Terrestrial Radio

[romanradio]

I've got a question that has been on my mind for a while and I thought I'd throw it out to ya'll for discussion. I read often from posters to this page about abandoning terrestrial radio (for one reason or another) to go buy a satellite radio or listen to on line streams or whatever. I'll admit I'm a bit saddened when I read this because I know there is something inherently special and different about terrestrial radio that we radio folks love, both as employees and as listeners. It's a quality that satellite radio or streaming audio on a web site can never replace. Although this is a general radio question that can apply to any market, I am a local who works in the radio (terrestrial) radio industry. I hope and think that twenty years from now, fifty years from now, terrestrial radio will still be alive and kickin' and wildly popular because of this intangible quality that draws us to it, despite the many competitors trying to send it into extinction. Am I alone in this?

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

At the present no. There are many of us who live and breathe radio as a career,a listener, a hobby. Many of us blame the telecom act of '96 for what radio has diminished into. Some say it saved radio,but others point to the tremendous job loss(and yes there was job losses in other occupations,but half of those actually hired employees back..nuff said). The loss of "localism", the "heros"we grew up with,replaced by someone who doesn't know us 1,000 miles away. The Music we loved ,we no longer hear,because of someone getting the idea of using "focus groups" of 100 deciding for a City market of 1 million ,with numbers crunched and spun to please a client,and not the individual listener. The onslaught of commercials on one station so the company can purchase another station is an endless daisy chain with the result being CC and CBS having to actually divest some stations. "Originality","Creativeness" "Ability to adlib","Personality"" True competition","Serving the community" are almost extinct. Now its a shortened playlist,and it gets even shorter so more spots are sold.The one song you like,rapidly becomes the song you can't stand due to his frequent rotation. The news and information you seek,is now more so than ever informing you what they want you to know ,not what you want to know,that being the WHOLE STORY with facts NOT opinions of the host. Call letters of stations with a strong history of serving their communities are no more than just another lifeless brand used by a company.

The listener of yesterday is a little different but the constant remains,they want to be informed,entertained,and he is not getting it from radio overall. There are a few, BUT VERY FEW exceptions,and those are starting to wither on the vine.

The consultants, salespersons run radio today,not the Program Directors ,those who have a natural gift and talent to do and do it right,not just "good 'nuff for Government work".


Satellite radio is an option. Fewer commercials on some channels,Music you never hear on terestrial radio anymore thanks to the assembly line focus groups,who presumably represent you,but you never voted for them to. Announcers who actually are entertaining. Purchase of satellite radios have leveled, and its not really becasue of the subscription service or "HD". The listener is sharp, he knows XM-Sirius want to merge ,and he is waiting to see if his receiver will still work and who can blame him?

Internet radio has been stung and On May 15th many will go dark due to the royalty increase imposed by terestial radio friends "R.I.A.A.". These internet stations can't afford morethan what they pay now,so The N.A.B., owners of terrestrial radio,want to eliminate the competiton. Free enterprise? "its just biddness?"

Ipod sales have risen alot btw. The consultants, the owners,the salespeople will tell you the future of radio looks bright, and will "spin" numbers and success stories that it is . They fail to look at one thing, "the average listener".They feel he will come along as long as they eliminate choices,but the listener will always seek another choice until radio comes back and listens to him.

 

[davideduardo]

Many of us blame the telecom act of '96 for what radio has diminished into. Some say it saved radio,but others point to the tremendous job loss(and yes there was job losses in other occupations,but half of those actually hired employees back..nuff said).

The important thing is to look at whether consolidation has affected the listener. Some, but not all, of the groups that built larger station groups following 1996 did so on the expectation of enormous savings and synergy between stations in clusters and different markets.

That was certainly not a listener-friendly supposition and the impact on many stations was not positive. But not all groups bought into this proposition, fortunately.

The Music we loved ,we no longer hear,because of someone getting the idea of using "focus groups" of 100 deciding for a City market of 1 million

100 persons is not a focus group. A focus group is a verbal discussion with 8 to 12 persons and a moderator about perceptions, not a way used to test music.

A 100 person music test is perfectly valid in any size market. The key in any research is the quesion of replicability: can you draw another (and another and another) sample the same way and get the same results. Those of us who have done replication tests realize that you start to get replicability after about 60 responents. If the recruit is correctly designed, there is no need to talk to any more listeners or potential listeners.

The fact that Arbitron will use a sample of about 2500 persons for the PPM in Dallas and that this sample is MRC sanctioned indicates that the advertisers that spend $21 billion on radio advertising understand that such a sample is more than adequate for the stated purpose.

