Talk notes:2/10

[DonMatsen]

My sentiments exactly. Were it not for the ownership caps, Entercom could've kept WBZ, but instead they chose WEEI-AM/FM over WBZ-AM/FM. I guess that ever-lovin' "WEEI brand" is such a freakin' treasure.

Yeah. That's not to say that Entercom didn't make cuts and changes after CBS moved on. How can you not in this tumultuous radio environment? The difference is that they have a lot of good brands and the company is doing their best to keep the standards up. That's all you can ask for.

 

[nowradioguy]

Yeah. That's not to say that Entercom didn't make cuts and changes after CBS moved on. How can you not in this tumultuous radio environment? The difference is that they have a lot of good brands and the company is doing their best to keep the standards up. That's all you can ask for.

Agree about cuts and changes, but more so that Entercom has "a lot of good brands and the company is doing their best to keep the standards up." What hurts is that WBZ is no longer a part of the family that included WINS, KYW, WPHT, KDKA, WBBM, KMOX, KRLD, KCBS, KNX, etc., plus several more I can't recall. Can you imagine if it had been iHeart instead of Entercom who got the entire CBS ensemble?

To be fair, iHeart does have a superior streaming and podcast platform, and Entercom (i.e., David Field) was a bit too critical of CBS Radio management. I dunno, perhaps he, too, is in over his head with the former Westinghouse/CBS O&Os.

Was Hubbard (WTOP-FM) ever a bidder for WBZ?

 

[TheBigA]

Was Hubbard (WTOP-FM) ever a bidder for WBZ?

They don't own anything else in Boston.

 

[DonMatsen]

Agree about cuts and changes, but more so that Entercom has "a lot of good brands and the company is doing their best to keep the standards up." What hurts is that WBZ is no longer a part of the family that included WINS, KYW, WPHT, KDKA, WBBM, KMOX, KRLD, KCBS, KNX, etc., plus several more I can't recall. Can you imagine if it had been iHeart instead of Entercom who got the entire CBS ensemble?

To be fair, iHeart does have a superior streaming and podcast platform, and Entercom (i.e., David Field) was a bit too critical of CBS Radio management. I dunno, perhaps he, too, is in over his head with the former Westinghouse/CBS O&Os.

Was Hubbard (WTOP-FM) ever a bidder for WBZ?

Hubbard looked a couple of years ago, but not for long. It would have only been the one station in Boston. That would have never worked.

 

[nowradioguy]

Hubbard looked a couple of years ago, but not for long. It would have only been the one station in Boston. That would have never worked.

"Would have never worked" meaning because Hubbard had no other presence here, or because Entercom wanted more than WBZ to be taken off their hands, or because Hubbard couldn't afford to buy 'BZ?

Hubbard is quite successful with WTOP-FM; could they not have replicated that here with Newsradio 1030? What am I missing?

 

[TheBigA]

Hubbard is quite successful with WTOP-FM; could they not have replicated that here with Newsradio 1030? What am I missing?

Boston isn't the capital of the US. WTOP is top rated and the NPR station WAMU is close behind. In fact, WAMU has beaten WTOP for a few months. You don't see that in Boston either.

 

[TSBench]

<<<<<*Morgan still isn't taking questions on iheart changes. Not that you would expect he would. But maybe having a standard answer that the early AM shift was blown away by corporate, might make some uninformed callers better understand what happened to Bradley Jay.>>>>

Just wondering, but in all my years in the business, I can't recall ANY on-air talent commenting on talent that, other than by death or sickness, had been cut lose due to being fired or laid-off during a corporate restructuring. Thinking that Morgan White is going to take phone calls discussing corporate personnel decisions is delusional.

 

[vmorrison99]

<<<<<*Morgan still isn't taking questions on iheart changes. Not that you would expect he would. But maybe having a standard answer that the early AM shift was blown away by corporate, might make some uninformed callers better understand what happened to Bradley Jay.>>>>

Just wondering, but in all my years in the business, I can't recall ANY on-air talent commenting on talent that, other than by death or sickness, had been cut lose due to being fired or laid-off during a corporate restructuring. Thinking that Morgan White is going to take phone calls discussing corporate personnel decisions is delusional.

