SYNDICATED MORNING SHOWS

[GeorgeKramer]

Anyone in the Buffalo/Rochester markets hungry for some new programming in morning drive or wondering what could be coming to town if corporate cuts lead to syndication being the answer in the AM?

Just wondering what people think about some of these big names if you have heard their shows in the past as we consider the possibility that some of them may eventually be introduced in either market:

- Don Imus
- Mancow
- Bob & Tom
- Mike & Mike
- The Monsters (out of Orlando)
- Bob & Sheri (out of Charlotte)
- Bubba The Love Sponge

 

[Element9]

- Don Imus
- Mancow
- Bob & Tom
- Mike & Mike
- The Monsters (out of Orlando)
- Bob & Sheri (out of Charlotte)
- Bubba The Love Sponge

Hungry for the aforementioned? Maybe a taste, but after that, no thanks. Buffalo and Western New York are areas that don't quickly warm to national restaurant chains. Sure, a few names like Applebees and a few others do well here, but this is an area that takes pride in locally owned eateries like LaNova, Bocce, Salvatore's, The Cas, Towne and Danny's, just to name a few. In Rochester, any number of places like Dinosaur rule the roost. For many of the same reasons, radio in these markets shares similarities.

Years ago in Buffalo Stern challenged Norton. Norton won largely because 97 as a whole was insurmountable on the air and on the street, which is where the real battles is fought. Opie & Anthony scored some very strong numbers in afternoon drive on the Edge, but as strong as they were, they weren't killing and eventually self-destructed. Tom Joyner performs very well in mornings on WBLK, but Janet & Nick on Kiss attract a considerable number of white suburban women (this is not intended to be a racial assessment or slur) and again, Kiss as a whole maintains strength in that demo. You'd have to be insane to take on WYRK in mornings with a national show like John Boy and Billy.

The names suggested in the previous post don't have the rep or cred to make an impact in Buffalo. Besides, isn't Imus competing with Keith Richards for first place in the dead man walking marathon.

Hey, it's a joke.

 

[SirRoxalot]

In this evolving media age, where's the benefit for a broadcaster who creates an audience for syndicated content? How long before that content is available directly ("there's an app for that"), bypassing the broadcaster altogether?

Let's face it, if you're not primarily creating content, your days as a broadcaster are numbered. As ubiquitous, affordable wireless reaches out to your car's dashboard, as well as your smartphone, radio becomes just another selection on the "mobile entertainment center". The Obama administration is committed to expanding wireless access.

 

[Bob1370]

Morning shows need to be either local or unique to get traction and succeed in Buffalo and Rochester. Stern couldn't beat Wease in Rochester, and he made the strongest challenge of any national host. Imus did nothing while he was on WHTK (which ironically is now tossing national sports talk and simulcasting Wease) and it's hard to think of any station that'll take him now. Tom Joyner? Won't be coming to Rochester because WDKX's local show with Tariq Spence is too strong. Mike & Mike? On the air at WROC-AM but are they getting any numbers at all?

About the only national morning show getting numbers in either market is Morning Edition, because it's unique, and it includes local as well as national content.

 

[TheBigA]

Let's face it, if you're not primarily creating content, your days as a broadcaster are numbered.

Depends on what business you're in.

If you're in the content business, that's what you should sell, and you should sell that content across multiple platforms, and license it far and wide. Do a local TV show, write a newspaper column, promote and host concerts, and even appear at local sports events. Also, you should be selling the host and the show to advertisers. The advertisers should know who he is and want to be a part of his show.

On the other hand, if you're in the audience business, then the content is whatever attracts the biggest audience, because you sell the numbers to advertisers. They don't care who the host is...all they care about are the numbers.

So I ask you: What business is radio in? And before you answer, remember the person who makes this decision isn't the PD.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The point is that content will be available on other platforms, and broadcasting is being left behind. If your technology isn't on a smart phone, its days are numbered in my opinion. I'm in favor of at least FM on smart phones for that and several other reasons.

 

[TheBigA]

The point is that content will be available on other platforms, and broadcasting is being left behind.

Correction: SOME of broadcasting is being left behind. There are lots of radio companies, including the biggest, that have invested a lot of money in mobile applications.

