella said:How did Sportsham 990 handle the Parcells retirement today?
What I notice is how horribly out of synch everything is... going to break, coming back... I find myself listening to meltdowns and trainwrecks.. Listening the other morning (early) Thom had Leon on the phone and when Leon was finished.. nothing.... then Leon starts saying "Hello?".... "Hello?".... then some music comes in from nowhere... then we re-join Thom in midsentence... and the next thing you know he's talking to Leon again...
Kind of amusing...
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