Remember, stations started doing music tests in the late 70's, long before consolidation, when traditional song tracking methods became obsolete (sales of 45's and juke box plays). Music testing is not a product of consolidation... it is an advance in technology.

,with numbers crunched and spun to please a client,and not the individual listener.

Numbers on a music test are not "crunched" because all you get is set of song scores on the total test and on different subsets of listeners by demo, sex, listening levels, etc.

The onslaught of commercials on one station so the company can purchase another station is an endless daisy chain with the result being CC and CBS having to actually divest some stations.

First, CCU and CBS did not "have" to sell stations. Both made a decision that smaller markets contributed little to the company, financially and sold or are selling stations below a market level (50 for CBS, 100 for CCU). A good sign that this is true is that the first nearly 200 stations CCU has sold brought in less than the value of two New York City FM's. And the total contribution to revenues of the 488 station CCU is selling is less than 10%. When you see that 30% of all radio revenue in the US is generated in just the top 10 markets, you can see that the sale of small markets is hardly an indication of financial pressure and more a vision of reality.

"Originality","Creativeness" "Ability to adlib","Personality"" True competition","Serving the community" are almost extinct.

There are plenty of stations with creative talent, PDs and which do extensive community service. Stations that don't will eventually suffer for it and, hopefully, correct thier approach. Competiton tends to eliminate weak competitors, such as the past formats of KZPS and KEGL in Dallas.

Now its a shortened playlist,and it gets even shorter so more spots are sold.

Er, how many songs did KLIP or KBOX or KXOL play in the 60's in the Top 40 days? Uh, I think it was 40, plus a pick hit or two.

Playlists are determined by the number of songs in a genre that people want to hear. It's the listener who makes that determination, collectively.

And spot loads today are quite a bit lower than they were pre-consolidation and vastly lower than in the 60's.

The consultants, salespersons run radio today,not the Program Directors ,those who have a natural gift and talent to do and do it right,not just "good 'nuff for Government work".

Again, in reality, the fact that today's radio companies can afford benefits packages, etc., tends to make radio more attractive to good programmers and managers.

Purchase of satellite radios have leveled, and its not really becasue of the subscription service or "HD". The listener is sharp, he knows XM-Sirius want to merge ,and he is waiting to see if his receiver will still work and who can blame him?

You sure have that backwards. The reason for the merger is the continuing loss of money ($1.5 billion last year between the two) and the lack of any light at the end of the tunnel because sales had hit a brick wall and could not sustain the operting expenses.

Internet radio has been stung and On May 15th many will go dark due to the royalty increase imposed by terestial radio friends "R.I.A.A.". These internet stations can't afford morethan what they pay now,so The N.A.B., owners of terrestrial radio,want to eliminate the competiton. Free enterprise? "its just biddness?"

Internet streaming is now a fundamental part of the radio model; the royalties, established not by the RIAA but by the Federal Government, are as onerous for radio as for web-only stations.

 

[Robert Bass]

Internet radio has been stung and On May 15th many will go dark due to the royalty increase imposed by terestial radio friends "R.I.A.A.". These internet stations can't afford morethan what they pay now,so The N.A.B., owners of terrestrial radio,want to eliminate the competiton. Free enterprise? "its just biddness?"

The sad fact is, deregulation is a bad thing. One need only look at TXU and Enron as examples. Deregulation allowed a few broadcast companies to swallow up every station within reach, and turn them into automated jukeboxes. That is no way to program radio, and it doesn’t serve their city of license effectively.

Regarding Internet streaming future, Internet Broadcasters tried to warn the listeners about this, back when the CARP situation developed. Sadly the listeners ignored the message. And now they want to know why Internet Radio is going bye-bye next month.

R

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

I expected David to come in and spin away. I can't totally blame him,he is what we call a "Bidness man".The information I said about satellite radio came from arbitron surveys and business articles.david has never had the "passion" as the original poster who enjoys the feel of the studio,compared to a desk,or the pasion of a listener who wants to hear something enticing,exciting, and real,not a ticker on a stock machine.
You can accept what David said if you "all business" or if you "all radio" you can see what I laid out. Unfortunately the Business side has virtually sucked the life out of radio.

 

[Robert Bass]

I expected David to come in and spin away. I can't totally blame him,he is what we call a "Bidness man".The information I said about satellite radio came from arbitron surveys and business articles.david has never had the "passion" as the original poster who enjoys the feel of the studio,compared to a desk,or the pasion of a listener who wants to hear something enticing,exciting, and real,not a ticker on a stock machine.
You can accept what David said if you "all business" or if you "all radio" you can see what I laid out. Unfortunately the Business side has virtually sucked the life out of radio.