This was just announced a few weeks ago:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/03/clear-channel-acquires-thumbplay.html

Keep an eye on them. Bob Pittman is a very smart man. And he has invested his own personal money.

CBS Radio and Triton Media are also very aggressive in the mobile arena.

So there are a lot of exiting things going on with radio and mobile. And there are a lot of ways to do it. Just taking the local air signal and putting it on a phone isn't the most useful. A station can still have exciting local mobile content and run a syndicated morning show. You have to understand what the content business means. You can run several businesses, with all of them successful, in their own realm. Or they can all feed the same singular monster. But running a syndicated morning show doesn't mean you're giving up the mobile content business.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Here are a few thoughts regarding "content" from Mark Ramsey writing this while listening to Morning Edition and local inserts provided by WNED-AM and WBFO-FM.

King Content is a conundrum. Many of the experienced professionals here have some good ideas about what content is, but listening as a real listener, it seems "content" has vastly different meanings to different consumers-listeners. What's more challenging, the definition is ever changing on a day to day basis. This certainly isn't 1974 (not that anybody said it was.) To borrow from the WECK thread, content definition might be the biggest challenge facing WECK. Would it be fair to say that even the smartest national and local programmers are still trying to figure out what "content' is all about?

If you'll excuse me, I'm off to check my Facebook page. While listening to WBFO. While Morning Joe is on the monitor. While I'm batch transferring files to my mp3 player. It's nuts, ain't it.

 

[SirRoxalot]

A station can still have exciting local mobile content and run a syndicated morning show. You have to understand what the content business means. You can run several businesses, with all of them successful, in their own realm. Or they can all feed the same singular monster. But running a syndicated morning show doesn't mean you're giving up the mobile content business.

You don't need a radio station to run mobile content. IF you have a radio station, running syndicated content simply promotes content available directly from the syndicator on other platforms. What's the upside of that? Run exclusive content on YOUR platform. That's what attracts people to YOU, not a competitor.

 

[TheBigA]

IF you have a radio station, running syndicated content simply promotes content available directly from the syndicator on other platforms. What's the upside of that?

The upside is that it MIGHT be a better show, with a host that people already know, and might work better for your advertisers. As I said, it depends on what the sales department sells. If they sell numbers and not shows, then you want a show that attracts the biggest numbers. Don't think in such a provincial, linear way. There are lots of content opportunities that you can do on mobile that you CAN'T do on air. Same with the web site. No reason why a station web site can't have unique shows that program content in a very different way from what's on the air. Same with social media. But it all depends on sales and money. If the station is united about one specific host, and builds all of its campaigns around that one person, then you're right. But if they don't, then you have lots of options.

 

[SSSKub]

Opie & Anthony scored some very strong numbers in afternoon drive on the Edge

Yah... That never happened... They were on WBUF in afternoons, and were on The Edge in AM Drive upon their return, where they failed nation-wide, and went back to Sirius/XM exclusively...

 

[Element9]

...They were on WBUF in afternoons...

You are correct. Thanks for setting the record straight.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The upside is that it MIGHT be a better show, with a host that people already know, and might work better for your advertisers. As I said, it depends on what the sales department sells. If they sell numbers and not shows, then you want a show that attracts the biggest numbers. Don't think in such a provincial, linear way. There are lots of content opportunities that you can do on mobile that you CAN'T do on air. Same with the web site. No reason why a station web site can't have unique shows that program content in a very different way from what's on the air. Same with social media. But it all depends on sales and money. If the station is united about one specific host, and builds all of its campaigns around that one person, then you're right. But if they don't, then you have lots of options.

There's no arguement that radio stations need to be multi-platform at this point. Telecommunications is being redefined, and radio needs to carve out its place in the new order. What you're advocating is using radio to promote content on the website. There's a LOT of that going on - to the point where it devalues the on-air content in some cases.

Obviously, it's all about money. In the longer term, building an audience for syndicated content means that you'll LOSE money when people discover that content is available, on-demand, from other sources. You may save a little money in the short term, but long term you'll be far better off developing your own talent and promoting content that's unavailable from another source. That way YOU derive all the revenue, no matter what platform is used for delivery.