Talk on FM. It's a waste

[KyleSmith1988]

I'd rather run a news/talk or sports station on AM, and have the format 'monopoly' on the AM band,
rather than on FM where I'd be competing with 20+ other stations for the same listenership.

FM is for music, better sound quality than AM, plain and simple.

I listen to WCBS 880 for the Yankee games as that's the only way to hear the game in South Carolina, it's almost never on TV.

 

[CTListener]

I don't want to purchase an HD Radio. I want what I have now, free music on my radio. It doesn't make any sense to me.

First of all I agree with you. The reason I got into radio was because of music.

However, the music industry, record labels, and artists don't like free music on FM. When their music gets played on digital media, they get a royalty. But not on FM. So they've cut back on services for OTA radio. They've been campaigning in Congress to get their royalty. They claim airplay of music doesn't help their sales. Just last week, the founder of Pandora spoke at a broadcasters convention in Chicago demanding that broadcasters pay this royalty. If the music industry doesn't appreciate the free airplay they get, and what it does for their artists and sales, then maybe it's time to stop the music on radio.

They do get a royalty when it's played on the station's stream.

AM radio is dying and as such its content is moving to FM. The next generation will grow up listening to Internet radio and 40 years from now, we'll be having this same conversation about FM and the AM band will be given to the hams.

It's amazing how many people are in denial about the future of internet radio, especially on mobile devices. In various forums devoted to terrestrial and satellite radio, I see people writing that internet radio will never be more than a niche medium because the telecoms have monthly streaming caps. Or because you can't get a 4G signal in much of North Dakota or out on the Nebraska plains. As if none of those obstacles will ever be overcome, because, as we all know, Corporate America does absolutely nothing when there's a technology people want and are willing to pay for out there. Yeah, right. IMO, AM, FM and satellite are all living on borrowed time.

 

[KeithE4]

I'd rather run a news/talk or sports station on AM, and have the format 'monopoly' on the AM band, rather than on FM where I'd be competing with 20+ other stations for the same listenership.

So you'd rather have a business with few-to-no customers (AM station) than one with lots of customers (FM station). You could have the best sounding AM station on the planet, with great programming, but it wouldn't matter. If nobody younger than room temperature is listening, few will advertise, and you'll have to charge them almost nothing. Not a good way to stay in business.

FM is for music, better sound quality than AM, plain and simple.

That is being disproved more and more every day, both by listeners who don't (or can't, if the desired music is unavailable) listen to radio, and by music providers who want to kill the free-publicity golden goose that is radio.

The future of music is online. The future of news/talk/sports radio is FM. The future of AM is almost nonexistent unless drastic action is taken by the FCC to make the band viable again (not very likely). The market, both young folks and, increasingly, old geezers like me, has already made that decision. Music on radio is going away, and it won't be missed.

I listen to WCBS 880 for the Yankee games as that's the only way to hear the game in South Carolina, it's almost never on TV.

For less than the cost of one night at a bar or an elegant dinner for four at McDonalds, you can listen online, to every team, with no blackouts, for the entire season, and with much better sound quality than WCBS can ever provide over the air.

And the Yankees are "almost never on TV?" You must not have ESPN or a local Fox affiliate. ;D

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Hya Big A ! I only had stopped by the Washington-Baltimore board, with my glass half-empty, to read up about the dropping of classic rock in favor of talk in that market.

But here on the New York board, I still insist that the incursion of talk to the 'For Music' dial is reactionary, not pro-active. Business-wise (take your pick) the move is either regarded as financially beneficial or as the latest and safest floatation device. In 2011 there's no other choice. You feel differently, and seem to suggest that both the music industry and the radio industry are healthier than some people give them credit for being. Fine and well.

Two things nag at me, though. One is the timing of this stampede, and the other is the fact that it's being implemented in major, major markets first, without any curing or pickling in the farm system. If you will allow me the point that the younger end of the available radio music audience plus the older end have been neglected since long before all the new Internet devices, then radio management HAS to assume some blame for this obvious headed-to-the-county-line yard sale of music programming.

Post de-regulation radio may not admit publicly that they have mismanaged music radio. Yet, for crying out loud, here is a white flag raised in the nation's capitol! Classic Rock in a major market (where the top earner in the nation doesn't play music) is the youngest of the three dual-gender nostalgia formats and THAT clumsily-passed baton is left clattering on the ground for the sweeper -- by choice.

Certainly there are cluster considerations and other diversification factors that go with the territory. But only time will tell if a pile of scrap-metal AM talk radio, AM news or AM sports stations will find the Fountain of Youth on another dial. I concur with XCountry's original post, but from 90° off. I don't like the idea of talk replacing free music on the airwaves, even if most of the music nowadays is otherwise just corporate pigeon scraps tossed outside. To me, the syndrome is book-burning, pure and simple, executed by people who never felt comfortable reading in the first place.