Let's give CC, et al vacuum cleaners for Christmas this year! ;D

R

 

[ruger22com]

The thing that scares me about sat radio (Which I do believe IS the future) is the lack of competition.
Especially now with the two players trying to merge (God I hope the FCC kills that).
competition is what improves programming...and without it we are doomed to a life of better sounding jukeboxes and bland uninspired air personalities.
Imagine the kind of programming and personality talent that would be fostered if we had 10 sat systems, all competing for your syndication dollar (and a sat radio that could pick up more than one of those systems.)

 

[davideduardo]

I expected David to come in and spin away. I can't totally blame him,he is what we call a "Bidness man".

The objective of a radio station... at least a non-commercial station has always, since the 20's, been to make money. So the fact that such is the objective today negates your "good old times" comparisons of pre-consolidation radio. Without the revenue, there is no programming. Without listener-driven programming, revenue usually declines or disappears.

The information I said about satellite radio came from arbitron surveys and business articles.

Arbitron surveys? Arbitron shows only a few percent of listening is to satellite, which is logical considering 230,000,000 cumed radio in the Fall and only 14 million people have satellite radio. Arbitron itself has shown that satellite subscribers are also heavier than average users of terrestrial radio. So that dog don't hunt.

The facts of the satellite business model are clear and have been stated by none less than Mel Karmazan in the hearings on the Hill. The business model of two separate companies fails unless both are merged, aggravated by the fact that new subscriptions have stagnated or fallen (Fall 2006 was below the Fall 2005 rate, meaning a decline). The merger idea came from the accumulated losses and the inability of the companies to go back to the well with additional stock offerings, given the collapse in the share values of the stock.

david has never had the "passion" as the original poster who enjoys the feel of the studio,compared to a desk,

And you know this how? The fact is, I am not very good on the air, but I have trained a very rewarding number of on air talents... including at the station in a top 15 market where I kept the #1 rating for 20 consecutive years by emphasizing personalities who were on 24/7 doing what might be called a non-stop format of morning shows. Oh, the station was automated and not even in the top 10 when I got it.

or the pasion of a listener who wants to hear something enticing,exciting, and real,not a ticker on a stock machine.

The ticker will not be very rewarding if stations of a company have bad ratings. Everything I do is focused on making lots of listeners happy by consulting with them to find out how to be better.

You can accept what David said if you "all business" or if you "all radio" you can see what I laid out. Unfortunately the Business side has virtually sucked the life out of radio.

From my earliest experiences, I happen to believe the opposite. The plethora of dreadful operators, even in big markets (Max Richmond, Richard Eaton, Don Burden are names that come to mind) in the 60's were vastly worse. The staffs were less than motivated by virtue of having no insurance, no benefits and having to bring their own toilet paper... and the listeners had essentially the number of format choices to match the number of fingers on one hand.

 

[snoman]

I just think local radio is stale these days. Corporations have all these "cookie-cutter" stations. There's no originality. It's really sad to hear a great jock like Paul Christy here in Houston, at KHTC (K-HITS 107.5) reading scripted material and liner cards. As well as the same music over and over, and I'm not talking about currents and recurrents. I'm talking about the Golds. And, I agree with the poster that mentioned competition, because they hit it right on the nail. I've said this before, but it's no longer station vs. station, it's corporation vs. corporation. The only one that truly wins, is the big wigs running the corporations. The corporation has downsized most local radio so badly, that PD's and jocks are so overworked that they don't have time to get the creative juices flowing. And, if they did have the time, would they have their hands tied by the corporation? Yes, because they want their stations to sound alike in every market.

I have both XM and Sirius and I listen to them 90% of the time. The music is not as repetitive. The added bonus of limited or no commercials is nice. And, the programming choices are unbelievable. It's the difference between regular TV and Cable/DIRECTV/DISH. You just have more to choose from. There's something for everyone.

I'm anxious to get HD Radio. My automaker has a unit coming out in June that is made special for my car, so I'm going to have that installed. I think HD Radio might help bring some listeners back to conventional radio.

Because of the localism that you can't get on Satellite Radio, Local Radio will always be around. I just wish that a lot of these corporations would let the stations in their markets, be unique to their respective markets. We don't need a "KISS" in every market. We don't need a "MIX" in every market. And we sure as hell don't need a guy from Birmingham, Alabama voicetracking an Afternoon Drive shift for a station in a Top 10 Market like Houston (Hello CC... KODA needs live, local talent in PM DRIVE!). We don't need Delilah in every market. We don't need the same slogans, liners, drops in every market. Localism and originality will bring listeners back.