Entercom may be trying to keep a high standard but EEI with the exception of the REd Sox is a shell of its former self.

I could write all afternoon on what a low life Crazy Kuhner is from calling a recovered alcoholic who speaks about his AA membership Whiskey Walsh and telling the Boston Mayor on the air what goes well with with Jameson. This past week, he called Bernie Sanders a Communist followed by what his Grandfather always told him "The only good Communist is a dead Communist."

Morgan was so off his game last night I turned on AM 1200 to fall asleep to Old Time Radio.

Just my opinion.

 

[nowradioguy]

It's apparently too much to expect 1200 to manage to only play one thing at a time at the top of the hour.

Many of us recall how near-and-dear to the iHeart it was that AM 1200 be upped to 50,000 watts to become a Boston station. Of course, back then, Clear Channel didn't have a WBZ or even a WRKO to toy with. So I suspect now that they do, AM 1200 means way less than what it might have meant back in the day. I mean, the facilities of AM 1200 consist of what, a server in a closet on Cabot Road?

Other than being an outlet for the Premier line of programming (Beck, Rush, Hannity), AM 1200's value to iHeart can't be all that great, and, let's face it, it was NEVER a full-market signal.

What frosts my gonads is when WRKO sometimes has two sources of audio playing simultaneously, though this is most likely to occur during The Financial Exchange (M-F 10:00 AM - noon), when "I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts" (Kuhner's words, not mine), there's no one "at the switch".

 

[QED]

commenting on talent that,

In the 20mins or so over two nights that I listened to, Morgan was asked two questions about what happened. His answer: "I know nothing." IMO he should have said that corporate decisions on programming brought changes to the schedule. That's all, a simple response.

99% of the listeners aren't reading this stuff and probably didn't know why Bradley Jay was gone. They deserve an answer. I'm not talking about a discussion about iheart cuts.

# Jordan Rich is on replay tonight (plugging books). WBZ should stick with Bruds and Raleigh.

 

[nowradioguy]

In the 20mins or so over two nights that I listened to, Morgan was asked two questions about what happened. His answer: "I know nothing." IMO he should have said that corporate decisions on programming brought changes to the schedule. That's all, a simple response.

99% of the listeners aren't reading this stuff and probably didn't know why Bradley Jay was gone. They deserve an answer. I'm not talking about a discussion about iheart cuts.

# Jordan Rich is on replay tonight (plugging books). WBZ should stick with Bruds and Raleigh.

WBZ should be, as their liner says, "always live, always local", as much as is humanly possible.

 

[TheBigA]

WBZ should be, as their liner says, "always live, always local", as much as is humanly possible.

"Humanly possible?" What does that mean? Divert valuable human assets from dayparts where there are large audiences to those of smaller ones for the purpose of fulfilling a marketing phrase? Not very prudent.

 

[davideduardo]

WBZ should be, as their liner says, "always live, always local", as much as is humanly possible.

Here is another case of how different generations put different values on things.

Younger generations... Millennials and most Gen Xers don't find "local" to have much meaning. "Better" and "worse" do have meaning. Seacrest is better in the morning than the local DJ in Tulsa or Tampa or Tucson or Twin Falls.

Most of those same listeners also find "live" to not be a huge positive. Many prefer texting over "live" phone calls. A well edited and enjoyable show that is recorded is better than a "loose" live one. Those who still have cable often prefer to watch their favorite shows at their convenience, not "live" which disrupts and dictates their life.

"Live from downtown Biloxi" is nowhere as exiting as "coming to you from Hollywood" or "... from right on Times Square" or the like.

So "live from Madison, it's the..." can be negative for several generations. It's like saying "here is a mediocre show from a town I wish I could get away from" instead of saying, "we are going to take you to a marvelous place where you wish you lived with a big star who is famous and fun and entertaining."

In the Golden Age of radio half of the success came from bringing the jungle, the underworld, a night club, a police car or a drama right into your home. There was no picture, so you built the characters to your own dimensions. You became part of the scenes, not just a spectator.

Radio has lost that. Maybe with big national shows with immense talents some of is recoverable. But trying to do it from Yankton no longer works.