 

[davideduardo]

For ad revenue, they might as well not exist.

They do a pretty good job advertising to mostly seniors during daytime TV everyday,

TV is targeted by the show... and is a different medium. Radio targets by the entire station, and there is essentially no 55+ ad revenue available.

You will note that the stuff on TV targeted at older demos tends to be things that require either lengthy disclaimers (drugs, investments, etc) that can be done in on screen text, or ones that require visuals for "appetite appeal" such as those sticks with grips on them for seniors to get stuff off high shelves with...

 

[KeyTimes950]

I'll grant that music sounds better on FM, even though many of the oldie jocks in Pittsburgh prove that modern-day AM sounds better than the transistor radios we all used while growing up (an exception is Terry Lee when his computer-fed network isn't crashing on WLSW-103.9).

As for modern-day FM, I'll grant that Pittsburgh has become a battleground for talk as well as music, with Essential Public Media taking over news-jazz-NPR WDUQ-90.5 and making it news-NPR-BBC WESA-90.5 (and shunting jazz to HD2), KDKA-93.7 becoming the sports-talk station in the market (with WFAN sometimes available on HD2 and KDKA-AM on HD3), WPGB-104.7 becoming a top-five market station with conservative talk (with or without the Pirates depending on whether they're moving to the aforementioned KDKA-FM) and Steeler and Penguin talk stations on HD2s of WDVE-102.5 and WXDX-105.9, respectively.

Having said all that, I wouldn't mind the music choice you still have in New York even with Merlin Media's move into the market.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

55 year olds aren't old.

For ad revenue, they might as well not exist.

They do a pretty good job advertising to mostly seniors during daytime TV everyday,
Price is right, Jerry Springer, etc (HoverRound, Liberty, AARP, etc).

I'd think most people watching those 2 shows are under age 60, and the latter one under age 40.
[/quote

I really worry about the seniors in Hoverrounds at the edge of the Grand Canyon. If one of them accidentally hits the wriong button (and you know how often they confuse the brake and the accelerator), it's a LONG WAY DOWN!

 

[TheBigA]

I really worry about the seniors in Hoverrounds at the edge of the Grand Canyon. If one of them accidentally hits the wriong button (and you know how often they confuse the brake and the accelerator), it's a LONG WAY DOWN!

Like Thelma & Louise!

 

[radioguy39nj]

News, talk & sports on FM is a reality! Get over it! Of course, the NY market will be the last one to join the party, but make no mistake, it will happen!

WFAN & WCBS-AM may not be moving to FM right now, but IMHO, CBS big wigs look at DC and see the highest billing station in the country is all-news WTOP on FM in market #9 no less! WTOP outbilled WCBS by nearly $10MM!

The days of FM as the For Music or Free Music band are gone. It is what it is!

 

[TonySantiago]

It's amazing how many people are in denial about the future of internet radio, especially on mobile devices. In various forums devoted to terrestrial and satellite radio, I see people writing that internet radio will never be more than a niche medium because the telecoms have monthly streaming caps. Or because you can't get a 4G signal in much of North Dakota or out on the Nebraska plains. As if none of those obstacles will ever be overcome, because, as we all know, Corporate America does absolutely nothing when there's a technology people want and are willing to pay for out there. Yeah, right. IMO, AM, FM and satellite are all living on borrowed time.

By 2020, we'll most likely be on 5G and Internet streaming car stereos will be the "standard" in automobiles. So as long as the computer corporations get to "bed" with car stereo manufacturers such as Blaupunkt, Kenwood, etc. whereas their influence would be too strong for the NAB to touch.

 

[TheBigA]

So as long as the computer corporations get to "bed" with car stereo manufacturers such as Blaupunkt, Kenwood, etc. whereas their influence would be too strong for the NAB to touch.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

We're so quick to give in to these new warlords known as telecom. We think they'll be more benevolent than the people we deal with now. They won't be.

 

[mikerock]

News, talk & sports on FM is a reality! Get over it! Of course, the NY market will be the last one to join the party, but make no mistake, it will happen!

WFAN & WCBS-AM may not be moving to FM right now, but IMHO, CBS big wigs look at DC and see the highest billing station in the country is all-news WTOP on FM in market #9 no less! WTOP outbilled WCBS by nearly $10MM!

The days of FM as the For Music or Free Music band are gone. It is what it is!

I am not so sure of that. Are those numbers from when they still had 820AM in the simulcast before they sold it? Even now it looks like what WTOP still has going for them is the coverage areas via multiple simulcasts. Besides the 50kw on 103.5 they have W282BA 104.3 Leesburg, Repeaters WTLP 103.9 Braddock Heights and WWWT 107.7 Manassas. If WCBS moved to FM and then simulcast in several cities therefore combining Ad revenue from those markets I suspect that they would top bill as well.