 

[davideduardo]

I just wish that a lot of these corporations would let the stations in their markets, be unique to their respective markets. We don't need a "KISS" in every market. We don't need a "MIX" in every market.

Blame the internet. In the past, one could have a station name that was also used in another market or state. Each service marked it in the local market only. Today, since nearly every significant station streams, a station in Caribou, Maine can control the use of "Elk" as a station name in the entire US!

So, what station groups have done is to find and register some good names which they can reuse in multiple markets or even license to other stations. The alternative is to find that every good name or brand has been taken.

Clear does not call most of its CHR stations Kiss because they particularly love the name... it is because the alternatives are all registered nationally to others.

We don't need Delilah in every market.

If there were a local talent who was better, we would not need Leno in every market. Some talents are simply too good to not get into hundreds of markets.

We don't need the same slogans, liners, drops in every market.

It would be nice to find this were not true... but service mark issues and the cost of registration and defense of marks gives no alternative. The internet made every US market into a single market for legal purposes... even a logo you put on the web has to be free of claims from stations with similar and prior-registered logos!

 

[copydesk2]

The Internet with its countless blogs and endless variety proves that terrestrial radio can survive and flourish. There's an audio audience out there just waiting to be captured with imaginative programming. When today's cookie-cutter formats finally expire through their own tedium and a new group of decision makers takes over, terrestrial radio will experience a new birth.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

: Oh sheesh. Never debate a consultant or sales persons with their spinology. Competition makes a quality product for there is incentive to be the best. Assemblyline programming now offered ,makes listeners seek alternatives. I stand by my first statement,its more realistic than the business perspective,because it comes from the human perspective. No David I don't feel you have a passion anymore for radio,except spinning stats and graphs,and you pretty much admited it in previous posts of the past 2 years. Passion in radio is working in the studio,playing a person's request,making a bit actually funny and letting the listener in to particiapate and share a laugh. Thats the passion that is missing from you David ,and believe or not I say that with respect. You know the business side,but the emotion is buried. Todays radio has strangled the passion,with its unsatiable desire for more and more spots. Its slowly killing itself and it appears momentum has steadily built. "Your" graphs may not show that nor are you ever going to admit it. That was a given a long time ago, as a majority of readers here have come to know. Your posts are insatiable that you have to be right or correct someone's opinion. There is no need for that on a consistent basis. We come here to talk to share info,confirm rumours, to make someone laugh, that's PASSION. You may have had it once,but it has since been put on a shelf and gathered dust ,since you went to the business side. You need more insight from those in the studio,and I don't mean the network. Someone "one to one" communicating to his listeners, that is THE PASSION OF RADIO, not a desk with an open laptop. I expect a response from you ,and in a defensive stance,there is no need. You will say what you have said repeatedly many times before talking in business terms,not the human side. take awhile before you do.Let what I have written soak in,and maybe you will actually see what I am saying.

 

[davideduardo]

: Oh sheesh. Never debate a consultant or sales persons with their spinology.

There is no spin in correcting your inaccurate (right down to the terminology) descriptions of research. Nor is there in correcting your cart-before-horse explanation of the proposed satellite merger. Same goes for your just absolutely wrong explanation of the CCU and CBS spinoffs.

Your response was, paraphrasing, "I read it somewhere" rather than... as you recommend later in the post... discussing and disecting. When your pet ox is being gored, you don't seem to like discussion. Or facts.

Competition makes a quality product for there is incentive to be the best. Assemblyline programming now offered ,makes listeners seek alternatives. I stand by my first statement,its more realistic than the business perspective,because it comes from the human perspective.

Not all companies do that kind of programming. Some do local research frequently for every market, do local community activities and have constant contact with the listeners via events, street teams and artist involvement. Whether you are right or wrong about CCU or CBS does not mean that every broadcaster in the country is running canned, soul-less stations. Most aren't.

No David I don't feel you have a passion anymore for radio,except spinning stats and graphs,and you pretty much admited it in previous posts of the past 2 years.

Facts that are wrong are most easily dispelled with the right facts. It is easy to say, "radio is dying." But the facts prove differently.

One of the common comments about radio convention panels (and is probably true about car dealer conventions, too) is that nobody is going to tell a room full of potential competitors "how to do it." I am certainly not going to explain my programming theories or philosophy... but we can all discuss the facts.

Passion in radio is working in the studio,playing a person's request,making a bit actually funny and letting the listener in to particiapate and share a laugh.