 

[TheBigA]

Radio has lost that. Maybe with big national shows with immense talents some of is recoverable. But trying to do it from Yankton no longer works.

It's not just radio. At one time, Bostonians had several huge local department stores at which to shop. Some of those department stores grew large enough to be known beyond the state. Then, those great Boston stores found themselves absorbed by other retail chains. Now those Boston stores are no longer locally owned. Why should radio be forced to operate under rules that other businesses have already forsaken?

 

[nowradioguy]

It's not just radio. At one time, Bostonians had several huge local department stores at which to shop. Some of those department stores grew large enough to be known beyond the state. Then, those great Boston stores found themselves absorbed by other retail chains. Now those Boston stores are no longer locally owned. Why should radio be forced to operate under rules that other businesses have already forsaken?

I gather from other postings that you and DavidEduardo are fairly close to, if not part of, my generation - BOOMER, that is, and proud of it!

However, I'm not ready to concede that terrestrial radio needs to follow the millennial model of "If can't get it on my smartphone, it can't be important. I want what I want when I want it!"

 

[TheBigA]

However, I'm not ready to concede that terrestrial radio needs to follow the millennial model of "If can't get it on my smartphone, it can't be important. I want what I want when I want it!"

That's not just a millennial POV. From what I see, that mantra is being quoted by all generations with regards to music, movies, TV, news, and shopping. Especially shopping.

As a result of the huge loss of retail advertising, I believe radio must use the multi-platform model.

 

[davideduardo]

I gather from other postings that you and DavidEduardo are fairly close to, if not part of, my generation - BOOMER, that is, and proud of it!

However, I'm not ready to concede that terrestrial radio needs to follow the millennial model of "If can't get it on my smartphone, it can't be important. I want what I want when I want it!"

The problem is that the one "appliance" (as we used to call devices) that people all carry today is the smartphone. They are not going to carry a separate radio when they have thousands of audio choices on the phone.

In the home, about a third of households have the Amazon device that let's us say, "Alexa, play 90's country music" and have it immediately play Garth and Clint Black and George Strait and Alabama and Clint Black and Lorrie Morgan and all the rest.

I looked at a new car today, and it had a media touch screen with a variety of music sources, only one of which was terrestrial radio. But the salesman called the screen "the radio" and that is how people think. Radio is sound without pictures.

Today's terrestrial stations have to adapt or lose revenue or die. Radio is more than AM and FM.

And yes, I am a Boomer from week #1 of that generation, and I can go weeks without listening to a terrestrial station. And no, I don't find "talk right up to the vocal" DJs entertaining any more, nor do I want weather and traffic on the radio. I have moved on. Today's radio is not going to be a re-fried version of yesterday's radio.

 

[spt87]

Many of us recall how near-and-dear to the iHeart it was that AM 1200 be upped to 50,000 watts to become a Boston station. Of course, back then, Clear Channel didn't have a WBZ or even a WRKO to toy with. So I suspect now that they do, AM 1200 means way less than what it might have meant back in the day. I mean, the facilities of AM 1200 consist of what, a server in a closet on Cabot Road?

Other than being an outlet for the Premier line of programming (Beck, Rush, Hannity), AM 1200's value to iHeart can't be all that great, and, let's face it, it was NEVER a full-market signal.

What frosts my gonads is when WRKO sometimes has two sources of audio playing simultaneously, though this is most likely to occur during The Financial Exchange (M-F 10:00 AM - noon), when "I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts" (Kuhner's words, not mine), there's no one "at the switch".

More of iHearts "Technology Platform" benefits. WXTK on the Cape has been like that for years. Either two different tapes, I mean "Technology Platform" items playing on top of each other or long gaps of dead air.

 

[spt87]

"Humanly possible?" What does that mean? Divert valuable human assets from dayparts where there are large audiences to those of smaller ones for the purpose of fulfilling a marketing phrase? Not very prudent.

So I guess false marketing is ok now. Maybe they should not be making false and misleading claims about their product. Its not about a marketing phrase its about outright lying on the air.

 

[TheBigA]

So I guess false marketing is ok now. Maybe they should not be making false and misleading claims about their product. Its not about a marketing phrase its about outright lying on the air.

What are you talking about?