Granted news has not been tried on FM for along time but seeing how CBS got burned twice with hot talk which is close enough I suspect no one will be willing to take that risk. This will especially be true if and I suspect when WEMP fails. Which might not have anything to with news on FM but rather WEMP's poor execution of it. Regardless it's failure will be enough to scare others from making the flip.

 

[KeithE4]

Granted news has not been tried on FM for along time but seeing how CBS got burned twice with hot talk which is close enough I suspect no one will be willing to take that risk. This will especially be true if and I suspect when WEMP fails. Which might not have anything to with news on FM but rather WEMP's poor execution of it. Regardless it's failure will be enough to scare others from making the flip.

CBS has their Chicago (WBBM) and San Francisco (KCBS) news stations simulcasting on FM. It's doing well in SF. The Chicago change is too recent to tell, but my bet is that it will be successful.

 

[TonySantiago]

So as long as the computer corporations get to "bed" with car stereo manufacturers such as Blaupunkt, Kenwood, etc. whereas their influence would be too strong for the NAB to touch.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

We're so quick to give in to these new warlords known as telecom. We think they'll be more benevolent than the people we deal with now. They won't be.

And you're probably right. It's $$$$$$. But at least we can hear whatever formats that are "missing gaps" in the local markets.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Apologies for not knowing the process to get quotes in the blue boxes like everyone else does,
>>>>>>>>>
Quote from: Tony Santiago on Today at 05:21:09 PM
'So as long as the computer corporations get to "bed" with car stereo manufacturers such as Blaupunkt, Kenwood, etc. whereas their influence would be too strong for the NAB to touch.

And from The Big A:
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

We're so quick to give in to these new warlords known as telecom. We think they'll be more benevolent than the people we deal with now. They won't be.' <<<<<<<<<

Agreed. And I don't believe for a second that corporate-cluster radio (or their hungry, aging pit bull NAB) is just going to twiddle their thumbs and wave goodbye to their music audiences or their massive car radio audiences unless they feel they're guaranteed their share of revenue from any new system. And that new system isn't going to be HD.

The Art Bell in me says that after the smaller, more private music streaming sites are largely pushed off the internet and out of business by those unconscionably obscene royalty rates (which the large companies pay for out of petty cash) , that is when we'll see a 'push' for speeding up the process.

No-way-ray are boardrooms going to like the idea of having their $100,000,000 listen-at-work A/C formats lose value without a long battle *plus* the promise of a soft handing pad. Talk radio is never going to be the listen-at-work choice on FM. And younger, hotter talk will not cut it on FCC-truanced FM, either. Big radio is not going to let the Internet become the music dial (as FM once swiped from AM) without attempting to get a big wingtip foot in the door beforehand. Smaller Internet stations will not be allowed to prosper. At present, their progress largely has been quashed. But does anyone else here sense a possible regulation of the internet coming? One akin to the original AM radio treaties between various countries?

Well, even if that Noory scenario is 180° off from reality, one matter here is not wavering in the least. Big A and others are right. Prepare to pay for free music when all this goes down -- with commercials thrown in.

 

[Ai4i]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. We're so quick to give in to these new warlords known as telecom.
We think they'll be more benevolent than the people we deal with now. They won't be.

Will the NAB survive or will they join the multi-billion dollar horse buggy whip lobby, "Only on...The History Channel"?

 

[TheBigA]

And you're probably right. It's $$$$$$. But at least we can hear whatever formats that are "missing gaps" in the local markets.

But you will pay for them.

Will the NAB survive or will they join the multi-billion dollar horse buggy whip lobby, "Only on...The History Channel"?

Don't worry about the NAB. Worry about you. Remember that the people of Germany elected Adolf Hitler. So in our rush to get rid of the NAB, we bring in telecom, who are even less benevolent than the people we got rid of. That's why I say that the enemy of your enemy may not be your friend. It just may be the next enemy. And you may have unknowingly invited the big bad wolf in your house.

 

[TheBigA]

And I don't believe for a second that corporate-cluster radio (or their hungry, aging pit bull NAB) is just going to twiddle their thumbs and wave goodbye to their music audiences or their massive car radio audiences unless they feel they're guaranteed their share of revenue from any new system. And that new system isn't going to be HD.

All of the big corporate radio companies have their own internet radio strategies. It's not just towers and transmitters. Everyone knows that. However, towers and transmitters are still the best and cheapest system for mass appeal programming. But if towers and transmitters go away, the big companies are already on the internet. And their streams are doing very well in the ratings.

By the way, I don't know any big radio companies or anyone at the NAB that have attempted to stiffle internet radio. The biggest impediment to internet radio is the music industry.

 

[mcradiofree]

Ref. Big A; Music stations on FM pay ASCAP and BMI fees which in turn pay the artists their royalties.

 

[TheBigA]

Ref. Big A; Music stations on FM pay ASCAP and BMI fees which in turn pay the artists their royalties.

Only if those artists wrote the songs they perform. It's a songwriter royalty.