No, that is passion for an air personality. By saying it that way, you are saying, also, that a programmer, a manager or even a (here it comes) consultant! That is just not true. Bringing in a major advertiser, writing and producing a super promo, keeping the station on the air in a storm, tweaking the music scheduler and editing some great logs are also among the things that reflect passion.

And downloading a good book or trend is like getting all A's on a report card or making the Dean's List... a reflection that you gave your fullest and you have achieved that personal and professional goal that is the best reward of all.

Thats the passion that is missing from you David ,and believe or not I say that with respect.

Again, you are not recognizing the passion in other parts of a station besides the studio.

You know the business side,but the emotion is buried. Todays radio has strangled the passion,with its unsatiable desire for more and more spots.

Why do you keep doing this? My first station, in a market where the average spot load was over 20 minutes, ran 10 minutes maximum... my first FM ran for all its time under my management a total of 2 minutes of sposts an hour! And, as I have said,t he average major market station today runs far fewer spots than 10 years ago... and infinitely fewer than those "memorable" Top 40's of the 60's.

Its slowly killing itself and it appears momentum has steadily built. "Your" graphs may not show that nor are you ever going to admit it. That was a given a long time ago, as a majority of readers here have come to know. Your posts are insatiable that you have to be right or correct someone's opinion.

Radio is, for themost part, not killing itself. There are always a percentage of bad stations, where bad programming or management makes them suck. But the issues for radio are not about falling on our own sword, but, rather, an unprecedented array of other entertainment options. Some radio companies will adapt and adopt new technologies in delivery; others won't. But a medium that is used by 93% of all Americans 12+ every week is hardly "killing itself." Threatened? Yes. Challenged? Sure. But not down for the count.

There is no need for that on a consistent basis. We come here to talk to share info,confirm rumours, to make someone laugh, that's PASSION. You may have had it once,but it has since been put on a shelf and gathered dust ,since you went to the business side.

You just can't keep from making assumptions. When I was 17, after just about 5 years in radio as a gopher, board op, intern, jock for an FM nobody listened to, and bathroom-mopper, I wanted to program a radio station. The only way I could do that at that age was to build a radio station and name myself PD, as well as, it turned out, GSM, GM, CE and a few other things. I learned by nearly losing everything (no billing for the first 6 months) that I could not program to my heart's delight without income. It was, after all, a business.

So I have been doing what I think is rather good, personality driven programming for several decades. And the same kind of risks that I took then I am willing to take now. A newspaper in Argentina said, "it took a foreigner to show Argentines that we liked our own national rock music" when I put on the first all-Argentine rocker ever... with live personality jocks 24/7, daily in-studio unpluggeds, and all kinds of other features never done there.

You need more insight from those in the studio,and I don't mean the network. Someone "one to one" communicating to his listeners, that is THE PASSION OF RADIO, not a desk with an open laptop.

Funny, but I spent the whole afternoon in the KRCD studio because the mid-day talent wanted "live" airchecking.

I expect a response from you ,and in a defensive stance,there is no need.

I did it anyhow, no charge. The fact is that you obviously are doing a ready-fire-aim again, as you seem to know somewhat less than nothing about me. I love research, as it organizes the input we get from listeners, both about programming and about how and when they listen... but research is just a tool. Research in the hands of a great programmer makes that person even better... research in te hands of a bad programmer is akin to giving a machine gun to a chimpanzee where nothing good can possibly happen.

You will say what you have said repeatedly many times before talking in business terms,not the human side. take awhile before you do.Let what I have written soak in,and maybe you will actually see what I am saying.

A business that is successful has to have the right people. So, in a sense, if you are talking about a successful business you are really talking about one that has good people, as there is no alternative of any duration that functions otherwise.

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

sigh DAVID You took an olive branch and wilted it. Oh well it was over head apparently. sayonara The lifelsee debate you seek is over.

 

[davideduardo]

sigh DAVID You took an olive branch and wilted it. Oh well it was over head apparently. sayonara The lifelsee debate you seek is over.

That "olive branch" was awfully thorny, and more resembled something my cat does far better than you do: pushing gravel over its messes.

 

[BKane]

Great insights David!

Thanks for taking the time to put it into words here. Amid the hundreds of "I love Satellite/Ipod" posts that seem to fill this board. Some real "radio" content here is appreciated.

The "haters" will always out-post you 20 messages to one (where do they find all that extra time?). But their pablum talk has very little thought (or knowledge) in it.

I'd buy your book if you had one!

BK

 

[KPLEXCOMPLEX]

kane-= Maybe a salesperson, CONsultant.."birds of a feather"..